“We are excited that HARMAN's most recent innovations are being recognized by the prestigious Plus X inter-national jury,” says Dinesh Paliwal, Chairman, President and CEO of HARMAN. “We are proud of our outstand-ing team of engineers for their relentless commitment to developing technologies that dramatically enhance acoustics and sound quality across all platforms.”

Clari-Fi – Bringing back the sound to digitized music
Clari-Fi is a proprietary software solution, which automatically analyzes and improves the audio quality of com-pressed, digitized music sources. It leverages HARMAN’s experience in music recording, signal processing and psychoacoustics to naturally restore the full sound that is forfeited in the compression process. Clari-Fi is supe-rior to competitive solutions because it does not blindly add equalization, bass boost, or other effects that alter the intended listening experience. It encompasses a proprietary predictive model that intelligently and accurate-ly recreates the lost information based on the existing compressed content. It also does not require any user intervention because it is designed to run in the background, automatically adjusting the amount of correction it applies based on the quality of the input signal. For example, while it will add no correction to a CD-quality sig-nal, Clari-Fi will add a heavy dose of correction to the most compressed signals, such as satellite radio.

Specifically, Clari-Fi removes unwanted added effects like echo and distortion; it restores the crisp detail and clarity of high frequency sounds like cymbals, which can be muddied in compressed sources; it sharpens dy-namic sounds like percussion instruments, which can be smeared or dulled by compression; it takes a flat, compressed vocal and brings back the intimacy of the original performance; it rebuilds the stereo image that is often compromised by compression, creating a natural, wide soundstage; and it restores the musical depth that is lost when instruments and vocals are compressed to the same volume.

Clari-Fi will be available in the all-new 2015 Lexus NX, as the first car to feature the innovative technology. Clari-Fi will be a feature of the optional Mark Levinson Premium Surround Sound Audio System in the Lexus NX. The SUV is expected to launch in Asia and Europe in October 2014 and will be first available as a hybrid.

QLS 3D – Unmatched surround experience in the car
Built upon HARMAN’s patented QuantumLogic Surround (QLS) digital signal processing technology, Quan-tumLogic Surround 3D accurately identifies and redistributes audio streams, and incorporates additional audio streams that are reproduced via overhead speakers to create an unmatched three-dimensional surround expe-rience. QLS 3D uses proprietary algorithms to extract audio streams (voices, instruments and spatial infor-mation) from the music source. The Aesthetic Engine, the brain behind QLS psychoacoustic intelligence, then identifies and sends those audio streams to the appropriate speaker locations depending on the listening envi-ronment. By design, QLS-3D uses only sources from the original material and does not add special effects, like reverberation, to create a three-dimensional surround experience. Embedded spectral and spatial qualities are maintained in a way that remains true to the integrity of the original recording. QLS-3D multi-channel surround sound output is compatible with all system architectures and will meet progressive content challenges to en-sure that today’s consumers receive the best audio experience well into the future.