Dolby, Audyssey Introduce Volume-Related Technologies

The words "custom" and "volume" aren't seen in the same sentence very often.

At the CEDIA Expo, however, Dolby and Audyssey are talking to custom dealers about volume. Both companies are touting different technologies that relate to how the listening experience is different at different levels.

Dolby is introducing Dolby Volume at the show, although dealers probably won't see it in products until 2008. The audio standard is designed to deliver a consistent TV listening experience by leveling the volume across channels and programs, says Christophe Chabanne, technical marketing manager, consumer electronics.

Demonstrating the technology, he presides over a demo in which he flips the channel from a program at a conventional listening level to a suddenly extremely loud Latin game show. The difference without Dolby Volume is astounding, but it's something with which most consumers are familiar.

Flipping the same channels with Dolby Volume, Chabanne demonstrates that there is much less contrast.

An important feature of Dolby Volume that Chabanne points out is its "volume modeler." To demonstrate this, he plays a scene with soft dialog and audible ambient noise.

Without Dolby Volume, he turns the volume a little lower and points out that the ambient background noise is missing. With Dolby Volume, he demonstrates that it's possible to listen at a low level and still hear faint noises that the director intended.

What Audyssey is doing in introducing its Dynamic EQ at the show "solves a different problem," says Audyssey president and CEO Michael Solomon. He says Dolby Volume "is for making volumes consistent when switching from one [TV] program to another. Ours is for retaining tonal balance regardless of volume levels."

Based on a demo conducted by Solomon and staff, Dynamic EQ does do that. They played a loud clip, and then played it again with the volume down to demonstrate how the bass mostly vanished.

Next, they played the same clip low and then soft with Dynamic EQ. The difference was very audible.

Solomon says Dynamic EQ is the result of something Audyssey has been working on for years. The company press release details how the technology works:

Audyssey Dynamic EQ selects the best possible frequency response and surround volume levels moment-by-moment. The result is bass response and surround impression that remain constant despite changes in volume. This is the first technology that carefully combines information from incoming source levels with actual output sound levels in the room, a prerequisite for delivering a dynamic volume solution.

Denon has partnered with Audyssey, and is releasing four Dynamic EQ-enabled products at the show. To be enabled, a proper frequency and time domain room equalization must be performed, according to Solomon.

He explains that to maintain the integrity of the technology, Dynamic EQ is enabled in the receivers only by a professional installer certified to install Audyssey's MultEQ XT room correction technology … "at least for now," he adds.