Shure has long been a provider of strong audio equipment for the corporate space. When we found out that the company would be showing off its powerful new Microflex Advance table and ceiling microphones, we hopped on a train and headed to New York City to sneak a peek at the new technology. And we weren’t disappointed.
“Microflex Advance is unique because it combines the deep roots of expertise Shure has demonstrated in both the acoustic and digital signal processing domains,” says Rob Klegon, associate manager, global product management at Shure. “However, in building this system we knew we had to go beyond pure technical innovation to meet the needs of today’s corporate environments. As a result, each feature of Microflex Advance is engineered to provide best-in-class performance, from the acoustics and digital signal processing, to the usability and aesthetic design.”
The Microflex Advance Ceiling Array is a premium networked array microphone that captures best-in-class audio from above the meeting space with Shure proprietary Steerable Coverage technology, enabling up to eight lobes that are configurable in three dimensions. The Microflex Advance Table Array captures high-quality audio and provides flexibility in varying A/V conferencing environments. Within the onboard IntelliMix DSP Suite, the Company’s proprietary Steerable Coverage technology deploys up to four discrete audio channels around a table
One of the most impressive pieces of info about these new devices is that Shure has created a new pattern for audio capture that both the table and ceiling arrays utilize. The patent-pending “toroid” ring-shaped pattern helps to reject unwanted artifacts from overhead, such as HVAC or projector fans, while maintaining intelligibility from participants around the table.
Along with the microphones comes an advanced user interface for integrators to customize the microphones. The table and ceiling mics have multiple zones of coverage, and each can be set to aim toward a different area or use a different pattern to pick up audio. An integrator (or qualified employee) can customize the templates to fit a room’s needs, and then set them as presets for end users to choose based on the layout of the room. Those presets can then be connected to a touchpad within the room in order to choose the right preset. So, say you have a conference room that doubles as a classroom. When set up as a conference area, preset 1 can be chosen. When tables and chairs are moves to make it into a classroom, preset 2 can be chosen. And so on and so forth.
But why tell you when we can show you. In the following videos, taken at the Shure Microflex Briefing, Shure employees demonstrate the ability of the mics as well as the customization they allow. Apologies for the less-than-stellar production value, I’m a journalist, not a director. But in the following videos you’ll see the presets in action. Make sure you toss your headphones in, you’re going to want to experience the full depth of the Microflex intelligibility.
Watch: Demonstration of Shure’s Microflex Advance Table Array Microphone
Watch: Demonstration of Shure’s Microflex Advance Ceiling Array Microphone
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