Dirac Panorama Sound is coming to smartphones to bring immersive sound on small speakers

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Dirac is a Sweden-based audio company that provides some of the tech found in Xiaomi, OPPO, Huawei, and OnePlus devices. They work with OEMs to optimize the sound quality in smartphone speakers, which are notorious for being bad. The technology can have a drastic impact on mobile devices. Check out our interview with Dirac’s general manager of mobile for more information.

Dirac Panorama Sound

Dirac Panorama Sound is a solution that optimizes speakers that are positioned only a few inches apart, like those found on smartphones. It has been added after-the-fact on test devices, but never fully integrated into a smartphone.

Dirac is using “multiple-input and multiple-output” (MIMO) technology to enable the speakers to coordinate with each other. An extra-wide sound field is created as a result, which gives the user a surround sound experience from two very small speakers.

Dirac Panorama Sound is different from other mobile solutions. They have patented a sound field control/synthesis technology that isolates the left and right stereo channels. The channels are then delivered directly to the corresponding ears despite the sound emitting from speakers that are very close together.

Smartisan Nut R1

The Smartisan Nut R1 is the first smartphone to launch with Dirac Panorama Sound. The phone has a traditional speaker setup with a primary speaker on the bottom for media and a receiver at the top for phone calls.

The Smartisan Nut R1 is a beast of a phone. It has a 6.2-inch display with 18.7:9 aspect ratio, 20+12MP dual rear cameras, 24MP front shooter, Snapdragon 845 processor, 6-8GB of RAM, 64GB-1TB(!) of storage, Quick Charge 4, and a 3,600 mAh battery. The variants are priced between $550 and $1,400 and it’s available right now.

Dirac’s goal is to disrupt the smartphone market and spur a larger focus on audio quality. The fact is the built-in speakers on most smartphones aren’t very good. Technology like Panorama Sound can greatly improve the experience without requiring better hardware. That’s what they’re hoping to show with the Smartisan Nut R1. Do you care about the audio quality from your smartphone speakers?