FEATURE ARTICLE

Automotive audio
Optimization, testing, evaluation
Francis Rumsey
Consultant Technical Writer

Virtual or simulated environments are becoming an important tool in the

tuning and evaluation of car audio systems. The main challenge seems to be
generating convincing evidence that the results from such simulations are
sufficiently similar to those from real cars to be usable as an alternative. There
is evidence that engine harmonic cancellation can coexist with entertainment
audio “under one roof,” provided that care is taken over the evaluation criteria.
Finally, loudspeaker control systems can be combined with microphone
systems in cars to create a fully self-contained test system.

D uring the recent AES conference on

automotive audio, about which a gen-
eral report is presented on page 808 in this
widely in industrial applications. They point
out that this can be combined to good effect
with sophisticated computer
enclosure, or the displacement of a door
panel excited by a loudspeaker mounted

issue, a number of papers were presented
on optimization, testing, and evaluation
of car audio systems. A number of them
described the use of binaural simulation
or some sort of “virtual” experience. In
this article those papers are summarized in
more detail, looking at how new technology
and simulations work, and how they might
help to make such processes more efficient.
VIRTUAL REALITY
OPTIMIZATION
It’s hard to escape the suggestion, in many
walks of audio research, that virtual real-
ity is the way forward for everything, but
how can it help in the optimization of car
audio systems? François Malbos and his
colleagues from Harman, in their paper
“Virtual Reality Experience for the Optimi-
zation of a Car Audio System,” explain that
aside from the “playground” of gaming and
entertainment virtual, mixed or augmented
reality technology is being adopted quite
modeling techniques that pre- (a)
dict the behavior of things like
plastic manufacturing and audio
systems.
In their paper the authors
describe initial simulations used
to optimize loudspeakers and
their housing in a car system,
as well as advanced acoustic
simulations employed in equal-
ization and auralization of the (b)
system. For example, as can be
seen in Fig. 1, it was possible to
simulate the acoustic pressure
inside a complicated subwoofer
Fig. 1. (a) Simulation of an
automotive subwoofer enclosure
showing acoustic pressure when
driven by the loudspeaker. (b)
Simulated displacement of a
door panel when excited by a
door-mounted loudspeaker at a
resonant frequency. (Figs. 1–4
courtesy Malbos et al.)

