The Audio Engineering Society explored and celebrated the latest in audio innovation at AES Show 2024 NY, the world’s largest annual gathering of audio professionals, held October 8-10 at New York’s Jacob Javits Center.
Nearly 6,000 professionals, enthusiasts, and exhibitors from around the world registered to attend the 157th Audio Engineering Society Convention, where they engaged with leading manufacturers showcasing cutting-edge solutions and engineers demonstrating the latest products and also participated in a wide array of workshops, panels, demos, and training sessions that appealed to both researchers and practitioners.
“The buzz on the floor at this year’s show was exhilarating and overwhelmingly positive, confirming AES’s global strengths in showcasing the latest audio technology innovations as well as nurturing a community passionate about all things audio,” said AES President Leslie Gaston-Bird. “Through hundreds of technological demonstrations, presentations, and networking events, the convention demonstrated again how the entire audio industry is dedicated to enthusiastically sharing knowledge and expertise to uplift everyone in our field.”
During the three-day Convention, more than 400 world-leading audio practitioners, researchers, and technology specialists delivered over 230 presentations. Session topics spanned audio fundamentals in artificial intelligence, spatial audio, audio for games, immersive audio, archiving, high-resolution audio, loudspeakers, headphones, machine learning, perception, room acoustics, recording, and signal processing. Presenters also covered cutting-edge research, design, and practices across all aspects of professional audio from recording to broadcast, film production and live sound. Discussions highlighted successes and the pace of ongoing progress in increasing diversity within the audio field.
Acclaimed producer and recording engineer Ebonie Smith, the keynote speaker for AES Show 2024 NY, compared today’s advent of AI to the moment Napster rocked the music industry. “Returning to AES, where I once attended as a graduate student, and now having the chance to contribute as a keynote speaker, was a truly special experience. The Society’s commitment to advancing the field of audio engineering and fostering a space for meaningful dialogue and innovation is deeply appreciated,” said Smith.
Popular highlights from AES Show 2024 NY included GRAMMY® Award-winning producer Jack Antonoff and GRAMMY® Award-winning recording and mix engineer Laura Siskdiscussing their highly successful collaboration in the recording studio as well as a vocal production dialog with producer and honored engineer Simone Torres (recognized as one of the Leading Ladies of Entertainment during the 2023 Latin GRAMMYs).
Ebonie Smith was featured in a well-received second event when she was joined onstage by renowned producer/engineer/writer Gloria Kaba, We Are The Unheard founderEva Horne, and AES President Leslie Gaston-Bird for the “Sonic Mastery – A Room Of One’s Own” panel to discuss their experiences of navigating and shaping the audio industry as Black women.
Sessions focusing on production techniques of high-profile recordings are a popular mainstay of AES Convention Technical Programs. Among the project workflows analyzed this year was the process whereby Bob Marley’s key classic albums were recently remixed into Dolby Atmos for a new generation of listeners, outlined with insightful humor by audio engineer/producer/historian Eliot Kissileff and Director of Audio Engineering at Universal Music Group Nick Rives. In another well-attended session, NPR audio engineer Neil Tevault and NPR Music Technical Director Josh Newell discussed how the Tiny Desk Concerts artist series began with a colleague’s simple request and evolved into an iconic audio series.
An example of the AES Show providing a forum for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives within professional audio was the Gender Equity Townhall. Representatives of leading gender equity organizations Women’s Audio Mission, We Are Moving the Needle, She Is the Music, Soundgirls, and We Make Noise joined together to discuss how to create further momentum in addressing the improving yet still bleak gender imbalance in the audio engineering industry.
“It was gratifying to see how our increased efforts to attract a broader diversity of people and experiences generated important questions and constructive conversations about the current state of the audio industry and its future,” said Jeanne Montalvo, co-chair of the 157th Audio Engineering Society Convention. “Having so many dedicated professionals in one place was enlightening and inspiring. We thank all presenters and attendees for making their own contributions to the show’s success.”
“We are proud of the balance we were able to strike between all that is happening now in audio with all that is on the horizon,” said Michael Hagen, the event’s co-chair. “This year's programming included more of the workshops and technological presentations that attendees expect at an AES show, while simultaneously exploring new and exciting content, such as developments in immersive music, machine learning, and AI.”
The AES Show was again co-located with the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show New York. The events collectively attracted 18,000-plus registrants. In October 2025, the AES Show will return to California for the first time since the pandemic.
Updates on AES Show 2025 West Coast will be shared on aes.org and across AES social media.
