ALTO Aviation expands operations with new Senior Technical Sales Manager

ALTO Aviation is pleased to announce the appointment of Steve Lord as their new Senior Technical Sales Manager joining the ALTO Aviation sales team led by Kevin Hayes, VP of Sales and Marketing.
Lord comes to ALTO Aviation with thirty-five years of extensive General and Corporate aviation experience, enabling him to offer multifaceted solutions to meet each client’s specific cabin entertainment needs.
Lord started his General Aviation career in 1980 as an Avionics Installat...ion Technician for Stead Aviation. He went on to assume the position of Manager of FBO Services for Jet Aviation in Bedford, MA. After working at Jet Aviation for 4 years, Lord accepted a position as VP of General Aviation Services at Wiggins Airways, where he was responsible for all of the companies 145 Repair Station activity, as well as the Line and Customer Service Departments. Steve was employed as VP of Business Development before leaving Wiggins Airways in 2006, when he accepted a position as Eastern US Sales Manager for Max-Viz, Inc., in Portland, OR. Before coming to ALTO Aviation, Steve was employed by Flight Display Systems in Atlanta, GA, where he worked as a Northern US Regional Sales Manager for over 7 years. Steve served in the US Navy for 4 years. He has a private pilot’s license.

“We are very excited to have Steve on our team. Steve brings a wealth of experience in CMS and IFE systems with a proven track record in delivering success” Kevin Hayes, VP of Sales and Marketing of ALTO Aviation said. “Steve’s senior expertise and core skills will be a great asset to the ALTO Aviation team, and to our current and future clients.”

The Art and Science of Onsite Tuning a Private Jet's Audio System

by Glen Ashworth, Audio Systems Engineer at ALTO Aviation

Tuning an audio system in a Business Jet is both an art and a science. While the tuning process is rooted in science and data, it requires a highly-skilled and experienced audio systems engineer to effectively tune an audio system.

The founders of ALTO Aviation, Don Hamilton and Steve Scarlata, began their careers tuning new production car models around the world in the 1980s and 1990s, gaining invaluable knowledge and experience. Over the years, they were able to refine their skills to develop the revolutionary ALTO Tuning Process.

 

Contrary to popular belief, there is no knob turning or slider moving during an audio tuning. A precisely calibrated microphone is used to record acoustic measurements via custom-designed computer software, called the ALTO Measurement Suite. This innovative, proprietary, software not only records these measurements, but processes the results based upon the application and intended use by the customer.

 

 

A variety of different characteristics can be controlled or created, including frequency response equalization, phase interaction, surround sound processing, dynamics processing, and more.

 To begin the tuning process, individual measurements of every loudspeaker and subwoofer are recorded. Next, the sonic signature of each seating position is captured for each set of speakers. These measurements allow ALTO to accurately predict what the sound will be at each seating location when all the speakers are playing. Minute changes in the phase or delay of a speaker can drastically affect the sound in a seat for better or worse. An iterative process is used to find the best sound for the VIP and every seat in the cabin. Finally, the sound processing is implemented via DSP inside the ALTO amplifier.

Of course, computer software and microphones are useful. However, the real test is the human ear. A skilled audio systems engineer performs the tuning on the aircraft to ensure that the aircraft is tuned perfectly. ALTO welcomes clients to be present during the tuning, to provide input and ensure complete satisfaction.

As part of ALTO’s commitment to providing each cabin with outstanding sound quality and customer support, ALTO stores the personalized measurements of each aircraft. Should a replacement amplifier be needed, the custom-tuned settings will be pre-loaded before being delivered to the aircraft.

 

For more information on ALTO Onsite Custom Tuning, please visit our website at www.altoaviation.com , contact us at 800 814.0123 or email us at sales@altoaviation.com and an ALTO representative will gladly assist you with your request.

ALTO Aviation TOP 10 List of Best Surround Sound Movies

We recently asked ALTO Aviation engineers to help us put a list together with their favorite movies to give a good work out to the woofers and test our signature ALTO nVELOP ™ Digital Surround Sound audio system. We asked them to tell us which movie soundtrack gives them chills when testing and which one in their opinion would bring the most exciting and impactful sonic experience at 40,000 ft. Here's the list, it was not easy to narrow to a top ten, so we decided to include three honorable mentions. Here it is, from ALTO Aviation engineering to you, our top ten list of best movies to test Surround Sound. We are clear for takeoff!

