00:00:00: Hi there, my name is Usheen Lani and welcome to Audio Talks presented to you by Harman.

00:00:05: and in this special edition we are celebrating the launch of season twelve by recording live on the stage in Dobby House in Munich during the same time as IAA Mobility, a fantastic trade show.

00:00:18: and today we're going to explore how in-car entertainment is really evolved into a dynamic and emotionally engaging experience blending precision engineering with artistic intent.

00:00:30: So fasten your seatbelts as we get the lowdown on Harman's strategic vision, engineering leadership and collaborative approach with Dolby and various OEMs.

00:00:39: And we're going to get ready to find out how branded audio systems and acoustic engineering are elevating the entire automotive experience.

00:00:48: I am thrilled to be joined by two suitably stellar VIP guests to kick off the new series.

00:00:55: Welcome to the podcast, Andreas Iret, the head of Automotive Business at Dolby.

00:01:01: How are you doing my friend?

00:01:02: Thank you so much for the invitation.

00:01:04: first off, right?

00:01:04: This is a real pleasure and a real honor.

00:01:07: It's a perfect time.

00:01:08: It's beautiful.

00:01:09: I love it here at Dolby House and I actually just returned from vacation.

00:01:13: So I'm still full of energy.

00:01:15: So and first day at the trade show, like, yeah, beautiful.

00:01:18: Oh, fantastic.

00:01:19: We caught you at a good time.

00:01:20: You got a bit of a tan there from the summer holidays.

00:01:22: Just for you.

00:01:23: This

00:01:23: is fantastic.

00:01:25: Well, we're very honored to have you, Andreas.

00:01:26: Thank you so much.

00:01:27: And welcome back to the podcast, Greg Secora.

00:01:30: So this is your For third time on the podcast, you are the Executive Director for Global Acoustic Engineering at Harmon.

00:01:37: So welcome back again, my friend.

00:01:39: Thank you.

00:01:40: Thank you, Ocean, for having me.

00:01:41: It's a great pleasure, as always.

00:01:42: Oh, fantastic.

00:01:43: Now, Greg, you are indeed one of our elusive and illustrious and prestigious Club of Three.

00:01:50: So you are one of the very few people who've been on the Audio Talks podcast three times.

00:01:54: So tell me, how does it feel to join the Club of Three?

00:01:57: It feels great.

00:01:58: I'm really excited about the conversation we're going to have today because it's very, very important and very current to what we are doing today together with our friends at Dolby.

00:02:07: Fantastic.

00:02:07: You are indeed always ready, but I'd expect nothing less, Greg.

00:02:10: Well, of course.

00:02:12: OK, so listen, Greg, I'll start with yourself.

00:02:14: Now, we've spoken before.

00:02:15: We've spoken twice before.

00:02:16: And every time that we chat on the podcast, I get a real feeling for a life with a passion for engineering, with a passion for great audio and a real hunger for.

00:02:26: knowledge, for innovation and you know all the good things that can come from this overlap between sound and engineering and artistry and it's always cool the way you kind of join it together.

00:02:36: Could you share with our listeners a little bit about what you're doing today in this world and also maybe with the benefit of hindsight looking back on some of your personal life and some of your career decisions.

00:02:48: What are some of the moments that have brought you to where you are today with Harmon?

00:02:53: So maybe I'll start from the beginning because it all starts with music.

00:02:57: Yes.

00:02:57: So I grew up in a house filled with music, artists, professional musicians, amateur musicians.

00:03:05: So I was destined to, you know... play create music and this is how I started playing the grand piano and so on.

00:03:13: and you know at some point in my life I also developed the interest for math and physics and very very quickly quite early in my teenage years I figured well you can combine both.

00:03:23: it's actually called audio engineering so let's look into that.

00:03:27: and that essentially led my education later and my career.

00:03:32: so I started producing music, creating music.

00:03:36: I was working in the sound studios together with artists to make sure to capture the emotions, the creations that they create.

00:03:44: And at some point, my road to automotive came a little bit out of frustration.

00:03:50: Maybe that sounds weird, but I'll explain.

00:03:52: I was frustrated that while working in the studio, the sound was great.

00:03:56: We've been working on very fine details of the performance of the artist's message.

00:04:02: And whenever other people listen to it after you know the recording was finished usually you know they listen on some small headphones not Harman headphones some bad sounding headphones you know and other small devices.

00:04:14: and I was like feeling there is so much missing.

00:04:17: you know the music is there but where's the message?

