innovation

High-resolution audio: everything you need to know

High-resolution audio (HRA) has emerged as arguably the ultimate sonic selection for digital music fans, but what’s it all about, what do you need and how can you get it?

In the last couple of years, high-resolution audio (HRA) has hit the mainstream sound recording and distribution, due to the release of more devices and services that support the new format.

From dedicated devices like Neil Young’s PonoPlayer and the latest Sony Walkmans, to games consoles like the Play Station 4, smartphones like the Sony Xperia Z5 it seems everyone’s is joining this movement towards taking of the sound recording industry to the next level of quality.

So how does high-res differ from standard digital music formats? Downloads from sites such as Amazon and iTunes, and streaming services such as Spotify, use compressed file formats with relatively low bitrates, such as 256kbps AAC files on iTunes and 320kbps MP3 streams on Spotify.

The use of AAC or MP3 compression leads to partial data loss in the encoding process, which means resolution is sacrificed for the sake of convenience and smaller file sizes. With regards to sound quality, then, these formats aren’t telling the full story of our favourite songs. This might be fine on the bus when you’re listening to your smartphone, but serious music fans should want better. This is where high-resolution audio – or HRA, the term coined by the Consumer Electronics Association – steps in.

Astell & Kern, LG, Samsung, Sony and Pioneer are just some of the companies to have launched hi-res audio compatible products, while several download sites now offer. HRA also has the support of major labels and musicians.

It’s worth pointing out that the definition of high-resolution audio isn’t set in stone. Unlike high-definition video, which has to meet certain criteria to earn the name, there’s no universal standard for hi-res audio.

But the term tends to refer to audio that has a higher sampling frequency. High-resolution audio files usually use a sampling frequency of 96kHz or 192kHz at 24-bit, but you can also have 88.2kHz and 176.4kHz files too.

Sampling frequency refers to the number of times samples are taken per second when the analogue sound waves are converted into digital. The more bits there are, the more accurately the signal can be measured in the first place, so 16-bit to 24-bit can reveal a noticeable leap in quality.

There are several high-resolution audio file formats to choose from, all of which support the above sampling rates and bit-depths. They include FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) and ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec), both of which are compressed but in a way where (in theory) no information is lost.

Other formats include WAV, AIFF and DSD, the format used for Super Audio CDs. The relative merits of the formats can be argued, but most crucial will be compatibility with your particular products and system.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has issued a logo that will show up on every track and album that can be classed as hi-res audio.

Obviously the main claimed benefit of high-resolution audio files is superior sound quality over compressed audio formats. To illustrate why they should sound better than MP3s, for example, let’s compare the relative bitrates. The highest quality MP3 has a bitrate of 320kbps, whereas a 24-bit/192kHz file is transferred at a rate of 9216kbps.

24-bit/96k or 24-bit/192kHz files should therefore more closely replicate the sound quality that the musicians and engineers were working with in the studio.

With more information to play with, high-resolution audio tends to boast greater detail and texture, bringing listeners closer to the original performance.

Manufacturers including Bowers & Wilkins, Naim and Linn have been pushing for and producing high-resolution audio products for some time. We’ve now seen mass-market heavyweights such as LG, Samsung and Sony adopt the format to bring it to a larger audience.

With this wider availability, more people are able to learn and understand exactly what high-resolution audio is, and the benefits it can bring to music. There’s plenty of content out there, and there’s plenty of hardware to go with it. The future for the format looks – and sounds – very bright indeed.

At Falcon Technologies International we firmly believe in the core brand values that our brand is build on, and one of them is Quality. High resolution audio format development is very important step for overall music industry, that is currently taking the entire market to the next level.

As a company that have been continuously making efforts to improve the quality of our products, we understand the importance and praise development of such initiatives as high resolution audio standardization and introduction to the mass market.

Falcon Technologies International has specially designed product line to provide quality media storage for professional duplication and replication – DUPLI Line.

It performs to good quality level with benchmark and quality control tests proving that Dupli Line products have one of the lowest variability rates throughout the industry, which makes them a perfect solution for media duplication. Also, DUPLI Line comes with a no failure guarantee, so that media distributors can be sure that the end consumer will be able to enjoy the high quality media from a high quality storage medium.

