DAC/ADC/FPGA Chip Manufacturers

[MC_RME]

What definition?

I replied to the post prior to mine:
Muslhead wrote: "xilinx is no more a microcontroller company as it is an op amp company even though they have op amps as logic cores"

 

[Killingbeans]

Ahh yes, I see. Of course you are right. After all, it's 'Field-Programmable Gate Array' and not 'Field-Programmable Op-amp Array'

 

[pozz]

A special category is needed for a DAC from Mola Mola:
- https://www.mola-mola.nl/dac.php

It uses ADI SHARC audio processors (DSP):
- https://www.analog.com/en/products/...ocessors-dsp/sharc-audio-processors-socs.html

As @mansr and @Killingbeans said above, these will be labelled Custom/Discrete.

 

[muslhead]

Ahh yes, I see. Of course you are right. After all, it's 'Field-Programmable Gate Array' and not 'Field-Programmable Op-amp Array'

its a programmable gate array. note the word programmable. I referenced an op amp (analog not digital) to address the point of a gate array being digital. It can be anything you can program it to be.
Jeesh
Dont make it anymore than you can/cant understand.

 

[mansr]

its a programmable gate array. note the word programmable. I referenced an op amp (analog not digital) to address the point of a gate array being digital. It can be anything you can program it to be.

And you can't program it to be an opamp.

 

[Veri]

A special category is needed for a DAC from Mola Mola:
- https://www.mola-mola.nl/dac.php

It uses ADI SHARC audio processors (DSP):
- https://www.analog.com/en/products/...ocessors-dsp/sharc-audio-processors-socs.html

There's ESS 9038Pro implementations that use an ADI SHARC processor for sampling or DSP purposes, Mola Mola is using it for oversampling to the rate needed in its discrete implementation. But to say the SHARC is special to the Mola Mola is false.

 

[Killingbeans]

Jeesh
Dont make it anymore than you can/cant understand.

I wasn't trying to get on a high horse. Misunderstood what you were writing, that's all. I get your point now.

And you can't program it to be an opamp.

You actually can get op-amp like behaviour from gates. I assume you get abysmal performance compared to the "real" thing(?), but it can be done.

 

[mansr]

You actually can get op-amp like behaviour from gates. I assume you get abysmal performance compared to the "real" thing(?), but it can be done.

A CMOS inverter with suitable negative feedback can be, and occasionally is, used as an amplifier. I can't see how you'd do that in an FPGA, though, since it doesn't let you connect the necessary resistors.

 

[Killingbeans]

Yeah, muslhead wasn't completely wrong when he/she implied that my experience with FPGAs is limited. I'll let him/her grab the torch on this one.

 

[Killingbeans]

Spent 20 years either at or competitors of many of the companies listed by the op

Your profile info has you listed as 19 years old?

 

[bennetng]

Populating the list of chips for the devices tested on ASR has led to a lot of research into semiconductor companies.

I'm mostly making this thread to ask questions and make a few notes, since audio product manufacturers are sometimes unclear about which chip or brand they use.

ADC/DAC Chip Companies

• AKM Semiconductor
• Analog Devices
• Burr-Brown (acquired by Texas Instruments in 2000)
• C-Media Electronics
• Cambridge Silicon Radio (acquired by Qualcomm in 2015)
• Cirrus Logic
• Conexant (acquired by Synaptics in 2017)
• ESS Technology
• IDT
• NXP Semiconductors
• Pacific Microsonics
• Philips Semiconductors (named changed to NXP Semiconductors in 2006)
• Qualcomm
• Realtek
• Signetics (acquired by Philips and name changed to Philips Semiconductors in 1975, whose own name changed to NXP Semiconductors in 2006)
• Texas Instruments
• Wolfson Microelectronics (acquired by Cirrus Logic in 2014)

Microcontroller/FPGA Companies

• Atmel (acquired by Microchip Technology in 2016)
• STMicroelectronics
• Xilinx

VIA
https://www.viatech.com/en/silicon/legacy/audio/

 

[pavuol]

Rohm Semiconductor (JP)
Renesas Electronics Corporation (JP)

 

[muslhead]

Your profile info has you listed as 19 years old?

thats not my age, its my iq

 

[Killingbeans]

What a coincidence. Its' my IQ too.

 

[pavuol]

KTMicro (CN) / fabless company

 

[pavuol]

Yamaha makes some chips too (or maybe just designs..)

Electronic Devices - Yamaha Corporation

Sound solutions through acoustic components and various devices for automotive industry, consumer equipment and optical transmission system

device.yamaha.com

There was some older list of phones with "better" DACs and One Plus One was confirmed phone featuring Yamaha's chip/codec.