00:04:21: the message is not going through and I learned that actually the perfect environment where you can actually control how the musical message is delivered is in car.

00:04:31: so I said you know what I want to make it better.

00:04:34: I want to give a justice to artists and make sure that what audience is experiencing is the right kind of experience.

00:04:43: And this is how I started building and tuning car audio systems.

00:04:49: And right now I'm managing... a global team of engineers, exactly the type of engineers that I was when I started in all the countries.

00:04:58: We are working with our fantastic brands, Harman Kardon, JBL, AKG, Banganol, and so on, and fantastic OEMs.

00:05:07: So I'm where I'm supposed to be.

00:05:10: I feel this is my place in the world.

00:05:13: Amen absolutely and i get this kind of feeling when i speak to a lot of people who work at harman and other companies in the ecosystem is that people have kind of come together and been bought together and found really an incredibly profound life purpose and that is making sure.

00:05:29: that art is appreciated as the artists would like it.

00:05:32: And you mentioned Harman Kardoner.

00:05:34: You may notice this vintage,

00:05:35: this

00:05:36: vintage pin for our viewers here on the video version of the podcast, head on over to YouTube if you're on audio, if you'd like to see this amazing pin.

00:05:43: But thank you very much, Mike Silverman, for lending me this for the episode.

00:05:46: This is actually from many decades ago, and it is original rare HK Blazer pin from somebody who used to work in marketing over there.

00:05:55: Can I have one?

00:05:55: There's

00:05:56: only one.

00:05:57: You're going to have to make them again.

00:05:58: But hey, three D printing is the thing.

00:06:00: Maybe you and the team can wrestle one up.

00:06:02: But thank you, Greg.

00:06:03: It makes me very happy to hear that you've really found your icky guy, if you like, and your perfect place in the world.

00:06:08: So this is great.

00:06:08: Congratulations.

00:06:09: And coming over to your good self, Andreas, now you have an equally fascinating background.

00:06:14: It's full of purpose and direction and actually ending up in a really amazing space.

00:06:19: So I. I did a little bit of research and I know that you have mixed opera performances.

00:06:25: You have worked with the inventors of the MP-III.

00:06:28: You've made music yourself.

00:06:30: But talk to us a bit about your journey and how you've been at this collective journey that we have all made from the world of analogue formats to the world of high-resolution digital immersive formats.

00:06:43: Talk to us about your journey and how it's brought you to where you are today.

00:06:48: Likewise to Greg, I think the start of the journey is quite similar in a way, right?

00:06:53: It comes from passion, I've been a musician, I've been always moved by audio and I really love that feeling of like music can put you in a mood, right?

00:07:03: That's super powerful, right?

00:07:04: It can help you get into better mood or it can entertain yourself, whatever.

00:07:09: It's a really strong medium.

00:07:11: And that was what I was moved.

00:07:12: And then I figured I was actually too bad at playing the guitar to make a living out of it, right?

00:07:18: And then at the same time, I figured I was good enough and the rest is history almost, right?

00:07:24: So you go into your education as an engineer.

00:07:27: I started my career at Fraunhofer.

00:07:29: Those guys who... invented MP-III, did audio coding myself on new formats, and then joined Dolby through an acquisition.

00:07:37: We were creating a startup out of Fraunhofer, and Dolby has acquired that startup.

00:07:43: And from there, I have different engineering VP roles at Dolby.

00:07:47: So I have an education, an educator engineer.

00:07:51: I've lived a life of an engineer, engineering manager, group manager, and made up my ranks.

00:07:57: I lived in San Francisco for a while to get the company.

00:08:00: inside and out to really know how Dolby works.

00:08:03: And throughout the career, I've also seen that transition, as you say, from driving digital delivery into different media, into different devices, helping create the products that are now in mobile phones, TV, set up boxes, whatever.

00:08:19: you also did transition from, let's say, broadcast.

00:08:24: to streaming, which was another big one.

00:08:27: So nowadays, of course, everything is streamed and China disks don't really exist anymore, except for a few exceptions.

00:08:34: And then around about five years ago, I figured I'm done with managing large-scale engineering teams and I needed something new.

00:08:42: And that was the moment where the opportunity with Adobe came up to say, we want to go back and re-engage with the automotive market.

00:08:50: And that was kind of like a big transition for me to say, oh, now I'm actually excited and motivated again because it needed a person who can... Has enough business acumen right to drive a new business nowadays.

00:09:05: I switched to the dark side, right?

00:09:06: I'm now a business manager.

00:09:08: Yeah, I'm driving a business.

