Mr. Hughes began his work in audio while in high school working with local bands in Jackson, MS.  From there he went on to earn a degree in Physics at the Georgia Institute of Technology specializing in Acoustics under the tutelage of Dr. Eugene Patronis.  While at Georgia Tech, Mr. Hughes was actively involved with the campus radio station, WREK, as an operator and on-air talent.

Upon graduation in 1988, Mr. Hughes accepted a position with Peavey Electronics in Meridian, MS as a loudspeaker design engineer where he remained for fourteen years.  During this time he was responsible for the development and design of over 60 commercially successful products for the musical instrument, cinema, PA, and professional/install markets.  While serving as the Senior Engineer for Loudspeaker Systems Design he was the primary horn designer at Peavey, developing the patented Quadratic Throat Waveguide.

Mr. Hughes helped to develop and implement a sophisticated multi-axis rotation mechanism to aid in the measurement of loudspeaker directivity.  This enabled much better data collection for modeling programs such as EASE, Ulysses, and PolarSum, Mr. Hughes' proprietary MATLAB based program.  PolarSum has been instrumental in optimizing the directivity control of multi-way loudspeaker systems through the crossover region.

He was also responsible for restructuring end-of-line Quality Control for the final assembly of loudspeaker systems.  The results of this were quicker and more accurate PASS / FAIL identification of loudspeakers and production line problems.  Mr. Hughes' extensive knowledge of TEF was a driving factor in this endeavor.

Mr. Hughes left Peavey in 2002 to accept the position of Senior Engineering Manager for Professional Audio with Altec Lansing in Milford, PA.  In 2003 he was given the additional responsibility of overseeing and directing the Acoustical Engineering Department for the Consumer Division of the company.  Although actively managing two departments, Mr. Hughes continued to be involved directly with design and product development.  He worked developing loudspeaker systems, establishing quality requirements, interfacing with overseas vendors and mentoring others who share his passion for audio.  Mr. Hughes left Altec Lansing in late 2004 to continue his audio career via Excelsior Audio Design & Services, LLC.

Established in 1991 as a part-time endeavor, then named Meridian SoundWorks, Excelsior Audio has grown into a full time consulting business.  As Meridian SoundWorks, Mr. Hughes provided the following services.

• Live sound reinforcement for corporate and political events, musical acts, and theatrical productions
• Location recording of corporate and political events, musical acts, and theatrical productions
• Sound system design and renovation for theaters, auditoria, and Houses of Worship
• Sound system measurement for performance verification and optimization
• Product development and design assistance to manufacturers
• Technical writing

Mr. Hughes has also been involved in many other aspects of audio.  From 1989 - 1993 he served as the Chief Audio Engineer for the Meridian Little Theater.  In addition to his duties in the sound booth, Mr. Hughes was responsible for production sound design.  He has been a member of the Audio Engineering Society (AES) since 1994 and has been on the TEF Board of Advisors since its inception in 1999.  He has served on the Consumer Technologies Association (CTA, formerly CEA) Audio Committee (R3) since 2003 and is currently the Co-Chairman of Working Group 1.  He is also a longtime member of Synergetic Audio Concepts (Syn-Aud-Con).

His close working relationship with the Ahnert Feistel Media Group (AFMG) in Berlin, Germany gave him the opportunity to become part of their software developers group. In 2010 he formalized his relationship with AFMG becoming their Key Projects Manager, providing advanced technical support and training, working on key projects, writting manuals, and continuing to work on and test software.

In addition to his formal education at Georgia Tech, Mr. Hughes has received special instruction on audio and related topics.

Synergetic Audio Concepts

• Loudspeaker Designers Workshop, 1991 & 1997
• Comprehensive Rigging Seminar, 1993
• Acoustic Test & Measurement Workshop, 2002
• Loudspeaker Array Workshop, 2002
• EQ07 Workshop, 2007
• ECS Speech Intelligibility Workshop, 2013

TEF / Gold Line

• TEF Advanced Church Sound Workshop, 2000
• TEF Level III Intelligibility Workshop, 2001

He also had the privilege to serve alongside industry veterans Don Eger and Russ Berger as an instructor for a TEF Level II Workshop in 2000.

Mr. Hughes has been an invited speaker and panelist for numerous Audio Engineering Society Conventions.  As an instructor for multiple InfoComm classes he is an adjunct faculty member of InfoComm University.  He has authored or co-authored several AES convention papers, as well as having been published in Audio Xpress, Austrialian Hi-Fi, Monitor Magazine, Live Sound International, the Syn-Aud-Con Newsletter and Tech Topics, and Voice Coil Magazine.

Mr. Hughes is very active in standards development.  He current serves on multiple US and international standards committee including the Audio Engineering Society (AES), Consumer Technology Association (CTA), InfoComm, and the Internationl Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).  As a result of his work on standards he received the 2013 CTA Technology Achievement Award.

He currently has five U.S. patents issued and one pending.