Skip to content

Immersive Audio in Automobiles 2

December 1, 2021
9:00 AM Pacific (12:00 PM Eastern)

Overview

The AES Audio Product Education Institute promotes a second online session to explore Immersive Audio in automotive audio design and applications, and how these technologies enable the expansion of vehicle acoustic perceptions.
 
Currently on the minds for both automotive brands and consumers, immersive audio reproduction results from a convergence of multiple technologies and concepts, from multichannel playback to acoustic auralization of perceived listening spaces, to DSP enhancement of sound reproduction. This session explores the different ways to translate actual immersive audio content and generate immersive experiences.  
 
Most consumers are familiar with the term “Immersive Audio” to describe what we might know as a height or channel-based, object-oriented process, which first appeared eleven years ago, and which was given some criteria standards by the Society of Motion Picture and TV Engineers (SMPTE) just a few years ago. With consumers now being offered immersive, 3D audio, and spatial audio experiences in all types of playback platforms, and with actual immersive audio formats, such as Dolby Atmos and MPEG-H 3D Audio, becoming widely recognized, it’s only natural that automotive audio followed the trend, and naturally strives to take it a step further…
 
During this webinar, Roger Shively (JJR Acoustics) will have a closer look at the interaction between discrete 3D audio content (e.g. Sony 360RA), a renderer for such content (e.g. Fraunhofer Symphoria) and the automotive integration (e.g. Audio Weaver Framework of DSP Concept). Roger will discuss with his guests how “Immersive Audio” can be defined and what challenges and requirements new immersive audio formats imply.
 
To have a closer look at these topics as well as available technologies and solutions, Roger Shively invited three immersive audio specialists to discuss this matter from different perspectives.
 
Johannes Schmidl, Business Development Manager at Fraunhofer IIS, will introduce the immersive audio codec MPEG-H and demonstrate its features. Moreover, he will discuss what is technically needed to be able to enjoy content like Sony 360 Reality Audio in vehicles. 

Michael Fabry, the General Manager of DSP Concepts GmbH, will discuss the technical requirements to bring 3D sound to life in in-car environments.

Thomas Bachmann, Group Manager Automotive Acoustics at Fraunhofer IIS, will discuss what is meant by the term “Immersive Audio” and outline the challenges of rendering immersive formats and tuning a car accordingly. Furthermore, he will analyze the coexistence of upmix and discrete immersive audio.
Michael Fabry

General Manager, DSP Concepts GmbH

Unterensingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Michael Fabry is a car audio veteran, best-known as the founder of automotive audio engineering firm S1nn Gmbh & Co. KG, where he played a key role in the development of the sound systems in the Tesla Model X and S, which Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport called “extraordinary.” He joined DSP Concepts in 2016 as general manager of the company’s subsidiary in Germany, where he oversaw growth of the Stuttgart engineering team and expanded the adoption of DSP Concepts’ Audio Weaver voice UI and automotive audio algorithms to a broader base of automotive OEMs and Tier 1s. Prior to his work at DSP Concepts and S1nn, Michael has also held senior engineering positions at Harman Becker Automotive Systems and Bose Corporation.
Johannes Schmidl

Business Development Streaming Applications, Fraunhofer IIS,
Erlangen, Germany

Johannes Schmidl joined the renowned Audio and Media Technologies department of the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS in 2014. He is part of the MPEG-H Audio team at Fraunhofer and as project lead and Business Development Manager he works on bringing Next Generation Audio to the market. Johannes has supported partners worldwide in implementing MPEG-H Audio into streaming and broadcast workflows. Immersive Audio is essential for audio applications and a feature already appreciated by consumers. In automotive environments, object-based and interactive audio can unfold its full potential. He is confident that in-car entertainment will benefit tremendously from true discrete 3D-Audio delivered by MPEG-H.
Johannes has a Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and joined Fraunhofer as an applications engineer. He is currently in the midst of his MBA in “Leadership”.
Thomas Bachmann

Group Manager Automotive Acoustics, Fraunhofer IIS,
Erlangen, Germany

Thomas Bachmann received his Tonmeister Diploma in 2008 from the Academy for Film and Television “Konrad Wolf” in Potsdam, Germany. After graduating, he worked on film projects as a freelancer, as Tonmeister at theaters, and on a research project for automatic audio signal classification in the MPEG7 context. Due to the research experience he gained during this project, he decided to continue working in the development sector. In 2009 he joined the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS installing reproduction studios for listening tests and producing critical items. At present, he holds the position of the Group Manager Automotive Acoustics. Apart from doing sound tunings for car entertainment systems for many years, his work at Fraunhofer covers research topics for improving the in-car sound reproduction involving psychoacoustics and advanced signal processing. He regularly freelances on classical recordings projects for various orchestras in Germany.

Roger Shively

JJR Acoustics, LLC
Seattle, Washington, USA

Roger is a Co-founder and Principal of JJR Acoustics. He has over 34 years of experience in engineering research and development, with significant experience in product realization and in launching new products at OEM manufacturers around the world. Before co-founding JJR Acoustics in 2011, Roger worked as Chief Engineer of Acoustic Systems as well as functional manager for North American and Asian engineering product development teams in the Automotive Division of Harman International Industries Inc; a journey that began in 1986.
Roger received his degree in Acoustical Engineering from Purdue University in 1983, and finished post-graduate work in the field of finite element analysis. He is a member of the Audio Engineering Society, Acoustical Society of America, and Society of Automotive Engineering. He has published numerous research papers and articles in the areas of transducers, automotive audio, psychoacoustics, and computer modeling. Roger also holds US and International Patents related to the design of advanced acoustic systems and applications particularly in the field of automotive audio. Roger is Co-Chair of the AES Automotive Audio Technical Committee.