00:09:09: I'm setting strategy.

00:09:10: I lead the product engineering teams or the product teams But I'm not an engineer anymore.

00:09:16: Yeah, I'm not a business person.

00:09:18: But anyway five years ago was the transition and the first thing I did because it was of course I know audio redevelop but have not been automotive Expert.

00:09:28: so five years ago from since five year.

00:09:30: I really dealing with audio in a car also vision now in a car and so meanwhile Yeah, we learned how to do it.

00:09:39: actually one of the first things I did was when I was employee number one in automotive business group.

00:09:46: The first thing I did is I needed to learn how that industry works and I travel to all those companies who know everything about audio in a car and Harman was of course amongst the first ones.

00:09:58: So one of my first trips went to Karlsbad and talked to a lot of people to really understand how the industry works and from here we'll get into more of the details later but that's sort of my short history.

00:10:10: Fantastic, I love it.

00:10:11: What a backstory, what a pair of... I mean, music's loss is audio's gain, funnily enough, because you kind of stopped playing the guitar professionally and went into actually... making sure that all the other guitars could be heard perfectly in the best sound systems on the planet.

00:10:26: That's lovely.

00:10:27: Sometimes

00:10:27: in the industry we say that audio engineers are failed musicians.

00:10:33: Failure is all very relative.

00:10:34: I think there's no such thing as an ex-musician.

00:10:36: We're all musicians and we're kind of on that path of... making sure that the world has great audio and has great sonic experiences.

00:10:45: But of course, we are here in Munich in the Dolby House during IAA.

00:10:49: So, Andreas, firstly, thanks to you and Andreas and the entire team for your hospitality and for having us here.

00:10:56: But could you talk to us about some of the experiences that people can have at Dolby House during IAA?

00:11:03: And what's some of the cool technology that your visitors are going to enjoy?

00:11:07: Beautiful.

00:11:10: Again, I really love it that you came over.

00:11:12: So thanks a lot to actually coming here and doing this with this.

00:11:16: And it really adds value also to our presence here, right?

00:11:19: So we love it.

00:11:20: If you can do more things and it shows the collaboration because at the end of the day, we all learned about this industry only works with collaboration.

00:11:27: So you coming over next time I'll come over to you.

00:11:32: Okay, so what do we have here at the show?

00:11:35: Of course, what we want to show here is to show the application of our key technologies in the context of a car.

00:11:43: So we're showing Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision, those two key ingredients for best possible audio and best possible video, and show how those things are lighting up in a car.

00:11:55: We have different demo cars here that also show different, let's say, SKUs, you could say.

00:11:59: We are also showing that means how it actually can scale from, let's say, high-end premium cars and very sophisticated sound systems, but also show how it can penetrate into let's say the medium segment and more affordable systems.

00:12:15: and still the experience of Dolby Adams holds up and how it adds value.

00:12:20: The other thing we're showing is Dolby Vision, so that idea of saying video in a car, what does that mean?

00:12:27: And it's a big use case already in China, for example, where a lot of video streaming to cars is actually happening.

00:12:33: And lots of double vision enabled cars are on the roads.

00:12:36: And it's also making its road over here, let's say into Europe or US.

00:12:42: So it's going to come also.

00:12:44: and we're just showing what that looks like and how it could be.

00:12:48: And then finally, last thing we're showing here is also the, let's say, bigger application into the ecosystem, because it's not just about the experience, but also how can you leverage the experience.

00:13:00: So Music Services is one that we started with five years ago.

00:13:05: Nowadays, it's audiobooks.

00:13:08: Now we're also going into let's say interactive audio games.

00:13:13: We're showing also showcases like combining, let's say, a geospatial experience and how you can put that in top of admins.

00:13:20: That means if you're driving around with your car, the car understands where it is, you're getting a different experience or getting an experience that flies by together with the movements of the car.

00:13:31: So that's new things we're showing that are built on top of Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision as the core technology.

00:13:39: But then we're also showing more applications and different use cases.

00:13:44: Wow.

00:13:44: So there's plenty for the visitors to Dolby House during IAA at the moment.

00:13:49: And I was today years old when I learned that Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos in a car is referred to as double Dolby, which I absolutely love.

00:13:56: This is great.

00:13:57: I want every car to have this from now on.

00:13:59: So listen, that's great stuff.

00:14:01: But Greg, let's come over to yourself.

00:14:02: Now, Harman's engineering excellence And your collaborative approach to ecosystem building can really be seen everywhere.

00:14:09: Everywhere you look around, this is beautiful overlap.

