Space is at a premium in a car’s passenger compartment and interior designers have to find ways to install the various features and equipment. It doesn’t help that over the years, more and more equipment has been introduced and with audio equipment, the number of speakers has increased for what used to be just two to a double-digit number. For example, a Mercedes-Maybach with a Burmester system can have up to 27 speakers.
The specialist audio system companies have been constantly advancing their technologies as well as the designs so the dimensions of speakers have become more compact, allowing them to be more easily and discreetly integrated in panels around the cabin.
However, weight is still an issue and while each speaker is not really heavy, a number of them (especially with magnets) can add weight. Ten speakers could add up to 40 kgs, although tweeters might be insignificant in this respect. And there is still the physical thickness which needs to be accommodated but this too could see a reduction in future.
Engineers at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in America have now developed a loudspeaker that can turn any surface into an active audio source. About the size of a hand, it is paper-thin and weighs about as much as a coin! It will generate high-quality sound no matter what surface the film is bonded to, while using a fraction of the energy required by a traditional loudspeaker.
Apple Music’s Spatial Audio with support for Dolby Atmos is now available as a native experience in Mercedes‑Benz vehicles for the first time, providing occupants with a fully immersive listening experience of studio-quality sound said to be better than in any concert hall.
The limited edition Mercedes‑Maybach by Virgil Abloh was one of the first cars in the world — and the first model in the Mercedes‑Benz line-up — to offer this superior, multi-dimensional soundscape powered by the Burmester high-end 4D sound system. Apple Music with Spatial Audio will also be integrated through the MBUX infotainment system first in the Mercedes‑Maybach S‑Class and then the S-Class and other Mercedes-EQ models.
Since the introduction of a radio in the car about 100 years ago, in-car entertainment or ICE has been evolving as new technologies were developed and then miniaturised and ruggedised for use in cars. Tape-players and CD-players allowed motorists to bring their own favourite music with them, and then with connectivity to portable devices, the capability expanded.
And then came digital displays that meant movies could also be viewed, and before long, being able to connect to the internet meant that a whole new world of entertainment became available inside the car. Whatever you can enjoy in your home can now also be enjoyed while travelling.
Moving into virtual reality
The next step in ICE is virtual-reality (VR) entertainment and Audi is the first carmaker in the world to enable passengers to immerse themselves in games, films and interactive content using holoride. They will enjoy this by using VR glasses which will make a car ride a multimodal gaming event.
The immersive experiences
The holoride technology adapts virtual content to the car’s driving movements in real-time. For example, if the car is taking a right turn, the spaceship in the imaginary world will also fly to the right. If the car accelerates, the spaceship speeds up too. Initiated by Audi, development of this innovative VR or XR (extended reality) technology is being advanced and commercialized for different manufacturers by the tech entertainment start-up.
With this approach, the 4-year old German start-up has established a completely new media category that they call ‘Elastic Content’ – content that adapts to driving movements, journey time and driving route. The result is immersive experiences with a previously unknown level of quality.
Holoride-capable Audi models
The models that will be holoride-capable with the third-generation modular infotainment toolkit (MIB 3) and the latest software cluster will be the A4, A5, A6, A7, A8, Audi Q5, Q7, Q8, e-tron and e-tron GT quattro. They will initially be available for the European and North American markets as well as Japan and China.
holoride was first presented at CES 2019 (the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas), in cooperation with Disney Games and Interactive Experiences. It implemented a VR game experience from the Marvel Universe for cars. In addition to other activities and showcases, during a roadshow through California from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 2021, holoride visited other production and game studios to demonstrate the technology’s possibilities to potential partners.
In the future, the progressive automation of travel by car will not only make new forms of entertainment possible while driving but will also open up increased opportunities to learn and work on the road. When drivers also no longer have to concentrate on driving in the future, they can turn their attention to other things – work, reading, watching films, or gaming. The motion-synchronized voyage through virtual worlds with holoride also reduces the common phenomenon of motion sickness often experienced by passengers reading a book or enjoying audio-visual media on electronic devices such as tablets.
