About Dolby Live Sound

In the late 1980’s, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) Division of Radiophysics and Austek Microsystems Pty. Ltd. co-developed a digital signal processing technology for Radio Astronomy applications. Two engineers, Brian Conolly and David McGrath, believed that there was an opportunity to utilize the technology in audio applications. The CSIRO agreed and made a small investment in their fledgling company named Lake DSP, founded in 1991.

In 1992, Bose Corporation became Lake's first commercial customer.  Bose understood the promise of the new company and contracted with Lake to provide a research tool for spatial acoustics modeling.  David McGrath also filed the company's first patent for Fast Convolution, a pinnacle moment for the young company.

Over the period of 1993-1997 Lake developed the Huron, a suite of modular signal processing products consisting of a multi-channel hardware platform and accompanying software simulation tools.

In 1998, Lake signed a commercialization agreement with Dolby Laboratories, Inc. for headphone technologies created through the ongoing development of the Huron platform.  This technology is marketed under the brand name "Dolby Headphone".

In 1999 the company changed its name to Lake Technology when it listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX:LAK).  Following this, Dolby licensed a second algorithm developed by Lake and launched a new product called “Dolby Virtual Speaker”. 

In 2001, Lake Technology expanded its business into the professional sound reinforcement marketplace by developing and manufacturing the “Clair iO”, a new generation of digital loudspeaker processor.  The processor was initially developed for Clair Brothers, one of the world’s largest tour sound providers. Lake Technology then launched the Lake Contour, an updated version of its digital loudspeaker product, to the general professional market in March 2003.  Additionally, the Lake Mesa EQ product was released in June 2004.

Lake ’s live sound reinforcement technologies provide the conduit between the artist and the audience, optimizing the sound for distribution through large-scale loudspeaker arrays in any size venue. These products allow the engineer to walk the venue with a wireless touch screen controller that provides centralized control to the distributed sound system components. This allows the engineer to listen, adjust, and improve the sound from any seat in the house.

At the heart of these professional products is an innovative new method for performing audio equalization.  This new patent-pending equalization method allows the engineer to use new shapes to adjust sound.  Coupled with the high quality audio performance of these products, mastering and recording engineers have started to adopt the new possibilities for enhancing the quality of their recording projects.

In 2004 Dolby Laboratories executed an initial takeover bid for Lake Technology, which was finalized in early 2006.

Dolby Lake Processor

The Dolby ® Lake ® Processor is the flagship hardware product of the Dolby Professional Live Sound Group. This configurable processor provides everything you need to control and optimize your live sound system, including the Dolby Lake Controller software interface.

Experience the next generation in digital loudspeaker and equalization technology. Featuring configurations up to four-by-twelve, the Dolby ® Lake ® Processor is the visionary approach to controlling any loudspeaker system while simultaneously improving the sound quality.