Dirac Research and miniDSP Deliver Dirac Live Processing For Aftermarket Car Audio

Many Americans spend more time listening to music in their cars than in any other setting. That was certainly the case for me when I worked at the Los Angeles Times, and had a one-hour commute to endure every morning and every evening. I enjoy listening to music in the car, even though the factory-fitted Bose sound system in my aging Acura TL is only so-so at best. But even if I installed a good source, a high-end amp, and aftermarket speakers from Focal or JL Audio, there is no denying the fact that a car’s interior is one of the most acoustically hostile environments in which to enjoy music. It’s a relatively small space, surrounded by highly reflective surfaces. And no matter where you sit, you’re very close to some speakers and far away from others, resulting in dissimilar impulse responses from different speakers. Good luck creating a precise and stable stereo image to be enjoyed from any one seat, let alone from all of the seats. Frequency response is often all over the place, and bass is rarely as tight and tuneful as it would be in a good home audio setup. But it doesn’t have to be this way, according to Swedish digital audio pioneer Dirac Research.

Dirac is best known for its DSP-based Dirac Live loudspeaker/room-correction system, which is utilized in high-end home audio products from NAD, Arcam, Storm Audio, and others. But the company also has roots in the automotive industry, and touts itself as “one of the world’s first companies to apply highly-sophisticated digital audio technologies to the vehicle cabin to elevate the in-car listening experience.” For over a decade, Dirac has developed sound optimization solutions for luxury automakers, including Rolls Royce, Bentley, BMW, and Volvo. By combining Dirac’s DSP with audiophile hardware from companies like Naim and Bowers & Wilkins, these luxury car brands have been able to offer their customers a superior in-car listening experience. Now, Dirac Research is making this kind of listening experience possible in any car, by bringing its Dirac Live technology to the automotive aftermarket via a partnership with Chinese audio hardware manufacturer miniDSP. The new miniDSP C-DSP 8x12 DL in-car audio processor ($899) was designed specifically for the aftermarket car audio industry, and takes advantage of several Dirac Research technologies in order to overcome the acoustical challenges presented by the typical car interior.

The future of automotive audio will result from leveraging audio breakthroughs in home theater acoustical room correction and subwoofer management, mobile soundstage widening, small speaker bass optimization, 3D audio, and more – categories in which we currently lead the market.

    — Lars Carlsson, Dirac General Manager of Automotive

Dirac says that its new Dirac Live automotive solution optimizes the impulse responses and magnitude frequency responses of a whole car audio system, delivering “a pristine, natural sound.” One key technology at play is called Dirac Unison, which the company says is one of its most advanced signal processing methods. Dirac Unison treats the loudspeakers and listening space as “a cohesive unit, rather than as individual elements that interfere with one another.” It is able to co-optimize multiple speakers “to remove variations in sound quality across seats, maximize impulse response fidelity, and achieve an unparalleled bass performance,” according to Dirac.

Dirac Virtual Center is another technology that is employed to “ensure that you are listening to the music as if you were always within the sweet spot, regardless of your actual position in the car.” It processes the audio signals to correct near-side bias and create a “stable and distinct” phantom center channel. It accomplishes this magic trick using “digital all-pass filters” to adjust the phase between two loudspeakers or input signals, and it works for every seat in the car. Finally, Dirac’s Panorama Sound technology creates an expanded soundstage from “unconventionally located loudspeakers,” such as those in a car’s dashboard.

Bringing truly premium sound to the automotive industry has always been a challenge. The less-than-ideal placement of loudspeakers and complicated car cabin acoustics have both been significant roadblocks for perfect audio experiences in all seats in the cabin. Until now. For over a decade we’ve used our sophisticated sound quality optimization, sound field control, and room correction solutions to bring pristine sound to drivers and passengers around the world. Today, leading high-end automotive makers utilize our cutting-edge technologies to deliver the promise of the best possible sound quality to their customers.

   —Dirac

In addition to executing Dirac’s processing, the miniDSP C-DSP 8x12 DL in-car audio processor provides  adjustable time delay, crossovers up to 48 dB/octave, a parametric EQ, compressors, and an advanced matrix mixer. The processor has optical and coaxial digital inputs, plus six line-level differential analog inputs, and six speaker-level inputs. Twelve RCA outputs allow for multichannel installations with subwoofer integration, and allow the C-DSP to work with active crossover systems.

This new Dirac Live-enabled miniDSP processor was born out of demand by the automotive aftermarket community — who long installed our home theater products in their vehicles to produce a refined listening experience. However, the miniDSP C-DSP 8x12 DL is specifically designed for a vehicle environment and provides this community with a device that compensates for inherent flaws that arise from any in-vehicle stereo system.

    — Dirac General Manager Niklas Thorin

According to Lars Carlsson, Dirac’s General Manager of Automotive, the company has only scratched the surface of what digital audio technology will eventually accomplish for the automobile. Here’s what he predicts for the future of car travel:

It is digital audio that will allow passengers seated around a central table to all hear the same high-quality audio, regardless of their distance to the speaker array; it will allow parents in the front seats to listen to the news while children in the rear play games, with digitally-separated sound fields; and it will provide commuters a virtual-reality-like meeting experience, with voices of conference participants emanating from specific directions, simulating a real-world meeting around a table. This is the future, yet the foundational elements of the aural experience already exist today.

    — Lars Carlsson

In the future, as self-driving cars change the landscape of the automotive industry, Dirac believes that car manufacturers will increasingly focus on the experience of being a passenger, rather than the experience of being a driver. When you are removed from the task of operating a vehicle, as you are when traveling via train or plane, the only things that matter are comfort, convenience, and entertainment. In this context, high quality audio will be more important than ever.

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