AKM Announces Upgrade to its Best Selling 32-bit Stereo Premium High-End DAC

At CES 2018, companies will be looking for ways to improve existing designs in every front, and the critical stages of audio AD/DA conversion will continue to be a focus. Asahi Kasei Microdevices Corporation (AKM) has developed the AK4493EQ, a 32-bit stereo premium D/A converter, which will be available on the market in Jan. 2018. As AKM explains, this is an upgrade from its best-selling AK4490EQ, used in many high-end audio products since it was launched in 2014.

Asahi Kasei Microdevices (AKM) announced that its new 32-bit premium/advanced multichannel A/D converters series AK555x and AK553x are now available. There are four new converter devices in 2-channel, 4-channel, 6-channel and 8-channel variants in the AK555x series, featuring 115dB S/N and supporting up to 768kHz PCM at 24-bit/32-bit or 11.2MHz DSD256 outputs. The AK553x range, targeting pro audio applications includes 4, 6 and 8-channel variants, featuring 111dB S/N, -103dB THD+N and the same PCM/DSD output capabilities.

Targeting portable audio applications (smartphones, tablets, portable music players, headphones, etc.) Asahi Kasei Microdevices (AKM) has developed the AK4962, a new advanced 2-channel 32-bit Advanced Audio DAC with DSP, featuring 32-bit 4ch ADC with microphone/headphone receivers, line-amplifier, audio/voice DSP, asynchronous SRC and microcontroller interface. AKM also announced its AK4490EN 32-bit stereo premium D/A converter and dedicated clock generator, AK8157A, are now available.

The new Tascam Celesonic US-20x20 packs 20 ins and 20 outs into a USB 3.0/2.0 audio interface for Mac OSX and Windows computers. The unit is also a complete software controlled mixer, is able to support signals up to 24-bit/192kHz and features eight Ultra-HDDA preamps with 20dB of headroom and low noise performance for recording.

The new series of 2/4/6/8ch D/A converters from Asahi Kasei Microdevices (AKM) is powering a new generation of high-quality consumer electronic devices, measurement equipment and control systems, now reaching the market. The AK4452VN, AK4454VN, AK4456VN and AK4458VN chips are 768kHz 32bit premium D/A converters, based on AKM’s Velvet Sound chip architecture.

Korean company Astell&Kern (iRiver) has managed to forge an interesting niche market by developing and manufacturing portable high-resolution audio players. The company announced their latest-generation flagship portable HRA Player, the AK380, with 32-bit/384kHz PCM and DSD support. At the same time, Astell&Kern launched the much more affordable AK Jr.