Wave Arts

Wave Arts Technology Licensing

Wave Arts licenses technology to companies who need high quality signal processing algorithms. Our software is embedded in over 100 million cellphones, tens of thousands of A/V receivers, and in other products ranging from electronic toys to video editing workstations. Some of the technologies that we have developed and licensed are listed below.

Some of Our Licensees

Analog Devices
Cirrus Logic
Denon

Intel
Media 100
Motorola

PalmSource
Teradyne
Texas Instruments

MobileSynth
WaveSurround
3-D Audio
Concert Hall Effects

MobileSynth™ - MIDI ringtone synthesis for mobile devices

MobileSynth is a software-based synthesizer for ringtones and multimedia sound effects on handheld electronic devices, like cell phones and personal digital assistants. MobileSynth includes a General MIDI playback engine with file parsers, wavetable sound banks and optional audio effects. MobileSynth supports standard MIDI file types 0 and 1, and SP-MIDI format. For downloadable audio content, MobileSynth supports Mobile XMF and Mobile DLS formats. Featuring a small memory footprint and efficient operation, MobileSynth was designed for implementation on low cost 16-bit or 32-bit fixed point processors, and yet it sounds great. Optional effects processing include MobileMax™ loudness maximization and MobileSurround™ 3-D expansion, which is a mobile version of the WaveSurround technology described below.

MobileSynth™ Licensees Include:

Audio Demo

This demonstration is a simple techno rock MIDI sequence rendered using MobileSynth running at 22.05 kHz.

Tech Rock Techno

WaveSurround™ - Virtual Surround Technology

WaveSurround lets you listen to 5.1 or 7.1 surround audio over conventional stereo headphones or loudspeakers, without losing the surround effect. WaveSurround uses advanced psychoacoustic and signal processing techniques to create the perceptual illusion that sound is coming from locations where there are no speakers.

The WaveSurround processor inputs 5.1 or 7.1 surround audio and creates stereo output for playback over loudspeakers or headphones. When listening over frontally placed loudspeakers, the listener will hear the virtual surround channels to the side and slightly behind the listener. Listening over headphones, the individual virtual surround speakers are clearly audible in front and behind the listener.

WaveSurround also has stereo input to stereo output modes which are useful for widening conventional stereo. On mobile devices with very closely spaced speakers, WaveSurround can be used to restore a spacious, immersive stereo image.

WaveSurround™ Licensees Include:

Audio Demo

Surround drum tracks, downmixed to conventional stereo:

Drums Stereo

Processed with WaveSurround, for loudspeaker playback:

Drums (for speakers)

Processed with WaveSurround, for headphone playback:

Drums (for headphones)

3-D Audio for Virtual Reality and Gaming

A 3D audio system has the ability to position sounds all around the listener. This is accomplished by recreating the perceptual cues for sound localization that occur in natural listening. Wave Arts 3-D audio technology uses “head-related transfer functions” (HRTFs) measured from human subjects to recreate sound localization cues. In addition to full 3-D panning capability, Wave Arts 3-D audio technology includes environmental effects, including distance cues, wall reflections, room reverberation, and the Doppler motion effect. The technology is embodied in the Wave Arts Panorama plug-in.

Audio Demo

Helicopter circling around the head:

Circling (for headphones)
Circling (for speakers)

Helicopter moving up and down:

UpDown (for headphones)

Helicopter flying all around in different directions, demonstrating the Doppler and distance effects:

Flying Around (for headphones)
Flying Around (for speakers)

Battlefield scene: machine gun on the left, bullets fly by to the right and ricochet, a shell falls from top right to left resulting in an explosion to the front left. Conventional stereo mix provided for comparison.

War (stereo version)
War (for headphones)
War (for speakers)

Concert Hall Effects for A/V receivers

This technology can simulate the sound of a concert hall or another acoustic space for playback over 5.1 or 7.1 surround systems. Intended for embedded implementation in an A/V receiver, the algorithm accepts audio in mono, stereo, quadraphonic, 5.1, or 7.1 format, and outputs 5.1 or 7.1 format. A variety of room types are provided from Concert Hall to Jazz Club to Personal Space. The algorithm is very efficient and uses very little memory, but sounds far better than typical room effects found on A/V receivers.