Audi Car Concept Sees 62 Speakers Added For 360 Surround Sound [Cars]

Considering my car is bombed out in a shed somewhere, I'd be happy with any car—but given half the chance I'd love to see this Audi Q7, complete with all 62 speakers, in my garage.

It's the Audi Sound Concept, which sees the car manufacturer's engineers cramming in 52 mid-range speakers, five woofers and five tweeters into one of their small Q7 cars, with speakers hidden in the dashboard, ceiling and doors. Sound like overkill? It probably is—but Audi's used "wave field synthesis," an audio rendering technique which doesn't have many compatible audio tracks that are playable with the audio system, so this is very much a prototype showing The Future, if nothing else.

If the car ever does turn up on a showroom floor, good luck driving it away on holiday—there's no boot to stow your luggage, with most of it being used to hold the amplifier and cables.

What a shame only 32 tracks can be played on the system so far. If I was driving that baby, I'd crank up some Queen extra-loud.

[Gizmodo via Gizmag]

Tiny Sensor Listens For Shots and Identifies What Gun Shot Them (and Where) [Military]

This is the gear that gets our troops excited. Microflown Technologies' tiny sensor listens for the sounds of war by measuring particles in the air. Then it reports what weapon made the sound and where that sound originated.

The sensor uses a technology, developed by Microflown, called acoustic vector sensing. AVS heats two 200-nanometer wide platinum strips to 200 degrees Celsius and measures how passing air particles cool them down. From those cooling patterns, Microflown's proprietary software can determine not only what the sound is but also where it came from.



There are other technologies that can do the same type of thing, but they all have their own unique disadvantages: radar-based solutions are traceable; others require the deployment of large apparatuses, and some need multiple sensors to triangulate sounds.

Microflown's matchstick almost seems too good to be true, but several nations' armies—including the Netherlands, Germany, India, Poland, and Australia—are currently testing out the tech and seeing what they hear.

[Gizmodo via DVICE]

Yamaha Japan announces new digital sound projector for home theater systems [Audio]

Yamaha Japan today announced the YSP-5100 [JP], a digital sound projector for your home theater. Sized at 1,200×90×212mm and weighing 11kg, Yamaha says the device is suitable for 50-inch TVs or video projectors. It supports 7.1 surround sound and is compatible with dts-HD, dts ES and Dolby TruHD/Digital Plus/Digital/ Digital EX/Pro Logic and Pro LogicⅡ/x.

The 120W（2W×40＋20W×2) projector sports five HDMI interfaces, an iPod port and an additional sub woofer connection.



It will be out at the end of this month in Japan (price: $2,280). The projector has both Japanese and English menus so we can expect it to hit international markets soon, too.
[CrunchGear]

Victor JVC announces a very pretty, very thin home theater sound system

Victor JVC has announced [JP] a new home theater sound system for the Japanese market today, consisting of a set of two speakers (SP-FT1/FT2) and the corresponding amplifier (AX-FT1/FT2). And the system is very pretty, mainly because the speakers are just 30.8mm thin and weigh 0.85kg each.

At 31mm, the amplifier is a tiny bit thicker and weighs 0.73kg.It features 20W×4ch(4Ω) average power output and Dolby Digital DTS and AAC support. You can either hang the speakers up on a wall or use a stand that Victor JVC throws in.

The sound system will go on sale in Japan at the end of this month. No announcements for markets outside Japan were made, but Japanese buyers will have to pay $260 for the amplifier and $220 for the speaker set. The system will be available in black and white.
[CrunchGear]

Nucleus 5 Smallest Cochlear Implant Gets US OK

Cochlear, Ltd (Lane Cove, NSW, Australia) has won FDA approval to market the Nucleus 5 device for people with severe-to-profound hearing loss. The titanium device is the smallest of its kind. Nucleus 5 sports a two way remote control, telephone connectivity, and proprietary sound processing technology.

Smallest sound processor — for a comfortable and discreet fit. The Nucleus 5 Sound Processor is smaller than any other and designed to fit comfortably and securely. Yet, it is tough and secure enough for any situation.

Features the most flexible options to anticipate your needs – from an extensive selection of wearable options for every age and lifestyle, to music, phone and entertainment accessories and easy connection options, we’ve anticipated your everyday needs.

Thinnest titanium implant design — Ideal choice for all ages. The Nucleus 5 System features the thinnest titanium implant in the industry. It is 40% thinner than our previous generation and 30% thinner than any other titanium implant available.

Nucleus 5 is the world’s most water resistant allowing you to relax around water or play by the pool. With the industry’s only International Protection Rating of IP44 18 you have the assurance that your sound processor can keep up with your active lifestyle, even around water.

The exclusive two-way remote assistant is an added bonus to your system. Gives you the added flexibility and control of being able to adjust your settings easily from the remote assistant or directly on the sound processor – and gives parents the added peace of mind that their child is hearing their best.

Also allows the easiest bilateral use. With the Nucleus 5 System if you have chosen to go bilateral (with cochlear implants for both ears) your two sound processors can be easily and simultaneously controlled with the exclusive two-way remote assistant.

Product page: Nucleus 5...
Press release: Cochlear Americas Announces FDA Approval of the Nucleus(R) 5 System