PSB Speakers, together with start-up Sonical and audio specialists MQA, have announced a partnership that will define a new category of high-resolution audio headphones. The product combines high resolution wireless transmission, high-fidelity design with Sonical’s CosmOS platform. Released under the PSB Speakers brand by Q1 2024, it will be the first headphone to feature Sonical’s ear computing platform, enabling a variety of apps and software upgrades. It also includes MQA’s latest technology, SCL6, the most advanced codec for adaptive, high-resolution audio streaming.
CosmOS is Sonical’s operating system that runs on powerful low wattage processing cores to bring connectivity and computational power to headphones. CosmOS offers mobile audio product manufacturers the versatility to keep pace with rapidly changing consumer demands for convenience and performance. The integration of Qorvo’s Ultra-wideband (UWB) radio technology enables a higher data rate with extremely low latency. Using Antennaware’s UWB antenna, directly addresses any issues associated with Body Blocking which could occur with wireless wearable devices.
Gary Spittle founded Sonical in 2020 to enable the rapidly developing Headphone 3.0 market. Sonical is building the platform for Headphone 3.0 that unlocks the secret potential of your ears using more effective wearable products. The team at Sonical is developing their own operating system, CosmOS, along with a dedicated silicon chip specifically designed for hearables running downloadable plugins. This will unlock the large number of app developers that have created advanced AI based algorithms. Their mission is to empower hearables manufacturers, as well as individual users, to select which features and combinations of apps they want to include in their new hearables products in the same way one currently chooses which apps you want on your laptop, tablet or smartphone. Sonical enables App developers to have direct access to consumers to deliver a differentiated experience, exactly what they need, when they need it.
“Given PSB Speakers’ long-time commitment to the science of audio and music listening, it’s a pleasure to be in this partnership which shows the world what CosmOS can do,” says Gary Spittle, Founder and CEO of Sonical.
“Our use of the CosmOS platform to make the world’s first software defined wireless headset and the inclusion of MQA’s adaptive wireless codec helps set a new benchmark for a high resolution, mobile high-fidelity product. We believe this product underscores what Paul Barton and the PSB team have accomplished over the brand’s 50-year history in the pursuit of audio excellence for listeners at home and now on the move,” says Gordon Simmonds, President and CEO of Lenbrook Industries, PSB Speakers’ parent company.Canada-based PSB Speakers will innovate through deep relationships with Sonical and MQA to push the boundaries of mobile listening. The product will utilize MQA’s new
technology, SCL6, a time domain-based codec for the highest quality audio streaming. Developed by industry veteran and MQA founder, Bob Stuart, SCL6 ensures high-resolution sound even at low data rates.
“MQA was founded by one of the great innovators in audio. We design by thinking of the consumer experience first which means we are comfortable challenging the status quo. The vision shared by our partners at PSB Speakers and Sonical, bringing together superior audio quality and the next generation of consumer convenience, makes this a perfect fit for our latest technology SCL6,” says Mike Jbara, CEO of MQA.
PSB is exclusively distributed and owned by the Lenbrook Group of Companies