The well-known Vivaldi brand, a standard bearer of Made in Italy in the world of professional audio, decisively opens up to system integration with a new range of products with standard protocol to operate in the MQTT and KNX worlds
A remark by Francesco Buran, CEO of Vivaldi, is the obligatory starting point to recount the important turning point in the corporate policy of one of the most celebrated and celebrated Made in Italy brands:
The user, especially in home automation, is looking more and more for integration”-he told us-“and wants everything to be under one system, from lights to music to heating, all controllable from the same unit. In this logic, we, who come from the audio world, decided to implement an initial range of products, switchboard amplifications, that would allow us to be in pole position, and work with system integrators to develop and install complete systems.
So, let’s take a look at these interesting innovations that Vivaldi introduced a year ago at Light and Building in Dubai and made official, and introduced to the market, at the last ISE in Barcelona in February this year.
Vivaldi WiFi P30s e P80s are stereo, multichannel, Class D power amplifiers with built-in media player and designed explicitly for home automation applications
The P30s model expresses a power of 30+30W@8Ohm, or 50+50W@4Ohm. The P80s model, on the other hand, offers power of 80+80W@8Ohm, or 140+140W@4Ohm. Both models have an amplified mixer with DSP with 4 mono + 1 stereo channels or 3 stereo channels, and are controllable via dedicated Vivaldi app (downloadable from iOS and Android). But the most important aspect is “native” product integration, with available KNXnet-IP APIs, MQTT 3.1 protocol and REST-API (HTTP GET/POST).
The new range is complemented by features such as 4 selectable MIC/LINE inputs with switchable phantom (24Vdc), assignable priority, USB type A port on the front faceplate for audio file playback in all formats, seven-band equalizer, mono output for active subwoofers, and stereo output for Vivaldi WIFI E30S, Vivaldi WIFI E80S power expansions or Vivaldi Ulisse a 8Ω or 100V power amplifiers.
VOCE 2 emphasizes the importance of choosing standard, not proprietary, protocols for product management:
It means opening up to worlds dominated by platforms that have already been on the market for a long time, and are already so familiar to system integrators and designers that they appear in 90 percent of projects. In short, the breakthrough we implement with the launch of this new line is to move out of the niche of proprietary protocols and into the world of standards. MQTT or KNX, there is absolute parallelism of product availability so as to meet the tastes and needs of all system integrators. Early feedback has been very positive!
But at this point, we can’t help but ask a few more details about the functionality of the new products, as well as the ease of integration into smart buildings. VOCE 2 answers us:
First of all, ours are audio products, so the functions are initially the classic ones, on/off, volume, ability to mute each individual zone. Then there are more specific and particular functions that add value to the product and integration. For example, in the P30 and P80 players we have included the possibility of recalling user-created playlists in the device, with a simple button. In the future, with upgrades, we can add functionality; these are products designed to be expandable.
Francesco Buran echoes, reiterating:
The idea is to keep the openness toward integration for subsequent products as well, not just this new range, but to work with standard protocols in the long run, at the building level, and not just for the audio world.
In short, a major corporate shift, whereby everything KNX compliant becomes part of the Vivaldi world. Francesco Buran confirms
We keep the historical part related to speakers but increase the range by looking toward smart building and the world of system integration. That is why we have focused on tiny, switchboard-sized formats, which are in high demand among architects, and on considerable power. The products are natively interfaced with YouTube, Spotify, and other similar services. User and installer have all the possibilities, they just have to decide how to use them!
The new line, which was finally unveiled at ISE 2023, is the result of a development that lasted several years, which in the last period ran into the well-known material supply problems caused by the pandemic.
At that point,” he admits, “VOCE 2 totally changed the technology that within the products, due to approval requirements. However, this was not a bad thing: forced to make more complex choices, we developed a technology that offered much more. In short, there was advantage in disadvantage, as is often the case, and without major latencies before entry into production. Moreover, the product’s internal technology is entirely proprietary, and we are proud of this new range, which raises the bar in products of this type by no small margin.”
One step at a time,” Francesco Buran concluded, “we aim to make ourselves known and expand more and more, without losing sight of our background, audio. Since February we have been in KNX Italy as members, we were already part of KNX Association, and we want to develop more and more in both clientele and knowledge. By now, the architecture in homes includes comfort where audio is important (just think of home cinema). As a company, we do not sell a product, but solutions. We accompany designers and architects in their projects, understand the user’s needs, follow all phases, and give support even after sales.
