Bang & Olufsen was looking for a codec to power their new line of high-resolution streaming systems, which comprises several products for domestic use such as the newly released Beolab 28. As a respected high-end audio manufacturer aiming to provide the best experience to their customers, neither a degradation of the sound quality nor unwanted echoes between the speakers were acceptable. The Danish company found the LC3plus audio codec from Fraunhofer IIS to be the perfect solution: its quality exceeded the expectations of even the most critical sound experts in Bang & Olufsen’s laboratories.
“We were impressed by the quality LC3plus delivered even when we put it through its paces by tinkering with the bitrate. It brings definition and clarity to streaming devices and ensures that our customers can enjoy high-end audio quality with the convenience of wireless transmission. We are proud to be at the forefront of innovation by being the first to bring this state-of-the-art technology to our customers,” says Julien Bergere, Product Category Director at Bang & Olufsen.
"The new Fraunhofer LC3plus codec excels in two fields, each challenging in their own right. It can deliver unmatched sound clarity on the one hand, while keeping latency very low on the other. This means that highest fidelity content can be transmitted without any noticeable lag between individual devices. Adding the fact that it is an open standard, it becomes clear that LC3plus is the solution for the future of wireless entertainment systems," states Fraunhofer IIS.
While Bang & Olufsen is the first manufacturer to incorporate LC3plus into high-resolution streaming systems, they certainly are not going to be the last: “We expect LC3plus to establish in the consumer entertainment systems market from smart TVs to wireless smartphone headsets. It brings new possibilities of interoperability and compatibility across devices and vendors,” says Manfred Lutzky, head of Audio for Communications department at Fraunhofer IIS.
In fact, LC3plus is the only open-standard audio codec for wireless high-resolution and high-quality gaming headsets to date. In the communications field, LC3plus is already widely used as it is part of the 2019 DECT standard. In addition to the low latency, it works with a low memory footprint, making it the perfect choice for small devices like wireless earbuds. The high audio quality of the codec is highly resistant against interference and performs flawlessly even at low data rates. Compared to older technologies, an LC3plus stream can be limited to half the bitrate – making it possible to extend battery life and to create smaller devices.
The partnership with Bang & Olufsen shows that LC3plus is far more than just a communications profile, but that it also opens up new worlds of high quality audio entertainment even for the most demanding listeners with its high-resolution audio mode. With LC3plus, a 24-bit signal at 96kHz sampling rate can be transmitted with as little as 2.5 milliseconds delay.
Fraunhofer IIS as well as Bang & Olufsen are no strangers to the cutting edge of audio technology. When two innovation drivers collaborate, great results are to be expected and Bang & Olufsen’s new LC3plus-empowered speaker systems live up to the promise of uncompromised quality, paired with comfort and robustness enabled by the latest open standard transmission technology from Fraunhofer IIS.
For over 30 years, the institute’s Audio and Media Technologies division has been shaping the globally deployed standards and technologies in the fields of audio and moving picture production. The institute is now promoting a new generation of best-in-class media technologies – such as MPEG-H Audio, xHE-AAC, EVS, LC3/LC3plus, Symphoria, Sonamic and upHear – all elevating the user experience to new heights, and always taking into account the demands of the market.
www.bang-olufsen.com
www.iis.fraunhofer.de
