By challenging convention and pushing boundaries with its program of continuous research, Meridian has developed proprietary technologies and delivered products that have both disrupted and shaped the audio industry. Meridian is recognized and appreciated by a sizable global base of consumers seeking a better audio experience wherever they listen.
Meridian and the Automotive Market
For more than 10 years, Meridian has built a strong presence within the automotive market. Working alongside market leading suppliers and collaborating with highly respected car brands to deliver innovation, audio leadership and immersive, captivating experiences for all vehicle occupants. Meridian has designed and delivered world-class audio systems for McLaren Automotive, Jaguar Land Rover, Human Horizons, Rivian, and Kia.
Meridian has a very close and successful long-term relationship with Jaguar Land Rover, which enables customers to enjoy the finest premium audio across their entire portfolio of vehicles. Together, Meridian and Jaguar Land Rover have brought innovations and new features to market, including 3D surround sound for the all-new Range Rover 2012 and the first high-end audio system in a battery electric vehicle with the award-winning Jaguar I-Pace in 2016.
More recently, Meridian has designed immersive in-car audio systems to integrate within Human Horizons’ electric super SUV, HiPhi X; Rivian’s ground-breaking range of fully electric adventure vehicles, including the R1T and R1S; and a purpose-designed 14-speaker surround sound systems for the Kia, starting in the recently launched K8 sedan.
In order to successfully maximize the customer benefits of working with Meridian, the company has increased investment in its research programs and dedicated engineering resources to address the future needs and unique challenges of automotive audio. Moreover, Meridian has created a flexible network of collaborative relationships with leading engineering and manufacturing suppliers within the industry, enabling it to maintain its position of audio leadership and as a premium audio brand and technology supplier of choice.
By working closely with its customers, Meridian engineers will lead the architecture design and the production of technical documentation for the system, which encompasses the design, specification and the review and approval of processes for hardware components to be sourced. The company’s sound ambition is to provide premium audio experiences that integrate seamlessly with the design intent of the vehicle and deliver optimal and immersive audio to all occupants in the car.
Solving In-Car Audio Challenges
Through continuous research Meridian engineers have become familiar with the challenges that in-car environments present. The team utilizes its in-depth knowledge of psychoacoustics to optimize the DSP audio systems featured in the vehicles to focus on what is most important for the human ear to provide a natural listening experience. The result is a definably clearer, more authentic sound.
Meridian is a recognized authority on digital signal processing (DSP) and this is used as the method of delivery of Meridian’s proprietary performance-enhancing technologies. The company adopted DSP more than 25 years ago and has been perfecting it ever since. It provides the foundation to every Meridian speaker and is a key facet of its approach, substantially enriching the audio performance for car brands.
Meridian has improved and built upon its unique DSP technologies for automotive. Alongside Meridian RE-Q and Digital Precision, Meridian now offers the new Horizon and Intelli-Q DSP technologies.
Meridian Horizon is an upmixing technology that provides immersive multichannel audio from two-channel stereo content, configured for any loudspeaker layout. This provides the user with a truly enveloping and immersive listening experience. Meridian Intelli-Q is Data-Driven Equalization that optimizes audio playback within the cabin based on data available from the vehicle such as speed, window state, occupancy and audio source.
The automotive cabin is a highly variable acoustic environment, and this is particularly apparent in electric vehicles where there is no engine noise. Things such as the speed of the vehicle, the number of windows open, the number of occupants or the audio source can result in a highly variable audio experience. The application of Meridian Intelli-Q ensures all occupants in the vehicle enjoy optimal audio experience at all times.
Meridian Digital Precision maximizes the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), ensuring the finest details of every song are retained. Distortion is reduced and the noise floor lowered, which optimize the signal output meaning the listener experiences every detail of the musical performance with minimal distortion. Meridian RE-Q is a cabin correction technology that intelligently and discreetly optimizes the audio system to the precise acoustics of the vehicle cabin, preserving the natural rhythm of the performance. This unique Meridian technology enables bass notes to be reproduced cleanly, ensuring that the clarity and definition of each instrument and vocal are tailored to the interior of the cabin.
Meridian’s In-Car Solutions
When developing these new automotive audio solutions, Meridian also puts great emphasis on enabling competitive advantages across key areas of customers’ businesses. Focus is put on the design flexibility, energy efficiency, weight reduction, and customer experience.
In a Meridian designed in-car audio system, the team deploys its expertise in DSP loudspeakers to unify and control all the elements that, in a conventional sound system, are separated: crossover, conversion, power amplifiers and the loudspeaker drivers themselves. This system approach retains absolute precision of the audio signal, resulting in a sound that is natural, three-dimensional, and remarkably easy to listen to.
Meridian’s transparent DSP performs the conductor’s role within an orchestra. It ensures perfect harmonization among components by delivering specifically tailored sound signals. Such levels of accuracy, precision, and performance are impossible to achieve in the analog domain.
Working closely with customer’s vehicle designs, Meridian is able to establish which combination of technologies will work best, as well as determine the speaker configuration within their cabin. With audio performance and design aesthetics in mind, speakers can be strategically positioned and tuned by Meridian engineers to create a completely natural soundstage.
Compared to rival offerings, Meridian’s systems are renowned for their clear and well-defined bass, which creates an enjoyable and accurate sound stage even for back-seat passengers. Vital bass frequencies remain distinguishable regardless of environmental conditions, such as wind, tire or road noise even at motorway speeds.
Meridian’s unique, elegantly engineered, holistic system approach, where all the elements of the system and space work seamlessly together, is meticulous in every detail and is renowned for offering the ultimate in audio performance while on the move. Meridian’s approach to in-car audio is transforming listening experiences on the move, creating differentiated, premium offerings for automotive brands that go beyond the ordinary.
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