SUBPAC

SUBPAC
Information
Industry	Tactile audio, haptics
Founded	2013
Founder	John Alexiou, Todd Chernecki
Headquarters	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Notable Personnel	John Alexiou, Todd Chernecki
Products	Wearable and seatback tactile audio systems
Parent	StudioFeed
Website	https://subpac.com

SUBPAC (stylized in all capitals; also written SubPac) is a Canadian tactile audio company based in Toronto, Ontario. It designs wearable and seatback devices that send low-frequency sound directly into the body so that a listener physically feels bass while the audio plays quietly, without filling a room with sound. The company was founded in 2013 by John Alexiou and Todd Chernecki and grew out of StudioFeed, a social venture that supports independent music through technology and community programs.

Although SUBPAC began as a tool for music production and listening, its hardware became closely associated with Virtual Reality and gaming, where the same sub-bass vibrations are used to add a silent, full-body layer of haptic feedback. The company describes itself as offering a patented tactile audio system for media including games, VR, and cinema, and says its products are used by thousands of audio and VR professionals.

History

SUBPAC traces its origins to Toronto's StudioFeed venture and to founder John Alexiou, who wanted to add a physical dimension to recorded music after feeling that something was missing when he built and used recording studios. An early prototype was bulky enough that Alexiou compared it to a Ghostbusters backpack. The first product, the seatback SUBPAC S1, was funded through a Kickstarter campaign in 2013 that raised more than 100,000 US dollars.

The company followed the seatback unit with a wearable version. The SUBPAC M1, announced on October 10, 2013, was a backpack-style device worn against the back; it carried a suggested retail price of 350 US dollars (299 US dollars for pre-orders), weighed about 1.9 pounds, reproduced a frequency range of roughly 5 to 130 Hz, and ran up to eight hours on a rechargeable battery. Founder John Alexiou framed it as a possible new standard for audio production, DJing, and silent listening.

In its early years the technology drew endorsements from established musicians, with BetaKit noting support from George Clinton, Flying Lotus, and Hank Shocklee of Public Enemy's Bomb Squad. The profile of the company rose sharply in 2016. On May 4, 2016, SUBPAC announced a 6 million US dollar Series A financing round led by investors including Andy Rubin, the co-creator of Android, through his firm Playground Global. Other backers in the round included producer Timbaland, electronic musician Richie Hawtin, the act Dada Life, Azure Capital, and M7 Tech Partners, the venture firm associated with NBA player Carmelo Anthony. Alexiou said Rubin and Timbaland would play leading roles in the company's mission, while Rubin said the device had opened his eyes to the power of physical sound and predicted it would change how people experience music, VR, and cinema. Alongside that funding, SUBPAC introduced its second generation: the wearable SUBPAC M2 at 349 US dollars and the seatback SUBPAC S2 at 299 US dollars.

SUBPAC later expanded the wearable line with the M2X, a higher-performance revision with greater dynamic range, lower distortion, and a longer battery life of more than seven hours, and it moved into professional and software-driven systems with the SUBPAC PRO and the hybrid SUBPAC X1. The company has been recognized by Fast Company on its list of the most innovative companies.

Technology

SUBPAC systems work by converting the low end of an audio signal into physical vibration rather than sound. Inside the wearable and seatback units, vibro-tactile transducers and membranes press against the user's back and transfer deep bass frequencies, very roughly in the 1 to 200 Hz range, into the body. Because most of the energy is felt rather than heard, a person can experience powerful bass while the device stays nearly silent to anyone nearby. The hardware takes a standard line-level audio input, so it can be driven by ordinary sound sources such as phones, computers, and DJ mixers, as well as by VR systems.

This silent, body-felt bass is what ties SUBPAC to immersive media. In a 2016 hands-on, Road to VR described how the device translates inaudible frequencies below about 40 Hz into vibrating tactile feedback, giving a much more immersive experience and, in one demo, the sensation of standing in front of large subwoofers in a club. The same approach lets the wearable add a layer of physical feedback to a VR scene without breaking the quiet of a room or requiring loud speakers.

Products

SUBPAC's catalog splits into wearable units worn against the back and seatback units that strap to a chair, plus later professional and software-integrated systems. The table below lists the company's main products.

Product	Year	Type	Notes
SUBPAC S1	2013	Seatback	First product; funded by a 2013 Kickstarter that raised over 100,000 US dollars
SUBPAC M1	2013	Wearable	Announced October 10, 2013; ~1.9 lb; about 5 to 130 Hz; up to 8 hours of battery; 350 US dollars (299 US dollars pre-order)
SUBPAC M2	2016	Wearable	Second-generation wearable; 349 US dollars at launch
SUBPAC S2	2016	Seatback	Second-generation seatback; 299 US dollars at launch
SUBPAC M2X	Wearable	Revised wearable with higher dynamic range, lower distortion, and 7+ hours of battery; 1 to 200 Hz range
SUBPAC PRO		Professional	Professional-grade tactile system aimed at audio and VR specialists
SUBPAC X1	2020	Hybrid hardware/software	Flagship system combining a wearable, software, and pro wireless input/output

Partnerships

In 2019, SUBPAC's tactile bass technology was incorporated into Razer's HyperSense haptic initiative, an ecosystem of interconnected haptic gaming devices. At CES 2019, Razer demonstrated a setup that included a chair with haptics powered by SUBPAC alongside a wireless gaming headset and peripherals with haptics from another partner, Lofelt.

Market position

SUBPAC sits at the intersection of audio gear and haptic hardware. Its core appeal is the ability to deliver intense, body-felt bass quietly, which has made it useful in music production, DJing, and silent listening, and which carries over naturally into gaming, film, and Virtual Reality, where it adds a silent physical channel of feedback. The endorsements and investment it attracted from music and technology figures such as Timbaland and Andy Rubin, and its later integration into Razer's gaming haptics platform, reflect a company positioned as a specialist supplier of tactile sound rather than a maker of headsets or displays.