Burr-Brown Announces Development of DSD DAC chip for SACD

Last week, Burr-Brown Corporation announced the development of the DSD1700, which the company says is its first Direct Stream Digital (DSD) audio digital-to-analog converter. According to Burr-Brown, the converter is designed for Sony's DSD technology, which is used in Super Audio CD players, professional DSD processors, and DSD mixing consoles.

Burr-Brown says the DSD1700 was designed using the company's high-performance audio DAC technology under technical consultation with Sony Corporation for DSD technology. The device will directly convert 1-bit, 2.8224MHz digitally sampled data (the basic technology of Super Audio CD) to an analog signal, and will be available to equipment manufacturers later this year.

The converter is described as a single-channel DAC that will consist of a double differential analog FIR (Finite Impulse Response) filter. The company claims that it will feature a wide frequency range—up to 100kHz—and a Signal/Noise Ratio of more than 110dB. Furthermore, the DSD1700 is said to directly interface with a DSD decoder and operate on a system clock of 11.2896MHz (256fs).

Mike Centorino, audio product marketing manager at Burr-Brown, commented that "We are excited to work with Sony to produce our first DSD audio DAC for Super Audio CD. The DSD1700, in combination with Sony's DSD decoder, will allow the user to achieve the high performance and sound quality associated with the Direct Stream Digital technology."

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