00:14:12: Can you talk to us about this amazing partnership between Dolby and Harmon?

00:14:18: Of course.

00:14:19: So when was the first time we met?

00:14:21: It was a few years ago.

00:14:23: Two

00:14:23: years, three years ago, yeah.

00:14:25: And I remember where Dolby Atmos became a thing.

00:14:28: Suddenly, everyone talks about it.

00:14:31: You know, it's already established in cinemas, but now it's coming to cars.

00:14:34: If it's coming to cars, well, we need to know about it more.

00:14:38: So we, of course, started educating ourselves, you know, how can we do Atmos, but in a way that is better, that is different to everyone else.

00:14:48: And we actually had several workshops, I remember, not only understanding, you know, the details, the processing, kind of the software piece of it, because that's important for the integration, all that stuff.

00:15:00: but we wanted to understand how the content is created.

00:15:04: We had a workshop with, I believe, Dave Tiegler.

00:15:07: He showed us all the tools, how the music is created.

00:15:10: We had interviews with some of the top Grammy-winning engineers who also produce in immersive formats, how they approach it.

00:15:19: Because you cannot really understand, you cannot really reproduce the music, the content, if you don't understand how it was created.

00:15:28: So that was the beginning of the journey and we worked very collaboratively together.

00:15:33: I remember some of the first systems, you know, sitting in the cars for days, for hours to make sure, like, yes, this is it.

00:15:40: This is conveying the message, the branded audio, like this is Harman Kardon and this is Harman Kardon.

00:15:47: with Dolby Atmos or this is Bang & Olufsen with Dolby Atmos because it might be different because the brands have different values.

00:15:55: So it's not only kind of Dolby Atmos, it's not the generic thing we just apply on the car, just okay, it's not a plug-in.

00:16:02: It still needs to be deeply integrated into of course the technical or the peripherals, but also into the branded experience.

00:16:11: Excellent, excellent.

00:16:12: I'd love to come back to you in a little while about the importance of branded audio in the car.

00:16:17: context.

00:16:18: But coming back to yourself, Andreas, I mean, it's obviously that the partnership between Dolby and Harman is actually very deep.

00:16:25: It's very profound.

00:16:26: And as Greg was saying there, you really go the extra mile to make sure that, you know, all of the different branded audio experiences that you can have in the car, in the cockpit are actually realized through this combination of branded audio and Dolby Atmos.

00:16:41: How has the partnership been from your perspective?

00:16:43: Because it's very intriguing, I think.

00:16:47: Yeah, right.

00:16:49: Just to mirror a little bit of what Greg said.

00:16:51: I mean, we're driven by the same motivations, right?

00:16:55: You can see it in our history.

00:16:56: I think a lot of the DNA that Harmon has and the Dolby DNA is kind of similar, right?

00:17:02: We're driven by a great consumer experience.

00:17:05: We're driven by we want to make people's lives better in a way, right?

00:17:10: those magic moments of when you experience a song or a movie clip or whatever it is, it heightens your experience.

00:17:19: It's those memorable moments, magic moments that you remember from your lifetime.

00:17:24: So we're really adding to the experience or to the positive momentum of what people experience over the life.

00:17:33: So the starting point is the same.

00:17:35: And that means The collaboration has been very natural because we have the same idea about, of course, it's about the consumer.

00:17:43: It's also around the artist because they have created something that they put a lot of sound or a lot of their passion into to say, I want to make this the best possible it can be.

00:17:56: And then it's our joint, let's say, responsibility to make the representation in the device.

00:18:03: be it a car or a mobile phone or a soundbar to be as good as authentic as it can be.

00:18:11: And I think that's our shared passion and shared responsibility.

00:18:15: And you can only do that if you actually strongly collaborate.

00:18:18: So that means As mentioned, I went to Harmon to learn about the industries, the supply chain, how do you work.

00:18:24: And likewise, we deeply engage in those workshops to say, of course, we're going to share our workshop tools, right?

00:18:31: We're going to show the mixing tools will help you set up a reference listening room.

00:18:35: We've done that calibration together, right?

00:18:37: We made sure that everything that we know and can share about how Dolby Atmos is being treated.

00:18:44: We're sharing all those details and are working together to make sure that indeed what the Harman mission is can be fulfilled as good as possible.

00:18:51: So I think that's a very natural collaboration.

00:18:56: Absolutely.

00:18:56: I

00:18:57: just wanted to add a story really from the project's level point of view.

00:19:00: When we started applying more and more Atmos in our systems, our engineering teams, oh, Dolby has a certification.