Source: WhatHiFi

The shiny, plastic memory of the compact disc: when the new format was introduced.

Many people still remember the time when we had to listen to the favorite music from the cassette tapes, or, if you are old enough, even the vinyl records. The least ones seem to gradually come back into our houses, with the introduction of the latest re-invented record players, and there are even some signs of the cassette tape revival that are periodically observed here and there.

But what about the CDs? We kind of heard that they recently migrated from the consumer market to some niche industries like data archiving and medical IT, however there are still some implications of that media on the mass market as well (gaming consoles are still mostly operate on optical discs, as well as offline media distribution).

Anyway, when observing the revival of the media storage formats that preceded CDs and DVDs, one may logically presume that same phase will come one day and for the optical discs. Many people still use optical media for things like music playback, as many claim that sound quality of the studio recorded disc can’t be beaten by anything else.

Saskatoon based writer, editor and columnist with the StarPhoenix and related publications, Cam Fuller still remembers the days when the optical disc started its small industrial revolution, that eventually changed the way we listen to the music and watch the movies. Here are his memories, that reflect those days:

The miracle of the compact disc is not forgotten by me.

I remember when they first came out. They were impossibly cool. There was no hiss and pop when you put one on, unlike vinyl records. I remember an audiophile magazine article from way back then. The writer was caught off guard after pressing play — with no background noise before the music started, it was like nothing was working at all. You had to trust the song would start eventually and avoid cranking your speakers to full volume on speculation. Many woofers were melted by impatient audio fools, I suspect.

CDs were small and shiny and oh-so modern. Amazingly, they could hold 75 minutes of music, way more than an LP. And you could play them in a car. If you listened to Tom Cochrane’s Life is a Highway on CD when you were literally on the highway, life was just about as good as it could possibly get.

Because of my job, it felt like I had an even closer relationship with CDs than most people. Working in the Entertainment Department put me on the publicity list of every major record label. Since they wanted attention for their bands, they’d send CDs. Lots of CDs. CDs for bands I was doing stories on. CDs for bands I wasn’t. Compilations, movie soundtracks, you name it.

In fact, the three main labels had representatives who’d phone and pop by with boxes of them.

Was I spoiled? Was I ever. Unless it was for somebody else’s Christmas present, I rarely bought a CD, and when I did it was a jolt of reality. “Twenty-three bucks? What a rip.”

This was free music before free music, a golden age before downloading changed everything. My entire music collection consisted of 50 LPs and 25 cassettes. We’re talking 600 songs. Then one day I was drowning in music. “What is Third Eye Blind? I’ll have to give it a whirl. Ooh, the new Aerosmith album!” Having access to all that music was like being able to make it rain when you needed rain. A god-like power.

And then something happened. Twenty-five years went by. The novelty wore off, to say the least. Digital music took over. And I’m left, on my shelves, with a gallery of the obscure. Kashtin, the soundtrack from the movie The Perez Family, The String Cheese Incident, Woman and Songs 6, The World’s Very Best Opera for Kids. It’s nothing if not diverse.

None of these, by the way, have I listened to in the past 20 years. It wouldn’t feel right selling them but I doubt there’s a market anyway. I can’t in good conscience take them to the landfill. They’re no good for floor tile. I suppose I could wait until they’re cool again — it happened for LPs. And I just read that The String Cheese Incident has a new album. I’m so out of it, I’m cutting-edge.

Source: Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Falcon Technologies International hosts International Customer Seminar on April 4th and 5th

Falcon Technologies International recently hosted its international customer seminar in the stunning Ritz Carlton Al Wadi Hotel, which is located in a unique desert environment within our home Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah. We were delighted to welcome approximately 50 delegates who travelled from diverse locations such as France, Germany, Japan, USA and the UK, to discuss the latest developments, opportunities and innovations that make optical media the exciting and progressive industry that it is today.

The entire FTI extended a very warm welcome to all the guests, who enjoyed the superb hospitality of the Al Wadi Hotel, complete activities including a traditional Arabian Falcon show, archery, sailing, go-karting and golf. The presentation session included an overview of the economic growth Ras Al Khaimah has been experiencing in recent years from Mr. Shahram Hashemi, Group Director of Strategy and Investments at RAK Free Trade Zone, along with presentations from the FTI management team with demonstrations of new product development initiatives.

