there was a discussion in another forum about current ADCs of choice and one user commented the following (conversation is culled from a succession of posts):
"Converters haven’t been an issue since 2019 when CL (Cirrus Logic) introduced their chip used in almost all current interfaces. It’s sold under many names so branding doesn’t matter"
to which someone replied
"Although the claim that their chip is being used in almost all current interfaces isn’t true, the fact that today’s converters are all good is true."
to which the original commenter replied
"Actually, it is true. An NDA prevents me from naming names but I get paid to tear things down and report what’s under the hood. The chip I’m referring to cost $4 (min. 1,000) in 2019 and is excellent. Of course everybody went with it."
I then asked "so AKM and ESS both use it?", and got the response of "You do know that NDA stands for Non Disclosure Agreement, right?"
we've seen the converging of SOTA gear in the last few years (esp on the DAC front where we are pushing the limit of measuring differences), but on the ADC side we also see mantufacturers diverging of late from classic low-distortion single ADC designs to multi-ADC designs to lower noisefloor/expand headroom at the cost of distortion when switching ADCs
looking at CLs current lineup, the CS530xP and CS530xS were released in 2023 and 2025 respectively
so the question is, can anyone shed light on what this chip design is and how common it is in the designs of major mfrs? Was it really the gamechanger this person makes it out to be?
at the chip level i would think it wouldnt be hard to sniff out rebrands by looking at form factor and pinouts on the datasheets
thoughts?
"Converters haven’t been an issue since 2019 when CL (Cirrus Logic) introduced their chip used in almost all current interfaces. It’s sold under many names so branding doesn’t matter"
to which someone replied
"Although the claim that their chip is being used in almost all current interfaces isn’t true, the fact that today’s converters are all good is true."
to which the original commenter replied
"Actually, it is true. An NDA prevents me from naming names but I get paid to tear things down and report what’s under the hood. The chip I’m referring to cost $4 (min. 1,000) in 2019 and is excellent. Of course everybody went with it."
I then asked "so AKM and ESS both use it?", and got the response of "You do know that NDA stands for Non Disclosure Agreement, right?"
we've seen the converging of SOTA gear in the last few years (esp on the DAC front where we are pushing the limit of measuring differences), but on the ADC side we also see mantufacturers diverging of late from classic low-distortion single ADC designs to multi-ADC designs to lower noisefloor/expand headroom at the cost of distortion when switching ADCs
looking at CLs current lineup, the CS530xP and CS530xS were released in 2023 and 2025 respectively
so the question is, can anyone shed light on what this chip design is and how common it is in the designs of major mfrs? Was it really the gamechanger this person makes it out to be?
at the chip level i would think it wouldnt be hard to sniff out rebrands by looking at form factor and pinouts on the datasheets
thoughts?
