HARMAN Chooses GRAS ¼” Microphones for Measurements in System Engineering
Raising the bar for in-vehicle audio quality by lowering the noise floor of the test equipment.
HOLTE, DENMARK, October 18th, 2023: GRAS Sound & Vibration, part of Axiometrix Solutions
In their continuing quest for unsurpassed in-vehicle audio quality, the Automotive Acoustic Systems Engineering department at HARMAN International has chosen the GRAS 46BL-1 microphone set from GRAS Acoustics for their new measurement arrays for calibrating their high-end vehicle sound systems.
A HARMAN automotive sound system has anywhere between 10 - 30 speakers. Each of them needs to be tuned separately by listening and measuring over and over to make sure the sound in the car is optimized and achieves targets for respective brands. Going forward, HARMAN will use GRAS 46BL-1 ¼” microphones arranged in a six-microphone arrays to cover the sound field of different head positions of the driver.
HARMAN chose the GRAS 46BL-1 as they realized it was the only microphone on the market that could match their demands for a low noise floor.
“For us it is important to use microphones that meet our strict requirements. After all, this will be the equipment that lays the foundation for our work,” explains Greg Sikora, Acoustic Systems Sr. Director, and head of HARMAN’s Automotive Acoustic Systems Engineering department.
“The only limitations should be the environmental noise floor, not the microphone noise floor. The GRAS ¼” microphone is basically plug and play, and it lets us retain backwards compatibility of our current system while lowering the noise floor. It’s a perfect fit,” concludes Sikora.
GRAS 46BL-1 ¼” CCP Pressure Standard Microphone Set, High Sensitivity consists of a microphone cartridge and preamplifier combination, which is calibrated as one unit. Due to its small size, high sensitivity, and low noise floor, the 46BL-1 excels at in-cabin testing and measurement and fulfills the Audio Engineering Society’s (AES), recommendations for infotainment system evaluation. The 46BL-1 can be attached to the GRAS RA0399 holder, designed for holding ¼” measurement microphones in 6 predefined positions, simulating the head positions of a person in a car. The RA0399 array together with the GRAS 46BL-1 high sensitive microphone sets fulfills the complete test demands in the 2023 AES white paper on In-car Acoustic Measurements.
ABOUT HARMAN
HARMAN (harman.com) designs and engineers connected products and solutions for automakers, consumers, and enterprises worldwide, including connected car systems, audio and visual products, enterprise automation solutions; and services supporting the Internet of Things. With leading brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, Mark Levinson® and Revel®, HARMAN is admired by audiophiles, musicians and the entertainment venues where they perform around the world. More than 50 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and connected car systems. Our software services power billions of mobile devices and systems that are connected, integrated and secure across all platforms, from work and home to car and mobile. HARMAN has a workforce of approximately 30,000 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. In March 2017, HARMAN became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
