The 46th Annual International AES Conference (Audio Engineering Society) was held in Denver a few weeks ago, from June 14-16. I flew in for the first two days, excited to meet forensic experts from across the world, and learn about the newest practices in audio editing. The conference focus this year was recording, recovery, analysis, and interpretation, all of which are pertinent to our enhancement and analysis process at NCAVF.

Aside from the lectures given on complex audio waveform equations, and promotional technology seminars, I learned and shared a lot with my fellow attendees. I think meeting and sharing with other experts is a crucial part of the conference experience. I had involved discussions with many forensic experts, all of whom had specific audio processes and used different software in their attempts to create the most clean sounding audio as possible. For instance, each forensic audio editing program has certain strengths and weaknesses. Being able to optimize our use of these various programs can make all the difference as we’re enhancing audio for our clients. Being around so many forensic experts, we had the opportunity to exchange audio tips and audio experience with each other.

What we took from the conference, as a whole, was not only the personal connections and tech specifics, but an idea of where audio is headed in the future. From the FBI and Secret Service to international research colleges, there are hundreds of research projects being done to understand and improve audio quality. Much of it is in surveillance, and as an audio/video expert, I’m excited to see what this research brings.