The stereo in this new SUV lets you make phone calls without hearing the other passengers. How does this work?

(CNN) — Sometimes it may be inconvenient to take a phone call while driving and your family is in the car with you. If you’re listening to music, it will stop and everyone will stop to hear what someone has to tell you on the phone.

Nissan’s luxury vehicle division, Infiniti, recently revealed a feature in its new full-size SUV that lets everyone else in the vehicle listen to whatever they are doing while the driver takes a phone call, without the need for headphones. Want allows him to hear. Only the driver can hear the conversation and the person on the other end of the call cannot hear the music playing in the SUV.

It’s the latest move in the increasingly competitive world of luxury car sound systems. Today, there is hardly any luxury car company that doesn’t upgrade its high-end audio systems with brands like Burmeister on Mercedes-Benz, McIntosh on the gorgeous Jeep Grand Wagoneer SUV and Bang & Olufsen on Bentley and Genesis automobiles. For Klipsch, known for its high-end hand-built speakers, this is only the second appearance in a vehicle. The $87,000 Ram Tungsten luxury pickup truck has a Klipsch stereo as standard equipment, but it also doesn’t have Infiniti’s high-tech sound isolation system.

The QX80’s system, developed by Infiniti with Panasonic Automotive and Klipsch, works through a combination of intelligent speaker placement and noise cancellation technology. Both the driver and front passenger seats have headrest-mounted speakers. This isn’t a new idea, but headrest speakers are commonly found in convertibles where music, phone calls and navigation instructions must overcome wind noise. They aren’t typically found in larger, quieter luxury vehicles like the Infiniti QX80.

Noise canceling technology in simple forms is also not new. It typically works by using a speaker to create offset sound waves to suppress unwanted sounds. If you imagine sound waves going up and down as a line, then imagine moving it along another line up and down in exactly opposite directions, you essentially end up with a flat band. Will end. In other words, no sound.

Noise cancellation in headphones and car stereos is typically used to eliminate continuous background sounds and engine noise such as hum. It’s even more difficult with sounds like music, which change a lot from moment to moment.

Instead of relying solely on a microphone to capture sound from the air, the optional Klipsch stereo in the 2025 QX80 reads the digital music track being played (as it does when playing it, anyway) and uses it to create sound waves. Could. Compensated by speakers around the driver’s seat. It creates a silent bubble around the driver, so only the driver can hear incoming phone calls or navigation directions through the headrest speakers, while others in the vehicle can hear loud music. Meanwhile, the person on the other end of the phone call won’t be able to hear the music at all. For them it will be like talking to someone in a quiet room.

The redesigned QX80 won’t go on sale until next year, so I tested the system on a QX80 parked inside a building in Manhattan. A party nearby with a live singer created quite a noisy atmosphere outside the van.

I was sitting in the passenger seat of the new SUV while Panasonic executive Tom Dunn took a call from the driver’s seat. Pop music was playing on the stereo. He could hear Dunn talking, but the voice on the other end seemed, at first, like a quiet, intermittent hum. Then Dunn turned down the volume of the call slightly and the other voice disappeared completely, overshadowed by country music.

Then I got out of the truck and walked over to where an Infiniti spokesperson was talking on the phone about 20 feet away. I took his phone and talked to Dunn. I could hear Dunn talking to me but not the music still playing in the car.

At the beginning of the demo, I had already taken a call from the driver’s seat while music played, but I thought that was the relatively easy part. I had to rely on Dunn, who was in the passenger seat at the time, telling me that he couldn’t hear the person calling me. Afterwards it was very strange to be in the passenger seat and not be able to hear the call. It was really disappointing to talk on the phone outside and not hear the music playing inside the car.

The call masking feature only works when music is playing on the stereo. If no music is playing, other people in the SUV will hear your call, but it will be quieter than most other vehicles.

And everyone has to listen to the driver anyway. But, if your call involves something embarrassing, you can make sure you always answer “yes” and “no” to everything. Your secrets will remain safe.