Audio Foundry is a new organization that invites different innovators to join together to produce a better OEM audio system.
It’s members are working to offer OEM systems with speakers in unusual placements such as under the carpet or inside a seat or in the roof. They claim to produce audio “like you’ve never heard it before,” and they are offering demonstrations at CES this week.
Initial members of the Audio Foundry include Dirac, the surround sound company, and Timphany, maker of Peerless Audio speakers and Trèves, a supplier of acoustic treatments.
Audio Foundry “is where all these difference companies in software and hardware can come together and take the things they are good at and form one solution that can then be used by the car manufacturers,” said a spokesman.
By freeing speakers from their usual placement, it is possible to reduce the weight of the audio system. Fewer speakers may be required for a full system, said a spokesman.
Audio Foundry is a collaborative makerspace, design center and testing lab located in Wales, UK. It offers a listening room, measurement room and a studio room, as well as 3D printers, wood and metal workshops and hot desks, said Automotive Interiors World. It’s a different approach from the usual private, internal testing labs.
Dirac currently supplies surround processing software for Polestar, Bentley, and Rolls Royce.
Trèves’ “Sonified” technology enables OEMs to move car speakers out of doors and into less common locations, such as inside seats or under floor carpeting.
Tymphany specializes in consumer and professional audio systems. Its Peerless brand was founded in Denmark back in 1926. It uses a unique 4-in-1 holistic design approach, which includes a transducer, amplifier, DSP/software, acoustic system design, and mechanical innovations.
It will be interesting to see where this leads. Definitely something we should all keep an eye on from a long term perspective.