Bristol, UK, 7 December 2023 – Sonical, the company pioneering the principles of Headphone 3.0, and XMOS, a deep tech semiconductor company at the leading edge of the intelligent IoT are proudly announcing a joint development. The outcome of this collaboration will result in a quantum shift in wireless audio quality and put the feature set of wearable audio devices in the hands of the consumer.
The joint development focusses on a wireless dongle which will enable Hi Res (24/96), uncompressed Linear audio stream to stream wirelessly from a PC to a headset (or other playback device). The wireless technology can be low power Bluetooth enabled (BLE) or ultra-wideband (UWB). With UWB, in addition to precise reproduction of High Resolution audio at 24 Bit, 96 sampling Frequency, the technology will also support latencies under 5 milliseconds. These performance figures render the solution capable of addressing the very demanding Musical Instrument (MI) and Live Performance markets.
Gary Spittle, CEO Sonical states that “the platform unlocks a wide range of new product experiences using a low latency wireless connection for premium audio devices. The DSP is a critical component as it makes products a lot more than “wireless DACs”. By making the device “Appable” through downloadable plugins, we have enabled limitless possibilities.”
Prior to the advent of Headphone 2.0, wireless devices were hard configured at point of manufacture and severely limited (primarily due to Bluetooth Classic) in terms of latency and audio quality. The high-profile joint development between Sonical and XMOS breaks down these barriers to ensure a superior user experience for the device owners and simultaneously opens up previously unattainable markets.
Aneet Chopra, EVP Marketing & Product Management at XMOS states “we are delighted to be working with Sonical on the development of their wireless (UWB/BLE) dongle. This will usher the next generation of audio experiences and use cases for various devices including headsets. The device benefits from the low latency multiple threads available with our xcore.ai platform, simplifying the integration of critical DSP functions with predictable hard real time execution. This is great for audio platforms like Sonical. We look forward to the roll-out of this innovative solution and seeing the broad range of subsequent applications.”
Early demonstrations can be arranged at CES in Las Vegas 9th – 12th at The Venetian. Please contact jonny.mcclintock@sonical.ai to secure a meeting.
About Sonical:
Gary Spittle founded Sonical in 2020 to enable the rapidly developing Headphone 3.0 market. Sonical is building the platform for Headphone 3.0 that unlocks the secret potential of your ears using more effective wearable products. The team at Sonical is developing their own operating system, CosmOS, along with a dedicated silicon chip specifically designed for hearables running downloadable plugins. This will unlock the large number of app developers that have created advanced AI based algorithms. Their mission is to empower hearables manufacturers, as well as individual users, to select which features and combinations of apps they want to include in their new hearable’s products in the same way one currently chooses which apps you want on your laptop, tablet or smartphone. Sonical enables App developers to have direct access to consumers to deliver a differentiated experience, exactly what they need, when they need it.
A deep tech semiconductor company at the leading edge of the intelligent IoT, XMOS addresses the evolving market need for flexible compute to serve an ever-widening range of smart things across the primary pillars of consumer, industrial and automotive. The company’s uniquely flexible xcore® processors allow product designers to easily architect system-on-chip solutions purely in software, enabling faster time to market with differentiated systems that are cost-effective and energy efficient.
