Bentley aims for world’s best in-car sound with Dirac Live® DSP technology
The all-new 2011 Bentley Mulsanne will feature Dirac Live® sound optimization in the Naim for Bentley sound system option.
In 2008, Bentley and Naim crafted an exclusive partnership with the aim to achieve the world’s best in-car audio experience. By the release of the new flagship Bentley – the 2011 Mulsanne – several updates were introduced to take the system to yet a new level. In terms of sound quality, a key addition is the Dirac Live sound optimization technology from Swedish Dirac Research. This technology was also recently introduced in digital cinema theaters around the world to enhance cinema sound.
“Both Bentley and Naim are known for their mixture of the finest hand-built quality and cutting-edge technology. We feel privileged to be a part of their vision to deliver the equal of the world’s finest home hi-fi within a car.” said Mathias Johansson, CEO and CTO at Dirac Research.
Dirac Live removes sound quality imperfections that arise from the room acoustics of the car and digitally tunes each loudspeaker to reach the highest level of performance. Unlike equalizers and other room correction systems, Dirac Live optimizes the sound system’s transient reproduction. The result is a more defined sound stage, musical clarity, tonal balance and tightness of bass.
“By harnessing Dirac”s DSP technology we have been aided in our quest to bring the Naim experience to life within the environment of the car. In doing so we have succeeded in creating a system that is not only superior to other in-car audio systems available today but that also equals the world”s best in-home hi-fi systems.” Said Paul Stephenson, Managing Director at Naim.
Mike Hanks, Senior Engineer at Bentley Motors adds: “Our customers expect the ultimate in every experience and Dirac provides the ultimate within digital signal processing.”
On a technical level, Dirac Live is a mixed-phase room correction solution, which corrects the impulse response and optimizes the frequency response of the sound system based on detailed acoustical measurements in the car.