For users, the interior will become their personal free space, and for designers, it will become the new design centre. After all, the design process begins with the question: who will be sitting in a new model and what will people want to do there? In the future, designers will no longer design cars from the outside in, but from the inside out – and therefore customers will literally become the centre of attention.
If you have taken a close look at Mazda models, you will have noticed that the audio systems in the vehicles are often from Bose, a company which has been producing premium audio systems for over 50 years. Bose makes systems for home as well as professional users, and also develops premium sound systems for automobile manufacturers to use as original equipment.
Mazda is one of the companies that Bose has had a long relationship with in this area, having first started working together with the third-generation Mazda RX-7 thirty years ago. While Mazda has long experience in making cars, it also understands that in some areas, it is better to work with specialists in the field to get the best solutions for customers.
Mazda RX-7 FD interior
In the case of the RX-7, the requirements of the team working on the sportscar were to provide powerful bass and impactful sound. In their search for exceptional audio performance that could meet these requirements, the development team came across the Acoustic Wave Cannon system by Bose. The bass reproduction system comprising a 3.6-metre-long tube with a high-power woofer inside provided exactly what Mazda was looking for, and the two companies set to work integrating the speaker technology into the car.
Acoustic Wave Cannon system by Bose.
RX-7 FD
While the task seemed insurmountable at first, an ingenious system of folds and bends allowed the engineers from the two companies to package the long tube into the rear of the car without compromising space or sound quality. “The Acoustic Waveguide technology and the RX-7 made music effortless,” remembers Mike Rosen, Principal Engineer Bose Automotive Systems, who was involved in the project.
The success with the RX-7 led to a continuing relationship with Bose and its systems are offered as premium features in Mazda models. And Bose does more than just supply systems as it also helps to optimize speaker placement for the best sound reproduction in the cabin. While Mazda engineers care a lot about vehicle dynamics, they also know that how the system sounds and the listening experience adds to the driving experience.
One particularly challenging milestone was the MX-5. Providing great sound quality for convertible cars when the top is down is a challenge for manufacturers and sound designers the world over, but Mazda and Bose came up with an innovative solution for the fourth-generation MX-5.
MX-5 interior
MX-5 RF
An EQ switch automatically adjusts the sound setting when the top is down, and Ultra Nearfield speakers embedded directly into the seat headrests allow for an immersive listening experience, even when the roof is open. Furthermore, Bose’s AudioPilot noise compensation technology continuously monitors the noise environment and automatically adjusts the audio playback to any changed circumstances, such as road and wind noise. This way, the driver can focus their attention on the music and driving experience without the need to make manual adjustments.
The latest generation of Mazda cars saw another breakthrough in the 30-year collaboration. In almost all models since the 2019 Mazda3, the woofers were moved from the door panels to the cowl side above the kick panel. This new placement not only frees up space for bigger door pockets, but also contributes to a better sound experience, as the bass energy is reflected by the floor, firewall and kick panel area simultaneously. This corner-loading effect creates a remarkably impactful, rich bass reproduction that is neither overbearing nor prone to rattling.
An aluminium grille fitted over the midrange speakers contributes to both the interior’s premium look and sound quality. The grille protects the speaker, but it causes complex vibrations between the two and affects sound direction. To minimize this, the grille was made thinner and features more holes.
The cowl-side bass enclosures are complemented by an additional subwoofer in the rear to ‘match’ the low-frequency performance across the cabin. The new configuration – aptly called BassMatch – shows its full potential in the all-electric MX-30, because there is no engine sound, the driver and passengers can experience even more detail and a richer audio experience than ever before.
Mazda MX-30
“The acoustics are a lot clearer than in previous models, and you can really feel the expansion of sound,” said Koji Wakamatsu, Assistant Manager in Mazda’s Electrical & Electronics Performance Development Department. “You can enjoy listening to music that sounds exactly as it was intended by its creators,” added Atsushi Hinokidani, an acoustic engineer at Bose.
