Latest news with #inCarAudio
Auto Blog
24-06-2025
- Automotive
- Auto Blog
Audi Partners with Dolby to Bring Next-Gen In-Car Audio to Select Models
Quality in-car audio has a new ally It seems that in-car audio is improving with each passing day. Audi announced today their new partnership with Dolby to bring Dolby Atmos to the Audi Q7, Q8, A8, and e-tron GT starting July 2025. A number of audio streaming services, including Amazon Music, Audible, and TIDAL, will take advantage of this new partnership. 0:07 / 0:09 Thinking about buying a Toyota RAV4? These 5 rivals might change your mind Watch More Audi's Bang & Olufsen Premium 3D Sound System is already pretty notch, and has been specifically adapted to work with Dolby Atmos. According to the two companies' press release, 93% of Billboard's 2024 Top 100 Artists are releasing music in Dolby Atmos, so if you're a subscriber of the aforementioned streaming services, you'll have plenty to listen to. Dolby x Audi — Source: Dolby x Audi 'The Bang & Olufsen Premium 3D Sound System has been specially adapted to integrate Dolby Atmos. The driver and front passenger can play tracks in Dolby Atmos directly and intuitively via the multimedia interface (MMI) using the Audi Application Store and integrated apps such as Amazon Music, Audible, and Tidal,' the press release reads. Audi is not the first automaker to embrace Dolby Atmos Back in March of this year, Cadillac invited me to San Francisco to showcase its partnership with Dolby and the introduction of Dolby Atmos into its Cadillac Optiq SUV. Paired with the 19-speaker AKG system, the system truly turned the Optiq into my personal concert hall, and I imagine that Audi's system is equally as capable. In fact, it might be a little more capable, as the automaker's advertising on its website touts that the system can be equipped with up to 23 speakers and houses specially-designed tweeters in the dashboard. 2025 Audi e-tron GT RS Performance — Source: Dolby x Audi Final thoughts Given how much time we spend in our cars on daily commutes, trips, and everything in between, it's a welcome sight to see automakers treat the in-car listening experience so seriously. My only gripe is the focus on platforms like Amazon Music and Tidal rather than more commonly used ones like Apple Music and Spotify. I understand that both Amazon Music and Tidal use lossless codecs for songs that Spotify has yet to offer, but for me, this severely limits my music choices. Hopefully, if enough automakers omit Spotify integration from their high-tech in-car audio systems, the streaming service will get its act together and finally offer lossless codecs on its platform as well. Here's to hoping! About the Author Gabriel Ionica View Profile
Auto Car
15-05-2025
- Automotive
- Auto Car
Who needs speakers? Meet the car instrument panel that can play music
In-car audio is as much about relaying information to the occupants as it is listening to music. With that in mind, one of the latest ideas to emerge from Continental is an instrument display that doubles as a sound chamber to transmit sound without the need for separate speakers. The display is based on the company's Ac2ated Sound Technology, which it began developing a number of years ago with audio specialist Sennheiser. An exercise in system integration, the display does away with the need for separate speakers, saving cost, weight and space. Sound is generated by actuators, which effectively turn the entire display surface into a speaker thanks to audible vibrations induced in the glass. It can transmit all kinds of sound, including speech, in 'exceptional quality'. According to Continental, a further advantage is 'acoustic localisation'. As humans, we can tell where a sound is coming from and tend to turn our heads in that direction. So when a spoken message or alert sound is produced by the display, the driver's gaze is drawn to the instrument it's related to, directing attention where it's needed. The thinking behind the combined audio and display technology comes from part of the team specialising in vehicle acoustics and also 'psychoacoustics', the science of how humans perceive sound. Although the main use of the display may be to relay information and link visuals and sound more closely, Continental says the actuator technology can be integrated into almost any existing flat component in a car's interior. By installing the actuators in door trims, headrests, A-pillars, the rooflining and so on, there is the potential to get rid of all conventional speakers. That could provide aesthetic benefits (no need for speaker grilles) together with a significant saving of around 40kg (about the weight of multiple speakers and fittings in a high-end audio system) and a 90% reduction in the space needed, which Continental estimates at 30-40 litres depending on the number of speakers used. Some premium audio systems incorporate more than 30 speakers, so the packaging benefits could be substantial too, assuming the active surface technology can match them for the audio quality. When the original Ac2ated system was shown by Continental at CES in 2020, it was audio system-focused, rather than display-focused, and called the Speakerless Immersive Sound system. Then, it was integrated with Sennheiser's Ambeo 3D audio technology.
