The PSY (X) Difference

There are many algorithms that attempt to provide an improved spatial experience in a car. – This is not a tuning algorithm, and it is not dependent on any type or level of EQ. It enhances the audio by restoring the quality and detail of the source.

PSY (X) Research began their work investigating ways to improve poor hearing situations caused by hearing loss or listening fatigue. Understanding the physiology and processing of human hearing where sounds are lost or where sounds are masked by fatigue, and recovering them or unmasking them, gave PSY (X)Research the precise understanding of how to improve another poor listening situation in the modern audio age: digital audio.

All digital audio is processed by Analog to Digital and Digital to Analog CODECs, which are all imperfect. In the processing of CODECs, sounds are lost or artifacts are created which mask other sounds. As in hearing loss, or listening fatigue, and the imperfections of digital audio, the loss and masking from artifacts cause the sound stage to be narrowed and lack clarity.

→ PSY (X) recovers the clarity and widens the sound stage by removing the problems created by everyday digital audio.

They are published contributors to the science of human auditory perception with over 40 years of experience developing technologies for every stage in the ecosystem:

Creation
Mixing & Editing
Broadcast/Streaming
Consumption

Their technologies have been used in the recording, broadcast, television, cinema, music, gaming, automotive and consumer electronics industries, and have been recognized as standards.

Psy(x) Audio was formed to address the digital audio market based on four core areas of proprietary innovation: Pyschoacoustics, Pre-Processing, Post Processing and Surround Sound. Psy(x) Audio develops the most advanced and reliable psychoacoustic technologies in the world today, used in satellite radio broadcast, radio, television, digital cinema, music, gaming and consumer electronics.

Psy(x) Audio delivers technologies, products and services at each critical stage of the ecosystem: Creation, Distribution, and Playback. Psy(x) Audio works closely with the most influential Audio Scientists, Artists, Music Producers, and Engineers in the world to ensure that its technologies deliver the absolute highest quality of experience available.

Psy(x) Audio’s fully-developed suite of technologies are portable to any hardware format, and Psy(x) Audio works hard to ensure that its technologies are compatible with legacy formats and in real world situations. The principals of Psy(x) Audio are musicians too, driven by a lifelong passion for music and improving the listening experience in every environment.

PSY (X) Market Segmentation

PSY (X) has developed technology for each stage in the ecosystem from content creation to consumption. They pride themselves on interoperability and lowering the cost of excellence to the consumer, while delivering the best Quality of Excellence in the industry.

End-user Products

PSY (X) Immersive Audio

PSY (X) Used in A Car

PSY (X) Up & Down Rendering Systems are the most agile and spatially accurate available today. They are proprietary signal processors that encode from stereo to 5.1 or 7.1, or decode from 5.1 or 7.1 to stereo with astonishing speed and intelligibility.

PSY (X) Crossmix is a proprietary signal processing software that detects stereo or 5.1 programming bypasses the 5.1 signals and selectively UpMix stereo, Lt/Rt or Lw/Rw to create a constant 5.1 programming output

Hearing is the only way to believing that these algorithms have improved on all existing forms of Up/Down Mixing and Height .

There were derived from the end goal of improving human perception and source correction. Today’s existing forms starting with end goal of creating a up-mixer, or height channel, or bit – correction, and then a best estimate of what the human hearing model needed was created. PSY (X) audio begins with an understanding of the human hearing model, and the result is an endless set of improvements in all forms of audio reproduction.

The world’s first 3D rendering system that does not require re-mixing, special room measurements, or new hardware. S(K)Y upmixes any source format in 3D surround, to as many as 256 channels with immersive realism, and is interoperable with all formats.

S(K)Y Unique Features and Benefits:

Scalable: the number of output channels is completely independent of the number of origin channels.
Transform-based: spatial attributes are applied over hundreds of spectra in the frequency domain resulting in significant improvement in performance over purely time domain architectures.
Immune to Corrupt Metadata: Object-based systems will not survive the various compression workflows of modern broadcast and streaming ecosystems.
Transferable in PCM
Edit and Rendering Capable
Carries Information in a 2ch Multiplex
Compatible with Legacy Content and Legacy Hardware
Minimal to zero Workflow Impact

The S(K)Y Difference

The only 3D Audio technology in the world that can render up to 256 channels of hemispherical surround from a 2 channel source.
The S(K)Y System extracts height information from ALL content (DVD, gaming console, compressed, live streaming) and renders it to the appropriate aerial channels using predefined, editable image maps.
S(K)Y content is mixable in 2 channels and does not rely on metadata. Instead it uses real time cross-correlation to track 256 mix elements in real time
S(K)Y is also scalable so it will work with as little as 2 sound bars for easier, less invasive in-home setup.

S(K)Y Hemispherical Surround Comparison

Compression enables audio to be streamed and distributed to a wide variety of formats and playback media. However, with compression comes many problems including hearing fatigue and damage.
Our research on listening fatigue presented at AES 133 & 135 pointed at the four most glaring shortcomings of all compressed audio:

Spectrum sparcity (removal of information)
Narrowed image
Digital artifacts
Over equalization in response to codec expectation

The PSY(X) Executive Management Team

Robert Reams – Chief Scientist, Founder

Has developed over 50 first-to-market, world-class products leading to billions in revenue. Robert’s patents have been cited by: Facebook Inc, Dolby, NASA, LG, Samsung Electronics, Fraunhofer, Broadcom, Harman International, Hughes Aircraft, SRS Labs, Yamaha, Nokia, Rockford Corp, STMicro, Waves Audio, Ricoh, Cirrus Logic, and others.

Mark Reasinger – CEO, Founder

Wireless telecom and music executive, has built and led sales teams responsible for billions in annual revenue (Samsung). Launched Vertu line of premium mobile devices in the U.S. Production, vocal, performance and writing credits include Pitbull, T.I., Akon, Johnny Gill, Sa-Ra, Tiny “Tameka” Harris for Universal Music Publishing Group.

PSY (X) Research: Audio Enhancements in a Simple Application - Spectral and Spatial Improvement