Go Big, Go Gothenburg
“This is the best moment every two years for us working in automotive audio.” An enthusiastic assessment given by an attendee to Vice-Chair Roger Shively, echoing the enthusiasm shared by many present at the 2024 AES 5th International Conference on Automotive Audio in Gothenburg, Sweden, from June 26 to 28.
This was it, the culmination of two years’ effort from the Shively Acoustics International (SAI) president and the other organizers on the conference’s technical committee. For three days, the whole of the automotive audio industry came together again after two years for what is its biggest event – and one that only continues to grow in size: this year, the conference drew a final attendance of 330, up from 220 in 2022.
Attendance quickly reached capacity, and then some, at a final count of 330 — with more on the waitlist! (Photo: SAI)
After the opening ceremony made things official on Day 1, organizer Audio Engineering Society (AES) addressed the conference and presented the Journal of the AES Best Paper Award for 2023 to Yu “Dewey” Du for his paper “Speech Intelligibility and Quality Evaluation of Automotive Microphones Using Different Test Metrics and Their Correlation” – congratulations, Dewey!
The day’s opening keynote address, given by Jonatan Ewald of Volvo, discussed current trends in automotive audio from an OEM perspective, and neatly contextualized the wider topics that would reappear throughout the day: Software-Defined Vehicles, software platforms, and the vehicle “ecosystem” of hardware and software in which multiple suppliers and OEMs interact. Filling up the day alongside these were test and measurement presentations.
The vice-chairman (Photo: SAI)
Happy as can be, busy as can be: while he was occupied as Vice-Chair helping to keep things running smoothly, Roger also found time to network for SAI. Among the various sit-downs were Honda and then Denso Ten, to discuss further support from SAI, as well as Composite Sound, Sony, and AAC Technologies, with each of whom Roger went over new ideas for acoustic simulations.
Day 2 began with opening remarks from Roger, followed by the keynote given by Xiaojun Qiu of Huawei on active noise control in automotive cabins. This set the stage for a day of technical sessions focused on the vehicle sound design and on how sound is perceived in a vehicle.
A second-day standout was Gilbert Soulodre of Camden Labs, who gave an introductory talk on sound design for engine sound synthesis, and what software-related problems still need to be addressed here. Later, Roger continued the discussion with Gil, an industry friend going way back, throwing in the idea of improved personal sound zone isolation by adding a new technique not yet talked about. . . 👀 The two also touched on SAI possibly providing support in expanding Gil’s work into new markets like Asia.
Roger also had a chance to talk with Chris Vernon of Sonavox about their growth and support in the US. He likewise had long conversations with José María Marín, Global Director of Blackberry QNX, about the QNX Sound ecosystem, and his impression that the automotive audio and acoustics communities have realized that we all now need to fit into the same computing platform — the ticket to coexistence being friendly collaboration and cooperation.
The conference banquet as it just warms up, to the tune of “Miss You” by the Rolling Stones (Photo: Angelina Baglio)
This and further discussion of future possibilities extended into the later hours with QNX’s partners, as the evening finished with dinner, drinks, and live music at the conference banquet. And just as the food and music began to flow, so too did the curious chatter of what’s to follow Gothenburg. “Can’t wait for the next one,” said too many voices to keep track of. “Where will it be?” A good question, and one that Roger and the committee had already begun considering during the two days. “We’ve set a new standard and expectations,” he said, adding “A happy challenge.”
The tradition up to now for the Automotive Audio conference has been to alternate between locations in Europe and North America, so perhaps the 2026 event will head back west across the Atlantic. Nevertheless, at Gothenburg, interested parties – including a certain European carmaker – already started offering their services as future hosts. For now, though, we are merely entertaining ideas – but the ever-increasing attention is welcome!
“Can we do this in Asia?!”
That being said, many had their sights set beyond Europe and North America, and expressed a desire to see AES Automotive Audio held in Asia in the future. Roger and the organizing committee see this as a next logical step in expanding the conference, although it remains only an idea at present.
Immersive, immersive, immersive. . . with Jan Skoglund (Photo: SAI)
The excitement surrounding what lies ahead for the conference carried over into the next morning, it could be felt, but there still remained a full third day of Gothenburg to witness and experience, with Roger warming things up on the final day once more with some opening comments. The closing keynote of the conference was given by Jan Skoglund of Google on bringing immersive audio to the mainstream public.
Readers will remember from last month’s blog post that immersive audio is one of the hot topics in the industry currently, and “has the potential to revolutionize how we experience media,” as Skoglund says. In fact, in addition to presentations on Day 3 focused on the subject, Wednesday and Thursday featured a total of twelve “Immersive Audio Listen & Learn” sessions, which were followed by a “Request Show” and playback sessions on Friday. Cool!
The three days also bore fruit for SAI’s partner Silentium, who heard news of another pending award for new automotive ARNC business with a Detroit-based OEM, with follow-up talks on the schedule for later this month. We can’t reveal any specific details at the moment, but just know that Silentium’s North American business continues to grow thanks to our companies’ partnership.
Editor-in-Chief João Martins of audioXpress having some fun in Dolby Atmos’s demo car (Photo: a not-so-subtle Roger Shively)
All that is written here, of course, only scratches the surface. As you might have expected, Roger will also be covering the conference for industry magazine audioXpress’s newsletter The Audio Voice. Check his guest editorial out the upcoming edition #475 (scroll down a bit) to read what the SAI president and conference Vice-Chair had to say in retrospect. For now, he had this to say about what comes next:
“After we catch our breath and critique what worked well and what worked less well, we will start to think about the next one. We will also continue to search for a way to have a conference in regions that are not in Europe or the US, and perhaps, have a conference every year in some region of the world.”
Goodbye, Gothenburg, and thank you! Where to next? (Photo: SAI)
Is that perhaps a “Maybe” in response to the countless attendees who asked “Can’t we do this every year?!” In any case, it is clear that the sixth edition of AES Automotive Audio is going to be even bigger than the fifth, as the popularity of the conference continues to rise: “There is no better occasion to meet the who’s who of that industry like this event, and the long waitlist of people who could not get access is proof of the value it has for everyone in that business environment,” said experienced industry professional Rüdiger Fleischer, formerly of Harman International and Dirac, in a LinkedIn post after the event.
“Everyone I spoke with agreed to also attend the next event, which is scheduled to happen in two years from now. The AES needs to prepare for an even larger crowd by then for sure.”
Somewhere in the Seattle area, a vice-chairman grins. ■
Shively Acoustics International — Modern Audio Solutions, Worldwide
