What, precisely, an electric car should sound like for its driver remains a hot topic. It hasn’t always been front and centre - more than a few manufacturers simply assumed that owners would appreciate the sound of near silence - but with customers complaining about a palpable lack of emotional connection with battery-powered drivetrains, the importance of the audio experience is now taken very seriously indeed. Case in point: the new HypersonX soundscape that BMW has been developing for the Neue Klasse models.
This comprises 43 sound signals and ’special driving sounds for Personal Mode and Sport Mode’ - although, generally speaking, the ‘multi-dimensional spectrum’ is supposed to adapt what you hear to befit the driving situation at hand (much in the same way the noise of a combustion engine cues you into what’s happening on the road). We’ve been here before, of course, although BMW reckons its approach ‘breaks genuinely new ground’ - not least because it’s being driven by the technological advances in hardware and software introduced in the Neue Klasse.
Specifically, the bandwidth of the dynamic range has been significantly enhanced by a new audio control unit, one capable of delivering a ‘new dimensional level’, which means more ‘colour, depth, and precision’ than has ever been achieved before. “The unique sound spectrum of HypersonX plays a major role in giving a Neue Klasse model its own, highly distinctive character acoustically. Through our focus on precision, warmth, and lightness, we can create a direct emotional connection between the driver and their vehicle,” emphasises Renzo Vitale, BMW’s Creative Director of Sound Design.
As you might expect when you hire a Creative Director of Sound Design, they will require a little rope. And when you read about the inspiration supplied by ‘nature and structures from the worlds of art and science’, you know where that rope has been put to use. Nevertheless, in its pursuit of ‘a cohesive and multi-dimensional acoustic experience’, one aimed at replicating the feeling of speed, most of us would agree that BMW is heading in the right direction. Whether it has actually arrived at the appropriate destination with HypersonX is up to you. But rest assured, it’s worth listening to...
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