CES 2023: A speaker with 3D sound controlled by artificial intelligence

At CES 2023 earlier this month, gaming niche company Razer brought not only PC hardware but also somewhat unusual speakers aimed at gamers. The Razer Leviathan V2 Pro uses head tracking and artificial intelligence to detect exactly where the user is – and direct the sound to their ears.

According to Razer, the Leviathan V2 Pro is the first desktop speaker with AI tracking and what’s called beamforming — that is, controlling the direction of sound by manipulating the phase of sound sent from each of the amplifier’s five speaker elements.

Razer has partnered with THX, which stands for 3D Surround Sound, and Audioscenic, a leading maker of 3D audio packages. The result should be sound that combines the best of headphones and surround systems – in a 60cm tall slab on your desk. Scanner says.

3D Audio can be experienced in two modes: as virtual speakers or as a virtual headphone. The THX Spatial Audio Virtual Headset promises to deliver the same precisely defined sound previously only in headphones, while the THX Spatial Audio Virtual Speakers simulate a wide spatial sound stage that can be experienced with a complete home theater system.

The tweeter is aided in the low register by a single five-inch driverd subwoofer. It’s not much, but since the listening is done from a very short distance, it will probably work. The system must be able to deliver a sound pressure of 98 dB at the desk.

Since we are dealing with Razer, the sound will be accompanied by a Razer Chroma light show with 30 lighting zones and 16 million colors. The Razer Leviathan V2 Pro costs €490 (just under SEK 5,500).