ARIA Studio Demo Guide

Key Updates

• Audio player and plugin host developed specifically for your team - no virtual audio drivers needed
• AZ100 and AZ80 calibration completed and ready for immediate use (validation phase to follow)
• Rapid calibration process yielded excellent results - no significant changes expected based on device performance
• No one has used ARIA ONE yet and we are sure you'll encounter some bugs.

Demo Preparatory Work

Before the actual demonstration, complete these steps:

1. Complete a FullScale hearing test on your Android device: Android Hearing Test or iOS: iOS Hearing Test.
2. Download and install ARIA Studio (DSP app and plugin): Download ARIA Studio Windows or Download ARIA Studio Mac.
3. Download and install ARIA ONE (all-in-one app): Download ARIA ONE for Windows or Download ARIA ONE for Mac.

Key Demo Notes

1. Input audio at full volume. This means turn off volume normalization in your streaming app.
2. Aim for at least 2dB of gain reduction during the chorus of recently released highly compressed music, more for dynamic content.
3. Always blend your hearing profile. Load one of the factory profiles into hearing profile slot 2 to blend with your results.
4. The Pure Theory preset is a good starting point and what we would pick if required to select only one setup.
5. AI preset generation is included solely to test functionality. It lacks any AI prompt guidance or rules. Don't judge the wild results yet.

Demo Without A Hearing Test

You can immediately demo ARIA without conducting a hearing test by using our pre-made profiles. We've included one of our own profiles, the minimum profile, average profile, maximum profile, and averages by age groups. This allows you to see the wide distribution of hearing profiles and test the system immediately.

To use these profiles, open ARIA ONE and sign in with the Demo account credentials that were emailed to you.

Demo with ARIA ONE

ARIA ONE provides a simple way to experience personalized audio without the plugin's complexity. Follow these steps:

Tuning Steps

For the most effective demonstration, follow these sequential tuning steps:

1. Use the Preset Generator to find the appropriate shape of the filter based on the user's hearing profile.
2. Fine-tune the FILTER view (Multi-Band Editor) to make any necessary adjustments to the frequency response.
3. Adjust gain staging with the LOUD View to optimize dynamics processing for the specific content being played.

Mastering the Dynamics Controls

Fast and aggressive envelope

Slow and smooth envelope

The LOUD view and its parameters have a greater effect on your sound than your EQ by many factors:

• DRIVE sets the gain staging and magnitude of the gain reduction. This is your primary control for how hard the dynamics processing works.

• CHAR and TRANS interact to determine how the gain reduction sounds—from fast and aggressive to smooth and pulled-back.

• CHAR (Character) controls the sonic signature: 0 is most aggressive, 100 is most conservative.

• TRANS (Transient) determines the analysis window: lower values are fast and loud, higher values are smooth but quieter.

Tailor your settings based on content type—more compressed music requires more aggressive dynamics settings to hear the effect. For modern pop, aim for at least 2dB of gain reduction during chorus sections.

How to Decrease or Increase the Effect

During demonstrations, you may need to adjust the intensity of the effect for different listeners and content:

• To reduce the effect:
• Lower the DRIVE parameter to reduce the overall intensity of the correction
• Decrease CR UP to minimize boosting of frequencies with hearing deficits
• Use larger CHAR and TRANS values for smoother dynamics processing
• To intensify the effect:
• Increase DRIVE for more aggressive correction (monitor for distortion)
• Raise CR UP to enhance frequency areas with hearing deficits
• Use smaller CHAR and TRANS values for more aggressive dynamics processing

What to Listen For

When evaluating hearing correction technology, focus on these critical aspects:

• Music from different decades: Test with music released over the past 40 years to evaluate performance across various recording techniques and production styles.
• Stereo image integrity: Pay close attention to stereo image changes when applying any hearing correction. The sound should be properly centered at all frequencies—naturally centered content should stay centered, while off-center content should become properly centered for the listener.
• Dynamic range compression artifacts: Listen critically for the absence of pumping, breathing, or other compression-related issues while still maintaining effective dynamic control.
• Transient retention: Evaluate whether transients remain intact during processing. There should be no squashing of the audio, with all transients fully retained to preserve the natural attack of instruments and percussive elements.
• Detail retrieval: Listen for previously obscured elements like background vocals, subtle percussion, and ambient room sounds that should become more apparent with effective hearing correction.

Rule & AI Preset Generation

Understanding how our preset generation works will help you demonstrate ARIA's capabilities effectively:

• Pure Theory is like setting everything to 50%. It is the simplest approach and what we would recommend if forced to only offer one thing, with variation for limiter and drive settings.
• We have only just connected the AI and preset pipelines, so currently we have very basic rules and no true AI prompt guidance yet. Expect significant improvements in both the short and long term.
• Current presets are generated using rule-based algorithms that analyze your hearing profile and apply established audio engineering principles to create personalized settings.

Mobile Control Notes

For mobile control application considerations:

• We envision CR UP (correction up) and DRIVE (gain staging) as potentially being modifiable parameters via mobile controls.
• The rest is done with rule-based preset generation and can be accomplished with a single button to create multiple presets.
• Should a user desire absolute control, they can always use the ARIA Studio app to make a preset and push it to their earbuds.

Intellectual Property

The FullScale Hearing Test and ARIA Studio technology are covered by the pending patent PCT/US2024/036841.