The only existence that delivers the "original sound" of J-POP artists such as Ling Tosite Sigure and Pierre Nakano The reason why AVIOT makes earphones "for the Japanese"

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Photo = Hisako Hagi

An audio product that is indispensable when enjoying entertainment content such as music and video. What kind of planning launch thoughts and developer efforts are packed into many products such as earphones and speakers? In the series "Behind the Maker that Supports Entertainment," audio writer Kazuya Orihara approaches the back of the maker and unravels the development story. [Photo] Wireless earphones in collaboration with Pierre Nakano AVIOT is developing products by focusing on completely wireless earphones (TWS) with the concept of "incorporating the voice of the artist into the device". Ling Tosite Sigure Pierre Nakano, Kaela Kimura, Awesome City Club, Morning Musume. With the cooperation of artists who support the J-POP scene, such as '21, we continue to deliver earphones to music fans. Why are you focusing on TWS and continuing to make products? While competition from Western and Chinese manufacturers is fierce, what is the value unique to Japanese manufacturers provided by AVIOT? We talked to Preseed Japan, which develops and sells everything from the background of brand launch to the commitment to product development. Preceed Japan Production and Development Headquarters General Manager: Kengo Iwasaki Development Team Member: Sota Ikunaga ・ Focus on TWS because "digital processing can be performed until just before the sound exit" Orihara: AVIOT is one of the audio equipment manufacturers. There is an image of an emerging brand. First of all, please tell us about AVIOT and Preseed Japan, the publisher. Kengo Iwasaki (hereinafter referred to as Iwasaki): Preceed Japan is a wireless audio manufacturer. Initially established as a planning company, then in 2018, we launched our first crowdfunding product, "TE-D01b". Talking about the background, I was originally an employee of a Japanese audio maker, stationed in China, Germany, the United Kingdom and other countries. What I felt there was that there are countries where Japanese audio sells and countries where it does not. Sales in Germany are good, and customers have evaluated it as "good sound quality," "multifunctionality," and "cheap price," but it doesn't sell at all in the UK. After being stationed in Germany for four or five years, I was tasked with rebuilding the United Kingdom. At that time, I asked a local staff member to listen to an audio product brought in from Japan, but the product that is highly evaluated in Germany is not evaluated at all. This was bad, so I went to a local graduate school and studied all the subjects related to audio equipment, language, and voice. What I saw there was the difference in sound frequency between languages. There are various theories about Japanese frequencies (passbands), but the overlapping frequencies are close to 150 to 2,000 hertz and German to 200 to 3,500 hertz, but in the case of British English. Is quite different at around 2,000 to 12,000 hertz. So I started a project to study what is most audible to the British ears, and as a result I was able to develop a product that is highly regarded in the UK. From that experience, I learned that the comfortable sound differs depending on the country and language (native language), so even in Japan, I wanted to deliver the most comfortable and clear sound for people whose native language is Japanese. Has been developed and reproduced with AVIOT products. Orihara: It seems that AVIOT entered the TWS market at an earlier stage than other manufacturers. What was the background? Iwasaki: It was 2016 when I started thinking about entering the TWS market. Around the time Apple's AirPods went on sale, innovators in marketing's chasm theory were jumping at TWS. Although it was expensive, it sold like a fly, and I felt that the era of TWS would not come. However, at the same time, there was a concern that it would not be known whether it would spread considering the price. Therefore, when we made products, we had planned from that time to take a strategy of keeping prices down and taking market share at once. Therefore, I decided to start as a distributor of TWS manufacturers and build a market. That is October 2016. Although I had a dream of making products by myself, I had no financial resources, a small company, and no engineers, so my strategy is to solidify my foothold as an agency. After that, I was able to become independent as a manufacturer, so in 2018 I announced "TE-D01b" by crowdfunding. At that time, TWS was beginning to take root at the stage when Apple's AirPods were also becoming popular, but we decided to become a price leader as an audio maker. Orihara: At AVIOT, for example, you are focusing on wireless TWS without making wired earphones. Is there any reason for this? Iwasaki: It's all about being able to digitally process until just before the sound exit. In wired, the player who plays