Jabra is working with Red Bull to develop a new product – Jabra X Mic – a microphone that is able to effectively filter wind noise, and deliver superior audio quality in extreme weather and high-speed conditions.
After 2 years and more than 30 tests, they now have a prototype which has been successfully tested at the Spielberg race track in Austria under extreme racing conditions – at 200km per hour on a rainy day.
Just as GoPro has changed the way we view action, the Jabra X Mic, which is still being refined by Jabra and Red Bull Media House, is expected to revolutionise the way we “hear” action. Here’s why:
Cut Out Wind Noise
For most extreme sports, placing a microphone in the most obvious place (such as on a helmet) doesn’t give the best results – at high speeds, wind simply whips the sound back and away. This makes for a noisy viewing experience for the audience. Jabra X Mic seeks to overcome this challenge. The Jabra X Mic has a wind noise filter which consists of a specially customised fabric cover and a digital signal processing chip which allows the microphone to distinguish between the wind and the sound you want to hear to produce clear audio recordings.
Wireless and Adaptable to Extreme Conditions
Cumbersome wires can interfere with an athlete’s movement and performance. The compact Jabra X Mic is shaped like a hockey puck and can be wirelessly attached to clothing securely as well as mounted on equipment, making it highly adaptable to different environments. In fact, the Jabra team has put the Jabra X Mics on a mountain bike ridden down a ski slope, on wakeboarders and on a KTM X-Bow sports car blasting around a wet race track – proof that the mic is able to “survive” extreme conditions like snow, water, dirt and high speeds.