00:19:09: And, you know, when you hear the word certification, everyone's like, okay, you know, requirements and so on.

00:19:14: And I remember because I had a really experienced working with you.

00:19:17: Yes, technically it is a certification because technically you need to check that it's.

00:19:23: it's working well.

00:19:24: But I said, guys, don't worry, it's really with Dolby.

00:19:27: It's a collaboration.

00:19:28: If there is a problem, they will actually help you.

00:19:30: They share their expertise to help you to get there.

00:19:33: So don't feel you'll be charged.

00:19:35: You'll be actually working in the team with the same goal.

00:19:38: of delivering that experience.

00:19:39: So that was really something that we experienced in pretty much all the regions in US, in Europe, in Asia, and that has been great.

00:19:48: Oh, fantastic.

00:19:48: Well, it really does feel like there's a complete alignment between the aims of Dolby and the aims of Harmon in terms of the best possible experience in the car for the listener, the best possible communication for the artist, and all the stars are aligning absolutely perfectly.

00:20:04: But how would you say that life experience and this lifelong passion for engineering, for artistry, for audio, for sound, for music.

00:20:12: How does all this add up to what people are experiencing in the cabin today?

00:20:16: And start with yourself, Greg.

00:20:19: So I have a story, personal story from my life that some events maybe happened a few months ago.

00:20:27: So my wife changed the car, city car, you know, small car just for going around running around.

00:20:34: And I was insisting, like, this time you're getting a Harman branded system.

00:20:39: It was JBL in this case.

00:20:41: I mean, I wouldn't be able to let that go, you know.

00:20:44: The car doesn't have to have wheels and steering wheel.

00:20:46: It has to have our branded system.

00:20:49: And we had the negotiations, of course.

00:20:51: I mean, she had a good point, like, do I really need it?

00:20:53: I'm just driving, you know, around the city.

00:20:55: And so, no, no, no.

00:20:56: You have to experience it, and then you will understand.

00:20:59: I was so sure of that.

00:21:01: And she started... You know, using the car driving around and after a few weeks, I asked her, so how is it?

00:21:07: I mean, do you like the system?

00:21:08: Do you see the difference?

00:21:09: And he told me, Greg, I did not suspect that this is such a huge value.

00:21:15: I listened to music more.

00:21:17: I very often actually come down to the garage and I stay in the car until the music ends if I listen to my tune.

00:21:25: She said that the whole experience, not only music, but the whole experience of driving.

00:21:31: is better because she has a great sound system.

00:21:35: So that for me is a proof that we are making lives better.

00:21:39: Not only giving, as I mentioned before, giving justice to the artists.

00:21:42: That artists know that their message is heard in the car, but also people can enjoy it and appreciate it.

00:21:50: So with that story, I think it's the...

00:21:53: Wow, that must have been a proud moment.

00:21:55: It's like, yes.

00:21:56: I love it.

00:21:57: That's brilliant.

00:21:58: And coming over to yourself, Andreas, how would you say, are there any moments from your career where you really see that your lifelong passion for engineering, for art, for music, it's really helped to deliver this next level experience for somebody in their car?

00:22:13: I would probably talk about myself.

00:22:16: in this case, because I have similar stories with my family, but I would say, well, making it personal, I would say I got my moment of saying, oh, all my life is building up to this moment, but I actually really had a flash of saying a fool, like, yes, I achieved something, right?

00:22:37: I achieved something because I was buying a new car the other day, right?

00:22:43: And of course it's Dolby Atmos enabled car.

00:22:45: It has a Harman branded sound system on it.

00:22:48: And I just love it.

00:22:51: Driving with the car to work in the morning and saying, yeah, this is what I've been working on, right?

00:23:00: For a very long time.

00:23:01: But it's actually, it's just stunningly beautiful.

00:23:05: Yeah.

00:23:05: And it's the best.

00:23:07: Moment that you can have as an engineer.

00:23:10: I mean it's always like that.

00:23:11: if you if you're an engineer and you can say I've been personally involved in creating this and I'm enjoying it myself Then you know you've did something right.

00:23:21: well said That is a great anecdote.

00:23:23: Thank you very much.

00:23:24: Brilliant, brilliant.

00:23:25: And Greg, I did promise earlier to come back to you on the subject of branded audio, because of course, Harman is an illustrious company, magnificent heritage.

00:23:34: It runs over many, many decades.

00:23:37: You know, it's been there in the history of audio since the beginning of talking pictures from the speaker stacks in Woodstock, in nineteen sixty nine.

