Nissan’s U.S. industry-first Personalized Sound is like having music remastered just for you

With the introduction of Personalized Sound, Nissan and INFINITI are elevating audio customization to a new level as the first automakers in the U.S. to offer a personalized audio profile based on each customer's unique hearing. How does Personalized Sound work? The Personalized Sound app debuted on the Google Play store on December 15. It is available now for download on every Nissan and INFINITI equipped with Google built-in, including those already on the road, at no additional cost. Personalized Sound may be cutting-edge, but its designers ensured it's easy to use. Getting started is simple. After downloading the Personalized Sound app from the Google Play store, the program will guide drivers through a hearing test by playing tones of varying loudness and pitch. The driver responds with how well they can hear each sound by tapping on the infotainment screen, and the program creates a bespoke listening experience based on that individual's hearing profile. The entire set-up process takes about three minutes. Going beyond traditional bass, treble, fade and balance adjustments, Personalized Sound uses the test results to precisely tweak a 10-band equalizer with frequencies from 50 hertz to 1,200 hertz. "We want to elevate every driver's experience, whether they have a hearing impairment, are audiophiles, or simply want to get the most out of their sound system," said Mitchell Pope, a senior product planner at Nissan who helped lead the development of Personalized Sound. "Offering an individually tailored audio experience like this is a big first in the U.S. auto industry." With Personalized Sound, Nissan and INFINITI are the first automotive brands in the U.S. to offer an in-vehicle hearing test of this kind. Inspired by similar systems available in high-end headphones, the system blends sophisticated technology with an intuitive, user-friendly interface. "After taking the test, most drivers will notice a clear difference with their new audio profile," Pope said. "They'll often pick up details they didn't before, even in songs they've listened to countless times. But above all, they'll know their audio was customized just for them." What if the vehicle has more than one driver? No problem. Multiple drivers can be set up in your vehicle, and each can download their own Personalized Sound app. When they select their driver profile when starting the vehicle, their Personal Sound app profile will load too. They can also link a driver profile to each key fob to further streamline the experience. How was Personalized Sound developed? As an amateur musician raised in Nashville, Pope said Personalized Sound began as a true passion project. He first shared his idea with the Nissan team in early 2024. "I loved the level of customization offered in some premium headphones and I wanted to bring that to the automotive world," Pope said. "From the start, I also saw this as a clear way to help the 36 million Americans living with a hearing impairment." He began working on the project with engineers and other product planners. Several key team members have hearing impairments, including Patrick Fields, a program analyst at Nissan who lost some of his hearing while serving in the U.S. Army. "Personalized Sound is ideal for music lovers like me," Fields said. "It's a tangible representation of Nissan's commitment to accessibility." Nissan engineers looked within the organization to develop, test and launch the app in-house, in a collaborative effort across teams and departments. "Instead of outsourcing Personalized Sound's development, we decided to build it from the ground up," said Vishnu Jayamohan, director of Product Strategy, Portfolio Technology and Software Services at Nissan North America. "Developed in less than 18 months with our in-house software talent, this app is a beacon for the speed and creativity in software innovation that we want to offer across our portfolio." A key member of the development team was Ashley Baird, a Michigan Technological University student who was interning at Nissan Technical Center North America near Detroit. She helped write the code for the hearing test, the functionality of the 10-band equalizer and the profile-saving system. "Because the app needed to run like a standard Android app, I couldn't plug my code directly into the car's audio system or interact with it in the way that the existing equalizer does," Baird explained. "It took extensive testing to find a way to interact with the car's media system. I ended up discovering an Android audio processing effect that lets you tap into the sound that's already going to the speakers and adjust it, so the app could apply the changes directly to supported audio sources in the vehicle." In internal testing, 96% of participants said they would keep their Personalized Sound profile activated. "The best part was seeing people try the app for the first time," Baird said. "I think a lot of people expected the app to be very basic. It was awesome to see them realize that something they could just download from the Google Play store could offer so much audio customization that their car didn't previously have." Continuing a legacy of audio innovation Nissan and INFINITI have a long history of audio innovation, with recent examples including Individual Audio available in INFINITI QX60 and QX80, and the Bose Personal Plus Audio System with headrest speakers available in Nissan Kicks and LEAF. Personalized Sound is an exciting next step in that tradition, making in-car audio more immersive and inclusive than ever. Which cars have Personalized Sound? Personalized Sound is available for free download on every Nissan and INFINITI vehicle equipped with Google built-in. It works across both standard and premium, branded audio systems. Nissan vehicles with available Google built-in: LEAF (2026) Armada (2025 and newer) Murano (2025 and newer) Rogue (2024 and newer) INFINITI vehicles with available Google built-in: QX60 (2026) QX65 (Coming soon) QX80 (2025 and newer) Personalized Sound optimizes audio from Bluetooth and in-vehicle sources (including those downloaded from the Google Play store, such as Spotify and Audible) at launch. Future compatibility with additional sources is being developed, with release expected in 2026.