Reportages

Funktion One Technical Seminar Millennium Hall, Seoul
11th July 2003

Written And Presented by Tony Andrews

Our fundamental approach to loudspeaker system design is to achieve the following:-

1. maximum conversion of amplifier energy into acoustic energy.
2. substantially flat frequency response.
3. even, dynamic response giving a lively and emotionally satisfying sound.
4. all in a convenient, small and lightweight package.

We have a great depth of knowledge in drive unit design. This means that we can tune drivers and waveguides to each other as an harmonically even, resonant system from which we are able to achieve even frequency response without resorting to processing or EQ to correct the response of the loudspeaker. This achieves systems which are free from phase aberration and headroom loss giving a very accurate lively and intelligible sound.

Another important and unique feature of Funktion One products is the use of paper cone drivers right across the vocal range up to around 6KHZ. This results in vocal range without crossover points. There is no use at all of harsh metallic 2" compression drivers in any of our products. Instead we are able to use 1" compression drivers crossed over above 6KHZ which at this frequency have more top end than 2" drivers anyway. Nearly all other systems use 2" compression drivers from as low as 650 HZ to 1K6 to reproduce the vocal range but this has a number of problems:-

1. The sound path through the typical phase plug is very torturous and introduces a great deal of distortion.

2. Dynamically and therefore perceptually 2" drivers have a very strong peak between 2KHZ and 3.5KHZ which is very aggravating as this is in the speech recognition frequency band to which the human ear is most sensitive. The end result is further exacerbated by the masking of the lower voice frequencies removing the richness and warmth of the human voice.

3. The reliance on delicate compression driver diaphragms for this frequency range renders the system vulnerable to unreliability as voice coils are easily burnt and diaphragms are prone to shatter. Paper cone drivers are far more robust but require specialised knowledge to employ successfully.

The sum result of all these considerations in Funktion One products is an unmatched smoothness across the entire frequency range without any loss of efficiency and much improved accuracy and intelligibility. Our efficiency stems from the use of Funktion One's specialised patented Axhead horn loading techniques that overcome the usual resonant peaks and uncontrolled high frequency problems of normal horns. Highly efficient loudspeakers mean fewer loudspeakers are needed giving improved economy and there is less stress on the rest of the electronic components in the whole sound system with consequent improvement in dynamic range. All these sonic improvements have been achieved whilst simultaneously reducing the size and weight of our enclosures. In fact I believe that our products are the smallest and lightest in the world.

We have never forgotten our time as a sound rental operation during the 1970s and early 1980s.

We are often asked why we have not produced a line array. Although we understand and accept the principles involved we believe that the continuing evolution of our "sectorially additive approach" (like adding together slices of a pie) is fundamentally superior for the following reasons:-

1. Coverage angles and resultant footprint can be tailored exactly to fit the room's audience area without introducing degrading secondary reflections. It has always seemed strange to me that line arrays require one to find a room that matches the coverage of the system rather than the other way around.

2. The Resolution 5 will work properly as a stand alone single unit and therefore is far more flexible in day to day use as the same box can be used for a few hundred people to tens of thousands of people which means flexible inventory for a rental company. Most line array manufacturers now have two or three sizes of line arrays because of their lack of flexibility. This makes no economic sense for any rental company.

3. Funktion One's technological approach is completely unique and the result of 25 years continuous refinement and development of our founding concepts. There are now 60 to 70 line arrays in the world so they cannot be that special. It is obviously fashion driven rather than good sense.

4. Big size line arrays are cumbersome and very heavy. Our products are not only lighter but faster to fly. An arena size Res 5 cluster can be flown in 20 minutes by two people and trimmed without the need to drop the system back to the ground.

5. The Funktion One Res 5 system achieves large savings in manpower and truck space over any other system available resulting in substantial production budget savings. A tour which was using 3 forty foot trailers in the United States was able to reduce its trucking requirements to 2 trailers. Furthermore the crew were able spend considerably more time fine tuning the system as the deployment was so rapid.

Funktion-One France

tél : 0970 440 555 Fax : 0826 676 727