00:23:45: And it's in the majority of in-car systems, the majority of movie theaters, the majority of Bluetooth speakers, headphones on the planet.

00:23:52: So it's a massive part of our journey and our understanding of what it means to listen to sound.

00:23:59: Now, what would you say is the importance of branded audio being part of this heritage and how does this materialize in the cockpit of these beautiful cars that we have here at Dolby house.

00:24:12: So, I mean, the fact that we are, we have so much heritage, you know, in order is basically everyone is, you know, living and breeding audio.

00:24:22: Doesn't matter if you're acoustic engineer, software engineer, salesperson, everyone has some audio DNA.

00:24:29: So you just feel that.

00:24:30: And we have many arguments because of that, because of the passion, you know, which is, which is good as long as it drives us forward.

00:24:37: So the branded audio in general, the brand is a story.

00:24:43: Every brand has a story that we, we want to express and share that experience with our customers.

00:24:51: It's not only audio, it's not a collection of components, you know, let's, let's put a few good speakers around, you know, do a decent tuning.

00:24:58: Okay, we have.

00:24:59: brand and audio.

00:25:00: You can put any brand on it, it's gonna be fine.

00:25:04: You can do it, but this is not how we are doing it.

00:25:06: So every brand has a story.

00:25:08: We have the industrial design language, how speakers are positioned, how the grill design is made, what kind of processing flavors we are doing.

00:25:20: You can do correct signal processing in many ways, and we are picking the light flavors that are aligned with brand's promise.

00:25:29: So it's really the whole process understanding the brands.

00:25:32: usually our acoustic engineers who are tuning the cars.

00:25:35: I mean usually always They know about the brand they understand the the history and whenever they are now shaping the sound experience They are thinking about it and and kind of validating, you know internal with with with our team.

00:25:52: So it's It's more than just some of the parts at the end.

00:25:58: Yeah, indeed.

00:25:59: And you know, if you are choosing a JBL or Bang & Olufsen or AKG or Harman Kardon sound system, you know, it means something in terms of that story, in terms of the sonic identity and all that history.

00:26:12: There is a line that is going through these products that you have certain expectations from, let's say, JBL here, and you listen to JBL branded audio system and... we don't want to fail our expectations.

00:26:26: We want to even elevate it.

00:26:28: So

00:26:28: that's what we do.

00:26:29: Absolutely.

00:26:30: If it was good enough for Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock, it is absolutely going to rock it in your car in twenty twenty five.

00:26:36: Now, coming over to yourself, Andreas, of course, Dolly is.

00:26:40: A company with an equally magnificent sonic heritage.

00:26:43: It was founded in the nineteen sixties by Ray Dalby.

00:26:46: What a cool name.

00:26:47: And you've been around for sixty years, I believe now.

00:26:50: And we're again talking about an incredible heritage.

00:26:53: I remember experiencing Dalby for the first time back in the eighties making mixtapes.

00:26:57: And just the difference was.

00:26:59: It was just mind-blowing.

00:27:00: But of course, that was a long time ago and there's so much more.

00:27:03: that's part of the Dolby universe in twenty twenty five.

00:27:06: Could you talk a bit about how that heritage actually makes its way into the in cabin experience in twenty twenty

00:27:13: five?

00:27:14: to maybe educate the younger listeners first of this podcast because they may not know what you're talking about, right?

00:27:21: What a mixed tape is.

00:27:23: Oh, yeah.

00:27:23: Sorry, folks.

00:27:25: Ask your parents.

00:27:25: Ask your parents.

00:27:27: And the technology that you're referring to is still the noise reduction.

00:27:31: So to remove the tape hiss, right, and improve the SNR, if you will, right?

00:27:36: So remove noise.

00:27:38: And the heritage around this is that the basic idea of saying, oh, I want to have a technology that improves the consumer experience.

00:27:46: I want to remove the noise from the tape because that is annoying.

00:27:50: And that technology was actually first invented for professional.

00:27:54: So it was first done in a professional world, like a mixed studios.

00:27:59: And then it was brought to the consumer space.

00:28:02: And that's why there's a heritage thing here.

00:28:04: The same thing we have been applying over and over with Dolby Atmos, for example, or Dolby Digital.

00:28:10: you've heard about this before, it'll be surround.

00:28:13: Typically we have created those technologies first and brought it to the Halo experience most of the time the cinema first because that's a place where you can have the best possible picture and the best possible sound.

00:28:26: So we've brought those technologies like Dolby Atmos into the cinema and then we brought it to the consumers.

