HIFI audio decoding chip introduction

Many fans are struggling to find which decoder is best for them. Here is a brief introduction.

The more common high-end decoder chips have the following:

Remark 1: As long as the following models can be designed, tuning, and doing well, you can produce the best sound, the effect is difficult to distinguish, each has its own characteristics, each has its own strengths. The chip's indicators do not represent the sound of the sound, the key to the surrounding circuit design, determines the quality of the final output sound.

Remark 2: The following sound explanations are the highest level that can be achieved according to the design tuning ability of "Music Sword God". It does not include or guarantee that other brands use the same chip to achieve the same effect. I feel that there are not a few that have passed the exam. If it is found to be introduced with us, it must be pirated.

1, TDA1541: Philips top CD machine king, a large number of uses. Although it is 16BIT, the effect is first-class 10 years ago, the midrange is warm and charming, and the music is full of flavor. It is a warm and sweet type, suitable for classical and listening to human voices. It is the best of these models. The disadvantage is that the solution and dynamics are limited by 16BIT, which is slightly insufficient, but not bad. Production is easy to succeed. Belong to the old Huang Zhong. Some people feel very good and like the taste. I guess that the equipment around him is not the best, the sound is hard, the sound of the loose sound, and the hard sound equipment, has a good reconciliation effect. But with the more upscale, such as our music swordsman's equipment, the defects of 1541 are exposed without a doubt. I personally feel that the high-pitched resolving power is not enough, the transparency of the high-end equipment, the inspiration, and the lack of reverberation. The midrange is warm, but lacks the medium spirit, can not produce people to resonate, feel the visceral micro-shock, and the cordial midrange. The bass is relatively good, relatively loose type, some people like it, but I think the ability is more suitable for most customers' hobbies. Sword God commented on him: 50 points, failed.

2, TDA1547: The upgraded version of 1541, the index is higher, but the big manufacturers such as Philips feel bad, or continue to use 1541. Very enthusiasts feel that the music taste is not as good as 1541, so although the index is high, the actual effect is not necessarily better than 1541, the number of manufacturers used is small, and the maturity of peripheral supporting circuit design is relatively low.

3, PCM63: A generation of classics, a lot of machines. I don't have much research on this. It is also a relatively old chip.

4, AD1955: A chip that people love and hate, the details and dynamics are very good, the energy sense is good, except PCM1704/1794, probably this is the highest detail / dynamic / resolution, is a fierce type. However, some people feel that the sound is like a boiled water, lacking in musicality. Anyway, this is good. But I found that this 1955 is very difficult to do, the treble is easy to hair, I have heard that several AD1955 will not work, all the treble is too bright and harsh + lack of musical appeal, and have not heard the case of success. According to the fans, the "Yutian" version of the 1955 is good, but the price is very good. The design of the AD1955 needs to be software programmed, and it is difficult to fully exploit the advantages if only hardware is used.

5, CS4397: Crystal company chip, high-end main models. The voice is neutral, the music is good, the resolution and dynamics are higher than TDA1541, and the music tastes higher than AD1955, which is between the styles of 1541 and 1955. This special feature makes the sound thicker, the treble is the most delicate, and it belongs to the neutral warm type of sound, and the sound is sweet. A large number of famous machines are used, such as the US MBO machine, with many reference lines and mature design. 4397 is a big foot.

CS4390: The sound tastes good. It belongs to the more you listen to the more flavor type, the sound is more peaceful, the music is strong, and it belongs to the European style.

CS4396: The sound is good, the bass is powerful, the treble is also good, and I like it all. It belongs to the style of the American system. It is full of movement and quite AD1955 style.

6, CS43122: 2 points better than the CS4397 high-pitched solution, the mid-range difference is 1 point, the bass texture is 1 point better, the actual effect is 10% better, the tone is slightly different. It was the top model of the crystal company that year. The chip is now quite productive.

7, CS4398: CS43122 launched after the discontinuation of the new chip, the highest level of the current Crystal company. The sound style is similar to that of the CS43122, and now runs side by side with the CS4397 in the DAC decoder chip market. The surrounding circuit is designed well, and the dynamic is not inferior to the higher index chips such as PCM1704/1794. The sound that is expressed: warm and delicate, probably the most delicate of these top-level chips, listening to singing is very good, full of emotions, good performance, dynamic indicators are also very high, soft belt just. 4398 is a small foot.

