Next Generation, Single Chip Decoders

[Desmo888]

Well it looks like the 2nd Generation DSP chips will be making an appearance in the market place in August with the release of some new AVR's and Pre-Pro's.

One processor I will be purchasing (as an upgrade) will have the new Texas Instruments Aureus Chip. Without getting meyered in the Technical aspects of this "single chip" solution, at least not for this post, I have a few questions about the Decodes/Stream Processing and Plug-In's.

This particular chip will decode:

DD, EX, & PLIIx;
DTS Digital, DTS EX (discrete and matrix) & DTS 96/24;
MPEG 2 AAC Multichannel; MPEG 4 AAC Stereo;
WMA 9, WMA 9 Pro, MP3, HDCD, ATRAC3 plus; &
DSD to PCM conversion

This particular chip will Stream Process:

PLIIx, D headphone, D Virtual Speaker
DTS Neo 6
THX Select2, THX Ultra2,
Various Effects
Double Precision (64 bit) Bass management

This particular chip will Encode:

Stereo: MP3, WMA version 8, ATRAC3 plus, MPEG 2 AAC
Multi Channel: DD 5.1 Creator

Third Party IP available (I assume this is plug-In):

Audyssey MultEQ XT, PrevEQ
SRS Circle Surround II, WOW, TruBass
Waves MaxxBass
Neural XM Surround

Some of these I know, but others are elusive... such as, "ATRAC3 plus" and the Audyssey stuff. I have read about Circle Surround II on this board (with good reviews) as being based on the Ambisonics algorithms - one that I have always wanted to get more familiar with.

Here is a flyer on the chip for more data:

www.ti.com/da710

With all of these features, are these capabilities slowly replacing the vintage circuitry of the 80's? Or does the vintage equipment possess qualities that has not (or can not) be recreated in an IC?

Also, no mention of the DTS - MA stuff; how relevant is this emerging codec?

 

[JonUrban]

Interesting! Thanks for the post.............

 

[ssully]

You can read about Audyssey room correction on the Audioholics site http://www.audioholics.com/education/acoustics-principles/audyssey-labs-multeq (and, I expect, on Audyssey's own site too)

 

[atrocity]

Some of these I know, but others are elusive... such as, "ATRAC3 plus"

ATRAC is Sony's lossy compression scheme used for MiniDisc and (if I'm not mistaken) theatrical SDDS. It's been through several generations and modifications over the years.

I'm not clear how alive or dead either MD or SDDS are. I've been a huge fan of MD over the years, but MP3 clearly won that format war.

 

[Desmo888]

You can read about Audyssey room correction on the Audioholics site http://www.audioholics.com/education...ey-labs-multeq (and, I expect, on Audyssey's own site too)

Thanks for the link!

ATRAC is Sony's lossy compression scheme used for MiniDisc and (if I'm not mistaken) theatrical SDDS. It's been through several generations and modifications over the years.

Cool, thanks for the info.