This is the beginning of our 17th year of expanding the acoustical palette. Digital technology has touched almost every aspect of our lives. From its founding, RPG has utilized digital acoustics to provide innovative AcousticTools™ to the architectural acoustics industry. Today, our Complete Digital Acoustical Palette offers acousticians the widest choice of tools in the industry. We invite you to use these tools to improve your designs in the new millenium.

Marilyn M. Talley, Accounts Receivable Clerk
Marilyn has 22 years of experience in office procedures and bookkeeping. Before joining the RPG staff in August 1999, she used her skills to train and set up bookkeeping departments for food service groups under Restaurant System Management. She spent several years as the Museum Program Scheduler for the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. She enjoys visiting museums and other places of historical interest, reading and hiking. Marilyn's primary responsibility is Account Receivables.

J.Michael Sugatan, Design Engineer
Michael has 1-1/2 years of CAD experience in design assistance and design engineering. Before joining the RPG staff in June 1998, he used his 3-dimensional conceptual talent in the medical field. Michael graduated from the John's Hopkins School of Radiology and worked as a professional radiographer at the Anne Arundel Medical Center, specializing in surgical radiology. He enjoys the great outdoors including mountain biking, stream fishing, and off-road camping trips. In addition, Michael is an audiophile at heart. Working at RPG has introduced him to the importance of acoustics and he is working on the design of his home listening room. Michael's primary responsibility is AutoCAD design, product application assistance, product engineering, shop drawings and job estimating.

RPG Factory Summer Shutdown
This year RPG will close its production facility during the week of August 14-20th. We announce this early so that all of our specifiers, clients and representatives can plan their orders and deliveries accordingly.

Diffuse Seminars
RPG is now offering regular educational seminars for acousticians, sound contractors, home theater system integrators, architects, and other specifying consultants to apprise the industry of our research, new products, application assistance, and an introduction to RPG's new Room Optimizer™, Shape Optimizer, and CATT Acoustics software. The press is also welcome.

The response to these educational seminars has been very enthusiastic and current seminar dates are available. If you are interested in attending, please e-mail to info@rpginc.com, contact your local rep or call Jeff Angel at 301-249-0044.

CATT-Acoustics Version 7.2e is Released
Updates with additions and bug-fixes including an up to date Manual addendum are now available. Note that it is the date of the update rather than the current date that determines if your license permits a free update (if your key expires e.g. (yymmdd) 990710 you are entitled to an update dated anything before 990710 even if the current date is after 990710). For more information on what is new in V7.2e, you can consult the CATT Acoustic Web site.

A new directivity format (SD2) is available and offers array modeling (very high resolution distance dependent directivity) and a very general handling of directivity. SD2 offers a much higher degree of accuracy than the 10-degree "industry standard". The DDI interface is prepared for the new proposed high-resolution AES standard, but lets a manufacturer offer high-resolution data even before a new file-format is agreed on. It also offers data hiding and hiding of intellectual property for DSP-controlled arrays or other special designs. For further details download the white paper in PDF format.

SIAP in North America
As our society moves from a single-purpose to a multi-purpose facility mentality, the need for variable acoustics and in particular active electronic architecture becomes the most prudent alternative. Electronic architecture essentially uses loudspeakers to simulate natural reflections, which arrive at times and directions missing in the actual room. These "electronic" reflections are naturally at very low levels and hence the loudspeakers can actually be called "softspeakers". The "softspeakers", amplification and digital processor must, however, be able to accommodate the wide dynamic range of music without distortion. In an enhancement system, the auditory system is constantly comparing the natural acoustic sound with the electronically generated reflections and hence, high fidelity is essential. In addition, the processor must be able to supply software routing to allow for complete flexibility of design. SIAP represents the next generation of processors in that it generates simulated reflections digitally and does not use feedback or time-variation for stability. Thus the designer can choose the time component of this envelope to achieve the desired goal. SIAP is a unique processor and can also be used to improve speech intelligibility as well as creating almost any desired sonic environment. To learn more, download the "Using Acoustic Enhancement to Improve Speech Intelligibility" PDF, available in the RPG Acoustics Library

To complete our Digital Acoustic Palette, RPG is collaborating with the Systems for Improved Acoustical Performance, SIAP, to bring this powerful system to North America. Installations now include the Vivian Beaumont Theater, Lincoln Center, New York, the Ahmanson Theater, Los Angeles, California and final tuning is nearing completion in the 9,000 seat Southeast Christian Church, Louisville, Kentucky. Find out more about the history of electronic architecture and how the SIAP can provide variable acoustics at the push of a button.