00:28:32: So we also brought it to soundbars and TVs and what have you?

00:28:36: and now we're bringing it to cars.

00:28:39: I think that's the heritage piece.

00:28:40: So we think about the consumer experience We think about the Halo experience, the best possible, and then we're trying to bring it as broadly as possible because you can, of course, everyone deserves the best possible technology and the best possible sound, almost independent from the device, if you will, right?

00:28:57: So we always want to get the best out of the possible audio system or visual system.

00:29:03: I love it.

00:29:04: That makes total sense.

00:29:05: Brilliant.

00:29:05: Thank you very much.

00:29:08: You know, over the course of this podcast, here in Dalby House in Munich, we've been finding out about your backstories, about your lifelong passion for music.

00:29:17: And so, you know, if there are two better people to look into the future and make an educated guess, I have to say I have yet to meet them.

00:29:24: So if you wouldn't mind, I'm going to invite each of you to look into your crystal balls and have a think about maybe what's coming down the road of automotive audio in the next five to ten years.

00:29:35: And we're going to start with yourself, Greg.

00:29:38: So I believe that the importance of audio systems is going to grow and this is kind of driven by electrification and also with an advent of self-driving cars.

00:29:51: We have more cognition left, let's say, in our brain and also more time when it comes to charging the car to actually spend our time on entertainment, whether it's listening to music or watching movies in the car.

00:30:04: So, I mean, from my personal experience, I mean, this is exactly what I do while charging the car.

00:30:09: I'm usually alone in the car.

00:30:11: And finally, I can listen to the music I love really loud without any dangers, you know, coming from the road.

00:30:19: And I heard from many people, this is exactly what they are doing.

00:30:23: So the audio part, this is just an audio part of that.

00:30:26: Then we definitely see a growth of personalization.

00:30:29: You know, people want to interact with their sound system.

00:30:33: They want to adapt not only to their taste, but also to the mood they are in at the particular moment.

00:30:39: Then AI starts to play, the role starts to learn.

00:30:43: What are your preferences?

00:30:44: What do you want to do?

00:30:46: Not only when it comes to content, but also times like overall experience.

00:30:50: We are adding lights, we are adding the haptics.

00:30:55: So all of that is basically creating what I would call a multi-dimensional experience, not only sound, but also other factors.

00:31:04: And that's going to grow, I believe.

00:31:07: Wow.

00:31:07: OK, three words for that.

00:31:08: Take my money.

00:31:09: That's brilliant.

00:31:11: And I've access that soon enough.

00:31:13: Thank you, Greg.

00:31:13: So Greg is now passing the crystal ball over to your good self.

00:31:16: Andreas, what say you?

00:31:18: Yeah, I would add a few.

00:31:20: tiny variations of that, right?

00:31:22: But the same theme, yeah?

00:31:24: The same themes.

00:31:25: I also see, yeah, that it goes well beyond audio.

00:31:29: There's more and more screens in the car, right?

00:31:31: There's more and more actors in the car.

00:31:34: You talk vibration, you talk lights.

00:31:36: There's also a lot of sensors in the car.

00:31:38: You know, sensors like understanding who's in the car.

00:31:42: And then also the UX, the user experience today is a Sometimes a little clunky.

00:31:47: Yeah, I think all those things with like things like a dantic AI it makes my choices.

00:31:53: And to give you maybe just one example how that could go the future cabin Let's say in ten years.

00:31:59: You may or may not have your own car, but you'll have a cabin That stops in front of your house understands where you want to go understands the context you're in understands what subscriptions and services you have, understands the mood, understands your calendar and makes the right choice.

00:32:19: And to make sure that the travel time from A to B is exactly curated to what suits you best.

00:32:28: I love it.

00:32:29: I love it.

00:32:29: So it's going to know that I'm visiting Munich.

00:32:31: It knows that I want the JBL sound character.

00:32:34: I want some music from Munich from the late sixties, early seventies.

00:32:37: And it knows how to get from A to B in the best possible way.

00:32:40: Fantastic.

00:32:41: I mean, I am looking forward to the future even more.

00:32:43: Having spoken to you two gentlemen today, this has been really useful.

00:32:47: So listen, we've actually come to the last question and it is a question that we ask all of our VIP guests from AR Raman to Carl Cox.

00:32:54: And this is to choose a track for our audio talks title playlist.

00:32:59: And so what is a track that you like to listen to when you get home, you have that extra time in the car or when you really want to get excited or you really want to, you know, be relaxed on a drive or you really want to test the immersive capabilities?