music is also involved in sound quality. In that respect, TWS can simply deliver sound to the exit, so we are particular about how to increase the degree of integration of the internal SoC and how to shorten the signal path, which is also the basis of audio, to improve the purity of sound. I can. Since we are a small company, we cannot compete with major manufacturers with comprehensive strength, and we cannot win even if we compete head-on with Chinese manufacturers that sell low prices. Therefore, I decided to narrow down to niches, concentrate investment in TWS, and fight in that. Also, from the time of entry, I predicted that music files will become high resolution in the next 5 to 10 years, and the era of listening to them wirelessly will come. Therefore, I decided not to work on wired products. Orihara: At AVIOT's TWS, I think we are ahead of other manufacturers by introducing the latest technology, such as adopting Qualcomm's latest SoC from the beginning. Why is it possible? Iwasaki: Since I was working with ERATO, which had been using Qualcomm's SoC since the dawn of 2016, information came in from an early stage. Therefore, from the beginning, we searched for engineers who can design using Qualcomm's SoC and factories that can produce, and we have teamed up with the found company to the present.・ In order to emphasize "texture", materials that do not easily transmit radio waves are also used. Orihara: You mentioned earlier that you cannot compete with Chinese manufacturers in terms of price, but in recent years, high-performance and low-priced products such as online shopping. Is increasing. What is the difference between these products and AVIOT earphones? Iwasaki: First of all, the biggest difference is that we are tuning according to the hearing characteristics of people whose mother tongue is Japanese. In addition to the technical aspects, we are particular about the texture of the product and the sense of ownership that makes you want to pick it up. In terms of price, we cannot compete with Chinese manufacturers, so we are researching painting techniques and competing with the goodness of making. Taking "TE-D01gv" as an example, in the case of low-priced products, the case is often just painted on plastic, but this product paints mica, which is also used for car painting. It is mixed with and finished in a glittering design. In addition, the lower part of the product has a matte finish, but it is also processed so that it does not easily get dirty and is not slippery to hold in your hand. In addition, metallic parts are used for the earphone body. Since these materials are difficult to transmit radio waves, we would like to avoid them if we prioritize reception sensitivity, but our products must have a texture that can be transmitted the moment they are picked up. To that end, we are devising ways to increase reception sensitivity while using materials that do not allow radio waves to pass through. Orihara: You can see that we were developing while maintaining a fine balance between design and function. Did you actually stick to the development stage? Sota Ikunaga (hereinafter referred to as Ikunaga): As for the design, it is an area where we are working on the same level as the sound quality, so we will cover various aspects such as painting, texture, gloss, and color change when exposed to light. It is finished in consideration. In the case of sound quality, if you design and tune it, all you have to do is mass-produce it, but in the case of painting, the finish will be completely different depending on the lot, so even after production starts, whether it deviates from the target color, etc. We are always chasing and producing. Orihara: "TE-D01i" is a product for women, but it also fits men's ears quite well. And it has a unique shape. How did this shape come about? Iwasaki: "TE-D01i" is a special shape made by our staff measuring the ear patterns of people working at earphone specialty stores nationwide. The dent on the buttocks is designed to fit the bulge of the ear so that the nozzle of the earphone body is thin and fits in the outer ear. As you said, this unique design tailored to Japanese people has received a lot of feedback from male customers.・ Collaboration with artists has been tied up with various artists, including Mr. Orihara: Pierre Nakano, in order to deliver their "real original sound". Please tell us the reason. Iwasaki: With AVIOT earphones, it is now possible to realize sounds that match the auditory characteristics of people whose native language is Japanese, based on the theory of acoustic engineering. However, even if it is OK in terms of acoustic engineering, that alone is not enough. You really have to make sure this is what the artists want to hear and express. Therefore, at AVIOT, I wanted to close the distance with the artist and realize how to convey the soul contained in the music. At first, I went around the recording studio to use the product. But if you're in a recording studio, you're a professional mixer and masterer. It is the artist who