Apple hire audio guru responsible for THX

Tomlinson Holman was the audio wizard responsible for Lucasfilm's THX audio, and recent news indicate that Apple have just hired him to take the role as their new head of audio.

Holman's pedigree is without question, he was the man behind THX for George Lucas and he also created the worlds first 10.2 surround sound system. Apple have not yet confirmed he is a new employee, but they always do things in their own time through official channels.

Holmans last job as a film sound professor at the University of Southern California has seen him taking more of a teaching role within the industry and he also recently received an Academy Award for Technical Achievement. He also spent 15 years as the corporate technical director for Lucasfilm, and all of the groups THX patents come from his work and designs. Holman also has experience and a history of creating loudspeakers and amplifiers as well as his work within the film industry.

If the latest rumors are true then Holman could bring an amazing pedigree to upcoming Apple product design, and even use his abilities within the iTunes audio side of their software development. Apple in recent years moved from 128bit sound files to 256 bit quality, after pressure persuaded them that the public can tell the difference. Holman in theory could help with recoding of algorithms to improve the sound quality and possibly push development into other areas.

Apple computers already have support for surround sound but with his help they could improve the quality of the output devices and even enhance their Apple branded audio products such as headphones and speaker systems.

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