814 J. Audio Eng. Soc., Vol. 67, No. 10, 2019 October

in it, at a particular
resonant frequency.
It’s also explained
that simulation tech-
niques can be used
to predict the sound
pressure at micro-
phone arrays located
at different points in
the car interior, in
order that equaliza-
tion of the listening
Fig. 2. Finite element mesh of a driver’s head and torso used for positions can be done
binaural simulation.
Fig. 3. Block diagram of signal flow in a virtual tuning and auralization system.
without needing a real car.
For binaural simulation of the
resulting sound in the cabin,
two different things were used
depending on the part of the
frequency range concerned. As
shown in Fig. 2, a finite element
mesh was constructed of a head
and torso in the driving seat, to
deal with the low-frequency end,
and a ray-tracing simulation was
employed at the high-frequency
end. Postprocessing enabled
the incorporation of a head-
related transfer function
(HRTF—representing the
spectrum and time response
at each ear of the listener for
sources in different locations).
Fig. 4. Various views of a VR
demo tool. Top view shows a
fully-virtual tuning session, with
tuning tool GUI included into the
VR scene and tuning parameters
accessed via handheld controllers.
Middle view shows a snapshot
of acoustic wave propagating
through the cabin. Bottom view
shows the SPL pattern of a front
loudspeaker at 1 kHz.
J. Audio Eng. Soc., Vol. 67, No. 10, 2019 October 815
FEATURE ARTICLE
Comparisons between measured and simu-
lated results suggested that the simulations
were reasonably effective at capturing the
main physical properties of the sound field.
When it comes to the role of virtual real-
ity, it’s explained that design decisions for
the audio system of a new car have to be
made long before a real vehicle prototype is
available. Even when prototypes are avail-
able, the time that audio engineers can get
in them is very limited, so “virtual” data
can be very helpful. Apparently Harman
had developed a complete system approach
to virtual tuning and auralization back in
2016, a block diagram of which is shown
in Fig. 3. Computer-aided design (CAD)
meshes describing a car interior needed
to be stitched together and to have unnec-
essary detail removed, such as knobs and
switches. (Small details greatly increase
the computing time for auralization but
probably don’t have much effect on acous-
tics, and engineers have attempted to find
the best compromise between simulation
accuracy and calculation time.) The same
meshes could then be used both for visu-
alization and auralization. The VR system
also included two handheld controllers that
enabled the user to do things like adjust
the audio system, display acoustic data, and
control an audio tuning tool from within
the VR scene. Some images from the VR
simulation are shown in Fig. 4.
VIRTUAL TUNING
In “Virtual Tuning—A Mixed Approach
Based on Measured RTFs,” Hans Lahti and
Adrian Bahne look at how a combination of
in-situ and virtual (simulated) approaches
can be used to meet the time constraints
of tuning work. By using a mixture of the
two approaches, for example, the transfer
functions of each tuning step can be ren-
dered in the virtual model, and different
tuning approaches can be tried quickly at
various listening positions. It’s pointed out
that the mixed approach extends easily to a
fully virtual process, where simulated room
transfer functions (RTFs) can replace mea-
surements. It’s suggested that in future this
sort of method could be extended to other
analysis methods such as spectral decay
characteristics or perceptual metrics.
To enable the virtual rendering of the
reproduction chain, the authors collected
impulse responses for each loudspeaker
unit at multiple locations in the car cabin,
FEATURE ARTICLE
Fig. 5. Sound system and measurement layout, showing 4x4 grids of microphones in each
listening position. Highlighted dark blue is one specific microphone location currently being
evaluated. (Courtesy Lahti and Bahne)
based on 4×4 grids of microphones at ear
height, with 100-mm spacing at each loca-
tion. Fig. 5 shows an example of such a
layout. Virtual tuning was then done using
a prediction module (which looks at both
time and frequency domains) provided with
the measured RTFs and a target function,
inserting various filters in the signal chain.
Simultaneous equalization of multiple loud-
speaker channels is done using a MIMO
(multiple input, multiple output) technique
that can create a so-called monobass chan-
nel. The monobass channel involves all
the loudspeaker bass drivers in one filter
design, and results in one MIMO EQ chan-
nel with a flat frequency response that gives
