Texas Instruments Announces Industry's Highest Performance Digital Audio Amplifier Enabling DVD-Audio

First 192kHz/24-bit/110dB Digital Amplifier Pushes Highest Fidelity Digital Sound Production

6-Apr-01

Raising the bar on digital sound quality, Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE: TXN) announced a new digital amplifier featuring the highest performance all-digital solution available today. The new chip is the first solution available to operate at the sampling rate of 192kHz with a dynamic range of 110dB measured at the speaker. The TAS5015 features highly flexible inputs, supporting all major audio standards on the market, including DVD-Audio, with sample rates ranging from 32kHz to 192kHz. (See www.ti.com/sc/digitalaudio for more information.) The TAS5015 Pulse Width Modulator (PWM) includes a discrete power stage, enabling the digital audio amplifier solution to drive speakers digitally for greater power efficiency and higher audio fidelity. This allows the device to perform with power levels exceeding 300W with THD+N below 0.03%. ""With the TAS5015 chip, TI is the first IC supplier to offer these performance levels in an all-digital audio chain compatible with DVD-Audio,"" said Niels Anderskouv, Worldwide Marketing Manager, Digital Audio. ""As the market moves toward the higher quality sound possible at 192kHz, TI is committed to offering customers products at the forefront of digital audio technology."" The TAS5015 is aimed at the high-end market and will be offered to a set of exclusive high-end equibitô licensees. These DVD-Audio chipsets aimed at the mass market will be available in Summer 2001, enabling new and exciting consumer and PC audio products in the mainstream market. More Power Efficiency, Higher Sound Fidelity The TAS5015 chip provides signal quality that pushes digital sound reproduction to the highest level of fidelity available today. The TAS5015 modulator accepts standard I2S, left and right justified 16- to 24-bit data streams sampled at 32 to 192kHz, then processes the pulse code modulated (PCM) input into a pulse width modulated (PWM) output. A discrete power stage (available under equibit license from TI) then converts the PWM signal into the digital power level required at the speaker, providing a very clean and crisp all-digital sound, while dissipating less than one-tenth the power of conventional Class A and Class AB amplifiers. New Benchmarks In Digital Audio Performance Improving the sound experience for the end user, the TAS5015 chip features a dynamic range ratio at 110dB. Alternatively, a total dynamic range of 130-140dB can be achieved by using a variable power supply, also available from TI. The high audio performance, power efficiency, low weight and small size of the true digital amplifiers make them well suited for all audio products including DVD-Audio, professional audio systems, and small form factor equipments that can benefit from the reduction in size of power supplies and heat sinks. TI's Complete Digital Audio Solution The new digital amplifier chip, combined with TI's previously announced TAS5000/TAS5100 chipset, provides a full range of high performance and affordable digital audio amplifiers. All members of the TAS5xxx family are based on industry-leading equibit technology from Toccata Technology, a company acquired by TI in March 2000. The TAS5015 digital audio amplifier is fully compatible with other elements of TI's complete digital audio solution. The solution, comprised of TI's programmable TMS320C54x digital signal processor (DSP) and strong portfolio of algorithms, including industry-standard formats such as DolbyÆ Digital, 3-D Surround Sound, DTSÆ Digital Surroundô, MP3 and Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), provides decoding capability. The TAS3xxx family of Dedicated Digital Audio Processors run advanced on-chip filtering algorithms, allowing on-the-fly configurable, high precision parametric equalization and speaker response correction, as well as dynamic range compression/expansion and artifact-free volume, bass and treble controls. The addition of the TAS5015 chip to these devices extends TI's digital audio technology to a wide spectrum of application needs, from mainstream consumer audio to DVD-Audio and professional equipment. Availability, Packaging And Pricing TI is now sampling the TAS5015 Digital Audio Chip under license to select equibit customers, with volume production scheduled for July 2001. The TAS5015 modulator is packaged in a 48-lead thin quad flatpack. Planned pricing is $25 in quantities of 1,000.