Uppsala, Sweden-based audio technology company Dirac Research on Thursday announced the commercialization of Dirac Panorama Sound, its latest mobile solution meant to lead to a new standard of audio quality on smartphones. The system has been integrated into the Nut R1, a newly announced Android handset from Chinese manufacturer Smartisan, with the two companies claiming that the device boasts a level of immersive audio that’s unprecedented in the context of small-sized embedded speakers.
The main speaker of the Smartisan Nut R1 is placed on the bottom of the handset, hence being similar to audio solutions present on other contemporary phones, but Dirac Panorama Sound is meant to build on that setup by leveraging an additional receiver near the top of the device. The higher unit handles audio production during phone calls, whereas the bottom one is responsible for speaker amplification, music playback, and a number of other applications. The two modules coordinate actions between each other by relying on multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) technologies, with the Swedish firm describing the setup as a “finely tuned orchestra” instead of a simple collection of disjointed speakers.
Dirac is hoping that its system will disrupt the smartphone industry in the sense that it will place a larger focus on mobile audio experiences and turn mobile speakers into a major selling point, allowing original equipment manufacturers willing to embrace the technology to differentiate their products from those of their rivals. Whereas conventional mobile surround solutions utilize phase shifts to create an illusion of spaciousness, Dirac’s proprietary sound field control system separates the left stereo channel from its right counterpart with the goal of aiming both into their corresponding ears. The Smartisan Nut R1 starts at $549 and presently isn’t available for purchase outside of China where it’s retailed by JD and the manufacturer itself, though Dirac’s solution is expected to make its way into more Android smartphones in the coming months.