His wife calls it his "man cave", for Philipp it is his personal sound heaven: his sound laboratory. The sound and acoustics project manager at EDAG Electronics in Gaimersheim has turned his home office into a professional sound studio. This is where he celebrates what he likes doing best: listening! And using every trick in the book to refine and perfect what he hears.
Philipp loves music, and has played the guitar since he was a small boy. "But I didn't have the talent to make music my career," he admits. Maybe he has always been just a little bit too critical of himself. Because Philipp really knows about music. He sets the highest standards when it comes to sound and tone. This is something that musicians and studio owners from all over the world have come to appreciate, and they seek his advice on mixing their albums. "I have always been extremely interested in what makes the perfect sound, what interrelationships are involved, and how to get there technically via powerful loudspeakers and amplifiers," he says. For Philipp, studying audio engineering was just a logical consequence of his passion.
"At EDAG Engineering, I have made my hobby into my profession," says Philipp, beaming with satisfaction. As a project manager, his field of activity is not limited to just the mixing console. In fact, he and his team are integrated in the entire development process. This includes close and intensive cooperation with the design departments, the UI/UX concept development and the various project interfaces.
To the audio engineer, it makes no sense to view the sound in isolation from the overall vehicle development. "Even if we want to get as close as possible to the acoustic experience, the interior of a car is not a concert hall. The sound needs to be flexible, and adapt to the vehicle's geometry and the particular driving situation with all its background noises. In other words: sound in a car is a challenge that is about as complex as it can get. To this end, for example, Philipp and his team work with software that has been developed in-house to recognise what driving mode the car is in, and then flexibly adjust the volume and frequencies of the sound system in real time. "You don't have to be a prophet to say that there will be a lot of development in this field in the next few years, to ensure that what you hear in the car is what you want to hear."
On the way towards this goal, it comes in very useful that, being the owner of a sound studio himself, Philipp knows how to illuminate sound in all its facets, to the very depths of psychoacoustics. He looks at questions like: how many noises can a person hear at one and the same time, how can driving noise and the sound from entertainment systems be composed in such a way that they have a positive effect on well-being and road safety, and at the same time give the vehicle its own unique characteristics? "In the driving experience, there are always very many levels of perception that contribute to the evaluation of the product. Acoustics affect both our conscious and our subconscious state. Always. Because we can't shut our ears," stresses Philipp.
In engineering, where hard facts and, physical and technical laws set the tone, sound plays a special role. "Compared to a car body structural analysis, describing it apart from its physical structure is fairly abstract, and always depends on the individual sound experience," says Philipp. "It's like in architecture or with dancing. We are dealing with abstract patterns that can be interpreted in many different ways." And that's where psychoacoustics comes in again. "After all, the entire sound experience - of a Lamborghini, Ferrari or Audi, for example - should remain clearly identifiable and indicate the particular characteristics of the vehicle. Each manufacturer sets its own priorities, and these we meet with our acoustic design."
He is never bored. "Time goes by much too fast for that to happen," says Philipp. Though at first glance often unspectacular, the challenges are tough. "For example, when the sealing concept of a door in one of the models we were working on was changed, the performance of the loudspeaker was suddenly different. Nobody would have thought it before." Or when sounds suddenly cease to exist, as happens with eMobility and its super-quiet powertrains. "Exterior speakers are called for to make the vehicle noticeable and therefore safer in road traffic. To this end, those of us working in audio engineering not only have to compose the right sound for the vehicle, but also keep an eye on ambient humidity, temperature, dirt and, of course, all legal requirements.
Advances in digitalisation help to make scenarios like these increasingly efficient. Philipp's team is already using finite element simulations for a virtual run through of many development steps before they are carried out. "This saves development costs and time, and opens up completely different design horizons," says Philipp. The ability to master complex computing processes is therefore just as important to him today as a keen ear and sophisticated measuring technology. "Simulation and testing always go hand in hand."
What does this mechanisation and digitalisation mean for the musical sophisticate? "Everyone has access to the entire universe of music via the Internet and the various streaming possibilities. For me, that is amazing. It's a privilege that many might not appreciate." For the audio engineers at EDAG Engineering, this is both a challenge and an obligation. "How do we manage to surprise and inspire users in their sound experience - regardless of whether they prefer to listen to heavy metal, electronic music, classical music or audio books? To experience compositional details or instruments that you hadn't even noticed before as you're driving has to be the ultimate experience!"
After work, Philipp spends time in his "man cave", making sure he is completely up-to-date: watching Youtube tutorials carried out by acoustic nerds from all around the world, and reading reference books and the relevant blogs and magazines. I keep my eyes open. And my ears of course. I am certain that five years from now, my work will be very different from what it is today." Does the prospect bother him? "No. On the contrary, I am looking forward to it."