rise to minimal seat-to-seat variation. The
authors show a number of use cases, such
as how it’s possible to align the monobass
and center signals so that they have optimal
summation in a particular listening loca-
tion. Another example concerns the use of
allpass filters and delays in all channels to
get better summing of left and right audio
channels at each of the front seats.
In order to find out how robust the
virtual tuning system was to deviations
in the measurement procedure used for
capturing the initial room transfer func-
tions, a second set of measurements was
captured in a real car with a different
setup. This second setup involved a six-mi-
crophone array in the driver’s seat, with
different spacing to before, different micro-
phones and amplifiers, and taking a spatial
average of the six signals. Measurements
were compared with predictions from the
816 J. Audio Eng. Soc., Vol. 67, No. 10, 2019 October
model at the closest points in the original
4×4 array in the driver’s position, it being
found that accuracy was within about 1
dB at low frequencies, rising to 2–3 dB at
higher frequencies. Such errors are said to
be within a reasonable range to be usable
for daily tuning work.
EVALUATING BINAURAL
SIMULATIONS
The term “virtual” sometimes seems to be
used in studies such as these to refer to
something simulated, even if it does not
use fully implemented “virtual reality.”
In “Evaluating Binaural Simulations of a
Premium Automotive Sound System,” Eva
Hasenberger and her colleagues seem to
prefer the term “simulation,” and look into
the use of a system designed for binaural
simulation of typical listening rooms or liv-
ing rooms, as a means of enabling realistic
listening tests on car audio systems. Simi-
lar to a number of other studies, the aim is
to find out whether an in-car audio system,
including the effects of the cabin, can be
successfully simulated for headphones so
that listening tests can be conducted with-
out needing a physical car. As the authors
point out, a number of studies have already
been done on related themes, and it is clear
that the result is influenced by other factors
such as the visual impression and knowl-
edge about the system. A blind comparison
would hopefully give unbiased results, but
that is impossible because listeners have
to wear headphones to hear the simula-
tion and take them off to listen to the real
system. (Most headphones are acknowl-
edged to give rise to some acoustic shield-
ing, and although there are some that are
supposed to be acoustically transparent,
they were not among those recommended
for use with the acoustic simulation soft-
ware used in these experiments.) For these
reasons the tests described here adopted
a semi-blind approach whereby listeners
knew which system they were evaluating
but not the parameters used to create the
test items.
The tests were carried out in an Audi
A8 vehicle, with the listener sitting in the
driver’s seat. Acoustic simulations were
implemented using a system designed for
capturing and simulating any high-quality
audio-monitoring environment, known as
the Smyth Realiser A8. This lets the user
capture the binaural impulse responses in a
listening environment using a pair of probe
microphones mounted in the listener’s ear
canals, both with and without the head-
phones. Transfer functions are determined
from the loudspeaker/room to the probes,
and then from the headphones to the
probes, in one of three head rotations, for
each listener. Positions between the three
measuring points (0° and ±30°) are interpo-
lated on reproduction. As the Realiser only
dealt with eight channels in this case, some
of the channels of the car audio system in
question had to be combined to resemble
a 7.1 setup, which involved omitting the
loudspeaker at the center of the rear shelf
and four 3D surround loudspeakers. (The
Realiser system uses head tracking to enable
realistic response to head rotation when
wearing headphones.) As the car system was
rather different to a typical studio moni-
toring setup, some loudspeaker channels
were found to have too low a level for the
measurements, but a means of compensat-
ing this was found.
For these initial tests the authors decided
to investigate only certain features of
sound reproduction considered primar-
ily important, namely bandwidth, local-
ization, and impulse fidelity. In order to
present users with a visual scene on which
to mark sources for the localization test,
they were presented with the image shown
in Fig. 6. Tests to do with bandwidth used
a MUSHRA-style audio quality rating,
while those concerned with impulse fidel-
ity appeared to require listeners to decide
whether they heard one or two noise bursts

