Darren Straight's Blog

Bayan Audio has unveild its premier iPod/iPhone dock with a world-first twin amplifier set-up driving a monster 120W of sound power.

The unique and contemporary Bayan 7 speaker dock for iPod and iPhone delivers balanced, pure acoustics across an impressively wide frequency spectrum1. Effectively squeezing the best out of any audio source it blasts music to a new dimension with superior definition, depth and zero distortion even at high volume.

Beautifully designed in the UK, the Bayan 7 is built from an efficient combination of quality, organic materials and sound-enhancing components which result in a truly natural soundstage.

The Bayan 7 demonstrably outperforms far more expensive speaker docks2, with a near-flat frequency range allowing even untrained ears to pick out subtle notes they never knew existed in those all-time favourite tunes.

Key Features

• 120W sound power output through twin amplifiers
• Dual iPod/ iPhone docking points
• Five way 2.1 channel stereo speaker configuration
• Wide frequency response gets the best from your audio source
• 8” subwoofer for pure deep rich bass
• 12mm solid wood casing for strength and acoustic efficiency
• Natural and realistic soundstage
• Apple certified with support for iPod, iPhone and iPad
• 3.5mm jack to connect other audio sources
• Charge and play functionality (USB at rear for iPad)
• Voice Mode option for audiobooks & podcasts
• IR Remote controller

Whether you’re into heavy rock, pop or opera, the choice of speaker can make or break the track. Using a designer combination of high-tech 120W twin amplifier technology and a five-way 2.1 channel speaker configuration  with 8” rumbling subwoofer, 2” mid-range and 1” tweeters the Bayan 7 delivers a winning combination of a near-perfect frequency range, natural sound and loud yet defined audio.

What’s more, certified Apple compatibility with Charge & Play functionality offers total peace of mind that your Apple iPhone, iPod or tablet will keep on going for hours of listening pleasure. 

Wide sound with twin amplifiers and 5-way speaker set-up:

Amplifier Quality and Configuration:  Twin amplifiers have been carefully engineered to channel complex and broad spectrum sound, delivering a party-pleasing 120W power performance with depth, definition and zero distortion. One amplifier drives four mid/ high-range speakers whilst the second is dedicated to bass output, and both have been built with the highest quality components for the perfect breadth of rich sound. Such premium amplifier technology is usually only seen in products costing upwards of £500 but is integrated into the Bayan 7 and other single-amp products in the Bayan range, ensuring that you can enjoy wide-frequency natural sound reproduction that is noticeably superior to other products with a comparable or even higher price tag.

Five-Way Speaker Combination: A five-way 2.1 channel stereo speaker configuration is comprised of an 8” bass speaker for weighty deep notes, two 2” long throw mid-range drivers (which oscillate over a greater distance to provide increased output) and two 1” wide projection tweeters for tight sharp high-notes (each of which has been framed in metal, not plastic). This powerful combination makes the Bayan 7 delicately tuned to offer superb balance and an authentic soundstage, bringing each note alive and creating a realistic representation of where instruments would be on-stage for a live sense of presence in the room.

Twin Charge and Play ports for hours of listening:

Twin Ports: The Bayan 7 features twin ports on the front for docking two Apple iPod or iPhone devices at once, and allow simultaneous charging of both. What’s more, family members can switch between songs across both devices without swapping docks or files, so everyone’s music taste can be catered for without compromise. 

Charge and Play: In the fast-paced world of today, battery life will be a concern of the past, with handy Charge & Play supported by the Bayan 7. This time-saving feature works not only with the two iPod/ iPhone ports at the front of the device, but also for any iPad/ tablet connected via the rear 3.5mm/ USBA port too.  You can drift away for hours, with the safe knowledge that when you head out the door, the phone or tablet will be fully charged and ready to go.

Natural acoustic-boosting materials and construction quality:

Speaker Housing: Unlike flexing plastic, the rigid 12mm solid wood casing offers not just a design edge, but helps to reduce energy dissipation from the speaker (ensuring it is delivered as sound rather than vibration within the enclosure to produce a far more lucid output) and improves the overall efficiency of the speaker drivers to deliver a wider response.

Speaker Quality:  The Bayan 7’s quality is driven from the roots; fundamental to this is the use of high grade speaker drivers and materials instead of lower cost components that require digitally-enhancing software. Bayan use cast steel speaker frames that enable the drivers to oscillate far more efficiently and ensure minimal energy dissipation, allowing the speakers to produce the widest range of sound that they are designed for with minimum loss.

This intelligent mix of natural and technical components delivers absorbingly pure audio with a near-flat frequency response. The result is a natural, broad soundstage and refreshing when compared to systems using alternative technologies that result in a synthesised sound, which can prove tiring on the ears.

