Dirac’s new Intelligent Audio Platform delivers immersive automotive sound for all types of car models
Modern cars—connected, electric, autonomous—aren’t just for transportation. They increasingly serve also as moving offices or home theaters where superior sound experiences are more important than ever. Swedish digital audio pioneer Dirac, a world-leader in automobile audio optimization, today announced it has created the foremost software foundation for improving automotive sound without costly hardware upgrades: the new Dirac Intelligent Audio Platform (IAP).
With Dirac IAP, car manufacturers and their customers can enjoy outstanding sound quality at every seat, including true, multichannel immersive sound from regular stereo content.
“Providing great sound in cars has never been more crucial and challenging,” said Lars Carlsson, Head of Business Development of Automotive Audio for Dirac. “With modern cars capable of more than ever before, and including ever-more speakers and features, it’s important to deliver better sound while also allowing passengers to hear better. Dirac’s Intelligent Audio Platform offers software-driven sound perfection so car manufacturers can more easily, quickly, and cost-effectively deliver the in-car experiences consumers love.”
Dirac IAP is a modular platform for achieving better automotive sound. It is unique to the car market because it offers state-of-the-art sound optimization and spatialization technology; the industry’s best measurement and tuning tools; and a single, unified interface and methodology for maximizing any type of sound system layout, from entry-level to premium.
It is fully data-driven, 70% of the tuning work can be done remotely, and all results can be shared globally throughout an organization. Moreover, Dirac IAP is supported by the industry’s most common chipsets and frameworks, so any car can sound better with Dirac solutions.
Leveraging the industry’s most powerful and effective sound solutions in Dirac Opteo™ and Dirac Virtuo™, Dirac IAP also includes the newest immersive feature sets from Dirac’s R&D labs. Making its debut for CES 2022, Dirac’s new upmixing technology, a critical new feature of the company’s Dirac Virtuo solution, can produce true, multichannel audio from existing stereo content. The new upmixing technology analyzes source content and splits into component parts, then intelligently generates a 5.1 or 7.1 version and distributes it to multichannel sound systems.
“Equipping a vehicle cabin with true surround sound can be tricky, but our upmixer achieves it with software and in real-time,” continued Carlsson. “No added hardware is required, and passengers get to enjoy their favorite two-channel content in a much more immersive, spatialized way.”
The Dirac IAP contains a full signal chain and works seamlessly with leading third-party audio technologies. It is available in three pre-configured tiers:
- Professional: The most advanced solution for ensuring perfect listening at all seat positions, powered by Dirac’s patented MIMO mixed phase correction technology.
- Premium: The industry’s preferred solution, adopted by premium brands and powered by Dirac’s magnitude and time domain correction technology.
- Performance: For upgrading the sound performance of entry-level systems without hardware upgrades, powered by Dirac’s magnitude response correction technology.
Automotive engineers can use the available toolsets in Dirac’s IAP to meet a variety of design goals, including cabin sound optimization, center image optimization, bass enhancement, soundstage widening, sound field control, surround-sound integration, and more.
The guided process fully supports the engineer, and prototype cars are only required for measurement and final tuning. All computer-assisted tuning is handled virtually and predictably, reducing tuning time by as much as 70 percent. With Dirac IAP, engineers can visualize their target sound performance on-screen and experience every adjustment immediately.
Dirac will be demonstrating the Dirac Intelligent Audio Platform and upmixing technology during CES 2022 in its private suite at the Venetian Hotel.
For more information about Dirac Intelligent Audio Platform, click here.
About Dirac:
Dirac is here to change the world of sound. We’re inventing the future of audio with superior experiences for any content, device, and space. For the many, not the few. Based in Sweden, Dirac optimizes digital audio, perfecting sound for better listening in any environment. The patented sound solution technology spans across mobile, gaming, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality, headphones, streaming, automotive, residential and commercial AV, boosting whatever sound you’re listening to, wherever you’re listening. For professionals, Dirac produces the industry’s most powerful suite of audio tools for signal processing. Some of the world’s most respected brands, including Rolls Royce, Volvo, Polestar, BMW, BYD, Harman, Datasat, NAD, ASUS, and OPPO bring the Dirac sound experience to their customers.
Dirac is a global company with headquarters in Uppsala, Sweden and R&D facilities in Copenhagen, Denmark and Bangalore, India, with representation in China, Germany, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and USA.
