Beyond sound: How semiconductor innovation is transforming audio experiences

Whether or not you notice it, semiconductor-enabled audio technology is all around you, and it’s impacting your life in ways that are more than just audible.

While it’s easy to recognize how audio technology in noise cancelling headphones is enabling an immersive and emotional listening experience, the same technology is at work in vehicles – and it’s doing more than improving sound.

Audio ICs enable vehicle manufacturers to use speakers to cancel road noise and reduce the amount of material needed for sound deadening, making cars lighter, faster and more affordable.

Beyond improvements in vehicles, semiconductors are also making premium recording equipment and high-quality entertainment production accessible to more people.

“When I was a teenager, high quality amps were too expensive,” said Vikas SV, who leads TI’s analog audio business. “As an amateur musician, this meant that I had to build my own amplifiers and effects to get a certain tone or sound."

Today, things are different because of semiconductors such as audio amplifiers and data converters. Now, recording equipment that cost thousands of dollars years ago costs a few hundred dollars, helping hobbyists create music or podcasts in their own homes that rival the quality of a professional recording studio.

Audio is enriching lives, making listening experiences more immersive. But it's also quietly improving your life, enabling more affordable and higher-performing electronics.

Using audio to unlock new capabilities

People have strong preferences about sound quality and tone in their speakers, soundbars, or television sets. While one set of amplifiers and speakers may be better suited for the heavy bass of hip-hop music, another might be tuned for the cleaner audio that a jazz listener craves; yet another may be optimized for a home theater experience.

For years, TI has developed amplifier ICs and data converters that enable customized listening experiences to adapt to customers’ needs. Now, we’re applying that technology and expertise to improve people’s lives in unexpected ways.

“Building on our innovations, we’ve developed a neural-network based activity detection that can recognize keywords for smart speakers,” Vikas said. “We’re adapting that same technology for things like baby monitors that can distinguish between a child crying and a pet playing with a toy and respond intelligently, or detect the sound of breaking glass. This technology is also being used in vehicles to improve crash detection.”

Getting big volume from small places

Speakers are an important part of feeling what’s on a screen. How many times have you felt the stakes rise when hearing an eerie violin while streaming a movie?

“Speakers work by moving air, and loudness is a function of how much air you move,” Vikas said. As media consumption moves beyond big screens, delivering the same experience means fighting physics.

With a large speaker, it’s easy to move air, and therefore, generate loud sound. But replicating that experience in devices with a tiny speaker such as cellphones, tablets or soundbars without causing overheating or damage requires sophisticated technology.

“Smart amplifier technology can enable that high-quality audio from smaller speakers,” Vikas said.

Audio amplifier ICs are becoming smaller and more efficient, creating a ripple effect of audio improvements that include higher-quality sound and performance. Because they use less power, they also help extend battery life in devices such as cellphones. “A more efficient audio amplifier IC reduces power consumption,” Vikas said. “For example, we’ve worked with mobile phone manufacturers to increase video playback time by up to 40 percent and significantly improve battery life.”

Taking audio to unexpected places

Audio appeals to our emotions by immersing us in sound, but it also keeps the things we’re emotional about safe.

For example, audio technology is an important aspect of maintaining the safe operation of humanoid robots. If a smoke alarm goes off while a robot is monitoring its environment, a semiconductor with a neural network-based algorithm can hear the smoke alarm and enable the humanoid to take appropriate action, such as alerting emergency services, protecting items with sentimental or monetary value or preventing incidents with pets.

Similarly, audio has become critical to vehicle safety. Audio amplifiers have made sound a vital part of automated safety features, playing alerts for lane departures or possible collision warnings. Real-time load diagnostics enable vehicles to monitor speakers and detect speaker failures caused by broken wires or corrosion, which might prevent a warning signal from sounding.  

Regardless of the use case, audio is enhancing people’s lives. And TI’s audio technology advancements are making audio more affordable in a variety of devices, so everyone can experience its direct and indirect effects.

While Vikas’s job is engineering, it’s still connected to something emotional.

“Building my own amplifier to get the most out of my music as a kid in India started my journey as an engineer,” he said. “The quality and affordability of amplifiers available today is unbelievable. It feels good to know how many more unique audio experiences we’re enabling because of it.”