To know more about Mazda vehicles with Bose sound systems, visit www.mazda.com.my
Motorists spend a lot of time in their vehicles, commuting to work or heading out of the city on road trips. On such journeys, especially if alone, entertainment is from the audio system, either with music from radio stations or from their personal devices. If they are used to high-quality sound from their systems at home, then they would also appreciate the same quality when listening to their favourite tunes while on the road.
For this reason, many carmakers give extra attention to audio systems and try to provide the best possible with reproduction that is close to what can be enjoyed with home systems. Over the past 9 years, Volkswagen has worked with Fender Musical Instruments Corporation and Panasonic to bring music to life on the road with the Fender Premium Audio System to provide the highest level of in-car performance.
Fender, founded in Southern California, is a specialist company which makes some of the best musical instruments, amps and gear. It has established a worldwide influence that extends from the studio to the stage – and beyond. Nearly 7 decades since founder Leo Fender built his first electric guitar, Fender’s reach transcends instruments and accessories, encompassing a range of innovative digital experiences that make add ‘superlative’ to sound systems for Volkswagens.
Panasonic has worked with Fender on the sound systems for the German carmaker, with a team of engineers and music experts having spent hundreds of hours refining the optimal spatial performance, dynamics and frequency balance for a variety of musical genres, from classical to blues to pop.
The team’s goal is that the driver (or whoever’s in charge of the music) won’t need to tune further unless they are looking for a specific sound element. “We want to make sure we can strike a balance that’s really going to sound great for any genre you can throw at it,” said Dave Ernst, Senior Acoustics Engineer at Panasonic.
Engineers tuning the Fender Premium Audio in a Volkswagen.
The Panasonic and Fender teams work closely to uphold the sound and ‘emotion of a live performance’ that makes the guitar brand so renowned, tailored to the specific Volkswagen model. They select the optimal speaker and amplifier components and fit them for the interior, managing the design trade-offs such as component dimensions, weight, and performance.
Advanced digital signal processing technology is used to reduce peaks and dips in frequency responses, account for asymmetry within the vehicle and manage sound that may reflect off areas like the windshield and door panels.
Speaker placement is optimised for each model depending on the cabin environment and size.
“We spend weeks listening to the system with different genres at different volumes in different settings,” said Ernst. A bass guitarist himself, he pays special attention to the role of the guitar when tuning the system. “We have to make sure we’re enhancing the character of the guitar without sounding too harsh. It’s about finding the right balance of energy.”
Following that, the team spends extensive time on the road, making sure roadway noises do not ruin the sound once the vehicle’s in motion. “That’s where you want to make sure you have enough bass that it really still sounds as good as possible,” he said.
Once it is complete, Ernst brings in musical artists to listen to their own work inside a Volkswagen. “That’s the most rewarding thing,” Ernst said. “These musicians have heard their music played back to them a hundred times, but not quite like this. I love watching them react to hearing their work.”
Fender audio systems are offered by Volkswagen in certain markets like North America.
Most artists do not expect such a high calibre of sound from inside a vehicle. But as Ernst notes, most drivers listen to music, podcasts or audiobooks during their commutes or on occasional road trips, so it’s logical to put such emphasis on sound for this space.
Despite the many months spent engineering, Ernst says the process is more of an art than a science. “It’s a feeling,” he explained. “It’s when you get in a Volkswagen and think, ‘I could listen to music in this car for hours.’ That’s when you know you have made a quality system.”
Many of today’s cars are having display screens mounted on the dashboard which resemble tablets. From the assembly point of view, it’s easier to install rather than being integrated in an opening in the dashboard. When you look at the display, it seems like a good idea if it could also be detached and taken out of the car for other uses and Pioneer seems to have come up with such an idea for a new product.
In the first quarter of 2020, it will begin shipping the market’s first Smart Unit Receiver which combines a Google-certified 8-inch Android portable display with a smart receiver. Its portability means it can go beyond being just an in-car infotainment system.
