Masiello: Neural Works With Legacy Infrastructure

XM Satellite Radio’s Tony Masiello talked to RW Online on the show floor at CES about why his company chose Neural Audio’s surround sound technology for its two 5.1 channels to debut in March.
“They understand audio and compression. It was a natural,” said Masiello, XM’s SVP of operations. “All these manufacturers, Onkyo, Denon, Yamaha and Pioneer, made the decision. They did extensive listening tests with Neural and chose it,” he said. XM tested Neural for more than two years.
Another factor in going with Neural, he said, is that it works with legacy infrastructures, and XM could leave its 400 terabytes of storage in place.
“I can use my existing infrastructure. It gets downmixed to stereo, and I can still use the same Klotz boards, the routing switches, the servers, the Dalet players … nothing in my plant changed.”
Neural Audio Co-Founder and CTO Robert Reams said, “Channels have been set up. The data is allocated. The content is ready to go.”
Surround receivers that use Neural surround sound technology and Dolby surround capability arrive in March. The home theater units also receive XM Satellite Radio and analog AM-FM.
While Onkyo, Denon and Yamaha are home units, Pioneer has said it would extend the surround capability for its OEM and aftermarket auto lines, said Geir Skaaden, Neural Audio CEO.
“We expect a couple million receivers by next year to have Neural surround in them,” said Skaaden.
Masiello said XM would promote 5.1 on the two channels and brand those differently.