AK4499EQ - Best DAC ever

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diyralf

diyralf

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Joined 2016
AK4499EQ - Best DAC

In January 2019 comes the new DAC AK4499EQ from AKM. If you can believe the given values, then this DAC is probably the best that ever existed. Since we can look forward to even better audio analyzers. From the site: It achieves the world’s highest class of low THD+N and high S/N. Samples will be available in January, 2019, and Mass Production starts from May, 2019.


AK4499EQ: THD+N -124dB
AK4497EQ (predecessor): THD+N -116dB


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AK4499EQ | Audio D/A Converters | PRODUCTS | Asahi Kasei Microdevices (AKM)
 
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hollowman

hollowman

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Back in the early 2000s, TI intro'd the PCM1792 with 132db s/n (mono) ... and, like the new AKM, the TI is current output.
So, the 16 years or so between the monolithic designs has not improved specs all that much.
Ahh .... the designers must spent time with "careful" voicing and subjective tests ... yeah, that's it!!
Funny, tho ... neither TI nor Cirrus/Crystal have followed up -- over the same time frame -- with serious replacements: the 1792 and CS4398 are still in production.
Only AKM and ESS seem to be "re-inventing" their orig. SD designs from over a decade ago.

Note: The specs are claimed my manuf. per their datasheet.
 
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chris719

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hollowman said:
Back in the early 2000s, TI intro'd the PCM1792 with 132db s/n (mono) ... and, like the new AKM, the TI is current output.
So, the 16 years or so between the monolithic designs has not improved specs all that much.
Ahh .... the designers must spent time with "careful" voicing and subjective tests ... yeah, that's it!!
Funny, tho ... neither TI nor Cirrus/Crystal have followed up -- over the same time frame -- with serious replacements: the 1792 and CS4398 are still in production.
Only AKM and ESS seem to be "re-inventing" their orig. SD designs from over a decade ago.

Note: The specs are claimed my manuf. per their datasheet.
Click to expand...

CS43198 is a pretty good improvement over CS4398, especially given the power consumption and features.

TI probably doesn't feel the need to compete in this inaudible spec war.

The THD of the newer parts has improved, too. Especially if you compare the AKM DACs from the time PCM1792 was released to now. They may not have made huge progress relative to PCM1792, but they have come a pretty long way from their own products of the day.

Surely, you recognize it is difficult to squeeze out the last bit of performance. It's not easy to reach 23-bit performance.


abraxalito said:
Unlike the new AKM, the TI chip had a real current output (i.e. high impedance).
Click to expand...

Does it really matter? Current outputs are only useful for this spec war. Outside of the audiophile market (and maybe a few test and measurement folks), no one will buy a current output audio DAC.
 
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abraxalito

abraxalito

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chris719 said:
Does it really matter?
Click to expand...

Does to me. Can't speak for anyone else though.

Current outputs are only useful for this spec war.
Click to expand...

How so? I find current outputs useful as it allows filtering prior to any active stage and adding the filter does produce subjective improvement (not only to my ears). Trying to add a passive filter to an ESS or AKM resistor array DAC does look rather fraught to me.
 
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chris719

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abraxalito said:
Does to me. Can't speak for anyone else though.



How so? I find current outputs useful as it allows filtering prior to any active stage and adding the filter does produce subjective improvement (not only to my ears). Trying to add a passive filter to an ESS or AKM resistor array DAC does look rather fraught to me.
Click to expand...

Well, I won't argue about any subjective criteria, but my thought was that if the current output didn't give the best paper specs, even the Sabre would have been voltage out. Current outputs are like the manual transmission - enthusiasts like them and manufacturers hate them. Certainly I think there is an argument to be made that AK4497 (voltage out) brings the normal measurements to levels that are already overkill.
 
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chris719

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abraxalito said:
I think we're meaning different things by 'current output'. What I think you maybe mean is 'designed to feed into a short' whereas I mean 'current sourced from a high impedance'. I'm not arguing for resistor array DACs in either form.
Click to expand...

I suppose from your perspective there is a difference with what you want to do. For me, the switched resistor outputs are just a crappy low Z current source, but doesn't make that much difference if you're going straight into an op-amp virtual ground.

When I talk about voltage output I'm talking about the switched cap filter output DACs like the usual AKM and Cirrus parts. Which I think in their latter iterations are more than good enough already.
 
abraxalito

abraxalito

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chris719 said:
I suppose from your perspective there is a difference with what you want to do. For me, the switched resistor outputs are just a crappy low Z current source, but doesn't make that much difference if you're going straight into an op-amp virtual ground.
Click to expand...

Right from your PoV. From mine a 'current source' with a low impedance Zout isn't a real current source at all. PSRR suffers as a consequence, which makes having an ultra-clean reference supply a critical design requirement.
 
hollowman

hollowman

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The AKM 4499 datasheet opens with:
The AK4499 is a 32-bit 4ch Switched Resistor DAC which adopts newly developed technology, achieving the industry’s leading level low distortion and low noise characteristics.
Click to expand...
So what is a "Switched Resistor " DAC? Note that the Switched Resistor stage FOLLOWS the SD stage per the datasheet's block diagram. (only DSD not volume-controlled has a direct input to the Switched Resistor stage).
 
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Markw4

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Joined 2016
Anybody listen to AK4499 into an SOA low distortion amplifier? The dac distortion is not overkill if one listens carefully.

Obviously, its not a commodity part to put into a laptop though, if that sort of part is what some may see as being more than good enough.
 
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NicoB

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Joined 2012
I thinks now it's interesting to have a chip that allow to have the less components as possible at the output stage, no I/V Stage so voltage output for exemple.

Between the TI, AKM, CS, there is one that is easier to integrate ? Thanks to a bigger volt out may be ?
 
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JensH

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I think it is far too early to draw any conclusions regarding the best DAC IC. The Matrix DAC does seem to be very good, but who knows, perhaps a well-engineered AK4499 DAC can be made even better? I guess only time will tell.

We should distinguish between best complete DAC product and best DAC IC.
 
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