For digitally-savvy individuals
“Today’s car owners are more than just drivers. They are digitally-savvy individuals who live a lifestyle that is integrated with their mobile devices and apps. This new wave of smart drivers doesn’t want just a system that accompanies them from point A to point B, but personalised tools and solutions that enhance their way of life and help them with their day-to-day tasks,” said Ronald Lee, General Manager of Sales and Product Division, Pioneer Electronics AsiaCentre.
“Our new Smart Unit Receiver is the first in the market to deliver our Pioneer Smart Sync (PSS) in-car infotainment app with the flexibility of a portable display and a smart receiver, allowing car owners to live a truly digital lifestyle wherever they go,” he explained.
All-in-one functionalities
When motoring, the Smart Unit Receiver drivers with quick access to their favourite music using the display’s dedicated source display for radio and Bluetooth as well as the PSS app’s smart receiver control. The app is a one-stop solution for getting the most out of the Android display, car stereo, and navigation and drivers can activate voice assistants, or have unread text messages read out.
The system can also connect to existing rearview cameras and Pioneer’s parking sensors through the smart receiver. Passengers can also stream videos on the move through apps like YouTube and Netflix. The portable display’s IPS LED screen offers crystal-clear clarity and a wide smooth surface to tap into controls and popular apps in just a few swipes.
With the ability to pre-select the cradle position, drivers can also adjust the display’s elevation for maximum comfort when watching videos and operating the device. The display can also be removed from the mount with just the press of a button so it becomes a tablet which can be taken into the office or home or anywhere else (to be connected to the internet would, of course, require having a SIM card or wifi connection).
“Drivers get to experience a truly seamless digital lifestyle within and outside of the car. When leaving the car, they can simply remove the display and reply to emails, catch up on the news or their favourite shows, and connect with loved ones via messaging apps on the go. The transition is non-disruptive,” said Mr. Lee.
Lower costs, more value
With the Smart Unit Receiver’s multiple capabilities and flexibility, drivers can gain more value just from a single system solution. They stand to reduce their hardware requirements and costs by meeting a diverse range of needs – from entertainment and navigation to productivity and connectivity – from just one portable display receiver system.
The system is also designed with safety and protection in mind, with the display built for durability and longevity within the environment of a car. The secure mount and robust display cover also offer better protection for the investment, preventing damage and extending the usage life of the system.
Information on pricing and availability in Malaysia is not available at this time but as the product will enter the market in the near future, perhaps you would want to hold off on buying a new tablet if you were planning to shop for one.
Just as Lexus and Mark Levinson have had a long relationship (almost 20 years) in the area of audio systems, Bentley has collaborated with Naim for the past 10 years, in the development of the most powerful, best-in-class in-car audio systems. The latest ‘Naim for Bentley’ is said to set a global benchmark for interactive sound technology offering occupants concert hall quality sound.
Naim for Bentley delivers the world’s most advanced music systems, both inside the world’s most prestigious road cars and also for listeners at home. Bentley’s new Flying Spur has Naim’s superlative audio system seamlessly integrated into state-of-the-art British craftsmanship.
21 speakers and 2,200-watt amplification
The sound system features 21 speakers with 2,200-watt amplification and Active Bass Transducers. Eight DSP sounds modes are available and the car exhibits illuminated speaker grilles. Sound settings can be accessed via an elegant 12.3-inch HD touchscreen interface at the centre of the dashboard. Customers can configure this in a variety of ways: as a single display, split 2:1 or showing different functions at the same time. The overall designs highlights simplicity of use with a contemporary and elevated aesthetic.
Aiming to break sonic boundaries
Bentley Motors and Naim Audio are now working together to create new products for 2020 which continue to break sonic boundaries. The close confines of a car cabin capable of travelling at speeds of over 320 km/h, combined with engine, road and wind noise, provide a challenge for Naim’s engineers, quite unlike the demands of achieving best replay performance in the home or studio.
To bring true Naim sound quality into this unique space, engineers of the two companies have flatly rejected traditional approaches, in the process rewriting the rulebook of in-car audio systems. The result? New worldwide benchmarks for in-cabin sound technology and incredible depth of music quality that has to be heard to be believed.
