It's not as magical as this report makes it seem but it is very cool.
New chip provides high-end sound
...The technique, which Bongiovi calls the Digital Power Station for the studio he once built in a converted power station in Manhattan, can be described as a very sophisticated equalizer. It adapts intelligently to the music to give even cheap speakers a full, robust sound and compensate for the deficiencies of the listening space.
This is accomplished by digital signal processing, a technology found in virtually all consumer audio products. But according to Bongiovi, it has never been employed in this way.
Bongiovi and his company, Bongiovi Acoustics of Port St. Lucie, Fla., first built a device using analog components to produce the effect, but the unit was the size of a refrigerator. He turned to Glenn Zelniker, a specialist in digital signal processing, to program a chip to do the same thing.
"The technique really allows the sound source to be heard very well, loud and clear and intelligible in a very, very compromised sonic environment," Zelniker said.
The chip, an off-the-shelf digital signal processor from Motorola spin-off Freescale Semiconductor Inc., is programmed specifically for each car model, taking into account the characteristics of its speakers and interior. It has more than 120 points of adjustment.
"It's so precise that the hatchback Ford Focus has a different tuning from the regular one," Bongiovi said.
In a demonstration for a reporter in a Ford Focus with standard speakers, the JVC KD-S100 car stereo produced radically different sound quality with the Digital Power Station chip engaged. The sound swelled to give an impression of space, and all instruments came through clearer.
The bass was very rich and free of distortion, a phenomenon Bongiovi attributes both to the chip knowing exactly how much the four speakers can take, and to synchronizing them to act as one "virtual subwoofer."
Graphic equalizers where originally designed to compensate for sonic deficiencies in speakers and listening rooms. They weren't just built to boost the top and bottom frequencies so that the EQ sliders looked like a smiley face - although that's what most people do with them.
Cars are notorious acoustic nightmares. What this chip does is allow profiles to be matched with each automobile passenger space to equalize the audio sound. The profiles are set by sound engineers, after scientific testing and measuring of the listening space. It's not so much innovation as it is a powerful adaptation of existing technology.
This is one of those inventions that is both obvious and brilliant at the same time. But I find it a tad pricey for what is basically a digital EQ with a preferences file.
The stereo will cost $700 to $1,000 installed, depending on the make of the car, and will be available only at dealers, since the chip requires programming (via a CD) to match the make of the car.While the technology is particularly suited to a noisy environment like a car, Bongiovi sees it as having much wider applications, though there are no specific plans for taking the chip to consumer gadgets beyond the car stereo.
$1000 for a preprogrammed EQ is a bit steep but if they come down a bit, I'd want one.
