Regular readers may remember Devialet’s noble plan last year to replace those clunky, fiddly wired headphones handed out on flights with a new, luxurious in-seat personal sound system.
Of course, it’s all well and good to have a dream. But today (October 5), luxury aircraft seat manufacturer Safran – which approached Devialet to ask for the French audio specialist’s help in this difficult task in 2020 – announced that the fruit of the two companies’ efforts will very soon come to Japan Airlines come… provided you can afford to sit in business class.
Last year I spoke with Devialet CEO Franck Lebouchard, as well as Safran’s Quentin Munier, about the exciting and difficult Euphony aircraft seat project first conceived in 2019.
Safran’s selection process for an excellent onboard audio partner was certainly not a shot in the dark from the start. “We picked six companies – of which Devialet was a part – that we reviewed,” Munier said.
“We looked at their specification, the proof of concept and actual physical testing in acoustic test chambers, I think in March 2020 – so a year after the initial exploration. We chose Devialet in early June 2020.”
Why was the relatively upmarket French-speaking company chosen over larger technology manufacturers well versed in the aerospace sector? “Because the results were extremely in favor of Devialet,” Munier said.
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Devialet’s Lebouchard showed palpable excitement about the project last year, softened only by his newfound knowledge of the enormity of the task.
“We didn’t know anything about noise on board,” he said. “The guys (Safran) came to us and said, ‘look, for a few years now, every survey we’ve done about airline seating has said the same thing: great business class seats, horizontal position; great service – you name it. But a headphones for six, eight or ten hours is not ideal.’”
However, what initially seemed like a relatively small project (these are business class seats, after all, hardly a major consumer channel like the best noise-cancelling earbuds) quickly became a much larger undertaking.
“I must admit that we greatly underestimated the challenge, because we not only had to adapt our systems, our software and our signal processing to those different aircraft situations, but also had to find speakers – aircraft-certified speakers; high-quality, small ones; lights, in headphones . That was another challenge.”
But it wasn’t a chore – far from it. “We were happy with the challenge!” Lebouchard said, adding, “the challenge is: noise in an airplane is super complicated. It depends on the airplane. It depends on your position in the airplane. It depends on the flight situation. And there are all kinds of sounds , from very low frequencies to very high frequencies that are constantly changing. The volume is constantly changing.”
And of course, the last thing you want when you’re in business class is listening to your neighbors’ movies. Can the best noise canceling headphones be beaten by an in-chair speaker solution, even if it comes from a formidable brand like Devialet?
After speaking with both parties in this exciting collaboration, I am confident that this is indeed possible.
Last year it occurred to me that three years to design an entirely new in-flight audio system didn’t seem so long and arduous. Lebouchard responded quickly.
“So two things: first, we used all our technologies very much to meet that challenge. You mentioned Devialet Dione – the speakers in Dione are the ones we used for Safran (Euphony). So those are the best of the best of the best, designed by Devialet. They are the same.”
Safran handled the aircraft certification and Devialet was also able to use most of the signal processing, but Lebouchard was honest and open about the heavy workload involved. “The reason why it was only three years, which is super short in this industry, is because we had all those technologies, shall we say, ‘on the shelf’. But it’s not a tribute to the work we’ve done,” he said. I believe him.
So how much value do you get for your business class money with a Euphony airline seat? Lebouchard explains that you have four of those speakers right next to your neck; two left, two right – which is “completely oversized”. “Just having one for each ear would be great. That’s why we oversized the hardware to ensure the system remains robust for years to come, because the last thing you want is to get damaged,” he said, and added: “When something in this industry doesn’t work, it’s a huge pain”.
What about the delicate subject of eliminating that annoying and persistent jet engine noise? “We’re not actually canceling noise,” Lebouchard said, adding: “active noise cancellation is probably the biggest challenge ever on airplanes, and what we do on Euphony is we’ve tuned the amplifier so that the volume is just above the level of the noise from the plane. But the impression is that you are in a bubble – that is one of our technologies.”
Does Devialet’s CEO think Devialet’s two-way stereo speakers could make their way into the economy section of the cabin?
“The short answer is yes. I would like to go for the economy. That would be, or will be, even more challenging because of the proximity to your neighbors. Again, you don’t want neighbors listening to your music or your music and obviously It will be an even bigger challenge in economy class than in business class.”
Devialet’s CEO is much more positive about the car market in the short term, telling me: “The moment they (Safran) made the announcement, a few of our car partners called and said, ‘Why on earth don’t we do that with you ?!'”
Could we possibly see it in the next supercar? Lebouchard remained non-committal on a timeline last year, but did say: ‘We are sure that many car brands want this. Typically, drivers want to hear things their neighbors don’t want to hear, such as phone calls. “If you get a phone call in your car, everyone is listening. Certainly, the technologies we’ve used and improved on for Safron, I’m pretty sure we’ll find that in cars. But that’s my educated guess.”
Now that I’ve heard Devialet’s considerable talent for shaping sound (see the four microphones and built-in intelligence in the Devialet Mania for starters), I’m very excited about Euphony coming to consumers – and I hope it may trickle down to those of us currently flying coach.
For now, if you want to experience the pinnacle of the audio partnership between Devialet and Safran, consider booking your next flight with Japan Airlines – and start saving.