THE JAPANESE MANUFACTURER LAUNCHES NEW FLAGSHIP DAC CHIP AFTER THE FIRE THAT DISRUPTED THE SUPPLY CHAIN IN 2020

Japanese manufacturer Asahi Kasei Microdevices (AKM) will present its new flagship stereo DAC chip for the first time to the public at the IPS/High End Munich 2022 Show in Munich.

The AKM VELVET SOUND™ | VERITA™ AK4499EX features a new design with a complete separation of digital and analogue circuitry.

Daishin Kashimoto, the 1st Concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmoniker, is the brand ambassador for AKM’s VELVET SOUND

AKM AK4499EX DAC

The AK4499EX is based upon its predecessor AK4499 Current Output DAC. When used in conjunction with the delta-sigma modulator AK4191, the AK4499EX is an analogue conversion solution for playback of ultra-high-resolution sound sources with a sample rate of up to 1536kHz in the 64-bit PCM frequency and a 44.8MHz sample rate DSD.

LOW JITTER CLOCK

With a signal-to-noise ratio of 135 dB per channel (A-wtd.) and a total harmonic distortion (THD) of -124 dB, the AK4499EX features newly developed “DWA (Data Weighted Averaging) Routing Technology, that suppresses noise caused by manufacturing process factors. The two-chip solution with the AK4499EX and the AK4191 provides high-precision D/A conversion with a low-jitter clock. The new asynchronous operation model featured in the AK4191 makes it possible to completely separate the digital and analogue portions of the clocking.

AKM AK4499EX DAC APPLICATIONS AND AVAILABILITY

Application fields for the new flagship DAC are for example USB DACs, CD/SACD players, wireless speaker systems, soundbars, digital audio players, electronic musical instruments, audio interfaces, and digital mixers.

Sample shipments of the AK4499EX are expected to begin in the second quarter of 2022, with volume production in the third quarter of 2022.

HIGH END MUNICH 2022 AND IPS 2022

Customers can listen to the AK4499EX at AKM’s booth at IPS (International Parts + Supply), which will be held in conjunction with HIGHEND® Munich 2022. Both the new flagship DAC AK4499EX (with AK4191), and the new premium DAC AK4493S will be unveiled for listening demonstrations for the first time at the exhibition booth.

Get all of the High End Munich 2022 news and coverage here!