 

10- Black Hawk Down

 

A 2001 American-British war film directed by Ridley Scott. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards and took home the Oscar for Best Film Editing and Best Sound Mixing. If you want to experience the soundscape of a war, then Black Hawk Down played on the ALTO nVELOP™ Digital Surround Sound audio system is your vehicle to a world filled with helicopters, gunshots, and the emotional cries of men on the battlefield.

9- Jurassic Park

Steven Spielberg directed this science fiction thriller released in 1993. It won Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Effects Editing, and Best Sound. It doesn't get better than Tyrannosaurus' roars and Velociraptors running all around you. The ALTO nVELOP™ Digital Surround Sound audio system will make you feel like you’re right in the middle of the Gallimimus stampede. The impeccable sound mix and John William’s superb soundtrack will test the quality of your speakers and power of your woofers.

8- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

Released in 2006, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest is the second in the series, directed by Gore Verbinski. It was nominated for Best Sound Editing and Sound Mixing at the 79^th Academy Awards.  The clank of the  swords, explosions, and a cannibal chase in the jungle become almost real as your ALTO nVELOP™ Digital Surround Sound audio system transports you to this Caribbean adventure.

7- The Matrix

Directed by Andy and Larry Wachowski, The Matrix was released in 1999. The Matrix won Academy Awards for Best Sound Effects Editing and Best Sound. Explosions, bullets floating past, shoot-outs on the roof. From the high-pitched digital noise upon entering the matrix to the many fight scenes, The Matrix is sure to showcase the enthralling ALTO nVELOP™ Digital Surround Sound audio system.

6- Cars

A computer-animated sports film released in 2006 and directed by John Lasseter. Cars won an Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film of the Year and a Grammy for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album. A movie with talking cars and personalities as loud as the roaring engine of race cars buzzing past. The ALTO nVELOP™ Digital Surround Sound audio system will make you feel as if you are on the road with Lightning McQueen.

 

5- Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

Directed by Peter Jackson, released in 2003. Return of the King received the Academy Award for Best Picture. It also won an Oscar for every one of the 11 categories it was nominated for, including Best Original Score, Best Original Song and Best Sound Mixing. Any of the Lord of the Rings films would certainly test your audio system’s capabilities. However, if you really want to hear the ALTO nVELOP™ Digital Surround Sound audio system shine, Return of the King stands out from the rest. In addition to the epic battle scenes and the collapse of Mordor, Return of the King brings to us one of the most memorable and chilling scenes in movie audio history when voices of the dead will echo throughout your cabin along with a haunting wind.

  

4- Saving Private Ryan

Released in 1998 and directed by Steven Spielberg, it is often considered one of the best Hollywood war films to date. Saving Private Ryan won the Oscar for Best Sound Effects Editing and Best Sound at the 71^st Academy Awards. The opening battle is one of the most spectacular and impressive battle sequences ever filmed. Spielberg puts you right in the middle of the chaos, with screaming, yelling, crying, shooting, and explosions all around you.

 3- Mad Max Films

George Miller wrote and directed all four of the Mad Max movies. The series has been well received by critics and continues to have an influence on many apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic movies. Sound tells a lot of the story in the original Mad Max, especially when there is no dialogue at all. The industrial soundscape reverberates throughout all of the films and makes these films an outstanding choice for an awesome surround sound listening experience.

2- Close Encounters of the Third Kind

A popular science-fiction film released in 1977 and directed by Steven Spielberg. Close Encounters won an Academy Award for Best Cinematography and a Special Achievement Award for Sound Effects Editing. With the ALTO nVELOP™ Digital Surround Sound audio system, you can actually hear the sound of the alien spacecraft moving as they fly past, the chatter on the government radios, and the amazing music as you are drawn into this alien spectacle.

