L-Acoustics Named One of the World’s Most Innovative Companies for 2023

After being named to the Most Innovative Companies list in 2020, French audio manufacturer L-Acoustics is again recognized as an industry trailblazer in 2023. L-Acoustics has been named for the second time to Fast Company’s prestigious annual list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies in the Live Events category. This year’s Fast Company list highlights the businesses at the forefront of their respective industries, paving the way for innovation, and setting the standard with some of the greatest accomplishments of the modern world.

As the "automotive technology company and subsidiary of Samsung Electronics," Harman was one of the busiest companies at CES 2023. Among the many automotive systems, Harman announced its new Sound and Vibration Sensor and External Microphone products to enhance the audio experience inside and outside the vehicle. It also launched Harman Ready on Demand, a software platform and marketplace that allows users to download and activate new audio features.

Swedish digital audio pioneer Dirac announced the debut of Dirac Live Active Room Treatment, the latest in its family of award-winning Dirac Live features designed to address bass resonance and room decay time to produce a cleaner, tighter bass experience than ever before possible. Dirac Live Active Room Treatment will debut in all StormAudio AVRs through a Spring 2023 firmware update.

d&b audiotechnik used the opportunity to exhibit once again in a major trade show such as ISE 2022 to display its extended rage of installation, EN 54 compliant solutions, together with all-new technologies. At the Barcelona show, the German manufacturer introduced its new 5D amplifier with integrated audio networking, an installation-focused compact design. The 5D is a four channel DSP amplifier featuring flexible output power sharing — ideal to power installations with large numbers of smaller speakers.

Leading into ISE 2022, L-Acoustics promoted a Reconnect in-person event to launch three new installation-focused products. The French manufacturer managed to impress ISE visitors with an ambitious new LA7.16i amplified controller, new ultra-shallow Soka colinear source wall speakers and a new matching SB6i subwoofer. But the most important announcement by far was the new L-ISA Ambiance virtual acoustics enhancement system, which places the company at the forefront of the next big step for the audio industry.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed an ultra-thin loudspeaker that can turn any rigid surface into an active audio source. To demonstrate the concept, MIT engineers have developed a paper-thin loudspeaker, which was now presented in public, pitching a straightforward fabrication process that could be introduced to enable the flexible, thin-film solution to be produced at scale.

Asahi Kasei Microdevices (AKM) and Silentium have signed a license agreement to develop engine order cancellation (EOC) solutions that reduce the impact of engine noise in the car cabin. By incorporating Silentium's proven EOC software, combined with AKM semiconductor and sensor technologies, vehicle manufacturers will be able to quickly implement systems that improve fuel efficiency by reducing reliance on heavy noise dampening materials.