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TORRANCE, Calif., Oct. 31, 2006 -  ­ Capturing the complexity of an original music composition is a highly subjective experience.  Most automotive sound systems today attempt to recreate that music, but the listener actually is not experiencing the artistšs true vision.  Alpine Electronics of America, Inc., the industry-leading manufacturer of mobile media solutions, today announced a new in-vehicle sound system architecture that allows drivers to experience music the way the artist intended: Imprint.

Alpinešs Imprint sound architecture is the first automotive system that corrects the acoustical problems inside a vehiclešs cabin using sophisticated DSP technology.  With the introduction of Imprint, Alpine delivers a hardware-plus-software sound system platform with a unique equalization technology that not only overcomes the caršs inherent acoustical challenges, but also improves the sound stage, tonal balance and definition of music.

A vehicle cabin is a particularly challenging acoustical environment for listening to music.  The variety of dash surfaces and seat materials in the cabin affect sound reproduction, while speakers placed at different distances from the listeneršs ears create an unbalanced sound stage.  To correct the problems of in-cabin listening, Alpine sought out the best minds in the field of acoustical correction, Professor Chris Kyriakakis and Professor Tomlinson Holman.  Not only are they the founders of Audyssey Labs, Professor Holman also invented THX® theater sound.  Their research into the fundamental causes of acoustical distortion resulted in their creation of MultEQ®, a breakthrough technology for minimizing sound distortion caused by the listening environment.


Alpine and Audyssey partnered to develop the automotive-specific application of MultEQ. The Imprint sound architecture consists of Alpinešs AntEQ technology, used with MultEQ.  AntEQ electrically analyzes the factory head unitšs equalization curves, then uses proprietary software algorithms to remove and flatten any factory equalization and crossovers.  MultEQ captures frequency and time domain information from the vehiclešs actual acoustical environment and quickly identifies any problems.  It then creates a set of equalization filters to correct frequency response and time domain problems for each speaker in the vehicle.  It also removes sound distortion caused by the specific acoustical problems in the vehicle by applying unique FIR equalization, using more than 500 points along the frequency spectrum.  This optimizes the sound reproduction to the specific vehicle listening environment with much greater precision than has been achieved up to now using typical graphic or parametric equalization.  The result is a more accurate, dimensional soundstage, and smoother, more natural sound optimized to match each vehicle.

Imprint will be available for aftermarket and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) products. The first aftermarket product with Imprint sound architecture is the PXE-H650 System Integration Audio Processor.  The PXE-H650 lets consumers improve their factory sound systems with aftermarket components such as speakers, subwoofers and amplifiers, and solves in-vehicle acoustical problems by offering customized, automated cabin analysis and acoustic correction sound capabilities.  This is done without the need to replace the factory head unit or having an effect on other vehicle functions.

The PXE-H650 comes with an omni-directional pressure-calibrated microphone which is placed in different areas of the vehiclešs interior to measure the cabinšs acoustics.  The unit has two input options, Factory or Aux-In, and seven channel outputs:  front 1 left/right, front 2 left/right, rear left/right, mono sub.  The supplied Imprint Sound Manager software application uses MultEQ to collect and aggregate the vehiclešs measurements, plot 500+ control points to that measurement, create an inverse curve to the Imprint output, and then assign recommended crossover points. The result is a custom-tuned system, tailored to best match the vehiclešs hardware components and interior cabin acoustics, all done with a simple, one-button set-up.  This process is revolutionary because it is done automatically, unlike previous solutions which required a highly-skilled technician to devote extensive and effort to fine-tune the system.

PRICING AND AVAILABILITY

The PXE-H650 will be available through authorized Alpine dealers in late November for $400 SRI.

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