Fig. 6. Graphical user interface for localization test in an Audi A8 using headphone simulation.
(Courtesy Hasenberger et al.)
when presented with pairs of bursts sepa- reduce the annoyance of tonal noise in the
rated by delays ranging from 2 to 14 ms. cabin that arises from harmonics of the
Results concentrate on statistical detail engine rotation and is apparently used in 12
and can be studied by those more inter- or more production vehicles. The question
ested. Distributions of responses for the of what aspects of it should be evaluated is
bandwidth test seemed quite wide, making discussed by Davis Pan in “Evaluation Cri-
conclusions about similarities between the teria for Engine Harmonic Cancellation,”
two systems more difficult in this regard where 11 criteria that should be considered
than for the localization test. The broad are presented.
upshot, though, appears to be that both Pan points out that EHC is a sort of active
simulated and real systems showed the noise cancellation that does not rely on
same reproduction performance in respect traditional acoustic means such as mufflers,
of the attributes tested. This confirmed mass dampers, or engine balance shafts.
qualitative feedback from the participants, Instead it often uses existing aspects of a
about a third of which had said they didn’t car audio system such as signal process-
hear any difference between the simulated ing, amplifiers, and loudspeakers. The noise
and real systems. The authors suggest that can be reduced without affecting the car’s
as there are many more attributes that performance, and the effort can be concen-
define the listening experience than these, trated on particularly annoying components
further studies should look into additional of the noise. EHC is designed to change the
factors such as envelopment. character of engine or drive train sound
in the cabin, but it’s unlikely to affect the
EVALUATION CRITERIA perceived level of overall background noise,
FOR ENGINE HARMONICS says Pan. (Other, more recent, broadband
There’s a very specific form of noise can- road-noise cancellation systems are aimed
celing used in some cars, known as engine at the latter problem.)
harmonic cancellation (EHC). It aims to EHC tends to operate in the region
between 30 and 200 Hz, which
corresponds to engine revs
between 900 and 6000 rpm for
a four-cylinder vehicle. (The
order of the dominant harmonic
of engine noise differs between
engine types, being 2nd order
for a four-cylinder engine and
4th order for an eight-cylinder
Fig. 7. Order-tracked noise level as a function of engine RPM engine.) Apparently the upper
(revs per minute), showing original level (solid line), maximum
cancellation (dotted line), and tuned target for a pleasing limit of cancellation is deter-
engine sound (dashed line). (Courtesy Davis Pan) mined by the wavelength of
J. Audio Eng. Soc., Vol. 67, No. 10, 2019 October 817
FEATURE ARTICLE
the harmonic in question, and the size of
the cancellation zone needs to be roughly
one-tenth of the wavelength otherwise you
can end up with good cancellation at one
ear but increased noise at the other. The
cancellation zone needs to be large enough
to enable reasonable head movement for
multiple occupants, and this requires care-
ful analysis of room modes and placement
of low-frequency loudspeakers. There’s also
the question of how to produce a suffi-
ciently big canceling signal at a low enough
frequency, so a good audio system is needed
that can produce high levels at frequencies
below 40 Hz.
According to Pan, a good system needs
to adapt rapidly to changes in engine revs,
and systems can generally adapt to a steady
speed in about 100 ms. Adapting to rapid
changes in engine speed, it’s implied, is a
matter of design decision, as one might not
always want to cancel all the engine noise
in a high-performance car when it’s accel-
erating fast, say. It isn’t, therefore, always
necessary to silence the engine harmonics
completely but rather to create a refined or
appropriate engine sound, where the sound
increases smoothly as speed increases. An
example is shown in Fig. 7. There’s also
the issue of minimizing audible artifacts of
canceling, particularly in periods after rapid
reduction of engine noise when systems
can continue to emit a canceling tone for a
short while.
An important design factor for such
systems is that EHC needs not to affect the
entertainment audio, even though it may
use the same loudspeakers. This can lead
to the need for a means of determining
whether the overall level of both the EHC
and the entertainment audio is likely to
result in distortion, reducing the EHC as
necessary in a subtle manner.
SELF-TESTING OF A CAR
AUDIO SYSTEM
It’s become mandatory to check the sound
quality of car audio systems at the end of
the production line, say Stefan Irrgang
and Wolfgang Klippel in “Self-Testing of
Car Audio Systems,” to ensure that con-
sistent high quality is delivered because
customer expectations are rising. Testing
the components before installation is not
adequate, because a lot of the problems can
arise from how panels and loudspeakers are
mounted, so a lot of manufacturers still
FEATURE ARTICLE
Fig. 8. Components of a loudspeaker control system. (Courtesy Irrgang and Klippel)
rely on subjective tests, and they sample
the production cars rather than testing all
of them. The costs, complexity, and time
for such testing are high, so a new auto-
matic approach is proposed that uses loud-
speaker control technology as a test sys-
tem. Apparently it doesn’t need any external
equipment and the setup is the same as the
end-user configuration, as long as the sys-
tem employs both loudspeaker control and
built-in microphones.
The concept relies on the use of adaptive
nonlinear control of the loudspeakers, which
is increasingly used to enable them to perform
better within their electromechanical limits.
Signal processing such as shown in Fig. 8
is used to equalize, protect, and linearize
the behavior of the loudspeakers, which can
increase their usable frequency range, reduce
distortion, and improve efficiency. It is also
possible to adapt to changes in the loudspeak-
er’s tolerances over time, as a result of heat,
age, climate, and other factors.
Irrgang and Klippel explain that almost
as a by-product of using such control meth-
ods in a car audio system one can collect
useful diagnostic information. From simple
monitoring of voltage and current signals
it’s possible to detect a number of defects
such as connection problems, shorted coils
or cables, symptoms of aging, and changes
in the enclosure (such as blocked vents).
Electrical testing on its own, though, can’t
detect things like rub and buzz symptoms,
rattling and vibration of panels, or small
leaks in the enclosure that cause turbulent
air sounds. By additionally using micro-
phones mounted inside the car, intended
for capturing speech or for noise-canceling
applications, a complete test system can
be created even though the microphones
818 J. Audio Eng. Soc., Vol. 67, No. 10, 2019 October
binaural rendering and head-tracking, or
it can employ the full panoply of virtual
reality elements including visual scenes,
3D audio, and haptic interfaces. The main
challenge at the moment seems to be gen-
erating convincing evidence that the results
from such simulations are sufficiently simi-
lar to those from real cars to be usable as an
alternative. If that can be proved, then the
opportunities to undertake development
and tuning work without needing a real car
are considerable. At least for a number of
important perceptual attributes of sound
reproduction that goal seems to be achiev-
able using current technology.
When it comes to other aspects of eval-
in question may have limited performance. uation and testing, there is evidence that
Qualitative information about acoustic engine harmonic cancellation can coexist
noises and the like can be captured and with entertainment audio “under one roof,”
evaluated even if accurate acoustic measure- provided that care is taken over the evalu-
ments may not be possible. It’s acknowl- ation criteria and the overall signal levels
edged, though, that some acoustic tests may presented to the audio system. Irrgang and
need well-controlled conditions in order to Klippel then have ambitious ideas about
minimize disturbing external noise. Data how loudspeaker control systems can be
related to these “self-tests” can be stored combined with microphone systems in cars
and read out later for diagnostic purposes, to create a fully self-contained test system
and in “connected” cars they could even be that could be used to identify problems
transmitted directly to the manufacturer, either in production line testing, during
it’s suggested. design, or afterwards during a car’s lifetime.
CONCLUSION Editor’s note: the papers discussed in this
Virtual or simulated environments are article and others from the same conference
becoming an important tool in the tuning can be downloaded from the AES E-Library
at http://www.aes.org/e-lib/. AES
and evaluation of car audio systems. This members get free access to the E-Library.
can involve audio-only simulation using
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