Audyssey's Blog

We get a lot of questions about the science behind our amp app and the AMP Technology that powers it. We’ve gone over headphone profiles but a powerful force behind many of Audyssey’s audio technologies is psychoacoustics. Our engineers have spent many years studying how humans hear in order to make the best sounding speakers and headphones. And it’s those principles that define the Audyssey Dynamic EQ that’s in amp.

Audyssey Dynamic EQ is no mere equalizer. It adjusts the levels of your music in real time to accommodate the changes in the way your brain processes sound. Sometimes you listen to your music loudly and sometimes you listen quietly. It may depend on the song and it may depend on the situation. Damian Rice gets turned low and The Who gets turned up. At work, Songza gets turned down for ambiance and on the train you blast your headphones.

What’s important to know, though, is that you hear different frequencies better or worse at different volumes. For instance, a bass line at quieter volumes can perceptually disappear entirely. So if you’re playing Queen’s “Under Pressure” at 85 dB and you drop the volume down to 65 dB, the volume doesn’t just change… the song does. That’s where Audyssey Dynamic EQ comes in. It knows what happens to the sound curve at all volumes and adjusts on the fly, keeping the perceptual sound curve the same. That’s how every song, at every volume sounds as deep and clear as is does at reference volume.

Audyssey is the only company with Dynamic EQ technology and that’s why your headphones need AMP Technology to play at their best. Without it your headphones, no matter how good they are, can only play the flat signal that’s being sent to them. So even though they’re built for all the delicacy and power that your music demands, your device isn’t giving them the signal they need to show it off.

Find out if your headphones work with amp here.

2012 was a great year of movies. In fact, there were so many great films that many of the most hyped ones have all but fallen off the radar. The Dark Knight Rises, The Hobbit and The Avengers, despite getting a lot of box-office buzz aren’t getting much from Oscar anymore. And with the nominations out it seems to be a close race between a handful of favorites. Lincoln, as many Spielberg films do, has risen to the top. Les Misérables is right behind and David O. Russel’s surprise The Silver Linings Playbook is nominated left and right. There are a few audio-related stories to come out of the nominations that we’d like to take a look at.

Best Original Song (“Before My Time” from Chasing Ice, “Everybody Needs A Best Friend” from Ted, “Pi’s Lullaby” from Life of Pi, “Skyfall” from Skyfall, “Suddenly” from Les Misérables) - It’s an award that has been won in recent years by some eclectic artists; Randy Neuman, Annie Lennox and Three 6 Mafia to name a few. So there really isn’t a nominee that would surprise us anymore. Though Seth MacFarlane’s nomination for his foul-mouthed number in Ted is interesting, especially since he’s hosting the awards. Most notable in this category though is Adele’s nomination for “Skyfall.” She just won the Golden Globe, could she really win an Oscar just one year after winning 6 Grammy Awards? That’s a pretty amazing feat from a girl whose last album was titled 21 (after her age.)

Best Original Score (Dario Marianelli for Anna Karenina, Alexandre Desplat for Argo, Mychael Dann for Life of Pi, John Williams for Lincoln, Thomas Newman for Skyfall) - John Williams is nominated for the 10th time in this same category since 2000. He’s been nominated for an Oscar 48 times in his life and won five. He’ll have to beat Golden Globe-winner Mychael Danna for Life of Pi, and with Ang Lee an Academy favorite unlikely to win much else, it may prove hard. Though, at 80 years old and fresh off a Spielberg epic that might sweep, expect the academy to give John Williams a look this year. He hasn’t won since 1993, after all (and that was 18 nominations ago.)

Sound Editing (Argo, Django Unchained, Life of Pi, Skyfall, Zero Dark Thirty) - Well Les Misérables is not nominated. And we’re surprised we’re not surprised. After seeing the film, the sound editing (and mixing, which we’ll get to) was extremely unimpressive. Though this could be a result of a director’s choice to keep the songs as whole takes, limiting the amount of editing responsibility placed on the editor. Surprised we are surprised though, about Django Unchained’s nomination. It was a great film with a lot of audio in different contexts to play with. Tarantino’s style of bleeding between genres adds an extra constraint, so to see Wylie Stateman recognized is not the shocking part. The surprise is a greater comment on Quentin Tarantino’s work as a director. His films are no longer looked at as simply edgy gore-fests with limited appeal. They are controversial, top-notch films and to be considered in all categories.

Sound Mixing (Argo, Les Misérables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Skyfall) - It’s interesting that the big actions films of the summer, The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises, didn’t get a nod here. And more interesting that Brave and The Hobbit were unrecognized, having been the first (and only) films mixed for Dolby’s vector-based Atmos surround sound. But among the five nominees, three films are nominated for both Sound Mixing and Sound Editing: Argo, Life of Pi and Skyfall. Les Misérables, as we said, is not one of them. And its nomination in this category is questionable. Mixed at 7.1 it made almost no use of the rear and wide surround channels. There was no creativity in the vocal and instrumental mix opting for a simplistic proscenium feel, with vocals coming from direct center while music was balanced more-or-less evenly from the front sides. With so much to work with, and in lieu of the live orchestra that Broadway offers this musical, the mix was uninventive and disappointing. The enveloping action sequences in Skyfall complemented a pushy score. They get our vote.

