Volvo Cars has launched Abbey Road Studios Mode, a sound technology designed to capture the essence of the iconic recording studio’s unique environment.
Following the model’s announcement last year, it will debut in all Volvo EX90 cars fitted with the optional Bowers & Wilkins High Fidelity Audio system free of charge via an over-the-air update in the coming weeks.
Developed by Bowers & Wilkins together with Abbey Road Studios, this technology is inspired by the studio’s characteristic acoustic spaces and the sonic signature of the equipment used by artists and engineers to create some of the most revered albums in music history. It delivers a unique listening experience inside the EX90.
The Abbey Road Studios Mode has several presets that provide a selection of sounds, optimised for different listening styles.
And for those ready to explore new ways of enjoying their favourite tracks, the Producer Mode allows you to engineer your own sound.
This includes shifting the acoustic from a retro vintage to a deeper, modern sound, narrowing or expanding the stereo sound field and adjusting the acoustic environment, just as a producer or engineer would do.
This over-the-air update represents one of Volvo Cars’ most significant upgrades yet, given the company’s ambition to continuously improve its software-defined cars.
The sound mode will be included for future EX90 and ES90 cars with Bowers & Wilkins’ audio system as they roll out of the factory.
The EX90 has one of the quietest cabins Volvo Cars has ever created, with 25 speakers carefully positioned within it. With the optional Bowers & Wilkins audio system, it delivers an outstanding in-car soundscape.
The 1610-watt system can play Dolby Atmos content and has been developed and tuned by Bowers & Wilkins engineers in close collaboration with Volvo Cars’ audio team.
Thanks to a recent tech transformation, Volvo Cars can deliver over-the-air updates to a fleet of around 2.5 million existing cars built as early as 2020, across 85 countries.