If you insist on your hard rental speaker system, good news: good news: Syng Syng cells have arrived, and what is billed as “the world’s first triphonic speaker” looks like someone else in audio. Handiwork from former Apple Designer Christopher Stringer – who worked in Homepod, among others – the first model startup aims to gain excellence on spatial audio as surround music traction.
This is not the first to try it, of course. Amazon’s Echo Studio supports spatial audio – which is now equipped with Amazon Music Unlimited at no additional cost – while Sony’s SRS-RA5000 has support for the company’s 360 reality audio format.
The syng approach is more expensive than both. The $ 1,799 ball is more like a 360-degree camera than the speaker, with a tabletop stand or the stand floor option for $ 1,969. Inside there are two balanced subwoofers, plus three horns “triphone” which projects are heard around the room.
With that, sinning claims, it can fire audio “with pinpoint accuracy” in your space, even with just one unit. The resulting triphonic audio can be left in automatic mode, it seems to consult the style of speaker arrangement to model it according to the acoustic conditions of the room; Three microphones find out walls and other factors, and other speaker locations. Or, listeners can choose their own placement and virtual localization.
“One cell can fill the room with a wide full sound field for all types of content,” Syng said. “Adding the second cell makes your sound field bigger and stronger, and open the way of determining and new formation. Three cells create a truly deep field of sound.”
It is controlled through the Symg Space application – available for iOS initially, with the Android version arriving later on the day – which handles the input and audio position. For example, you can drag the playback closer or further than any alpha cell, depending on where you sit. During the summer, Syng said, there will be support for multi-room playback if you have alpha cell speakers in different spaces.
For input, there is Apple Airplay 2 support and Spotify Connect for wireless, over wifi, plus two USB-C ports that will function with cable input. The SYNG $ 49 link cable will add EARC support for compatible TV. As well as the application, there is a control ring on the speaker itself that handles the basics such as playing / pause and volume adjustment.
However, what no 360 audio reality or Dolby Atmos Audio speaker. Instead, Syng has emerged with another spatial audio format – which describes as “object-based sonic architecture” – which is expected to be captured with manufacturers, artists and other music makers. Whether it will really happen will help decide whether the $ 1.8K speaker is the next big thing in home audio, or just other expensive Curio. It will send this summer.