Trinnov opens WaveForming to the whole Altitude range, as a free update

Trinnov published its CEDIA Expo programme on 18 August 2026, and there is real news buried in it: WaveForming, the company's active acoustics technology, is about to become available to a far wider installed base. The update rolls out free of charge across the entire Altitude range by the close of the show, and it also improves the performance of systems that have already been calibrated — with no recalibration required.

Room modes, the problem passive treatment never quite fixes

In any enclosed space, bass wavelengths are long enough to interact with the room boundaries. The result: standing waves, a frequency response that changes dramatically from one seat to the next, and low-frequency energy that takes far longer to dissipate than the midrange or treble. The bottom end turns uneven, soft, unpredictable. No amount of passive treatment fully resolves it.

WaveForming comes at the problem from another angle. Rather than correcting the response after the fact, it uses multiple subwoofers to take control of how bass energy propagates through the room. Trinnov builds this on four pillars: a 3D acoustic field measurement taken at 9 to 25 points across the listening area, acoustic reshaping that targets decay times directly, 3D wavefront synthesis that steers bass towards the audience, and the MSMC algorithm (Multiple Sources, Multiple Controllers) driving each subwoofer individually.

The figures Trinnov publishes give a sense of the gap: seat-to-seat consistency down to ±0.5 dB up to 100 Hz, and decay times pulled from 0.35–0.6 seconds to roughly 0.1–0.2 seconds in the brand's own simulations. In home theatre, that qualifies every seat to CEDIA RP22 Level 4, not just the two primary positions.

What changes: more eligible installations, nothing to recalibrate

Until now, WaveForming called for a demanding setup: an Altitude series processor (AltitudeCI, Altitude16 or Altitude32), a minimum of four subwoofers with discrete outputs and amplification, and placement following precise guidelines. That entry bar is what Trinnov says it is lowering.

The announcement stays deliberately broad on this point: the company talks about unlocking the technology and its benefits for a much wider audience, without yet spelling out the new requirements. The WaveForming technology page, updated in mid-August, now mentions meaningful results from a two-subwoofer front-only configuration, while the requirements table still lists four subwoofers as the minimum — the site looks to be mid-transition. We are waiting for the official detail before quoting a number.

The second point is more concrete, and probably the most welcome for existing installations: the performance improvement applies without having to sit through another calibration session. The first active demonstrations take place at the show, through a stereo playback system.

“This year's show theme is our ongoing commitment to innovation,” says Arnaud Destinay, Managing Director of Trinnov Audio.

Driving your processor in plain language? Trinnov is thinking about it

The other part of the programme is still firmly in demonstration territory. Trinnov reckons the Altitude's software architecture puts it in an unusual position to host artificial intelligence processing, and will let visitors hear playback adjustments driven in real time by plain-language commands. A nice detail: to work around the din of a trade show floor, the demos run on noise-cancelling headphones — Focal ones, supplied for the occasion.

Nothing is being announced as a product at this stage: it is an intention, not a dated feature.

Ten years of factory coverage, optional

Trinnov is using the show to launch its Extended Care Program, an optional plan for Altitude processors that extends factory coverage to a full ten years. The company frames it around sustainability, in keeping with its “Built to last. Evolved to lead.” philosophy — the same thinking that led it to offer the complete overhaul of the Altitude interface and its immersive decoders as a free update.

And for rooms that aren't shoeboxes

The day before the CEDIA announcement, on 17 August, Trinnov published a study that will interest anyone whose room is not a perfect rectangle. Its research team simulated L-shaped rooms (a recess in one corner) and T-shaped rooms (a side space in the middle of a long wall), varying the size of the side space from a small alcove to nearly the footprint of the main room.

The conclusion is reassuring: a non-rectangular room does not disqualify a project. One factor dominates all the others — where the emitter subwoofers sit relative to the room's cross-section. Placed at the standard WaveForming reference points, referenced to the narrower section of the room, they produce a clean wavefront whatever the side space, with mean spatial deviation staying under 1 dB in most L-shaped configurations. The accompanying advice: do not add extra emitter subwoofers inside the alcove.

When, and for whom

The timeline Trinnov has published:

• Tuesday 1 September — dealer day, with three seminars (sales approach, WaveForming updates, AI and integration) capped at 50 attendees each, followed by a press conference at 5:30 pm.
• From 2 September — the show floor opens, with demonstrations on the Trinnov stand and at Kaleidescape, Krix, Alcons, Magnetar and Pro Audio Technology, where all three processor models will be represented: Altitude16, Altitude32 and the new AltitudeCI.
• By the close of the show — the WaveForming update rolls out, free of charge, across the entire Altitude range.

One useful clarification: this evolution concerns Altitude series processors exclusively. It does not apply to the Trinnov NOVA, which remains the reference acoustic correction processor and monitor controller for the studio, with the Optimizer. If you already run an Altitude, speak to your integrator: at Trinnov, this kind of update is triggered by an authorised dealer.

At Cool Kids Audio we carry the Trinnov studio range — NOVA, 3D etherCON Microphone and La Remote. For a home theatre project built around an Altitude, get in touch and we will point you in the right direction.

Sources: Trinnov Audio at CEDIA Expo 2026 and WaveForming Study – L and T shape Room Recommendations.