Sound United Adds MPEG-H 3D Audio Format to Denon and Marantz Home Theater Amplifiers and Processors

November 11 2020, 00:35
Sound United, parent company to Denon, Polk Audio, Marantz, Definitive Technology, HEOS, Classé, and Boston Acoustics, announced the immediate availability of MPEG-H 3D Audio format support across a wide range of home theater products. Working alongside Fraunhofer IIS, the primary developer of the MPEG-H Audio standard, selected Denon and Marantz AV amplifiers and AV preprocessors will receive MPEG-H support via a firmware update.
 

MPEG-H Audio is an open ISO standard and the industry’s most advanced audio system for UHD-TV and streaming. As an object-based format, it supports both immersive sound and the ability for users to adjust elements in the audio to their preferences, since the actual reproduced result can be rendered specifically for the end user device and audio installation. MPEG-H has been on the air since 2017 on all TV networks in South Korea under the ATSC 3.0 standard. It was also selected for new broadcast standards to be launched in Europe, China and Brazil. Fraunhofer offers MPEG-H software implementations for many popular CPU, SoC and DSP platforms. It is already widely deployed in TV sets, premium soundbars and high-end speakers.

With support for MPEG-H in Denon and Marantz AVRs, users can now enjoy immersive and personalized audio in the highest quality and faithful to the creative intent of the creator. This will especially enhance the consumer experience for sports, music, TV drama, and film content. The list of Denon and Marantz AVR models with MPEG-H support includes the Denon AVC-A110, AVC-X8500H, AVC-X6700H, and AVC-X4700H, and Marantz AV8805, AV7706, SR8015, and SR7015. Some of those references are 220V/230V models only sold in EMEA, China, South Korea, and the rest of Asia, excluding Japan.

"Sound United abides by a philosophy of giving customers all the tools they need to derive maximum enjoyment from their products. By adding support for the MPEG-H 3D Audio format to our home theater products in key markets, Sound United customers garner another avenue to greater immersive and interactive experiences delivered by this next-generation audio system," says Kazuma Okada, Vice President APAC Commercial Operation.

Sound United will also leverage the Fraunhofer MPEG-H Audio System Trademark Program to test its MPEG-H Audio home theater products and ensure interoperability with other manufacturers' products that carry the MPEG-H Audio logo.

"We are extremely pleased the MPEG-H 3D Audio standard is now being made available to consumers on Denon and Marantz AVRs," adds Bernhard Grill, Director of Fraunhofer IIS. "We’ve always aimed to create a feeling of ‘being there’ in the stadium or the concert venue with Fraunhofer’s audio innovations, and Sound United has been an excellent partner in this endeavor."
www.soundunited.com
www.iis.fraunhofer.de/en.html
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