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Beam Steering is Now Easier and More Intuitive Than Ever

Published: October 4, 2024
Renkus-Heinz’s latest beam steering advancement is the OmniBeam algorithm, which lives within its BeamWare software. Image courtesy Renkus-Heinz.

Several factors distinguish Renkus-Heinz in the audio world — its 45-year heritage, its DNA as a family business and its commitment to integrity, just to name a few — but a particularly notable differentiator is its embrace of beam steering technology to put sound exactly where it’s needed.

“From Renkus-Heinz’s perspective, this is really what sets us apart from the rest of the industry,” says Brandon Heinz, product manager, a third-generation family member working to build on the Renkus-Heinz legacy. The company often analogizes beam steering to a flashlight; the only difference is, instead of a narrowly focused beam of light, it instead produces a focused beam of sound. “If you can increase the signal-to-noise ratio [and] improve the direct-to-reverberant ratio — even in well-treated rooms — you’re going to get a better result,” Heinz observes. In short, beam steering, which Renkus-Heinz has invested in for about two decades, yields an elevated experience for audience members, regardless of how acoustically challenging an environment happens to be.

Renkus-Heinz’s OmniBeam Algorithm

Renkus-Heinz’s latest beam steering advancement is the OmniBeam algorithm, which lives within its BeamWare software. About two years ago, the company set out to develop an algorithm that would produce the most optimized set of FIR filter coefficients based on the loudspeakers, transducers and audience location. “We realized that there is a way to make this really, really simple,” Heinz says, stating that the team went to the drawing board and kicked off an initial development and software development process. “There was lots of iteration and lots of testing,” he recounts, noting that OmniBeam went through about 40 beta versions before the company was satisfied.

A foundational principle was to maximize ease and intuitiveness. “That’s where the workflow and the user interface came into play,” Heinz explains. “There was a lot of time spent on that interface and user experience to make sure that, when you first see it, you immediately get a sense of what to do and how to control the software to give you the results you’re looking for.” And that’s invaluable for channel partners like integrators, who are eager to reclaim time they’d otherwise be spending on optimizing the beam steering. Instead, they can spend those hours on other, more important project components.

“We are very happy with and proud of the end result,” Heinz enthuses. “We can’t wait to see what kind of projects people are able to pull off with this new software tool.”

How OmniBeam Works

To understand the benefits of OmniBeam, it’s worth underlining the transformative effects of beam steering itself. For any sound system designer, the lodestar is delivering an impeccable sonic experience to those in the audience. A cardinal virtue of beam steering is a consistency of coverage that’s difficult to achieve with more traditional loudspeaker systems. Indeed, according to Heinz, “Beam steering is a technology that we feel ultimately enables the best possible results in as many venues as possible.” OmniBeam lies at the heart of that. BeamWare software establishes the relationship of the loudspeaker and the audience area. Leveraging the OmniBeam algorithm, integrators can now manipulate two “aiming handles” from the top and bottom of the loudspeaker. Together, they specify the boundaries of the system’s coverage conditions.

Heinz dives into the technical nitty gritty, saying, “What happens under the hood is based on the relationship of the transducers, the polar responses of the transducers [and] the geometry of the room itself. It will generate an ideal set of coefficients for amplitude, frequency filtering and delay per amplifier channel.” (Note that every speaker within a beam-steered loudspeaker is addressed with its own amplifier and processor.) All together, this adds up to an exciting new reality: It’s now possible to shape a coverage pattern that puts the sound on the audience area, while minimizing reflections elsewhere and maximizing SPL and frequency response consistency, all in an easy and intuitive manner.

Extensive Testing, Positive Feedback

As noted, creating the OmniBeam algorithm was a multiple-year, iterative process. During that phase, the Renkus-Heinz brain trust kept things pretty close to the chest. Once the algorithm reached its final stages of refinement, the world got its first look. “We did have a fairly large round of beta testing with some of our distributors, some of our reps and even a few outside consultants,” Heinz recounts. With a smile, he adds, “From the very beginning, the results have been positive.” Much of the praise centered on OmniBeam’s ability to deliver incredible coverage right out of the gate. “OmniBeam enables you to very simply and intuitively adjust your coverage to optimize for your space,” he adds. “Even if you have to make adjustments, it’s fairly easy to do very quickly.”

And that ease and speed are foundational to the value proposition for integrators. Simply put, with BeamWare software and the OmniBeam algorithm, beam steering is now as uncomplicated as point-and-shoot loudspeakers. “With the ability to set up the space in software, click the ‘Snap to Audience’ button and then send your coefficients to your loudspeaker — all in a matter of seconds — it really helps to dramatically reduce the time investment of setting up and optimizing a sound system onsite or setting up and optimizing a sound system during the design process as you’re approaching a new project,” Heinz reflects. That frees up integrator personnel to tackle more projects, while conserving labor expenditure on onsite tuning and computer simulations.

“It’s enabling you to do more with the tools that you already have and love,” Heinz declares. “And, hopefully, that enables you to be more successful with the projects that you go into, all while delivering the best sonic quality to the listeners at the end.”

Renkus-Heinz Never Rests

Renkus-Heinz’s R&D team never rests on its laurels, and that means BeamWare software and the OmniBeam algorithm will no doubt further improve in the coming months. Although Heinz cannot divulge details yet, he does offer a teaser, saying, “There are definitely plans for, and work being done on, improvements to even further optimize the results [and] give people a few more tools to help shape things a little bit differently.” He frames this imperative for improvement as the reason Renkus-Heinz embarked on creating OmniBeam in the first place. “We want to push things farther and see what kind of further improvements we can make,” Heinz states. “Because leaning on that cutting-edge technology is what allows us to be successful.” Clearly, “status quo” is not a term in the Heinz family’s vocabulary!

As the OmniBeam algorithm earns acclaim for dramatically simplifying beam steering without sacrificing quality, Heinz appreciates the plaudits, and he eagerly anticipates OmniBeam’s further proliferation. “We’re incredibly happy with the way that this has been received by the community at large,” he concludes. “We’re just excited to see it filter into more and more people’s hands.”

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