2025 AES International Conference on Headphone Technology

Genelec is proud to contribute to this exciting dialogue, with key team members participating in two featured technical sessions, alongside a live demo of our UNIO Personal Reference Monitoring (PRM) system in the exhibition area.

Opening Ceremony & Q&A

Wednesday, August 27 | 8:30–9:00 EEST
Kaleva Hall

Kickstarting the conference, Genelec’s CTO Aki Mäkivirta joins Juha Backman (AAC Technologies) for a special Q&A session during the opening ceremonies. With over 30 years of academic and industry expertise, Aki will share unique perspectives on the evolution and future of professional headphone monitoring.

Sound Colour in Headphones Used for Monitoring

Thursday, August 28 | 17:00–17:30 EEST
Kaleva Hall

In this insightful workshop, Genelec Senior Technologist Thomas Lund delves into the complex relationship between in-room monitors and headphone listening. He introduces a subjective test framework that explores six core sound colour attributes, comparing them against high-resolution B&K 5128C measurements to propose a new pathway toward individually neutral headphone response.

Speakers:
• Thomas Lund – Senior Scientist, Genelec
• Tore Stegenborg-Andersen – Force Technology

Monitoring Standards and Headphone Listening

Thursday, August 28 | 17:30–18:00 EEST
Kaleva Hall

Continuing the conversation, Thomas Lund returns to discuss the challenges of developing global standards for headphone monitoring. The session explores perceptual differences between loudspeaker and headphone reproduction—such as auditory envelopment, imaging, and localization—and outlines what’s needed to build a universal AES headphone standard.

Speakers:
• Thomas Lund – Senior Scientist, Genelec
• Tapio Lokki – Aalto University

Experience Genelec UNIO PRM

In the exhibition area, visitors will have the opportunity to experience Genelec’s new UNIO Personal Reference Monitoring (PRM) system—an innovative solution that seamlessly bridges in-room loudspeaker monitoring and headphone-based workflows. Designed for today’s hybrid creators and professionals, UNIO PRM brings personal accuracy and consistency to every monitoring environment.

We warmly invite you to join us in Espoo and be part of the conversation shaping the future of headphone technology.

See the full program here