PS Engineering has added InelliAudio spatial audio technology to the new PMA8000BTi audio panel, a version of the PMA800BT that adds the extra capability without upping the price. Shipments of the new units started yesterday.
IntelliAudio is patented technology that PS Engineering licenses from the United States Air Force Laboratory. When activated, it places COM 1 audio signals at the relative 10 o’clock position and COM 2 audio signals at 2 o’clock relative position to the flight crew. This allows the pilot to take advantage of the “multi-talker” or “cocktail party effect,” in which the brain automatically interprets and differentiates conversations at different locations for easier listening and comprehension.
“When we introduced IntelliAudio two years ago, we were amazed at the reaction from the pilots when they heard it for the first time,” says company founder and CEO Mark Scheuer. “From air shows to flight pireps, pilots love it, so we decided to add it to our flagship audio panel.”
The PMA8000BTi, Scheuer told us, carries the same list price as the PMA8000BT ($2,095) and includes all of the same standard features, including Bluetooth telephone and music connectivity, patented IntelliVox automatic VOX intercom, alternate intercom function (AIF), digital aircraft radio playback, swap mode, a front panel utility jack, marker beacon receiver/indicator, and multiple music muting modes.
The PMA8000BTi is a plug-and-play replacement for PMA8000-series audio panels, as well as the Garmin GMA340.