Control your music with IR remote and music profiles:

Alongside an acoustic experience which delivers your favourite feel-good tracks with full force and emotion, the Bayan also provides a flexible and easy-to-control way to manage your song choices. 

IR Remote: All Bayan products bundle a IR remote control as standard, which offers full control from the comfort of your favourite listening spot, including track control (play, pause, skip), volume control and mute, adjustment for bass/ treble and the option to put the unit into standby mode simply by lifting a finger.

Voice mode: The Bayan 7 allows you to switch from Music to Voice mode, an intelligent option which delivers perfect clarity and more pronounced voice whilst listening to audiobooks, podcasts or radio. The power indicator on the top of the unit will change colour to ensure it is always clear which setting has been selected.

Environmentally-friendly materials add green luxury:

Colour: Available in slick black or brilliant white and housed within stunning solid wood, the Bayan 7 promises a contemporary touch for any room inside the home.

Materials: Each product in the Bayan range has been designed not just for keen ears, but with the environment in mind too. Eco-friendly materials are used where possible for internal components (all lead-free), so the Bayan range uses much less plastic than many competitors. This green approach runs through every aspect right down to the product packaging, which has been constructed from recyclable card. Even traditional polythene has been replaced by recycled cloth bags for a hint of green luxury. 

Apple certified with support for a host of audio devices:

Bayan is an Apple licensed partner, and all systems used to connect Apple devices use authentic Apple parts including certain control components, and the finished product has been tested and certified to Apple standards.

What’s more, the Bayan 7 has been approved with Apple’s stringent TDMA Noise Rejection tests, promising stable listening which won’t be interrupted by any irritating buzzing caused by interference from mobile phones and other radio transmitters when in use.

The Bayan 7 is thoughtfully designed to be compatible with a whole host of audio devices, including:

Docking through each of the two front connections:

• Apple iPod
• Apple iPhone

 Connection via USBA/3.5mm socket tucked neatly away to the rear:

• Apple iPad
• Tablet computers
• Smartphones
• MP3/MP4 players
• Laptops/PC/Netbooks
• *CD/DVD Players

This well-known seal of approval and extensive compatibility with a range of devices means you can rest assured and take maximum confidence in the quality and reliability of the versatile Bayan range.

Pricing and Availability:

The Bayan 7 is £299 inc VAT RRP, and is available from www.bayanaudio.com.

Memo, Barney, Robin and Ian from Studio Output have recently been funded by Sony’s PlayStation@Store to make a series of movie related videos using ‘Immersive Imaging’ which takes 3D projection mapping as its starting point, but gives the viewer a supercharged experience with the help of the PlayStation Move controller.

In the past, projection mapping worked only from a single, static view point, and thus was very limited. By attaching the PlayStation Move to the camera, they  tracked projections to screens in real time, enhancing the effect of spatial deformation and false perspective on the projections and allowing viewers to look round (virtual) corners, bend walls, create a hole in the wall, or remove the walls altogether to reveal vast expanses of virtual worlds.

 A few facts about Video Store of PlayStation Store. It’s basically a movie service where you can rent or buy all the latest blockbusters, most of them in 1080p HD movies. They also have a good back catalogue with more and more titles in 1080p HD too. Great value with titles available to rent from £1.99.

Below are some production notes about these videos and of course further down the actual videos!

Production Notes:

We are bringing a living room set to life through the use of combining projection mapping and traditional special effects.

We have covered a living room with projectors, so we can project on all surfaces. We have also rigged various props in the set with pyrotechnics, triggers, booby traps etc, so synchronised to the projected effects we can also trigger physical effects. E.g. a projected deformation in the table can knock over a real glass of water which in turn spills projected water, blurring the boundaries of virtual vs physical.

The whole thing is filmed with a moving camera – (a steadicam). We use this to really enhance the effect of spatial deformation and false perspective on the projections, e.g. looking round (virtual) corners, bending the walls, or creating a hole / tunnel in the wall, or removing the walls altogether to reveal a vast expanse. Technically to be able to alter the false perspective like this we create all of the content so that it runs and renders in realtime (as opposed to pre-rendered content).

We do this by developing our own software using a combination of proprietary in-house software, open-source software, and the Unity game engine. Also we we need to track the camera, so just as an added bonus we decided to do that using Playstation Move technology.

We use multiple Playstation Move Controllers strapped onto our steadicam and multiple Playstation EyeToy cameras scattered around the set tracking our cameraman and our custom software adjusting the projections in realtime accordingly. We also need to track our hero so we can adjust our projections accordingly, again this is done using custom software developed in the open-source toolkit open Frameworks and opencv.

And as an extra “The Most Immersive Movie Experience EVER — Making Of Version”