DirectOut, a premier provider of professional audio networking and connectivity solutions, announces the appointment of a new three-member Management Board. This strategic evolution prepares the company to navigate its extraordinary global growth and the increasing complexity of the professional audio market.

The new Board of Directors consists of Luca Giaroli as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), René In Der Stroth as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), and Jan Ehrlich, transitioning from his previous role as CEO to Chief Operating Officer (COO). 

Giaroli, who previously held the pivotal roles of Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Solutions Officer at DirectOut, has been instrumental in transforming the company from a hardware-centric manufacturer into a global leader in integrated audio solutions. He is the visionary behind the PRODIGY.MP and the Audio Solution Model (ASM™), a revolutionary concept that has redefined the approach in the digital audio system design and implementation.

“DirectOut has experienced remarkable growth over the past years in people, partners, technologies, and revenue,” explains Giaroli. “This evolution brings complexity that requires a broader and more specialized leadership team. We are building something bigger together, not just a company, but a place where innovation meets purpose, and where every team member plays a vital role in our success.”

The new board sees Giaroli spearheading strategy, marketing, and sales to fuel DirectOut’s expansion. Simultaneously, In Der Stroth will manage financial operations tailored to the company’s rapid growth, while Ehrlich ensures operational excellence and administrative efficiency from the Mittweida headquarters.

“Joining DirectOut is a unique opportunity to align financial excellence with cutting-edge technology. I am eager to collaborate with this world-class team to drive sustainable growth and maintain our competitive edge in an ever-evolving global market.” says In Der Stroth.

“This is a natural and necessary evolution as we continue to grow,” expands Ehrlich. “It's about preparing our company for the opportunities ahead, with better leadership and clearer roles, while giving our team the support they deserve to thrive in their work.”

To drive the company’s long-term strategic goals, Chief Technology Officer Claudio Becker-Foss will work in close synergy with CEO Luca Giaroli, ensuring that technological innovation remains deeply aligned with DirectOut’s overarching strategic direction. Becker-Foss's leadership in product development and system architecture remains a cornerstone of the company’s Audio Solutions, guaranteeing the highest standards of performance, flexibility, and reliability that the industry expects.

Together, the new Management Board will oversee DirectOut’s strategic initiatives, including its US expansion via DirectOut LLC and the strengthening of collaborative workflows through key industry integrations.

“I was in Frankfurt meeting other DirectOut partners and doing some training when a friend called and asked what I was up to next week! A week later, I was sitting on a flight to Japan,” Borowicz recalls. “It was all very quick, but thanks to the flexibility of the globcon software, many things can be programmed in advance - even remotely. That helped me work more efficiently and avoid surprises on-site. Both Pavilions were a real multi-media experience, with many conversions between different formats, networks, computers and loudspeaker systems.”

 

EXPO 2025 was set on an artificial island called Yumeshima, and in the region of 28 million visitors attended during the six months the fair was open. 158 countries took part, each exploring different themes and ideas around the common prompt ‘Designing Future Society for our Lives’. Every Pavilion delivered a unique experience and the Netherlands and Philippines Pavilions were no exception.

DirectOut, a leading designer of premium audio solutions for diverse applications, has been selected by TJ Bechill, the CEO of NEAT Audio, to serve as the core of their playback engines. These playback systems are highly sought after by numerous high-profile stadium and arena tours across the United States, featuring renowned artists such as Twenty One Pilots, Ariana Grande, Cardi B, and Post Malone. 

Bechill’s journey began as an artist liaison and technical support engineer at Sweetwater USA, one of the nation’s largest musical instruments and audio distributors. In 2011, he received a phone call from his client, Twenty One Pilots, informing him that a significant technical malfunction in their existing playback system had resulted in a complete show disruption. This incident profoundly impacted Bechill’s understanding of the need to eliminate such experiences for sound engineers, bands, and paying attendees. Consequently, during that weekend, he initiated the development of his proprietary redundant playback engine, laying the foundation for NEAT Audio. 

DirectOut, a leading provider of audio technology, is pleased to announce the successful deployment of its modular audio platform, PRODIGY.MP, in extreme acoustic testing conducted by Acoustic Research Systems (ARS).  

ARS, is an industry leader of Direct Field Acoustic Testing, and relies on multiple PRODIGY.MP to ensure accurate and repeatable launch simulations. Founded by Eric Friedlander and Jeremiah Leiter, ARS has established itself as a disruptive innovator in the field of acoustic testing.  

The company utilizes PRODIGY.MP as a critical link between the acoustic test control system and the ARS NeutronTM acoustic fields. Designed to provide next-generation acoustic power output for aerospace, scientific and industrial applications, the ARS NeutronTM System is part of the turn-key, complete solution for mobile or fixed High Power Direct Field Acoustic Testing needs. 

Orbiting satellites provide essential services for us on Earth: communication and internet access, navigation and weather forecasting, even scientific and military objectives. Launching these objects through our atmosphere is accompanied by tremendous noise, vibration and pressure loads, so testing these, and other space-bound objects is crucial for verifying their durability.  

