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| Analog Devices’ Sharc Brings Dolby Headphone Audio To
Audio-Technica’s High-End Digital Wireless Headphones
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ATH-DWL5000 headphone system uses SHARC processing to
model 5.1 channel surround sound audio
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Blackfin Processor Press Releases Blackfin Processors
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Tokyo (February 20, 2008) -
Analog Devices, Inc. (NYSE: ADI) today announced that Audio-Technica’s ATH-DWL5000 Digital Wireless Headphone System is using ADI’s SHARC® processor to bring a 5.1 channel surround-sound experience to users of stereo audio equipment. The SHARC ADSP-21266 provides the key surround formats decoding and Dolby® Headphone and Dolby Virtual Speaker post-processing within the wireless headphone system, allowing convenient, personal surround listening without the need for a home theater speaker setup. Engineered to please the discerning audiophile, the new high-end headphones became available in Japan at the end of November 2007.
In addition to Dolby Digital, DTS® Digital Surround, and MPEG-2 AAC, the SHARC ADSP-21266 also performs Dolby Headphone and Dolby Virtual Speaker processing in the new Audio-Technica digital wireless headphones.
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“Our new digital wireless headphone system had to live up to the Audio-Technica tradition of providing the ultimate in professional and consumer audio products,” said Yoshio Aida, General Manager, Engineering Dept. of Audio-Technica Corporation in Tokyo. “Our design specification called for handling decoding and post-processing on a single chip, and SHARC has the 32-bit floating-point power that performs. Time to market was essential as well: ADI worked with us to provide processors embedded with the required decoders, and SHARC has the right audio-centric peripherals. We also knew SHARC has been successful in other audio products with similar technical demands.”
“True-to-life sound quality was Audio-Technica’s priority, which makes us especially pleased to be chosen for this upmarket product,” said Paul Wheeler, Japan Regional Director, GP-DSP Products Division, Analog Devices K.K. “In addition to the other strengths of SHARC in audio, Audio-Technica saw our longstanding record of supporting licensed audio technologies from Dolby and DTS as a convincing advantage.”
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Design Priority: Sound Quality
For high-end applications such as Audio-Technica’s, SHARC processors provide wide dynamic range for superior audio performance. Large on-chip SRAM, sophisticated Direct Memory Access (DMA) capabilities, and intuitive audio-specific peripherals optimize the system architecture and performance. The on-chip ROM audio decoding algorithms, in combination with post-processing algorithms, enable sound quality with the richness intended by the producers of the original audio tracks.
The design also makes use of the SHARC ADSP-21266 processor’s Digital Audio Interface (DAI), which enables the system designer to allocate hardware pin assignments freely and connect the respective signals to the internal peripherals via software. This powerful routing matrix simplifies hardware design for complex audio systems and facilitates system diversity with its software programmable approach.
With its emphasis on superb sound quality, the Audio-Technica ATH-DWL5000 Digital Wireless Headphone System in addition features a large φ53 mm driver to produce full, deep sound without compromise. All parts of the headset including the battery compartment are integrated into the headband to avoid interfering with the acoustics.
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About Audio-Technica
Celebrating over 45 years of audio excellence, Audio-Technica is a worldwide group of companies renowned for a broad range of consumer and professional audio products, including high-performance headphones, microphones, wireless systems, turntables, and phono cartridges. Winner of numerous industry awards, Audio-Technica designs and manufactures products that set quality, durability and price/performance standards for major concert tours, broadcast and recording studios, corporate and government facilities, theaters, house-of-worship venues, and consumer applications. Learn more at www.audio-technica.com.
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About Analog Devices
Innovation, performance, and excellence are the cultural pillars on which Analog Devices has built one of the longest standing, highest growth companies within the technology sector. Acknowledged industry-wide as the world leader in data conversion and signal conditioning technology, Analog Devices serves over 60,000 customers, representing virtually all types of electronic equipment. Celebrating over 40 years as a leading global manufacturer of high-performance integrated circuits used in analog and digital signal processing applications, Analog Devices is headquartered in Norwood, Massachusetts, with design and manufacturing facilities throughout the world. Analog Devices' common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “ADI” and is included in the S&P 500 Index.
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1 SHARC is a registered trademark of Analog Devices, Inc. Dolby is a registered trademark of Dolby Laboratories. DTS is a registered trademark of DTS, Inc. All other trademarks included herein are the property of their respective owners.
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| Editor's Contact Information: |
| Jessen Wehrwein |
| 781-461-3337 |
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jessen.wehrwein@analog.com |
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