CES 2025: An Automotive Audio Perspective

Roger Shively shares his Automotive Audio perspective of CES 2025. An evolutionary year, more tempered after the explosive nature of the software-defined vehicle becoming reality last year. Narrow and Deep AI, Machine Learning, and Generative AI had their roles in developing and maintaining most of the software and platforms for automotive audio at CES 2025. The “Ploughman's Lunch” of Automotive Audio, Shively was going to call his chronicle from the automotive-filled West Hall and the Beach Lot across the street.

Building upon extensive collaborations in the home theater and headphone markets, Dirac and Denon have expanded their partnership to the automotive market. At CES 2025, the two companies showcased the first result of their automotive industry collaboration in a Denon Car Audio Concept System enabled by Dirac, showcasing upmixed, spatialized sound, in collaboration with other Audio Foundry partners Tymphany and Sonified by Trèves Group.

Immersed in Audio Innovations. More than 20 demonstration cars. Record number of sponsors. Sold-out registrations for the 5th Audio Engineering Society (AES) Automotive Audio Conference at the spectacular Geely Uni3 Center, in the historic town of Gothenburg, Sweden. Roger Shively explains why the 5th International AES Conference on Automotive Audio, in Gothenburg, Sweden will be one to remember.

The Consumer Electronics Show has become a showcase of products of the future, and this year’s content was stronger than ever. The automotive sector in the West Hall was filled beyond capacity, with Mobility spilling into the North Hall. Roger Shively reports on how hardware-dependent development is shifting to software. How Artificial Intelligence has found a practical role. How it all changes car audio systems.