Speaking about the event our CEO Mr. Michael Gutowski said, “We are delighted to host the global optical media community here in our home of Ras Al Khaimah. Having the opportunity to assemble so many of our partners in Ras Al Khaimah was a very positive experience for us at FTI, the optical media industry in general, and for Ras Al Khaimah as a global business hub. We very much hope that all the attendees enjoyed their stay in Ras Al Khaimah, and hope to welcome them back in 2018”.

Here are some photo and video highlights from the event:

At the Dawn of the Computer Age: Memories of the “Informational Revolution” Pioneers.

Do you remember your very first computer? Pretty much everyone does; most of the people in their mid-30s, early-40s can still remember these noisy big white boxes with huge square screens and clicking dial-up modems that took ages to download a plain-text news article or even a basic e-mail with no attachments. Well, it took almost 40 years for the technology to get to that point, and there are still alive today witnesses to how it all started in the basements of the world famous universities and colleges.

Joyce Wheeler is someone who saw it all in those early days. She also can still remember her very first computer, and one of the reasons for that is because it was one of the first computers anyone used.

Dr. Joyce Wheeler was among the pioneers of programming

It was EDSAC (Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator), a “proto-computer” that was assembled and served scientists at the University of Cambridge back in 1949. Joyce Wheeler was a member of the scientists group who were working on their PhD degree under the supervision of famous astronomer Fred Hoyle. They were researching the reactions inside stars, in particular the star lifecycle stages and their length.

In order to perform the research, Joyce needed some powerful calculating equipment, since the inner workings of the nuclear furnace that keep stars shining is a very complicated problem to solve with use of a human brain, pencil and a piece of paper. Mathematics capable of describing this level of nuclear energy processes is pretty formidable: Joyce remembers that she had to solve a nasty set of differential equations that describe their behavior and composition.

A copy of Edsac is being built at the National Museum of Computing

Completing these calculations manually would almost certainly result in errors, inaccurate data and ultimately could – and probably would – affect the research outcomes. And here is where she met EDSAC – a machine built by Professor Maurice Wilkes, a technical device the size of several average size bedrooms, that was there to do the kind of calculations that Ms. Wheeler needed to be done to complete her advanced degree.

The first challenge for young astrophysics student was to learn the sophisticated language that machine could understand. She was quite familiar with the machine itself, since it was showcased to her prior the start of her degree course in 1954. Being keen to get her research done accurately, Joyce sat down with an instructions booklet and worked her way through dozens of the programming exercises from that pioneering programming manual. That little book was called WWG (after the names of the authors: Maurice Wilkes, David Wheeler and Stanley Gill).

The foundations of programming were laid down by Edsac's creators — The foundations of programming were laid down by Edsac’s creators

While learning the programming, Joyce (whose family name was Blacker at that time) got talking to David Wheeler, since one of her programs was helping to ensure that EDSAC was working well. They eventually got to know each other, fell in love and married in 1957.

Joyce remembers that exciting time in detail: she could not stop wondering what the machine could do for her work. She was able to study the programming quite fast due to her strong mathematical background: she became very quickly able to master the syntax into which she had to translate the endless complex equations.

At certain point of time she realized that programming is very similar to Maths in the sense that one can’t do it for too long.

“I found I could not work at a certain programming job for more than a certain number of hours per day,” Joyce Wheeler remembers. “After that you would not make much progress.”

Research students like Joyce Wheeler had to use Edsac at night

Sometimes the solution to some programming problems that worried her from time to time would come into her mind while she was doing some other things outside of the computer lab: like doing the laundry or having lunch.

“Sometimes it’s better to leave something alone, to pause, and that’s very true of programming.”

When the programming bit was finally done, Joyce Wheeler was allocated a timeslot to run her programs on the EDSAC: it was Friday night. She remembers that this period was perfect for her: there were no lectures the next day she had to attend.

