Dirac has launched Dirac Spaces, a new automotive audio platform that brings the acoustic feel of real-world venues into the car. The solution debuts in the NIO ES9, NIO’s intelligent electric flagship SUV and works in tandem with the NIO Lyra sound system to transform the car’s naturally intimate cabin into a convincing representation of larger, purpose-built listening spaces.
Dirac Spaces and Lyra together take a holistic approach to in-car audio, fusing hardware, acoustic space, and content to create a more immersive experience.
By combining advanced amplification and speaker design with precise spatial reproduction and high-quality audio, the system delivers a richer, more lifelike sound that mirrors how we hear in real environments.
Dirac Spaces marks a shift from simple playback to actively shaping how sound behaves in the vehicle.
Using advanced acoustic modeling and real-time signal processing, it can recreate distinct listening environments from intimate studio settings to vast concert halls giving passengers a more natural, engaging, and emotionally resonant experience.
The system measures both the car’s acoustic properties and the target space, then applies Dirac’s patented MIMO sound field control technology to recreate the target acoustic environment inside the cabin.
Dirac Spaces comes in two configurations to give OEMs flexibility in how they package premium audio:
- Signature Spaces: Automakers can partner with iconic venues to offer branded acoustic environments tailored to their vehicles.
- Designed Spaces: A curated set of acoustic profiles based on real?world measurements, including modes like Balanced Room, Warm Stage, and Grand Hall, each tuned to deliver a specific spatial and tonal character.
Unlike generic reverb effects, Dirac Spaces maps the true acoustic behavior of both the car and the target environment, so reflections and spatial cues align with the vehicle’s speaker layout. The result is a coherent, realistic sound field with more depth, clarity, and accurate localization.
Dirac Spaces runs on top of existing Dirac-optimized audio systems and doesn’t need additional in-vehicle measurements beyond those already used for tuning. It supports both stereo and multichannel content, ensuring consistent spatial audio across a wide range of use cases.
In NIO vehicles, the technology illustrates how software-defined audio can become a key differentiator for automakers, opening up personalization, premium features, and branded listening experiences that can be updated over time.
Dirac is showing off Dirac Spaces at Auto China 2026 (April 24-May 3) with live in-vehicle demos alongside NIO. At booth Hall B2-B11, visitors can experience:
- A luxury-vehicle setup with immersive spatial environments and multi-format audio.
- A premium-segment configuration that scales spatial audio across both stereo and multichannel systems.
- A compact-vehicle layout optimized for high-end front-seat audio with a minimal speaker count.
These demos highlight how Dirac Spaces can deliver consistent, high-quality spatial audio across different vehicle segments and system architectures.
Leadership Comments
“Today, cars are one of the most important listening environments, but they’ve traditionally been limited by the physical constraints of the cabin,” said Anders Storm, Dirac CEO. “With Dirac Spaces, we are redefining the in-car listening experience by recreating the acoustic signature of real-world environments inside the vehicle, delivering a more natural, immersive, and emotionally engaging listening experience.”
“At NIO, we’re focused on creating a supreme immersive experience in car that goes beyond traditional expectations,” said Ted Li, NIO Product SVP. “With Dirac Spaces, we’re able to offer our users a new level of immersion, where the vehicle becomes more than just a listening environment – it becomes a space where sound is experienced as it was intended.”
For more information on Dirac Spaces, click here.
