Digital Audio Veteran Peter Eastty Joins Apple as Director of SoC Audio Processing

Audio expert Peter Eastty of Oxford Digital Limited has left the company he co-founded to work for Apple. According to his LinkedIn profile, Eastty joined Apple in September of this year as the Director of SoC (System on Chip) Audio Processing.

eastty-linkedin
Eastty's career in digital audio spans more than 40 years, including oversight of a pioneering digital audio team at Solid State Logic, a 13-year stint at Sony as a chief consultant engineer, and more than eight years as CTO at Oxford Digital. Most of his work has focused on digital audio and digital signal processing for audio equipment.

"I’ve worked in the application of digital and computer technology to audio since I graduated from college and I still find the problems fascinating as well as the answers."

Details on Eastty's role as Director of SoC Audio Processing are unknown, but he likely is using his DSP expertise to improve the audio quality of Apple's hardware. Earlier rumors suggested Apple was working to add support for 24-bit audio files in iOS 8 and create a new 24-bit capable version of its In-Ear headphones, but those reports have not yet panned out.

Eastty is not the only audio pioneer hired by Apple in recent years. Back in 2011, Apple hired THX pioneer Tomlinson Holman to help "provide technical direction for the company in audio" as he reports on his LinkedIn profile.

(Thanks, Manu!)

Popular Stories

Generic iOS 18

iOS 18.1 With Apple Intelligence: New Features, Release Date, and More

Thursday October 10, 2024 8:26 am PDT by
iOS 18.1 will be released to the public in the coming weeks, and the software update introduces the first Apple Intelligence features for the iPhone. Below, we outline when to expect iOS 18.1 to be released. iOS 18.1: Apple Intelligence Features Here are some of the key Apple Intelligence features in the iOS 18.1 beta so far: A few Siri enhancements, including improved understanding...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature Single Camera 2

10 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 17

Tuesday October 8, 2024 5:45 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we sometimes get rumored feature leaks so far ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different – already we have some idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you plan to skip...
space black mbp

Apple Potentially Facing Worst Leak Since iPhone 4 Was Left in a Bar

Monday October 7, 2024 3:03 pm PDT by
Alleged photos and videos of an unannounced 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M4 chip continue to surface on social media, in what could be the worst product leak for Apple since an employee accidentally left an iPhone 4 prototype at a bar in California in 2010. The latest video of what could be a next-generation MacBook Pro was shared on YouTube Shorts today by Russian channel Romancev768, just...
iPad mini review thumb

iPad Mini 7 Coming Next Month: What to Expect

Tuesday October 8, 2024 6:16 am PDT by
Rumors strongly suggest Apple will release the seventh-generation iPad mini in November, nearly three years after the last refresh. Here's a roundup of what we're expecting from the next version of Apple's small form factor tablet, based on the latest rumors and reports. Design and Display The new iPad mini is likely to retain its compact 8.3-inch display and overall design introduced with...
apple tv 4k yellow bg feature

Waiting for a New Apple TV? Here's What the Latest Rumors Say

Tuesday October 8, 2024 8:57 am PDT by
The current Apple TV was released two years ago this month, so you may be wondering when the next model will be released. Below, we recap rumors about a next-generation Apple TV. In January 2023, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that a new Apple TV was planned for release in the first half of 2024:Beyond the future smart displays and new speaker, Apple is working on revamping its TV box....
When Will Apple Launch More M4 Macs Feature

Will Apple Release M4 Macs Soon? Here's What the Latest Rumors Say

Thursday October 10, 2024 6:22 am PDT by
Apple often releases new Macs in the fall, but we are still waiting for official confirmation that the company has similar plans this year. We're approaching the middle of October now, and if Apple plans to announce new Macs before the holidays, recent history suggests it will happen this month. Here's what we know so far. As of writing this, it's been 220 days since Apple released a new...

Top Rated Comments

blumpy Avatar
130 months ago
"...and create a new 24-bit capable version of its In-Ear headphones, but those reports have not yet panned out."

All headphones and speakers are analog. The digital conversion process needs to occur prior to amplification. So there's no such thing as 24bit capable headphones unless you're talking about digitally transmitting the data to the headphone via lightning or bluetooth. This is not a limitation of technology.... it is a limitation of human physiology unless you have a digital input implanted into your brain. So "digital" headphones convert the audio to analog and amplify the signal instead of your device. There's no gain for the end user to have the headphone convert the audio vs your iPhone unless you're headphone cable is 100ft long.

It doesn't matter, most people would not be able to tell the difference between 12, 16 or 24bit audio sources or 44.1k, 48k or 88.2 or 96k. This is not like the picture quality of SD, HD, 4k vs 8k

This is more like properly encoded H.264 vs H.265 vs AppleProRes with the same pixel count and framerate. You're not going to be able to tell the difference unless you've dropped a few hundred grand into a home theater setup and knew what to look for to see a difference. And even then there would no diminished entertainment quality between the various formats.

My point being that AAC 256kbps is not the weak link in your audio chain. It's your headphones or speakers. 192kbps lossy audio compression method far exceeds the reproduction quality of most headphones or speaker systems and 99.99% of people would never hear the difference unless switching between the same source at two different qualities in a properly designed recording studio.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
peteullo Avatar
130 months ago
These kind of hirings make me happy... Apple's going back to their roots!
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kariya Avatar
130 months ago
That beard makes him looks like some sort of Sage.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MikeSmoke Avatar
130 months ago
This guy is part of the elite high end pro field. Not someone I would expect to be focusing on how to make iPad speakers sound better. I would hope the pro market is in for some future surprises.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CJM Avatar
130 months ago
Hmm.. With him and Trent on the team, I have some really positive feelings about the future of Apple audio quality.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rog210 Avatar
130 months ago
DSD playback on the horizon?! (I hope.)

I hope not, there are no real benefits over PCM and a whole lot of headaches.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)