Home and Car get Audio Updates
January 2016 – At CES the automobile joined the home as a platform for high performance audio at a usable and non-audiophile configuration. DTS was showing their new soundbar and encoding arrangement for systems that gave a full room sound from a standard AV configuration. Typically to get the sound it requires a 5.1-11.1 surround speaker system. The new DTS system can provide the same sound experience from only front placement speakers. The new system is part of the Play-Fi program which is an object based surround sound system. This move is being made as DTS:X has now moved into AV products in the consumer space.
AfterMaster Audio Labs was showing their AfterMaster TV addon appliance. The box connects via HDMI to a TV as pass through device. The internal chip is a 24bit DSP filter configuration that uncompresses the audio stream, and then has a voice center EQ that boosts the vocals and dialog above the background sounds. The product is targeted for release in early 2016 and was funded for the product build through Kickstarter.
Pioneed AVH-X7800BT in-car entertainment system
Pioneer was showing their car AV solutions. These featured integrated aftermarket headunits that have touch screens, integrate with steering wheel controls, and connect to mobile devices. The new headunits, such as the nine new models, AVH-180DVD, AVH-280BT, AVH-X1800S, AVH-X2800BS, AVH-X3800BHS, AVH-X4800BS, and AVH-X5800BHS double-DIN receivers, and AVH-X6800DVD and AVH-X7800BT single-DIN receivers released in late 2015. They offer a range of entertainment and connection options including a clear resistive touchscreen, Bluetooth® connectivity with features like Dual Device Connection, Music Library Browsing over Bluetooth, Siri® Eyes Free, Spotify® as a dedicated A/V source, Pandora® with station presets and station creation, and FLAC file (48kHz/24bit high resolution CD-quality audio) playback.
As the crossover from home to auto, Harman had products that fit both spaces and spanned the two platforms. On the home front, they were showing their high end systems branded with Mark Levinson. The Mark Levinson No519 Audio Player is a versatile ultrahigh-end source component designed to accommodate every digital audio format. The No519 was designed to be the center of an audio system. The unit has the ability to play back virtually any audio format from streaming music services to networked storage, to CD to high-resolution digital inputs and even Bluetooth. The device has an integrated high-resolution DAC that receives its nine digital inputs including USB asynchronous streaming and mass storage, Gigabit Ethernet, Balanced, Optical, Coaxial, as well as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless featuring aptX® technology for maximum resolution. The Mark Levinson No519 offers high-resolution digital decoding up to 24-bit, 192kHz from PCM and double-speed DSD. Its DAC incorporates an ESS Sabre32 Reference converter with exceptional resolution and dynamic range. It also contains a complete embedded Linux computer so it can directly support Spotify Connect, TIDAL, QOBUZ, Deezer®, Rhapsody® or Napster® and a large library of internet radio stations and podcasts for an almost limitless library for music.
Harman Voyager System portable speaker
For the transition between in the home and mobile, Harman has introduced Voyager Drive. This is a unique Bluetooth wireless device that is a speaker and connected device to a mobile phone. The device is designed to travel, even when connected between home, the car, outdoor activities and then return. For the car, it is the first premium audio system that is architected for the entry level vehicle segment as a scalable platform. When used in the home, the Voyager Drive is a desktop speakerphone unit. The unit brings a new approach to branded in-vehicle audio. A major advantage is the removal of the contstraints of the traditional door speaker requirements and head unit architectures. The Voyager Drive gives OEMs the ability to offer a cost-effective branded audio solutions for the entry level segment making a platform of the emerging lifestyle audio market. For further reduced cost, the unit is OTA (over the air) updatable on the firmware.
The Voyager Drive has a modular upsell capability with the entry segment vehicles through a detachable wireless speaker and six dynamic in-dash speakers moving to an expansion of the Voyager Drive+, a removable car bass box that functions as a full-range portable audio system in and out of your vehicle. This system replaces the drivers mobile phone as the functional headunit for the AV system and brings a new option for the home/mobile/vehicle audio solution.
