As the scope of topics that are on the minds of audio professionals continues to expand, the July 2026 issue of audioXpress offers a fresh perspective on some of the most cutting-edge technologies. A rich compilation of technical articles starts with an article on automotive audio from Sven Eisenhardt, head of innovation at Cinemo. Titled “Born To Be Connected: Why Passengers Finally Get to Have Fun Too,” Eisenhardt expands on the new phase of in-car infotainment and how vehicles are becoming more connected and capable than ever before. And to boost truly personalized experiences for everyone in the car, not just the driver, the company that developed Cinemo CARS Connect shares his vision on the path forward with the cohesive integration of smartphones and tablets passengers already carry, whether they use iOS or Android. The car remains the center of orchestration, permissions, and branding, while personal devices become an additional access layer into the cabin experience. And keeping up with the cutting-edge topics, Joe Golightly and Henk Muller (XMOS) explain how to build a software-defined digital-to-analog converter (DAC) using Delta-Sigma modulation. Better said, this article investigates how to play back digital audio without using a hardware DA converter. Instead, implementing a DAC primarily using software, with just an amplifier and filter in hardware. The project was implemented in an inexpensive headphone amplifier using an XMOS XCORE.AI processor. The purpose of building a DAC in software is to enable the system designer to be in full control of making the tradeoffs between system cost, harmonics, noise, and ripple. Additional benefits are that there is no need to configure external components, or indeed worry about their availability or longevity. Intrigued? Read on. Our next article in this issue is a review from our experienced audio measurements enthusiast, Stuart Yaniger, and explores the