1- Stars Films

 

And here it is! The winner of winners, Star Wars films, you got it, all of them! George Lucas was the director of all of the films, with the exception of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, directed by Irvin Kershner and Richard Marquand, respectively. The film series has won many awards, including Academy Awards for Best Original Score and Best Sound Mixing. Space battles as the ships whoosh past, lightsabers  all around you and your subwoofers booming as the Death Star is destroyed. The ALTO nVELOP™ Digital Surround Sound audio system brings the force to you.

Honorable Mention- Terminator Films

This science-fiction series of films, directed by James Cameron are known for the visual effects. However, the sound quality in the films cannot be ignored. Terminator films have won several awards including an Oscar for Best Sound and Best Sound Effects Editing. You can say “Hasta la vista baby!” to boring, flat sound, as you enter the world of the Terminator. The amazing range of the audio in these film will put your ALTO nVELOP™ Digital Surround Sound audio system to the ultimate listening test.

 

 Honorable Mention - Blade Runner

Directed by Ridley Scott and released in 1982, this sci-fi classic won several awards, including an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and a Golden Globe for Best original Score. Vangelis’ Main Titles is a classic. Sound designer, William Whittington created a new world of sound. With the ALTO nVELOP™ Digital Surround Sound audio system, you will be transported into the future and be left wondering what the sounds of the future actually hold.

 

 

Honorable Mention- THX-1138

And we had to include this science-fiction film, released in 1971, as George Lucas’ directorial debut. The sound design was so important in this film that George Lucas wound up naming a whole surround-sound system after it. This classic sci-fi film, sound engineered by Water Murch, with ahead of its time sound design, is sure to showcase its dimensional sound as was intended for you to hear it in the ALTO nVELOP™ Digital Surround Sound audio system.

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Do you agree with this list? What movies are in your top ten list? Share your thoughts today on the movies in this list, or if you have a favorite movie to showcase your audio system, let us know! #ALTOaviation Coming soon, ALTO Aviation top ten songs to test our amplifiers. Stay tuned!

ALTO Aviation launches new website: www.altoaviation.com

ALTO Aviation is pleased to announce the launch of our new updated website, www.altoaviation.com. The attractive new site has been designed with functionality and ease-of-use in mind to provide users access to detailed product and audio systems information, as well as the option for a more interactive experience via incorporated social networking sites and the new ALTO Blog.  

The ALTO website has been designed with the latest cross-platform technology, so the site is compatible with all browsers and mobile devices. In addition to improved accessibility, the website has been completely remodeled to create a fresh, new user-friendly design. With enhanced navigation, users can easily browse the ALTO Aviation portfolio of audio components and systems. Secured log in privileges now allow ALTO to better assist clients with their cabin audio needs.

Other key features of the site include a new graphic redesign, full product offering and a complete range of audio solutions, including ALTO’s latest audio systems and product catalogue. Technical data, floor samples and all essential product documentation are available to website users upon registering within the newly created MyALTO login. Current ALTO users have been directly transferred to the new site, and a new Suppliers Portal has been coded to allow access to exclusive documentation to ALTO Vendors.

The new website means that customers are now more connected with ALTO than ever before. Visitors can stay up to date with ALTO’s latest announcements, product innovations, and editorials in the enhanced News & Media section. Here, visitors can also check ALTO’s schedule of tradeshow events, sign up for the ALTO Resonance Newsletter, or meet the Executive Team. For the press community, ALTO’s new site provides complete Press Release & Advertising sections, as well as straightforward contact us features. An exciting, new component of the website is the innovative Careers portal. This feature allows users to access job, Co-op, and internship opportunities within the company.

 

Additionally, the new site allows users to share products and pages that interest them with others across Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Linkedln, YouTube and Instagram. Tweet your thoughts on the new ALTO Aviation website today! #ALTOsite

Aero-TV: Alto Aviation - AEA 2015 New Product Introduction

More bass, please.

Newcomer Sam Smith and veteran Beck dominated the 57th edition of the Grammy Awards. Other outstanding winners were my favorite Eddie Vedder, now under his pseudonym 'Jerome Turner' and Pearl Jam's Jeff Ament scoring Best Recording Package. Beyoncé took home Best Surround Sound Album.
 
As I was reviewing the winner list, I came across an interesting study by Alex Wilson, PhD Student at the Acoustics Research Centre, University of Salford, England. In his study, Mr. Wilson reflects on the fact that for the last thirty years, pop music has been... all about that bass.
 
