Audio-Technica’s latest microphone looks like a router, and it hangs from the ceiling

Audio-Technica has launched its new microphone called the ATND1061 Beamforming Ceiling Array microphone, which as the name suggests can hang from the ceiling. The newly-launched microphone can be used as a single unit or in multiples to capture clear natural audio of multiple speakers while reducing environmental sounds. The microphone may is roughly the size of a wireless router and designed for usage in conference rooms, board rooms and other meeting rooms.
The ATND1061 supports six separate output channels that can collectively be configured with up to 32 user-defined microphone pickup zones. The microphone’s 90-degree orthogonal beams can focus on a particular space point and prevent the pick up of unwanted noise on all output channels.
The microphone uses Audio-Technica’s proprietary voice activity division (VAD) technology, aimed at enabling the device to discern between a voice and unwanted noises. The ATND1061 comes with onboard Digital Signal Processing (DSP), including auto-mix, acoustic echo cancellation (AEC), noise reduction, automatic gain control (AGC), and four-band EQ.

Users can also set exclusion zones to avoid sources of unwanted noise, which will go towards maximising the effectiveness of the built-in noise reduction and automatic mixing features. They can create user-defined “Coverage Zones” and “Priority Zones” where the beam will track and keep the microphone focused on the speaker’s voice, minimising room noise.
Only one of the 16 Coverage Zones can be open at a time with the microphone automatically selecting the zone with the strongest signal identified as speech. Configuration of output channels 2-6 can be done with 16 user-defined Priority Zones, which receive priority over Coverage Zones. A maximum of five Priority Zones can be open at a time.
The included IR remote allows users to quickly mute the microphone when a muting function is unavailable in the room’s configuration. It also lets users recall presets or toggle the Power Save Mode on and off. The ATND1061 can be flush-mounted or surface-mounted in a false or hard ceiling or mounted in open architecture spaces with a standard VESA mount. The unit comes in a non-reflective white finish with matches ceiling tiles in most office environments.