Technology with High Accuracy
July 2022
Perfect live sound,
made possible by perfect numerical accuracy
Is your listening experience faithful to the original?
An authentic listening experience must be free of added noise and distortion.
VELVET SOUND continuously improves performance and creates new technology in order to eliminate those distractions, revealing a world of real live sound.
Low-noise technology:
Reconstructing low-level signals with clarity
The AK4499EX has achieved performance of 135 dB SNR.
In order to deliver noise performance that approaches the theoretical limit, it's important to have high matching accuracy among the many resistor elements used to generate current output. The AK4499EX uses a new technology called DWA ROUTING to reduce the effect of element mismatch due to the manufacturing process. The resulting outstanding low noise performance makes it possible to accurately re-create low-level signals with perfect clarity, allowing for a wider range of audio expression.
*DEM --- Dynamic Element Matching
*DWA --- Data Weighted Average
AK4499EX
Reproduction of signals as quiet as -155dBFS – one 50 millionth of full scale.
Low-distortion technology
A more faithful re-creation
The AK4499EX's 124 dB THD+N was made possible by VELVET SOUND's low-distortion analog circuit technology, which has led to the development of many products that feature the low-distortion characteristics.
The elements used in semiconductor circuits are subject to various degradation factors which are the result of the manufacturing process. AKM's low-distortion design methodology identifies and addresses these degradation factors, making it possible for the AK4499EX to achieve the ultra-low distortion performance among high-end DACs.
The near-elimination of distortion allows for playback that is completely faithful to the original sound experience.
AK4499EX
Undesired components reduced to -124dB - a ratio of 1:1,500,000
A faithful re-creation of the original
Spectrum at 1kHz, 0dBFS input
Components other than the fundamental wave are suppressed.
THD + N (total harmonics other than the fundamental wave + noise integral value) -124 dB in the 20 kHz band is achieved.
Artifact-free technology:
More natural sound
The AK5578 / AK5572 achieve intermodulation distortion characteristic of 116 dB, in addition to a wide dynamic range of 121 dB (single-channel mode) to 130 dB (channel sum mode).
A music signal is comprised of multiple frequency components. The generation of spurious tones due to the interaction of these components is suppressed by VELVET SOUND's low-distortion technology.
This leads to a high spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR), enabling more natural sound reproduction.
AK5572
Spectrum at 800Hz, 1kHz dual tone input
Intermodulation components such as 200Hz, 600Hz, and 1.2kHz are suppressed, and intermodulation distortion of -116dB is achieved.