Fraunhofer Cingo Immersive Listening Now Available in Audio Weaver

July 11 2022, 01:10
DSP Concepts announced that its Audio Weaver development platform for audio products now also offers access to the Fraunhofer Cingo family of immersive processing tools. The agreement with Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits (IIS) allows audio product developers to enhance headphones, earbuds and speakers with binaural audio processing for immersive 3D sound with head tracking, as well as enhance existing stereo content, including loudness optimization and equalization. Cingo supports all channel-based formats and direct rendering of audio objects with associated position metadata, which can be transmitted as MPEG-H Audio.
 

The increasing complexity of audio-enabled devices is creating new challenges for product makers. DSP Concepts works together with audio technology partners to make it easier for manufacturers to improve their product performance and keep up with the latest features and consumer demands. By utilizing a flexible platform such as DSP Concepts Audio Weaver complete with algorithms provided by these partners, product development can be accelerated while simultaneously cutting costs and providing must-have features. 

Cingo is one of the many licensed technologies now available, adding to a full complement of surround sound technologies from DTS, Fraunhofer, VisiSonics, and THX; sound optimization technologies from Bose and Klippel; voice command technologies from Fluent.ai and Sensory; hearing and dialogue enhancement from Alango and Mimi Hearing; and TensorFlow Lite Micro machine learning technology. Developers and manufacturers can pick and choose their desired algorithms from Audio Weaver’s list of more than 550 modules.

The advantages of licensing audio technologies, rather than developing them in-house, are easy to appreciate. Companies that specialize in audio technology development have a focused expertise and proven technology that manufacturers may lack, and licensing is typically less resource-intensive than developing a technology in-house.

Most importantly, licensing audio technologies can radically decrease development time; a company can deploy the licensed technology almost immediately, rather than embarking on a development path of uncertain duration and results. Manufacturers can also benefit from association with well-known names in audio technology.

Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS has spent the last 30+ years developing and licensing audio technologies such as MP3, AAC, MPEG-H Audio, Enhanced Voice Services (EVS), and Bluetooth LC3/LC3plus. Following these benchmark advancements, Fraunhofer now offers Cingo, one of the most versatile audio virtualizers available, already in use by manufacturers worldwide since its early adoption for binaural audio processing in smartphones and tablets.
Today, no matter what the application, Cingo enables stereo, multichannel, and immersive sound formats to sound natural and spacious. With MPEG-H support, optimized rendering of 3D audio content can be realized on mobile devices, working with audio streams encoded with overhead channels and placement of an arbitrary number of audio objects in virtual space with associated position metadata such as azimuth, elevation, distance, and spread. This complement of features allows Fraunhofer’s solution to create an immersive and realistic listening experience that is in a class of its own compared to other solutions.

Derived HRTF (Head-Related Transfer Function) profiles apply specialized filtering based on head/ear anatomy and object position, helping Cingo deliver realistic binaural audio. Cingo remains the sole binaural rendering solution that provides true support for object-based audio. Additionally, head tracking is available when positional sensors are present on the target device. Using this sensor data to determine orientation, Cingo dynamically adjusts the stereo field to provide a consistent response that adapts to the position of the listener’s head, no matter where it is in relation to the speakers.

Cingo also includes useful capabilities as equalization to improve the sound of speakers and headphones, and loudness optimization to achieve the best possible sound quality and dialog clarity in any setting.

Developing a virtualizer that can deliver a satisfying sound experience anywhere and everywhere, using practically any hardware, would typically place a great strain on the R&D resources of most manufacturers. With Audio Weaver and its specialized third-party algorithms, manufacturers can radically cut their development time while easing the load on their development teams, because they can use the same licensed technologies, such as Cingo, for all of their products.

No matter which licensed technology manufacturers want to access, Audio Weaver streamlines the entire process by cutting the workload on product development teams, reducing time-to-market, and helping product makers to deliver a more competitive product.
www.iis.fraunhofer.de
www.dspconcepts.com
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About Joao Martins
Since 2013, Joao Martins leads audioXpress as editor-in-chief of the US-based magazine and website, the leading audio electronics, audio product development and design publication, working also as international editor for Voice Coil, the leading periodical for... Read more

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