Naim is a Queen’s Award winner for its innovation and having recently come out with a trailblazing Digital Signal Processing (DSP) system, it realised it could apply an all-new approach to the in-car implementation. The DSP system would find itself at the very heart of the Naim for Bentley audio system, enabling a degree of tuning previously not possible, ensuring optimal sound performance whatever the speed or road conditions.
Each new generation of Bentley has seen a refinement and an update from the original Naim for Bentley audio system. Beginning as a 15 speaker – 1,100-watt system in 2008, the system has evolved into a 2,200-watt amplifier feeding 21 speakers as featured in the new Flying Spur.
Bentley Flying Spur
The Naim for Bentley system has been designed to maintain performance even when the roof of the Continental GT Convertible is down, and as Bentley evolves its hybrid car line, beginning with the Bentayga Hybrid, the even quieter engines offer a different audio environment to design for altogether.
Unique Digital Signal Processor solution
Naim has engineered a unique Digital Signal Processor (DSP) solution for the Naim for Bentley audio system. This innovative technology offers a range of modes to optimise the in-car soundstage, depending on seating position and listening preferences. It ensures ultimate audio performance is maintained whatever the speed or road conditions.
In celebration of their longstanding partnership with Bentley Motors, Naim has introduced the new special edition Naim for Bentley Mu-so range of wireless music systems.
While class-leading, with an extremely powerful amplifier, the Naim for Bentley system is more than just a sound system. It has been engineered to deliver a true high-fidelity experience matched to the refinement of the Bentley experience.
Naim for Bentley’s audio system is compatible with Spotify, Apple Music, TIDAL, Deezer and allows customers to enjoy their own choice of music, digital radio or spoken word media such as audio books and podcasts.
In the not-too-distant future when cars start to operate without humans managing, the environment in the cabin will surely change. On long journeys, there may be a need for more infotainment to pass the time. To demonstrate how we might be using media in our vehicles in the future, Porsche, start-up Holoride and media company Discovery have proposed a new VR (Virtual Reality) solution for use in vehicles.
The aim of the collaboration between Porsche and Holoride is to give vehicle passengers the opportunity of immersing themselves in virtual worlds. Development plans include entertainment, edutainment, as well as solutions for productivity and relaxation in the vehicle.
Maximum immersion for passengers
For this purpose, Holoride software links a VR headset with sensors and the vehicle so that content can be adapted to the car’s driving movements in real time. For instance, if the car is being driven around a corner, the ‘vehicle’ that the passenger is virtually travelling in will also change direction. Consequently, users experience maximum immersion into a fictitious world to significantly reduce the symptoms of travel sickness. This also applies to watching 2D content.
Passengers can choose from various 2D or 3D experiences ranging from documentaries and, for now, an underwater adventure through to a journey in time. The newly presented VR experience transports users in a drone moving through a futuristic city.
In future, the system could also evaluate navigation data in order to adapt the length of a VR experience to the calculated duration of the journey. Holoride software makes it possible to offer elastic content which is a new form of media especially designed for use in vehicles. Such content will adapt to not only to motion and context but also projected driving time so that the presentation ends when the destination is reached.
“Our joint projects with Holoride and Porsche Digital have demonstrated what the technology is capable of. In future, we also envisage Porsche-specific solutions, for instance for the race track,” added Anja Mertens, Project Manager for Smart Mobility at Porsche AG.
VR experience to be commercialised by 2021
Holoride is pursuing an open platform approach so automotive manufacturers and content producers can readily use the technology. “Now that we have teamed up with Discovery, we can demonstrate for the first time how users can also experience 2D content such as films in the virtual 3D world. We call this an ambi-environment,” explained Nils Wollny, CEO of Holoride.
