The Audi sound system: Tailor-made acoustics for every Audi model

Audi's sound engineers have set a lofty goal for themselves: Reproducing music in the way that soloists, bands, and orchestras originally recorded it. 

The German automobile manufacturer has accordingly built a reference listening room with a high-end system, replicating the sonic conditions of a typical living room - considered the benchmark for ideal listening conditions. However, reaching a comparable level of sound quality remains a major challenge for automakers. The interior of a car is a challenging acoustic space, full of reflecting and absorbing surfaces, and varying distances between speakers and listeners' ears.

Sound tuning allows for an acoustic custom fit for each model in the company's lineup. Before acoustic hardware is built into a car, the speakers are first examined using acoustic measurement techniques. Frequency response, as well as build up and decay, are assessed and adjusted accordingly. Additionally, speaker signals are programmed so that they reach the listener at the same time. For this reason, each speaker in the car has its own output settings.

Audi has been developing its proprietary soundCUBE since 2019, giving audio developers 100 percent of control over the technology they use in an Audi. SoundCUBE allows individual programmers to choose the best algorithms available for their creations and integrate them themselves. Developers can control the individual filters for different sources, like the in-car telephone, navigation announcements, or hi-fi audio.

Audi has also been collaborating with Sonos in the audio field, most recently in the all-electric Audi Q4 e-tron SUV.