Ever higher wattage, ever fatter subwoofers, ever more speakers? The future of sound in the car looks different than the previous orgy of materials. Suppliers, manufacturers and software developers are working on completely new sound dimensions - but they are also forced to do so.
Greg Sikora hates loose change. Candy wrappers get on his nerves. Or packs of tissues. Jingling, crackling, rustling from somewhere in the depths of the car shelves: The noises of such cent articles can devalue his work of many weeks. Because "for me, they destroy the flawless sound that we have worked endlessly on." A nightmare for the head of the Acoustic Systems Engineering Department of the world's largest car hi-fi manufacturer Harman.
Sikora is in the halls of Harman's Munich Car Lab, which owns brands such as JBL, Infinity, Bowers & Wilkins, Bang & Olufsen and Marck Levinson. And in front of him is a prototype of a new Aston Martin, in which his technicians are looking for the ideal position for the deep bass from the subwoofer. Not an easy undertaking in the confines of a sports car. After all, it's pumped full of technology and engine power anyway - and in the best place under the seats, the space in such a raging flounder is too tight for the thickest loudspeaker with its need for resonance space. "Thank God it can also be installed in other places, such as the trunk, because the human ear can hardly localize the noise," says Sikora.
However, this does not apply at all to the other sound waves – here the human hears exactly where the sound is coming from. And that is why there is a trend towards more and more loudspeakers in cars. Even basic equipment often offers half a dozen sound transmitters, which can be upgraded even in small cars with a few hundred euros extra from the factory. And BMW, Lexus or Mercedes customers sometimes shell out several thousand euros to bring hundreds of watts, loudspeaker batteries everywhere and, last but not least, glorious brand logos of audiophile tradition into the car.
In the Aston, Bentley, Rolls or Maybach it is already in the dimensions of a small car price. For this thunders about from a Burmester system Hifidelity in concert hall quality and three-dimensional surround sound like in a high-tech cinema - over 21 high-performance speakers including additional speakers from two roof islands between the rear seats and with 1.480 watts.
The cinema and concert hall also provide technologies that Sikora trims its systems for in the car: "Thanks to home cinema systems, listening habits have become so highly developed," says the developer. That's why the teams measure the sound development in the world's most famous concert halls, such as the Wiener Musikverein - and recreate the sound experience using the high-quality systems in the car. "Especially in times of social distancing, live experiences can be streamed securely with high transmission rates," says Sikora. Some car owners then no longer want to drive at all, but only want to experience great opera from the Arena di Verona in the parking lot. Together with the tenor Andrea Bocelli and his favorite opera house in Pisa, JBL has developed such a system for the Fiat 500.
But also formats originally conceived for the cinema, such as Dolby Atmos change hearing on board. The Dolby makers, together with the German multimedia specialist Cinemo, have developed a system for cars with 21 front, rear, side and height speakers and eight structure-borne sound transducer not only let the feeling of music float freely in the seats, but also the signals and warnings that are particularly relevant for the person behind the wheel. Professional musician Christopher von Deylen enthused when presenting the system: "Compared to Dolby Atmos Music, stereo sounds like mono."
However, the "wish-your-watt" orgies bring with them two major problems: Top systems can weigh a hundredweight and consume the corresponding amount of energy. Not exactly pioneering when working on sustainable mobility. Developer Sikora also relies on smaller loudspeakers that focus on the spectrum that is actually audible to the human ear.
Go radically different Sennheiser and Continental the battle for the sound: you want to produce 3D sound without any loudspeakers. For this purpose, Sennheiser has integrated its Ambeo 3D audio technology into Continental's Ac2ated sound system. Door linings or body parts with targeted vibrations themselves take over the sound generation. Space and weight of one sound system should slim down by up to 90 percent. The partners want to develop a series version in the next few months.
However, the developer Sikora does not really believe in the end of the loudspeaker: “The idea has been around for a long time. But firstly, the car manufacturers want to avoid vibrations in their body parts, secondly, nobody knows what the sound will be like after a few years of use - and thirdly, the requirements of the future require precise sound reinforcement for the ears of the individual passenger." The trend is going therefore more to the sound from the headrest.
Angry For example, such headphone-like systems are already used by Nissan and Hi-Fi competitor Meridian in the Range Rover. As a result, the sound can always be played out in the ideal relationship to the head - important, for example, when the passenger puts his seat in a lying position or turns the entire seat in the direction of the second row in an autonomously driving vehicle.
In addition, the trend is towards Hörinsel. Many already like it Rear passengers prefer to enjoy a movie or video game on their front-seat screens. And with the advent of separate screens for the front passenger, they may also want to Skype - and not be distracted by the music or navigation announcements from the person behind the wheel. After all, in the audio experience of the future, that can be almost as annoying as small change in the glove compartment.