As part of the Startup Autobahn innovation platform, the young company had shown that the Holoride software works seamlessly with manufacturer vehicle data for motion-synchronised, real-time generation of virtual reality (VR) and cross-reality (XR) content. The cooperation with Discovery underlines Holoride’s approach to also bring edutainment content to the vehicle in addition to gaming and entertainment. Holoride aims to bring this new form of entertainment using commercially available VR headsets for passengers in the rear seats of production cars to market by 2021.
Having Discovery, already well known for its documentaries, as a partner for 2D content means benefiting from their expertise in the area of real-life entertainment as the company supplies topically matching documentary material for the in-car VR experience.
When you own a car from a brand that is often used as a superlative term, it would be expected that the quality of musical entertainment within would also be superior. This was clear in the brief for Bespoke Audio for the Rolls-Royce Phantom: to integrate studio quality audio into a motorcar.
Indeed, the men and women who created Bespoke Audio for the brand’s flagship benchmarked the system against a recording studio’s playback room rather than systems created for automotive applications. However, configuring an audio system for a car is significantly more challenging than creating an audio system for a static, purpose-built facility because external disruptions such as road surfaces, wind buffeting and ambient noise corrupt audio quality dramatically. Therefore the team at Rolls-Royce built the environment the audio system was destined for in tandem with the audio system itself.
The Architecture of Luxury
Only the Architecture of Luxury, the marque’s proprietary spaceframe, could allow the brand to meet its brief. Aluminium was selected as it has a higher acoustic impedance than steel, reducing external noise entering the cabin. Further optimising the material’s acoustic properties is the construction technique; engineers eschewed traditional methods, instead introducing extrusions and complex internal structures to both improve the rigidity of the motor car and minimise flat, resonant surfaces.
The largest ever cast aluminium joints in a body-in-white and double-skinned bulkhead and floor sections better insulate sound; measures that both isolate external noise and optimise the performance of sound inside the cabin.
The designers also gave the acoustic performance of the bass speaker special consideration at the architectural stage. Exceptional low frequency performance is engineered into the very fabric of Phantom as it incorporates a resonance chamber into the body’s sill section; the frequency response of the Bespoke Audio speaker component defined the chamber’s size and shape. In essence, the car itself is a subwoofer.
World’s most silent automotive soundstage
In addition, the Phantom is equipped with 6 mm thick acoustically dampened glass, which combines double-glazing with infrared and UV protection and high-strength laminated safety glass. 130 kgs of dense, high-absorption sound insulation is installed throughout the car – in the headliner, doors and boot cavity – to drastically reduce reverberation.
Rolls-Royce also worked closely with its tyre partner to invent ‘Silent-Seal’ tyres, which feature a specific foam layer placed inside the rubber carcass that reduces overall tyre noise by 9 decibels compared with a standard alternative. When a Rolls-Royce acoustic test engineer first reviewed results road and vibration tests, the sound levels were so low that he asked to check that the measuring instruments were calibrated correctly. They were and Rolls-Royce lays claim to the Phantom being the most silent car in the world.
State-of-the-art optimisation technology
A powerful amplifier controls 18 channels (one for each speaker), providing a 1,300-watt output. State-of-the-art optimisation technology and high precision magnesium-ceramic compound speaker cones enable near-infinitesimal changes in sound with an outstanding frequency response.
Two active microphones in the cabin also enable an adaptive function, detecting the absence or over emphasis of frequencies before triggering the amplifier to adjust the loudness of certain frequency ranges to counteract it. The Bespoke Audio system makes the most of the highest quality, uncompressed dynamic rate music providing an exceptional listening experience.
But to finely tune the Bespoke Audio system required the most sensitive of ‘instruments’ – the human ear. This helps to judge the more intangible, subjective elements of audio, such as timbre, pace and responsiveness.
Thousands of kilometres are driven to ensure Rolls-Royce Motor Cars’ systems are the very best, listening to a wide range of music – from house to heavy metal, and trap to techno. Only when the engineers can truly ‘visualise’ musicians playing around them do they sign off the sonic delivery. These factors contribute to a uniquely Rolls-Royce standard of sound for customers, many of whom are themselves musicians and will settle for nothing less than perfection.