8, PCM1704: Before the 1794 did not come out, this is the world's first. For example, Mai Jingtu MX-5000, CD machine king, a large number of uses. The old chip, the surrounding supporting design is mature, the actual effect is difficult to distinguish between the new 1794. It seems that I have to do more than 2,500, and Rite has made a 8,000 yuan, and the price is relatively expensive. The sound is very calm, the bass is good, the energy is sufficient, the dynamic is fierce, and it is a more fierce type. The sound is not thick, the vocal performance is also very good, belonging to the middle of the soft. It is a pity that the output current of the 1704 is relatively small, only a few milliamps, so after using multiple pieces of parallel connection, increase its output current, it has better effect, and the multi-parallel 1704 natural price is not cheap.

9, PCM1794: Following the 1704, now in the new chip, the performance indicators recognized the world's first. The details, dynamics, and resolution are as impeccable as the 1704, and there is a pretty good musical taste, and the sound effects are almost identical to the PCM1704. It belongs to, relaxed atmosphere, light weight, very relaxed and leisurely, the dynamic performance of the bass is also in place, the listening is easy, and the static type can be static. It is more expensive and requires more complicated supporting lines to achieve the highest and strongest results. After listening to the good 1704/1794, the sound is hard to forget. Many foreign countries use 1704/1794 as the core, and decoders that make more than 10,000 yuan abound. What's more, 2 parallel or 2 differential + 2 parallel (four in total) is used for decoding, so that his dynamics can be doubled and the current driving capability is doubled to achieve extremely high effects. The sound is also thicker. Selling tens of thousands is cheap. The PCM1794 itself has a strong current output capability, which is several times that of the 1704, so it can be very effective with a 1794. Moreover, the PCM1794 chip itself is designed to support dual parallel mono mode, one channel with a 1794, the effect is even better 30%.

10, PCM1792: 1794 and 1792 technical indicators, performance, feet, are exactly the same. The difference is that the 1794 supports hardware control and the 1792 supports software control. Because the 1792 design also needs to add a software to write, the warranty replacement is more troublesome, so the general HIFI designers prefer to use 1794 or 1704. Those who are familiar with digital software design like to use PCM1792. Unfortunately, people who use 1792 are generally only familiar with digital circuits and do not understand HIFI, so the effect of making 1792 machines is flat. As a result, the sales volume of 1794 is several times that of 1792. There are many manufacturers and the peripheral circuit design is more mature.

11, PCM1798: 1794, 1792, 1798 is 3 brothers, PCM1798 is a simplified version of 1794/1792, cost-effective.

12, PCM1793: 1793, this small DD, can not be considered a high-end DAC chip, but now there are many people, but also asked me a lot of people, so I wrote here, this PCM positioning, lower than 1798 2 The file is also a cost-effective product, but the surrounding supporting circuit is simple and easy to make. The sound coming out is not bad. It is very standard and correct. It doesn't need to use components too much, and the tuning is relatively simple. Some people feel that they are doing well, they can completely PK off Huang Zhong 1541. After all, the times are improving. According to my pricing of his voice, 1794 is 100%, then 1793 has 1794, 50% effect.

Under the same peripheral design conditions, DAC chip sound effects, comprehensive ranking:

1st place: PCM1794/PCM1792/PCM1704. (So ​​far the world's first effect of the chip, as if it has not found better yet)

2nd place: CS43122/CS4398/CS4397/CS4396. (The best CS43122 is discontinued, otherwise it is fully capable and PCM1794 to PK, but unfortunately, only CS4398 can be bought in large quantities now)

No. 3: AD1955 (because AD1955 has changed greatly with the design level, it is not good enough to do 1%, so the old 3 is temporarily arranged. If it is designed, it can be old 2)

4th place: Sorry, the others have not heard of passing. "Music Sword God" only studies, can make the world's first decoder, the DAC chip needed. It is said that the new WM8741 is OK, but it seems that it has not been compared to 4398.