A HISTORY OF
2024
dbx-tv is evolving into Total Sonics
dbx-tv audio processing has long enabled fantastic sound quality in televisions. We’ve recently extended that great performance to speakers and other electronics, but now have a problem – ‘dbx-tv’ implies our processing is only for TVs, and our technology sounds too good to keep it away from other devices!
With an eye toward our bright future, we are changing our name from dbx-tv to Total Sonics, to better reflect the broad value of our audio expertise. To appreciate that future, it might help to understand our evolution, starting from our dbx Inc. origins.
1980s
dbx-tv history
Emmy® award-winning dbx-tv processing delivers great sound in over 1 billion devices worldwide.
In the early 1980s, the Broadcast Television Systems Committee (BTSC) solicited proposals for companding methods to ensure noise-free stereo sound in its new TV audio broadcast system. The legendary dbx Inc. responded with the “dbx-tv” noise reduction system, unanimously selected by the BTSC over competitors from Dolby, Telefunken, and CBS, and the technology was licensed to every manufacturer of TVs, VCRs, and broadcast equipment in the world.
dbx Inc. was later broken up, with different entities acquiring rights to its various business units. In 1989 the unit responsible for dbx’ integrated circuits and analog noise reduction boards was spun-off as “THAT Corporation.” THAT continues to produce best-in-class analog audio ICs and offers outside foundry services to customers looking for high-performance, medium-voltage analog applications.
THAT acquired dbx Inc.’s IP rights in 1994, launching the “dbx-tv” business unit to license technology to the TV industry. dbx-tv then fueled the digital TV revolution with digital implementations of the BTSC encoder and all other analog TV audio decoders worldwide.
Total Sonics®, Total Volume® and Total Surround® audio processing
Total Surround stabilizes then expands the sound field to create a natural, enveloping experience with consistently clear dialog.
Following the digital TV transition, we changed our focus to licensing efficient, effective, and easy-to-use audio processing and calibration solutions to improve audio experiences in the home. The first problem to tackle was obnoxiously obvious – universally scorned, too-loud commercials! World-renowned dbx-style compression, now delivered digitally by THAT, provided the perfect solution: Total Volume loudness control.
At the same time, TV set designs were trending toward slimmer cabinets and bezels, leaving no room for full-sized, front-facing speakers with proper separation. Audio quality suffered, yet design and budget constraints left manufacturers without viable hardware solutions. Processing to get the best possible sound from challenging drivers was needed, inspiring the patented Total Sonics audio processing suite.
Total Cal® Pro Automated Speaker Tuning System
Audio Experience Winner - IMSresearch
Our next challenge came directly from TV manufacturers -- the time needed to tune so many unique TV models in the face of accelerated design cycles and shrinking budgets. We responded with the Total Cal Pro automated measurement and calibration system.
The genius of Total Cal Pro lies largely within its patented genetic EQ algorithm, inspired by THAT co-founder Les Tyler’s co-invention of the first automatic EQ, the dbx 20/20. Armed with knowledge of the device’s performance, the speedy genetic algorithm adapts Total Sonics’ parameters to meet one or more frequency response targets chosen by the designer, delivering a customized tuning for each unique combination of driver, amplifier, and enclosure. This breakthrough allows manufacturers to achieve “their sound” in minutes instead of days or weeks of trial and error, an achievement which earned the 2012 IMS Research TV Innovation Award in the Audio Experience category.
Total Immersion® universal height rendering system
Unlike metadata-based schemes that require special content and connections, Total Immersion ‘just works’ in any scenario—be it an object-based stream, a low-bitrate mp3 over Bluetooth, or even a VHS tape!
Our next ‘simple yet effective’ solution arose as rising demand for immersive audio went largely unmet due to its complexity and expense to create, deliver, and reproduce. Total Immersion, a customized implementation of patented technology from our partners at Psy(x) Research, delivers an elevating immersive audio experience from any decoded content on two or more output channels, with or without height speakers.
Incredibly, Total Immersion is just one piece of Psy(x)’s universally-compatible immersive audio chain. Psy(x) also provides content creators, distributors, and manufacturers with tools that encode spatially discrete immersive mixes from any number of tracks rendered for any number of output channels while simultaneously providing 3D headphone monitoring. We’re delighted Psy(x) is making it easier for professionals to create and distribute immersive audio, and we’re proud to partner with them to bring Total Immersion to consumers.Total Cal
in-home tuning for consumer
The Total Cal in-home tuning system brings Total Cal Pro’s powerful algorithms to consumers via the cloud to tackle problems created by speaker placement and room acoustics.
Our latest frontier in improving audio experiences for consumers lies in customized audio processing for each unique environment with the Total Cal in-home tuning system.
In seconds, Total Cal guides users through measuring the device’s performance at different listening-positions then adjusts the Total Sonics suite’s parameters to compensate for acoustics issues, faithfully restoring the designer’s sonic signature in the product’s new home.
Relying on the cloud, the mics in the customer’s phone, and the efficient Total Sonics processing running in the SoC already factored into the product’s BOM, Total Cal requires no additional hardware to implement – a stark departure from competitive solutions. Total Cal’s low integration cost and familiar mobile interface are a significant evolution beyond traditional approaches, bringing room correction into more homes by making it accessible on a wider range of audio products.
Evolving into our new identity, Total Sonics
Through a combination of customer demand and our natural curiosity we’ve proven these innovative technologies perform well not just on TVs, but also on pro & consumer speakers, phones & tablets, computers, and other devices. Though we are incredibly proud of dbx-tv’s 40-year legacy of television audio excellence and are reluctant to abandon the “dbx” name, the “tv” suffix doesn’t apply outside of the TV market. In order to fulfill our vision of enabling fantastic audio experiences on more devices we must expand our reach beyond TVs and evolve into our new identity.
I am proud to re-introduce us as Total Sonics, a reflection of both our mission and our core strength – improving audio experiences in the home by creating efficient, easy-to-use audio processing and calibration software.
If your product has speakers, Total Sonics will help your design sound its best – even after the customer brings it home!