AKM AK4493 vs. AKM 4493S

[mike7877]

Sometimes AKM likes to be annoying for no reason and decides to make it hard to get one of their datasheets.
So I got the one for the 4493S and made a 4493 vs. 4493S comparison in image formatfor anyone who's interested!
It was released last year, and is used in the Topping DX1. It's also quite common in other DAC products as well

I wish when you pasted images into this forum software, that the image retained proper scaling instead of the stretching to like ~120%
I pasted and resized it as close to 100% as I could. It's now 100% +-1%, maybe.. Unless further resizing happens elsewhere. It's so much less clear than it was when I made it in paint! lol

 

[voodooless]

A tiny bit better performance, and a bit lower power. Probably due to the new fab technology. Don't know where you see the 79% power reduction? It seems to be more like 20% ?

 

[mike7877]

A tiny bit better performance, and a bit lower power. Probably due to the new fab technology. Don't know where you see the 79% power reduction? It seems to be more like 20% ?

"rail current is reduced to 79%"

I like the improvement -I have the DX1 and this chip enabled its performance to be as amazing as it is for just $100USD. I think the bulk price is somewhere around 7-11USD, depending on the vendor and quantity purchased

Funny thing: 99% of the 4493S datasheet is exactly the same as the older 4493 - so much so, that they might have just tweaked manufacturing.
LDOE pin "L" and the higher power consumption there is literally the only complete difference I remember seeing. All the filters are the same, all the way down to 0.01dB.. everything!

 

[AnalogSteph]

They didn't have any reason to change anything about the digital side... the 4493 wasn't an old product anyway. They just had to respin it using their new production facilities, and no doubt the faster the better, given that it is one of their bread and butter models.

 

[antcollinet]

A tiny bit better performance

Almost certainly swamped by implementation quality

 

[mike7877]

They didn't have any reason to change anything about the digital side... the 4493 wasn't an old product anyway. They just had to respin it using their new production facilities, and no doubt the faster the better, given that it is one of their bread and butter models.

I think it's possible that AKM's production facility was the victim of arson like the literally thousands of food manufacturing/processing plants that have been burned to the ground over the last 2 years (occurrence of these fires up many thousands percent). Those were mostly in the states, but geesh! So many things have been burning down everywhere!

Do you think AKM's insurance paid for their stuff to be replaced, and because only more advanced stuff is available now, they got free upgrades?!
I wonder if they made all their chips on the same machines before, or if they had some older and some newer machines, with the more advanced/newer machines being used to make their flagships with.
If they were all the same and the 4493 came out like this (with an S on the end!), I wonder what their other DACs will come out like.

The 4490R looked the same on the surface, but that was just 44.1/48kHz. at 96k, its THD+n improved 3dB, and at 192 it improved another 3dB! I only glanced at that datasheet, but I'm pretty sure that, like the 4493S, everything else was pretty much the same as the ver. sans-"R"

 

[voodooless]

I think it's safe to say that they had to re-engineer the chips for the new fab. The fact that the flagships remained available makes sense: they wanted to maximize the profit of the remaining machines, so the high-end models remained in production the longest.

Knew knowledge led to the re-engineered chips to have slightly better performance. Great for us.

Do you think AKM's insurance paid for their stuff to be replaced, and because only more advanced stuff is available now, they got free upgrades?!

I'm certain they did not get a lot for free. The re-engineering of chips is costly and needed for the new machines. Even if the compensation was fair, the time they had to spend on it would be lost, so this would inevitably delay new products.

 

[MCH]

After the fire they said they were outsourcing production while things don't get back to normal. By February 2022 they said they had not decided yet if they rebuild the factory or not. Who knows by whom and where those chips were made (and who cares really)

 

[voodooless]

"rail current is reduced to 79%"

Curious wording, you should go into marketing

 

[weme]

For developers, but also for users, it is helpful and time-saving if components are compared on the basis of values guaranteed by the manufacturer.

Example values for the DAC:
Analogue Characteristics for AK4493 and AK4493S:
THD+N (fs=44.1kHz | BW=20kHz | 0dBFS): Typ. -113 dB | Max. -105 dB
...
In addition, there are the other necessary components, i.e. in this example the output circuit. Guaranteed values can only be reached if the construction of a unit is optimal.

Production machines also have tolerances and it takes some time - until through modifications to the manufacturing process - a new production machine delivers the desired quality.

So that the products manufactured on different machines can be distinguished more quickly, there is the new designation AK4493S for the old AK4493.

 

[MAB]

I think it's possible that AKM's production facility was the victim of arson

Accepting that anything is possible, can you source this? Or are you speculating?

 

[mike7877]

For developers, but also for users, it is helpful and time-saving if components are compared on the basis of values guaranteed by the manufacturer.

Example values for the DAC:
Analogue Characteristics for AK4493 and AK4493S:
THD+N (fs=44.1kHz | BW=20kHz | 0dBFS): Typ. -113 dB | Max. -105 dB
...
In addition, there are the other necessary components, i.e. in this example the output circuit. Guaranteed values can only be reached if the construction of a unit is optimal.

Production machines also have tolerances and it takes some time - until through modifications to the manufacturing process - a new production machine delivers the desired quality.

So that the products manufactured on different machines can be distinguished more quickly, there is the new designation AK4493S for the old AK4493.

We can upload PDFs? That's awesome...

Will AKM get mad or ask for it to be taken down?

 

[mike7877]

Accepting that anything is possible, can you source this? Or are you speculating?

Just speculation. I'm probably wrong

 

[mike7877]

Double post, please delete or ignore

 

[Jazz]

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