knows the true original sound. So, I approached the artists and asked, "Is this the sound you are playing?" And decided to reproduce the sound. Orihara: Recreating the original sounds of various artists feels like a daunting task. In addition to the regular model, we have also released a "collaboration model" that has fully teamed up with the artist. Have you seen anything during the development of both models? Ikunaga: The tuning method of the artist collaboration model is different from that of other products. Since the normal model is AVIOT's original "Japan Tuned", I mainly listen to and tune hundreds of J-POP songs. Since J-POP is produced based on various genres such as jazz and funk, we must aim to create sound that does not break down in any song. On the other hand, in the case of an artist collaboration model, the artist's worldview is required, so fine tuning that is close to each person is required. In order to pursue a more ideal sound, we are trying to tune with a firm intention so that we can express "sounds beyond the original sound" that cannot be produced by playing. Orihara: There are many artist collaboration models such as "Piyahon", "TE-BD21f-pnk", "TE-D01d-pnk", "TE-BD21j-pnk", "WE-BD21d-pnk", which collaborated with Mr. Pierre Nakano. But how are these specifically made? Iwasaki: As I mentioned earlier, there are areas in audio that cannot be reached by acoustic engineering theory alone. It can be "taste", realism, or speed. In particular, Mr. Nakano is a famous drummer, so when you hit a bass drum, for example, you should carefully calculate and hit the point of how it links with other sounds. Therefore, there should be no slight deviation. It is necessary to find out what to do to eliminate the deviation. Therefore, we create a number of sound patterns and tune them in an extremely analog way so that they can be listened to many times. Mr. Nakano has been involved in making TWS sounds since the early days of the brand's establishment, so he is not at the level of making a dedicated equalizer. He participates in sound making from the stage of the material of the unit inside the earphone and the acoustic structure of the earphone. Orihara: Pierre Nakano's collaboration model has been released only in TWS so far, but the recent collaboration model "WE-BD21d-pnk" is semi-wireless. Why did you suddenly make a semi-wireless? Iwasaki: The starting point was when Mr. Nakano contacted me when Clubhouse, a voice SNS, started to become popular, and asked, "Are there any earphones with good microphone performance?" Due to the structure of TWS, the microphone is far from the mouth, but if you make it semi-wireless, you can put the microphone on the remote control part of the cable, so you can bring it closer to the mouth. I thought that I could make something that could be used as a headset for telework and games, so I decided to work on development. When I proposed to Mr. Nakano to make it as a derivative model of the existing model "WE-BD21d", there was a request that "then I want you to change the microphone and remote control". Mr. Nakano gave various opinions about changing to semi-wireless, such as "Let's change the cable coating to reduce touch noise" and "Let's use OFC cable", so we are designing by incorporating them. .. Ikunaga: We are particular about the placement of the microphone, and the design is such that the length that is most accessible to the mouth when used by Japanese people is calculated. The microphone is also a newly designed high-sensitivity microphone, and everywhere has changed to the extent that it is a different model from the "WE-BD21d". Also, since it has a magnet, it can be worn around the neck when not in use, making it suitable for telework. Iwasaki: We often receive unexpected requests from Mr. Nakano, but Mr. Nakano reads the voices of the market such as SNS very much. Therefore, we know the most about the requests from our customers. I think Mr. Nakano's request is synonymous with the customer's request.・ I want to make IoT products in the healthcare field in the future Orihara: Please tell us about the products that AVIOT wants to make in the future. Iwasaki: Our brand name, AVIOT, is a combination of the acronyms "Internet of Things" and "Audio Visual." This name also has a lot of thought in it, but in the future I would like to make IoT products in the healthcare field. Earphones are meant to be inserted into the ear canal, but the head has many of the human sensory functions. Given that fact, I think earphones could be a device that has the potential to acquire the most data as a wearable. Ikunaga: I think that health care is not a purpose but a future that will reach nature, and we are already developing products aimed at expanding human physical abilities. Therefore, we will continue to strive to develop devices that fit the body as much as possible, such as fittings that can be worn for a long time, designs that make you look more beautiful, and sound quality that does not make you tired of listening.

Real sound editorial department