REGISTER
Login

AES Europe 2026
Keynote &
Richard Heyser Memorial Lecture

Geoff Martin

Keynote Speaker

The Perceptual Irrelevance of Physical Measurements

Many (if not most) of us in the audio industry trust physical measurements to help us classify the quality of products, systems, and acoustical spaces. Unfortunately, however, it is convenient to forget that many (if not most) of the specifications we use exist because the measurements are easy to perform, and not because the resulting values are perceptually relevant or useful.
 
This presentation will contain information that is neither new nor exciting. Instead, it will hopefully serve as a small reminder that the values shown in datasheets should never be trusted without interpretation, that precision should not be mistaken for accuracy, and that personal preference should not be confused with quality. Audio examples will be played, associated plots will be displayed, and with a little luck, at least a modicum of doubt will be instilled.

Geoff Martin

Geoff has worked at Bang & Olufsen in Struer, Denmark for over 20 years. He currently holds the position of “Director Specialist for Audio Quality” despite being in daily doubt of what “audio quality” actually means.  Before working at B&O, he spent too many years in universities, pursuing degrees in music performance, sound recording, and acoustics simulation. Although his weekdays are most often spent in the digital domain, he tries to fill his spare time pursing more analogue interests such as restoring vintage fountain pens.
Dorte Hammershøi

Richard Heyser Memorial Lecture

From head-related transfer functions to risk of damage and hearing rehabilitation

Throughout a distinguished academic career, the lecturer’s work in measuring outer ear transfer functions and headphone characteristics served not only to develop and refine methods for binaural recording and reproduction, but eventually provided a stepping stone into the field of technical audiology and hearing-aid rehabilitation. In 2026, an earphone is rarely just a sound reproduction device, and a hearing aid is rarely just a medical device. The talk will give highlights from 36 years of work in the field, and discuss what the presenter considers to be the contemporary challenges when earphones become hearing aids and vice versa. Finally, the presenter may address the challenges of creating audio-only virtual reality for blind gamers.

Dorte Hammershøi

Dorte Hammershøi has a MScEE in biomedical engineering (1989), and a PhD in Acoustics (1995) from Aalborg University. She has since April 1990 worked at Aalborg University, as a professor since 2008. Prof. Hammershøi works in the field of human sound perception with special reference to electro-acoustic applications, incl. audiometric calibration, oto-acoustic emissions, hearing damage, hearing rehabilitation, spatial hearing, and measurement of noise sources close to the ear. From 1996-2004 she was a member of the ISO TC 43/WG 6, which developed the ISO 11904 series. In 2001 she co-founded AM3D, which in 2013 was acquired by Goertek Audio Technologies, and presently part of GN Hearing. From 2016-2022, whe was the project leader of the Danish collaboration project on better hearing rehabilitation (BEAR), which was funded by the Innovation Fund Denmark and partners (incl. Oticon, GN Hearing, and Widex-Sivantos Audiologies). Dorte Hammershøi is the Past President of the International Commission for Acoustics, and the vice-chair of the Audio Engineering Society’s Technical Committee for Hearing Loss and Hearing Loss Prevention.