A Falcon 9 rocket launch creates approximately 107dBa and the historic Saturn 5 rockets of the Apollo era were over 200dBa. These are amongst the loudest sounds possible on Earth. Sound at this volume stops being a wave moving through air and becomes a massive pressure zone, pushing air with huge force causing gigantic destructive vibrations. To ensure the survivability of delicate electronics and solar panels required by modern space-technology, launches today require robust testing methods. 

DirectOut, manufacturer of high-end audio solutions for any audio application, has been chosen by system designer and engineer, Ville Kauhanen to provide fail-safe stability for all his complex stadium-touring audio system designs. 
 
Stadium touring is the pinnacle of live music touring and Kauhanen is at the very top of his game. He has worked non-stop in the industry for nearly 30 years and with some of the highest profile artists on the planet. His recent work includes Taylor Swift’s record-breaking Eras tour, which concluded in December 2024. The tour visited 54 cities across five continents playing 149 shows and was the highest grossing tour of all time.  
 
Kauhanen was the system engineer for the tour and provided the system infrastructure for each location. His method of working today is very different to when he first started, but, as he explains, his huge industry overview enables him to plan for the future, as well as succeed in the present. 
 
“I’m old enough to have seen the transition from analog to digital. When I started, we had very different ideas of what the future of audio networking would look like,” he says. “We assumed there would just be one huge network with everything in it, but we now know that this may never happen. That’s why I need a strong audio backbone, and that can only be provided by DirectOut. I rely upon the PRODIGY range, usually together with EXBOX, for every project I’m involved in.” 
 
DirectOut offers reliable conversion and matrixing between a wide range of audio network protocols so, regardless of the manufacturer’s network strategy, signal paths between pieces of equipment stay intact. Across the industry, different protocols such as MADI, Ravenna, Dante and AVB are in use and successfully matrixing these elements requires powerful conversion that can operate seamlessly. 
 
“I don’t care what the speaker or console brand is, but the audio transportation infrastructure has to be DirectOut-based," he says. “They support so many formats, and their products are flexible and reliable. Due to their popularity and ability to support most audio formats used in productions, I often find that the different vendors for each department can provide PRODIGYs as part of their package and then I can patch things together as one infrastructure backbone.” 
 
The power of solutions like PRODIGY.MP comes from the FPGA-based low-latency processing. Kauhanen relies on this to maintain a stable signal path across different clocking rates and network protocols, ensuring failsafe operation at every point, even in 90,000-capacity venues.  
 
“Most companies focus on a few network strategies, maybe point to point, or channel count, but I think the vision of DirectOut is much wider and has quality,” he says. “I use it mainly for the powerful sample rate conversions, but the ability to matrix between different formats is also essential.” 
 
Planning infrastructure on a stadium scale is a massive challenge. Kauhanen needs to get sound from the performer to the audience, but there are many other considerations. Timecode must be shared across departments - there are feeds for social media, broadcast and accessibility, such as correctly timed headphone feeds for sign language interpreters. This data will all travel on a network designed by Kauhanen, so it is essential that the infrastructure parameters are known in advance. For the fine details of the network, he uses an associate who manages details like network switches. Such is the requirement for a complex understanding of IT and audio technology, the use of his associate is written into his contract. 
 
“One of the most important parts of my job is planning. I need to get that done early, so the information can be sent to the venues. Because of the impact on seating layout, our loudspeaker, amplifier, console and infrastructure layout all needs to be confirmed before the venues can sell tickets. This is done very far in advance,” he explains.

DirectOut is a creator of industry standard audio devices. Renowned for its clean sound, the PRODIGY.MC is utilized by Ian Charbonneau in his ultra-portable Fly Pack recording system.
Passion is at the core of Ian’s being. He lives and breathes music and since a young age has been involved in the creation of some exceptional records. His Fly-Pack is a natural next step for him and with DirectOut on his side, he feels that there is nothing he cannot achieve.

“I grew up following my dad on Le Mobile remote recording studio. Since I was five years old, recording live music on location fascinated me and still does today. I’ve known for a long time that I don’t want to build an audio truck because of the responsibility and very high costs of owning a large vehicle today. There's a lot more commitment than simply focusing on recording music!”

Ian’s father is Guy Charbonneau, a pioneering sound engineer who has been recording legendary albums and soundtracks for 50 years with his rolling studio ‘Le Mobile’. Although he shares his father’s passion for music, things have changed greatly in the recording business, especially with budgets and technology. Ian always knew that making a modern truck in the style of ‘Le Mobile’ would be very difficult to sustain, due to the limited requirement for such extensive infrastructure in the modern music industry.  With so much advanced technology available, Ian was looking for a way to bring the focus back on recording and capturing great sound.  When he was introduced to DirectOut products, he knew he had found the tool that would unlock an idea that had been developing for some time.

“When I saw DirectOut announce the PRODIGY.MC, I knew that this was something I had to have. It was a great opportunity to build something simple and on point,” Ian recalls. “I could finally build a recording Fly-Pack that was high quality, high channel count, flexible, but that could also actually ‘fly’! How cool is that?! My design was totally on purpose and not just a bunch of audio gear plugged into each other to achieve one overly complicated system at the end. So, during the pandemic, I decided to make a leap and place an order, this was my solution.”