As an operator she was granted the right to run the EDSAC alone, but she had to make sure that everything she did was recorded. A quite common occurence for all the early computers (and EDSAC was no exception) was unexpected crashes. Joyce remembers that only occasionally she was lucky enough to keep machine running all night, and if it did crash, there was little she was allowed to do to try to fix it. Even the cleaners were not allowed to get near EDSAC.

Dr. Wheeler showed Joyce one procedure, that allowed the recalibration of the EDSAC’s two kilobyte memory, but if that did not help, Joyce had no other choice but to stop her work for the night. But despite the regular crashes, she made steady progress on finding out how long different stars would last before they collapsed.

“I got some estimates of a star’s age, how long it was going to last,” she said. “One of the nice things was that with programming you could repeat it. Iterate. You could not do that with a hand calculation. We could add in sample numbers on programs and it could easily check them. I could check my results on the machine very rapidly, which was very useful.”

Now, you should understand that “rapidly” back in the 1950’s meant “not more than 30 minutes”. This is the time that EDSAC required to run a program. After that the results were printed out for the researcher to analyze them. After that you had to re-program and wait another couple of days to run another round of complex calculations. Despite all these delays, Ms. Wheeler felt that she was a part of something that would change the world.

“We were doing work that could not done in any other way,” she said. And even though EDSAC was crude and painfully slow by modern standards, she saw that a revolution had begun.

We at FTI never fail to get inspired by pioneering scientists like Dr. Wheeler, with their single-minded dedication and commitment to innovating new solutions to existing problems, often in lonely circumstances and running against the tide of conventional thinking, driving them to expand the frontiers of discovery and learning in ways that eventually become implemented into normal life for the entire global population. Innovation, research and patience are some of the core values we cherish at FTI, and no-one demonstrated these better than Dr Joyce Wheeler.

How to Let Your Media Speak for Itself?

Even though we live in the era of flash-memory, hard disc drives and cloud storage solutions, optical disc still remains number one choice for the offline data distribution and long-term information storage and archiving.

Optical disc - still leading archival tool — Optical disc – still leading archival tool

Just like a good old book, an optical media disc also has a cover that contains the summary of what is recorded on it – otherwise it would be impossible to distinguish two absolutely identical glowing circular pieces of pressurized polycarbonate from each other. A disc printable layer (sometimes called simply “label”) is something that gives a disc personality, lets it speak for itself and identifies what is recorded on it. It is important for this label to be vibrant and colorful to replicate the design that was initially tailored by the publisher, so that the end consumer will be able to understand what type of content is on the disc from the very first glance.

Vibrant and colourful disc label - good way to boost the sales potential of the media — Vibrant and colourful disc label – good way to boost the sales potential of the media

There were plenty ways to create the labels for the media: the most common method was to print the design on circular pieces of paper and glue it to the surface, but times have changed and not it is impossible to glue discs that spin at over 5000 RPM instead of 33 RPM back in the days of vinyl. Some manufacturers even tried to implement a technology of “in-drive label burning”, but the labels made with this technology were typically black and white and very faded.

For over a decade, Falcon Technologies International LLC prioritized its Research and Development efforts on printable surfaces and managed to implement high-tech solutions into its production process. FTI’s wide range of printable layers are designed to meet any professional media duplication industry requirements according to highest standards.

FTI is proud to introduce its brand new SMART GLOSSY printable layer – a surface that is able to illustrate your personalized graphics and labels brighter and shinier than ever before. FalconMEDIA Smart Glossy printable discs are perfect to create customized, long-lasting, ultra-vivid design disc labels. Our Research and Development team have invested significant resources to tailor this brand new technology to allows you to have superior image definition, color saturation and vivid quality of printed graphics.

Key Features of the Product:

Superior ink absorption and faster ink drying printable surface (best in class)
Better glossiness surface delivering full color, glossy photo quality printing
Excellent color whiteness
Consistent printing across the full surface giving excellent uniformity
Long lasting print surface
Excellent water resisitant quality makes the printable surface free from scratches, smudging and smearing in wet conditions
High yield on inkjet printer (economic ink consumption)
Excellent Black/White Contrast with economical ink saturation setting
Wider compatibility on all standard professional inkjet printers
Good handling characteristics to ensure smooth operation with leading robotic duplication and publishing systems

To conclude it would be fair to note here that in media duplication and distribution business it is very important to select the right supplier, that is able to ensure high quality of the optical media and compatibility with a wide range of mass-printing equipment.

