Jordan O'BrienThose who really care about audio may spend thousands on high-end equipment to ensure that they have speakers that produce the best quality audio – they may even invest in acoustic treatment – but there are those that do all of that and then employ digital room correction from the likes of Dirac to ensure that everything sounds as best as it can. Well, it’s thanks to those people that care about good quality audio that has led Dirac Research to receive a new round of funding from its current investors, with the firm receiving an additional $13.2 million to continue its quest for a premium audio experience for all.
Dirac says that the investment proceeds ‘will be used to pioneer new market-leading intelligent audio solutions for companies across industries that demand a premium audio experience and an entire digital audio processing chain, from capture to playback – regardless of device size or form factor’. That means this new cash could benefit both the residential and commercial AV industries.
“As consumer devices decrease in size and expand in complexity, digital signal processing is the key to unlocking their full audio potential and creating premium sound experiences,” stated Dirac CEO Mathias Johansson.
“With this new funding, we can take our approach to digitising sound systems even further – creating more intelligent and adaptive audio processing solutions that establish new standards in both audio playback and capture across a variety of applications.
“In doing so, we establish ourselves as the industry’s leading one-stop-shop for an entire premium digital audio chain and provide customers with the best possible sound experience for every use case.”
To manage the expanding scope of product development initiatives, Dirac has appointed former Harman International Senior Vice President of Research & Development Armin Prommersberger as Chief Technology Officer and opened a Copenhagen Research & Development Centre.
“The 5G network will deliver a new level of global connectivity, creating new use cases for our current and emerging technologies; autonomous driving will transform the vehicle from a transportation device to a mobile home theatre or conference room; AI will infuse true intelligence into all of our devices,” continued Johansson.
“However, as dramatically as the world will soon change, intelligent audio solutions – such as those pioneered by Dirac – will be at the core of all of these new technology experiences.
“With this new round of funding, combined with Armin’s appointment and the opening of the Copenhagen R&D Center, Dirac is firmly positioned to lead in the development of end-to-end digital signal processing technologies that will power the devices of today and tomorrow.”