Mr. Wilson came to this conclusion by analyzing trends in audio production, calculating audio features from 10 songs per year since the launch of the Compact Disc in 1982 and plotting the data against year of release. A revealing feature to look at is the bass (low-frequency content).

Mr. Wilson observed the percentage of the total spectral energy below 80 Hz (LF energy). This frequency was chosen because this is a typical crossover frequency for high-end studio subwoofers.

Figure 1. Frequency spectrum of All About That Bass by Meghan Trainor

The figure below uses LF Energy to demonstrate the gradual trend of increasing bass in music. 

Figure 2. Increase in bass (LF Energy) over 33 years

A quick Internet search reveals an insight into how we understood the term “bass” in 2014. The top result is the song, performed by Meghan Trainor, All About That Bass. Under the assumption that the song’s lyrics are literal and refer to preferred frequency balance in pop music, we can test the notion that All About That Bass is truly all about that bass and also has “no treble”.

As shown in Figure 2 above, however, the LF Energy value for Trainor’s song is right on the smoothed line, and so the amount of bass is typical for 2014. Perhaps it is simply the lyrics that draw our attention to the bass instruments in the mix. Perhaps these results can shed some light on the songs popularity – that the frequency content is not too much or not too little of any particular parameter and sits in the “Goldilocks Zone”, where conditions are perfect for a hit record.

There have been studies on the perception and preference of “exaggerated bass”. There are also a number of possible reasons for modern productions having more bass.

• While acoustic instruments would typically be quite large in order to generate low-frequencies (think of large drums or organ pipes), the increased use of electronic instruments and synthesis means this is no longer a restriction.
• Loudspeaker technology has improved such that we can reproduce these lower frequencies more easily in the home without the need for excessively large loudspeakers.
• Innumerable songs which refer to the Roland TR-808 drum machine, particularly it’s bass drum sound, as something desirable, since many experts agree that  “nothing sounds quite like an 808”.

This is supported by a recent study in which the spectral characteristics of pop music recording since 1950 were gathered [3]. This has shown that the amplitude has increased at low frequencies and the frequency at which the bass is loudest has also decreased. This is dependent on genre, with hip-hop showing the highest bass levels and the lowest for jazz, which may rely more on acoustic instruments. Perhaps unsurprisingly, pop music lies in the middle.

Bass content of different genres [3]

“All About That Bass” was nominated in the Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year categories at the 57^th Annual Grammy Awards. The winner of both categories was Sam Smith.  

References: Alex Wilson post 'All about that bass' 02.07.2015 https://acousticengineering.wordpress.com/author/alexwilsonaudio/




 

Audio Designed with your Aircraft in Mind

 

ALTO Aviation

Audio designed with your Aircraft in Mind.

 

 

An aircraft cabin at flight level is a particularly harsh environment with regard to audio quality and consistency. Each aircraft has unique acoustic characteristics and traditionally, audio quality is diminished as soon as it leaves the head unit, regardless of hardware quality.

 

Years ago, ALTO Aviation acoustic engineers revolutionized aircraft cabin audio by developing a way to acoustically map each specific model of aircraft and pair it with the unique needs and expectations of each listener. ALTO developed new speakers that ended the era of heavy, space limited speakers placed haphazardly around the cabin.

 

When it comes to deliver state of the art audio at 40,000 feet, ALTO Aviation leaves nothing to chance or assumption. Our proprietary software produces an acoustic model that allows our engineers to predict the interaction between all the audio components and overcome the challenging acoustics of the aircraft interior. The end result is a powerful, amazing audio experience.

 

Understanding every aspect of the demanding conditions that exist within the cabin of today's most sophisticated aircraft, is what has set ALTO Aviation apart. Our premium in-flight entertainment equipment including speakers, amplifiers, and passenger controls, are engineered specifically for business aircraft cabin applications.

 

We also understand that space is at a premium within your cabin. Our complete line of amplifiers and state of the art drivers, utilizing rare Earth magnets, deliver unrivaled sound quality with greatly reduced weight and size.

 

The sum of innovative cabin acoustic mapping and the highest quality components, equal a completely custom audio environment with performance rivaling even the best home entertainment systems.