CEO of Falcon Technologies International LLC participated in the panel discussion during the Ras Al Khaimah Finance and Investment Forum

Michael Gutowski, CEO of Falcon Technologies International LLC participated in the panel discussion on the importance of innovation in business during the Ras Al Khaimah Finance and Investment Forum on December 13th and 14th.

During the panel discussion Mr. Gutowski emphasized that currently FTI holds the status of the best professional optical media producer globally, which has been achieved for a number of reasons, one of them being the constant implementation of small innovations on a daily basis and continuous improvement of the production processes.

“People are as important as innovation,” – Mr. Gutowski stated during his speech, – “You can’t change everything in a single big shot, as creating an innovation culture is an every day process.”

Mr. Gutowski also pointed out that an essential part of the FTI’s success is company’s ability and willingness to “listen to customers” and meeting their needs, based on the comments and suggestions that they receive. Within FTI listening to customer feedback became and remains the key trigger which promotes innovative product development practicies.

During the panel discussion it was also noted that early stage businesses should consider seeking partners in areas of expertise that they do not have in-house experience to ensure an increased chance of successfully translating their core strengths into a product offering with wider market appeal and less perceived business weaknesses.

Critical Role of Data Archiving for the Financial Institutions

Finance is an excessively regulated industry, with many moving parts and data that must be monitored and reported in order to stay protected and compliant with all regulations. One of the most important aspects of regulatory compliance for banks and financial organisations is record keeping and archiving electronic communication data. With the right tools and plans in place, archiving compliance does not have to be a daunting task.

Financial institutions generate a lot of data, which has to be archived by law.

Brokers, dealers, investment advisors, lending agents, futures and transfer agents, and businesses like mortgage companies, credit unions, banks, hedge funds, private equity firms, exchanges, commercial and retail banks, lenders and insurers, payday lenders, foreclosure relief services and debt collectors are all required to capture, monitor and archive business related communication data for review, audits, eDiscovery, litigation, and compliance.

But how do you become compliant? Let’s just jump right into the What, Why, and How of archiving compliance for banking and financial organisations.

Compliance with data archiving regulations is vital prevention of cyber crimes.

In short, a financial institution of any kind should be archiving all business related electronic communication data.

Email has been around long enough that just about everyone realizes the need to have a complete and easily accessible email archive. But you should really be archiving every bit of electronic communication data created by your organization. This includes social media, instant messaging, and content created on mobile devices.

The most obvious reason to archive emails and other business communication data is that your business is regulated and thus, mandated to do so.

Another thing that has to be archived - corporate e-mails — Another thing that has to be archived – corporate e-mails

Another reason why you should archive, that isn’t obvious at first, is data leakage. If you have proprietary data, customer account, transactional or confidential information, you are obligated to make sure that it isn’t shared, either purposefully or accidentally. The use of email, social media, instant messaging, and mobile devices increases the ease at which your employees could share this type of data. Couple that with the fact that the line between personal and business communication is blurred on corporate mobile devices. In addition to data leakage, you need to guard against insider trading, inappropriate financial advice, and stating personal beliefs about a financial investment or trade as fact. Having an archiving solution provides you with protection against these threats by giving you oversight. This oversight on employee communication data, coupled with an effective communication policy, will not only discourage bad behavior, but will encourage proper behavior according to established policy. Your employees will know that, according to your policy, everything they communicate is being stored and can be accessed for review.

