BSS Debuts FDS-366T at AES

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BSS Audio's new FDS-366T adds an entirely new generation of audio filters to the Omnidrive Compact Plus.

The two new filter types for the FDS-366T are designed around the Australian WHISEWORKS - Neville Thiele Method filters. These filters are comparable to Linkwitz-Riley 36dB/oct and 48db/oct, but with improved performance and steeper roll-off slopes of 36dB and 52dB per octave, respectively.

Highlights include:

• Unique filter topology 'speeds-up' the roll-off slope
• Like the Linkwitz-Riley topology, it maintains zero phase difference between adjacent bands throughout the crossover region (no polar pattern shift as frequencies move through the crossover region)
• Maintains a flat magnitude response when acoustically summed

The main advantage of the greater roll-off slope is that loudspeaker designers should be able to open up the bandwidths of drivers and obtain greater efficiency over the frequency range. Most setups that use Linkwitz-Riley crossovers could be substituted by the WHISEWORKS - NTM filters. It should not be necessary to readjust any other settings, although speaker manufacturers and other high-tech users may be able to further optimize crossover frequencies when using the new filters.

The FDS-366T builds upon the features of the original 366 in that the high-performance 96 kHz sample rate combined with 24-bit A/D/A conversion yields a dynamic range of greater than 114 dB. AES/EBU digital input, Alignment Assistant, Automatic phase compensation, and three inputs/six outputs round out this tour sound tool.

Existing FDS-366 owners can upgrade to V2.0 by registering their units on the BSS Audio website.

For more information, visit their web site at www.bss.co.uk.