00:33:12: Is there a song that you'd recommend to our wonderful listeners and podcast subscribers here on YouTube?

00:33:18: OK, I'll pick a very personal choice, very personal one.

00:33:22: So I'm a big fan of Peter Gabriel.

00:33:25: I grew up with him in a way, right?

00:33:27: And they did, of course, Adobe Atmos production, and that's an amazing album that came out.

00:33:33: I know the mixer personally, I have listened to the entire album many, many times and many occasions, and there's one song that's... especially means something a lot to me, which is Love Can Heal, which also had just a life-changing moment for me, where I said, okay, my mother passed away one and a half years ago, and that song just gave me that strength and said, okay, my dearest mom, right?

00:34:01: Yeah, and there's a lot of love in that, and it was actually she passed away, I think, two or three days after I heard the song the first time.

00:34:09: I heard it over and over again.

00:34:10: It's like, oh, it means a lot to me.

00:34:11: It's a wonderful mix.

00:34:13: It's a wonderful song.

00:34:15: So maybe I'll leave you with this.

00:34:17: Yeah.

00:34:18: That's beautiful.

00:34:18: Thank you so much for sharing.

00:34:20: I'm sorry to hear about your mum, but that's a beautiful message and the power of music and why it exists for us to all connect on an emotional level.

00:34:30: That's so powerful.

00:34:31: Thank you.

00:34:32: Brilliant.

00:34:33: I'm coming over to your good side, Frank.

00:34:34: I'll be a bit on the lighter side.

00:34:36: Oh, right.

00:34:37: OK.

00:34:38: Wait here, mine.

00:34:40: Really, lower the tone.

00:34:41: Greg, what's the name?

00:34:42: It's changing, but I usually have a track or two.

00:34:46: that kind of boost the energy, kind of remove the stress of the day.

00:34:49: And currently there is a Japanese artist, Hiromi Uehara, just pianist and plays usually in the trio quartets.

00:34:58: And we actually share with my daughter, you know, the love for her, I would say.

00:35:02: So there is a particular track from her earlier albums, Spark, from the album titled The Same.

00:35:09: It's just so full of energy.

00:35:11: It's so dense.

00:35:12: The arrangement and the class of musicians is so great.

00:35:17: And what I like about this, not only the emotional message, but you really, really have to have a great sound system in the car to reproduce the dynamics you have there.

00:35:27: So it's a kind of, for me, consuming the message, you know, the musical message that gives me energy, but also appreciating the engineering of our system at the same time.

00:35:38: Nice double win there.

00:35:41: That's absolutely brilliant.

00:35:42: Thank you so much for those.

00:35:44: As mentioned, I've chosen a slightly different approach.

00:35:47: I am thinking of amazing bands from Munich from back in the day and I did originally think of Amon Dool II between the eyes but then I had to listen to it and thought oh I mean that's just way too intense for a drive.

00:35:58: that's just going to be.

00:35:59: you know a bit much.

00:36:01: so I'm actually going to add Popol Vu.

00:36:03: they danced they laughed as of old because it's really hypnotic and kind of acoustic and very relaxing and free and I'd love to listen to it on one of those systems in the beautiful cars at Dolby house.

00:36:13: so there you have it my dear friends.

00:36:15: in car audio moves faster than life itself.

00:36:19: Immersive audio has never been better, but the best is yet to come.

00:36:23: Thank you so much for joining us on the podcast.

00:36:25: Greg Sikora.

00:36:26: Thank you.

00:36:27: Thank you, Ashim.

00:36:28: And Andreas Iret.

00:36:30: Thank you so much.

00:36:31: All right.

00:36:31: Great to have you both here.

00:36:33: So listeners, if you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to like, follow and share with your friends, families and carpool buddies.

00:36:41: It really does help to spread the word about these amazing, passionate individuals who really found their life purpose, making sure that audio is as good as it can possibly be for the rest of us.

00:36:52: So I thank you both for your service and everything you're doing.

00:36:54: And believe me, we have some exceptional guests lined up for the rest of season twelve of the Audio Talks podcast presented to you by Harman.

00:37:02: For more exclusive content, some behind the scenes footage and maybe even some competitions, head on over and connect with us on the Instagram.

00:37:10: You can find us at Audio Talks podcast.

00:37:13: I do hope you can join us for more fascinating and immersive and super high quality audio talks during the rest of series twelve.

00:37:20: Thanks so much for joining us here at Dobby House in Munich and we will see you next time.