The best in playlists meets the best in playback

If you know music then you know Songza. They’re the playlist magicians whose iOS app nabbed nearly a million downloads in its first week on the market. They’ve built a pretty strong following on the internet (needless to say) and, as music goes mobile, so must the platforms. Which brings us to their next big move: Us. Audyssey, that is, because the newest version of Songza’s iOS app includes the world’s best playback technology. Audyssey Media Player Technology is now embedded in the app itself and it works with more precision and personalization than anything else on the market.

Songza prides itself on offering the best playlists for any situation by employing a team of music experts who listen to the music, assess it, then compile it for your work mix, gym list, etc. What they haven’t done, is adjusted the playback itself for your headphones. And with such a wide variety of quality headphones on the market these days that can be a pretty significant step. So Songza turned to Audyssey.

We put our team of sound experts to work applying the science behind Audyssey MultEQ to headphones. It took a while, but the technology that transformed Home Theater is now fixing headphones. Audyssey is able to make specific audio filters for each individual pair: over-ear, in-ear, ear buds, EarPods, you name it. So far our database of headphone profiles has 140 different makes and models, and it’s still growing.

The result is a sound as perfectly selected for the listener as the playlist. Songza with AMP Technology is bringing the best to audio.

How does it work? Simply. When you plug your headphones in, AMP Technology detects the headphones, then asks which pair you’re using. The drop-down menus will give you a brand selection and then a model. You pick yours and get listening.

What if you own different pairs of headphones? Don’t worry, Songza will store multiple pairs so you don’t have to keep selecting them from the database.

After years of incorporating our technology into top-line AVRs, luxury cars and IMAX Theatres, Audyssey has seen masses of people hear the difference in great audio. But not many companies get the opportunity to flood 14 million ears with perfect sound at the same time. We’re excited, to say the least.

Check out the Songza app at the app store if you don’t already have it, and read more about AMP Technology.

Dr. Dre says his headphones sound just like his studio, but Apple says theirs are designed for the shape of your ears. You believe over-ear types offer the best sound, but you don’t want to mess up your hair. There are hundreds of headphones on the market these days and many things to account for when you’re shopping. At Audyssey we care how your music sounds and how much you enjoy listening to it, so we wanted to touch on a few things to keep in mind when you’re getting your next pair of headphones.

There are few basic types of headphones: over-ear, on-ear and in-ear. The difference is exactly what you’d imagine it to be, but all come in various price points and quality.

Headphones that sit around your ear (over-ears, pictured above) open up your pinna to all the waves and create a little more space for the sound to move. They have bigger cups and can allow for bigger drivers, sometimes more than one. The best sounding headphones are often over-ear sets, but not all over-ear sets are created equal, so try them out. The size can be bulky and, to create the right seal, the band can put undue pressure on your head. And if you’re going out later, they might mess up your up-do.

On-ear headphones sit over the pinna but out of the ear canal. They can have some of the power and bigger sound of their over-ear counterparts with less of the bulk. Some people find them more comfortable, but a good seal is more challenging. On the other hand, they can be more convenient. Some on-ears even hook around your ears to eliminate the cumbersome headband.

In-ear sets (we’ll speak specifically to ear-buds a little later) usually drop the band entirely. They’re small and easy. You can roll them up and stick them in your pocket, hang them from your rearview mirror, shove them in your gym bag; they’re convenient. But do they sacrifice sound? Well they’re smaller so they have less space for the nuts and bolts. But you can fit a lot of technology in a little space these days. You want to find a pair with a good seal to keep the sound from leaking, especially in the lower registers. That means you’ll have to look for a good pair that sits comfortably inside your ear canal. And look for dual drivers.

We’ve mentioned the word “seal” a few times so it might be a good time to explain what we mean. We’re talking about the contact the headphone makes with your head or ear. A good seal prevents sound from seeping out (or in) and helps maintain your audio’s tonal balance. Low notes are especially dependent on a good seal.

Maintaining a great seal is the largest problem facing ear-buds, the form of in-ear headphones that sit inside your ear (on the concha) but not inside the ear canal. They’re the most convenient type of headphones, and thanks to Apple, they’re the most common. But their sound quality is the most difficult for designers to control due to the weak seal and variable fit.

Naturally, there are advantages and drawbacks to each style. Ultimately you have to take into account how you plan on using them. Most people own two or three sets depending on use: a set for jogging, a set for long-listening, etc. And, while Audyssey doesn’t have any of our own headphones on the market, we do have our engineers making some pretty big advances in headphone technology. Stay tuned for more.