Saw the GTN 650/750, experienced 3D audio panel

TangoWhiskey

TangoWhiskey

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Went to a Garmin avionic's dealer's Open House last night, and was able to experience the new Garmin GTN 650 and 750. Was supposed to go fly it, in Garmin's experimental Mooney, but we had tornadic supercells nearby, so flights got scrubbed.

The "coolest part" was not the 650/750 (which was cool), but Garmin's new GMA350 audio panel (not sure if it's been announced yet). It features voice recognition and an incredible "3D" audio feature that works with any stereo headset, spatially projecting discreet audio inputs. You literally hear ATC in the front left, ATIS from COM2 from the front right, your copilot from the left, and passengers from the right or left rear, all at the same time if you choose, making it very simple to pick out and focus on particular audio feeds. I imagine you'll get to sample this at OSH--if you get the chance, put on the headset and hear it first hand. Hearing it first hand made me a believer in the concept. You can see it in the video below at 7:00 in.

 
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How do they keep the touch screens from getting covered in fingerprints? The audio sounds way cool.
 
steingar said:
How do they keep the touch screens from getting covered in fingerprints? The audio sounds way cool.
Click to expand...

I'm sure it will get covered in finger prints; before I turned on the video and started recording, he showed us how you can put it in screen cleaning mode, which locks the screen from any inputs for xx seconds so you can give it a good wipe-down without activating any features.

Another pilot there (non-Garmin employee) said he flew up to Dallas from Austin the day before, in bumpy weather, and had no problems with the touchscreen and actually found it faster and easier to use than the knobs. That's also what I'm reading in reviews.
 
The stuff you can do with binaural signal processing (which is what makes the 3D audio work) is amazing. If you ever get a chance to try a true binaural recording made with a dummy head microphone (and there are some out there), put on a set of headphones and try it.

I remember at the AES show sometime in the 1980s a recording of a haircut - you put on the headphones and it was freaky hearing the scissors fly around your head.
 
So it sounds like this takes Avidyne R9 and takes it up another notch (or three).
 
I think I saw the same experimental Mooney this evening. I thought the new unit was pretty impressive. The touch screen seems robust enough to stand up to use, and the logic of the unit seemed easy enough to follow.

IMG_2503.JPG


One funny thing I learned was that the FAA has mandated a few things that make no sense to me... For instance, our CTAF at 5C1 is 123.0. Well, in the new unit, you have to type in 12300 and then enter for it to work. The rep said that they tried to avoid that, but the FAA wouldn't let 'em. That was about my worst "squawk" - and pretty minor, not the unit's fault. I personally look forward to getting to use it someday in the future. The new logic with the flight plan vs. direct to is also good, in my opinion. The unit's ability to chart and select airways seems very useful, and the integration is amazing.

Oh, and the Garmin rep said that with the number of 430 and 530 units sold, they expect to support them at least another 15 years or more, as long as the "lifetime" buys of parts hold out.

Ryan
 
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TangoWhiskey said:
Went to a Garmin avionic's dealer's Open House last night, and was able to experience the new Garmin GTN 650 and 750. Was supposed to go fly it, in Garmin's experimental Mooney, but we had tornadic supercells nearby, so flights got scrubbed.

The "coolest part" was not the 650/750 (which was cool), but Garmin's new GMA350 audio panel (not sure if it's been announced yet). It features voice recognition and an incredible "3D" audio feature that works with any stereo headset, spatially projecting discreet audio inputs. You literally hear ATC in the front left, ATIS from COM2 from the front right, your copilot from the left, and passengers from the right or left rear, all at the same time if you choose, making it very simple to pick out and focus on particular audio feeds. I imagine you'll get to sample this at OSH--if you get the chance, put on the headset and hear it first hand. Hearing it first hand made me a believer in the concept. You can see it in the video below at 7:00 in.

Click to expand...

Wouldn't I want to hear my copilot from the right?
 
TangoWhiskey said:
I'm sure it will get covered in finger prints; before I turned on the video and started recording, he showed us how you can put it in screen cleaning mode, which locks the screen from any inputs for xx seconds so you can give it a good wipe-down without activating any features.
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Why bother? Seems like it would be easier to just clean it in between flights when the thing is on the ground and powered down.

I've used touch screen radar consoles on ships that were powered up for weeks at a time and even with all the greasy fingerprints from multiple people using them 24 hrs a day, they still worked fine.

In any given flight, the thing shouldn't accumulate enough grease to effect the operation unless you poured Aero Shell all over your fingers before startup.
 
denverpilot said:
Quadraphonic dude!!! ;)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadraphonic_sound

Pass the Doritos.
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Naw.. Quadrophonic tries to reproduce with four speakers what binaural gets with headphones, all because of the amazing things that happen with reflections and phase changes because of the shape of our ears and the anatomy of our heads.

If you listen to a binaural concert recording - you can hear the guy shifting in his seat two rows back and three seats to right, and tell EXACTLY where he is. You can hear the sounds of the chandeliers in the concert hall being raised above your head, and determine their vertical position.

Quad, while cool, doesn't come close. But I'm an old audio geek who did studio work back when razor blades were used for splicing tape instead of chopping cocaine.
 
Totally understand. Just having fun.

We all need that fancy surround sound the gamers have so they can hear which direction the virtual bullet to the skull they just got taken out with, came from. ;)

I'm a chronic "listen to ten audio sources at once" type of person. Doesn't bother me at all to use the DSP filter between my ears to pick the most interesting source.

My wife on the other hand... You could yell that the house was on fire while she's on a phone call and she still wouldn't hear it. Easier to just drag her outside by the arm.

I have a feeling this will be one of these tech features people will either love or hate, depending on their DSP code in their heads. :)
 
TMetzinger said:
Naw.. Quadrophonic tries to reproduce with four speakers what binaural gets with headphones, all because of the amazing things that happen with reflections and phase changes because of the shape of our ears and the anatomy of our heads.

If you listen to a binaural concert recording - you can hear the guy shifting in his seat two rows back and three seats to right, and tell EXACTLY where he is. You can hear the sounds of the chandeliers in the concert hall being raised above your head, and determine their vertical position.

Quad, while cool, doesn't come close. But I'm an old audio geek who did studio work back when razor blades were used for splicing tape instead of chopping cocaine.
Click to expand...

Tim, just sit down in your egg-shaped chair, pop open a Tab, drop in an 8 Track of Dan Fogelberg, and relax. Enjoy the quadraphonic sound. Don't get all tied up in the details.....:D
 
Gawd... the scary thing is that I worked on a Dan Fogelberg Album back in the day (but it was after 8-tracks).
 
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