Experience music the way the artist intended

Alpine introduces Imprint — the world’s first technology that thoroughly eliminates in-car acoustic problems that normally degrade sound quality.

VISION VS. REALITY

All good music starts as an artist’s vision. After countless hours of rehearsing, recording and mixing, that vision is ready for us to hear on discs, radio and other media. But do we hear it as the artist created it? Unfortunately, the reality is that we are almost never able to listen to it in the exact way the artist intended. Especially when we are listening in a car.

CARS ARE TERRIBLE LISTENING SPACES

Car interiors are full of materials that obstruct and degrade sound quality. For example, windows amplify and reflect high frequencies. Seat and dashboard coverings change certain frequencies. Carpets absorb and suppress mid frequencies. Graphic and parametric EQs are only partial remedies for these problems. In addition, the speakers are not located at equal distances from listeners, creating an unbalanced, uncentred sound stage. Time correction can help fix this, but only for one listening position.

INTRODUCING IMPRINT

These acoustical problems are so severe that no correction system has been able to overcome them. Until now. With the introduction of IMPRINT, Alpine provides a hardware/ software combination that not only solves these problems, it actually improves the sound stage, tonal balance and definition — and does it automatically, in a matter of minutes!

MultEQ TECHNOLOGY

The technology that makes the IMPRINT Sound possible is called MultEQ. It works by analysing the vehicle cabin acoustic characteristics, and then creating a set of equalisation filters to correct for frequency response and time domain problems for each speaker. MultEQ removes sound distortion caused by the specific acoustical problems in the vehicle by applying unique FIR equalisation using more than 500 points along the frequency spectrum (instead of the small number of equaliser bands). This optimises the sound reproduction to the specific vehicle listening environment with incredible precision. The result is that everyone in the car hears the music the way the musicians wanted it to be heard.

THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE SOUND

Alpine’s IMPRINT sound system was developed in cooperation with the best minds in the field of acoustical correction: the founders of Audyssey Labs, professors Chris Kyriakakis and Tomlinson Holman (inventor of THX theatre sound) of the University of Southern California. For the past five years, they have been intensively researching and testing new ways to understand the fundamental causes of room acoustical distortion. This research resulted in the creation of MultEQ, the sound equalisation technology that is revolutionising home theatre, and now car audio as well.

HOW IMPRINT IS DIFFERENT

IMPRINT using MultEQ is superior to other equalisation systems in five ways.

1. It is the only system that measures the entire listening area, capturing time domain information from each listening location and applying a proprietary method for processing it to represent all seat locations. This gives the people in each seat the optimal listening experience.

2. It corrects both time and frequency problems, for an improved soundstage and smoother, more natural sound.

3. It uses dynamic frequency allocation to apply hundreds of points of correction to those areas where the sound problems are greatest.

4. It determines optimised blending points for low frequency crossovers.

5. It provides, in minutes, vehicle sound tuning that generally takes skilled professionals days to accomplish.

GET IMPRINT

Among the first products featuring the IMPRINT technology is the CDA-9887R, CD/MP3/WMA/AAC Receiver. The unit improves your in-vehicle listening experience by creating excellent sound quality with full musical detail reproduction, resulting in more crisp and distinct sound reproduction of all the elements in the music. Users are able to listen to their music in the form that the artist intended by eliminating sound distortions with MultEQ, allowing for better soundstage and sound quality in all seats for all types of music.

The CDA-9887R uses a 24-bit Burr Brown D/A converter for the best sound quality and playback of WMA, MP3 and AAC files. With three pairs of pre-outs (4V) and built-in 60W x 4 high power amplifier, the CDA-9887R offers great flexibility to add on other digital sources. Connectivity solutions include KCE-422i Full Speed Connection™ for iPod®; Bluetooth® via the KCE-300BT adapter; and support for USB WMA/MP3 players via the KCA-620M adapter. A separate IMPRINT Specialist Tuning Kit, KTX-100EQ, is available for installers. The kit includes the IMPRINT Sound Manager set-up software (CD-ROM for PC), a PC USB interface/calibration unit, cables and a microphone. The software allows the installer to automatically tune the system right in the vehicle. The system can be tuned to match the customers’ tastes, with the complete tuning process taking approximately 45 minutes.

PRICING AND AVAILABILITY

The CDA-9887R, £399.99 RRP, and the KTX-100EQ, £199.99 RRP, is available now through authorised Alpine dealers. For your local dealer or more information on IMPRINT please visit alpine-electronics.co.uk