Dirac expands collaboration with BlackBerry Limited to transform in-vehicle sound experiences and automotive audio solutions.
Under this new partnership, Dirac’s award-winning Dirac Opteo and Dirac Virtuo software optimization solutions will combine BlackBerry QNX® Sound platform to enhance automotive audio solutions.
Dirac and BlackBerry aim to leverage audio designers and engineers’ complete creative freedom to deliver exciting in-vehicle sound experiences. Also helps audio engineers expand opportunities for revenue generation.
The collaboration between Dirac and BlackBerry enables automakers to consolidate all audio and acoustic functions seamlessly in automotive audio solutions across entire vehicle lineups, using pre-integrated and pre-tested core technologies.
According to Hendrik Hermann, Vice President Automotive at Dirac, the collaboration also demonstrates Dirac and BlackBerry QNX’s shared belief that audio experiences will be a key differentiator in the age of software-defined vehicles that can offer subscription-based upgrades through over-the-air software updates.
“Through our integration into QNX Sound, Dirac’s turnkey solutions allow manufacturers to seamlessly and cost-effectively upgrade any vehicle’s sound system with unparalleled immersion and performance,” Hermann said. “This presents automakers with an opportunity to bring a new, value-add feature into their vehicles, while opening up new revenue streams through subscriptions services and other on-demand upgrades.”
Working alongside BlackBerry QNX, Dirac has now integrated a fully scalable Dirac plug-in, featuring all of Dirac’s industry-leading audio optimization technologies, into the QNX Sound platform. This will empower original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) with easy access to Dirac solutions that maximize fidelity and immersion and offer the flexibility to continually enhance automotive audio solutions and refresh the in-car audio experience for owners.
The Dirac plug-in will feature the Dirac Opteo digital sound optimization solution, which upgrades the sound performance of automotive audio systems using technologies such as MIMO mixed-phase correction, mixed-phase impulse response correction and other patented technologies.
It will also feature Dirac Virtuo, which touts to leverage the industry’s most sophisticated audio algorithm in automotive audio solutions to envelop drivers and passengers in high-quality immersive sound.
“Dirac software is a key part of our new QNX Sound platform, which aims to provide every tier of OEM with a complete out-of-the-box library of automotive acoustics tools,” said John Wall, Senior Vice President, and Head of QNX at BlackBerry. “That library wouldn’t be truly complete without the industry’s leading car audio optimization tool. Together with Dirac, we are excited to make premium audio available to more drivers in more vehicles than ever before.”
Vehicle speakers and automotive audio solutions often interfere with each other to cause distortion and reduce audio clarity – and systems with more speakers create greater interference. A car cabin’s shape and materials can also lead to unwanted sound coloration, resulting in muddy, booming sound that makes it difficult to discern where sound is coming from.
Featuring patented technologies, Dirac addresses these challenges by enabling all the speakers in a car(automotive audio solutions) to work intelligently together and co-correct each other’s impulse response. Dirac’s optimization solutions remove the unwanted effects of the cabin and create ideal loudspeaker responses for maximum fidelity, unparalleled bass performance and immersive sound based on stereo content. With Dirac, sound is richer, more balanced, more dynamic, and more immersive in every seat.
This shared initiative marks an expansion of the companies’ existing collaboration, which began at CES 2023 with the integration of Dirac Opteo into the QNX® Acoustics Management Platform.
Dirac’s automotive audio solutions are currently used by leading automotive brands Rolls Royce, Volvo, Polestar, Genesis, NIO and BYD, among many others.
For more information on BlackBerry QNX Sound: BlackBerry.com/QNXSound.
For more information on Dirac: click here.
