Following presentations at CES 2023 by both Sonical and MQA, Canada-based PSB Speakers, a member of the Lenbrook Group of Companies, has embrace the vision and complementary technologies that both companies have promoted. CosmOS is Sonical’s operating system for headphones and hearables that runs on powerful low wattage processing cores, bringing unprecedented levels of connectivity and computational power to headphones. The project also includes MQA’s latest technology, SCL6, the most advanced codec for adaptive, high-resolution audio streaming.
PSB Speakers, a pioneer in psychoacoustics and an early brand to create audiophile-grade wireless headphones, will innovate through deep relationships with Sonical and MQA to push the boundaries of mobile listening. The product will utilize MQA’s SCL6, an innovative, time domain-based codec for the highest quality audio streaming. Developed by industry veteran and MQA founder, Bob Stuart, SCL6 ensures high-resolution sound even at low data rates.
"Given PSB Speakers’ long-time commitment to the science of audio and music listening, it’s a pleasure to be in this partnership which shows the world what CosmOS can do," says Gary Spittle, founder and CEO of Sonical.
"Our use of the CosmOS platform to make the world’s first software defined wireless headset and the inclusion of MQA’s adaptive wireless codec helps set a new benchmark for a high resolution, mobile high-fidelity product. We believe this product underscores what Paul Barton and the PSB team have accomplished over the brand’s 50-year history in the pursuit of audio excellence for listeners at home and now on the move," says Gordon Simmonds, President and CEO of Lenbrook Industries, PSB Speakers’ parent company.
"MQA was founded by one of the great innovators in audio. We design by thinking of the consumer experience first which means we are comfortable challenging the status quo. The vision shared by our partners at PSB Speakers and Sonical, bringing together superior audio quality and the next generation of consumer convenience, makes this a perfect fit for our latest technology SCL6," says Mike Jbara, CEO of MQA.
Gary Spittle founded Sonical in 2020 to enable to build the platform for Headphone 3.0 that unlocks the potential of 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, and empower hearables manufacturers, as well as individual users, to select which features and combinations of apps they want to include in their products.
CosmOS offers audio product manufacturers the versatility to keep pace with rapidly changing consumer demands for convenience and performance. Sonical is also working on the integration of Qorvo’s Ultra-wideband (UWB) radio technology that enables a superior audio experience thanks to UWB’s higher data rate and extremely low latency. And using Antennaware’s UWB antenna directly addresses any issues associated with Body Blocking which could occur with wireless wearable devices.
PSB Speakers was founded in 1972 by Paul Barton, which as its chief designer has been designing and building high-fidelity speakers that incorporate scientific principles in psychoacoustics. Over 50 years later and now a strategic part of Lenbrook International’s global portfolio, PSB Speakers’ products are critically acclaimed for its value-driven and non-fatiguing speaker design. Today with an expansive suite of products are sold in more than 70 markets and include speakers, subwoofers, headphones, and a family of installed speaker solutions.
MQA Ltd is a research, development and licensing company, whose mission is to achieve excellence in all aspects of audio entertainment: from sound recordings, content streaming and broadcasting, to consumer playback devices. The first product to market – Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) – was a breakthrough suite of technologies that delivers the original sound of the recording studio in a format small enough to stream. This technology is licensed by leading record labels, music services, broadcasters and hardware manufacturers worldwide. In late 2022, the Japan Audio Society certified a new technology developed by MQA – SCL6 – for use with its Hi-Res Audio Wireless logo.
www.mqa.co.uk
www.sonical.ai
www.psbspeakers.com