As you can see, almost every commercial entity produces and accumulates large amounts of various data on a daily basis, so the “archival question” is becoming more actual nowadays and will become even more critical in the future. Data storage and archival solutions in the age of “informational revolution” we live in are required to provide not only the big data storage and rendering capacities, but also ensure the integrity and accessibility of data for years, decades and centuries.

art4 Falcon Technologies International LLC’s Research and Development team have created a solution that complies with the archival needs and requirements of the financial institutions and government entities. Our FalconMEDIA Century Archival CDs and DVDs with golden and platinum reflective layers showed outstanding results during the internal and third-party benchmarking tests: data stored on these professional archival discs stays accessible and integer for more than 500 years – timeframe that is enough to archive data for almost 7 future generations of the humanity.
Source: GWAVA

The need for innovation and longevity in technology

Thirteen seems to be the unlucky number for Apple, with a decline in iPhone sales leading to the first revenue decline in 13 years. This has been attributed in part to the struggling Chinese economy, still the second-largest market in the world for Apple products behind the USA. The iPhone accounts for nearly two-thirds of Apple’s revenue. However the company sold 16% fewer iPhones than it had during the same period in 2015 and made 18% less profit from them. The total tally for the device was $32.9bn from 51.2m phones sold; the year previous Apple brought in $40.3bn from 61.2m phones.

So what is exactly driving the first annual revenue decline since 2001? Perhaps the entry price of the smartphone in the developing world is still a barrier, even among very inexpensive devices. The iPhone smartphones designed and marketed by Apple Inc. run Apple’s iOS mobile operating system with the first generation iPhone being released on June 29, 2007. Followed by the iPad, and both were constantly updated with new, highly-anticipated iterations which sold in their hundreds of millions around the world, sending the company’s sales to ever soaring heights. A year ago Apple sold $58bn worth of gadgets, this equates to nearly $650m a day in the first three months of the year.

The Apple Watch has been publicized by the company as a multi-billion dollar business, rivaling many classic watch brands. Thus So far Apple has not delivered a breakout detailing the number of units sold per quarter. Instead the Apple Watch revenue has been combined with other products including the iPod, Apple TV, and Beats. Samsung shipped 0.4 million of its Gear and Gear2 watches in both 2015 and 2016. However Garmin was the only brand to show growth with shipments of 0.6 million in the third quarter of 2016 compared with 0.1 million in 2015.

Apple has promised some “amazing innovations” in the pipeline. Such as new headphone ports which are dust-proof and waterproof, and the redesign of key buttons. Are these innovations going far enough and will the brand achieve longevity? Many see Apple’s iPhone 7 objective as a premium product and not innovation. The products no longer have their unique appeal and a point of mental saturation has been reached.

Google self-driving car project

In the battle for longevity, constant new ideas and innovation sees one stand out diverse innovation are the Google self-driving cars, this represents a new breed of autonomous cars, developed by Google X as part of its project to develop technology for mainly electric cars. The vehicles are taught to navigate through many complicated scenarios on city streets.

These cars use their sensors and software to sense objects like pedestrians, cyclists, vehicles and more and are designed to safely drive around them. The cars use sensors and software to detect objects like pedestrians, cyclists, other vehicles and more (e.g. How to navigate through construction zones), and are designed to safely drive around them. The development has been initiated since 2009 and the work is building towards vehicles that take you to a destination at the push of a button. Components have been added to existing cars like Lexus SUVs, the next step sees designing of a new prototype from the ground up to better explore what should go into a fully self-driving vehicle. This includes removing the steering wheel and pedals, and incorporating software and sensors which will handle the driving.

FTI and innovation

At the heart of the range of products Falcon Technologies International L.L.C., FTI offer is Innovation. Innovation is the key driving force behind our product diversity. FTI has always believed that a strong culture of innovation, in all areas of the company, is an essential contributor to business success. High quality R&D has historically been at the foundation of FTI since it’s inception in 2005, and the company has consistently invested in extensive and innovative product R&D, and in acquiring a world-class, in-house knowledge base at the forefront of the optical digital media technology landscape. With the aim of market longevity and creativity today FTI continues to engage in cutting-edge R&D, internally and in collaboration with partners in academia, research and commerce.

FalconMedia SOUND suits both professional and amateur recording requirements, whether mass producing an audio CD, recording a concert master copy, or facilitating the amateur musician who wants to produce and sell his music on a smaller scale.

FTI’s culture of R&D and innovation go hand-in-hand, with our central commitment to new product development, process and manufacturing improvements, segmented market research and advancements in the science of Optical Digital Media key indicators of how innovation runs through the fabric of FTI’s operations.