AK4493S / AK4490R Advanced VELVET SOUND Technology
Developer's Interview
Inside Story #03
INSIDE
AKM has released the AK4493S and AK4490R DACs, as new products under the VELVET SOUND brand. We interviewed the developers about the latest evolution of VELVET SOUND technology.
Seiko Makamoto
Seiko Makamoto, VELVET SOUND Product Development Expert
Manager, Group 3 Product Development Dept.1
Product Development Center, Asahi Kasei Microdevices Corporation
Tomonori Sato
Tomonori Sato, Audio Meister
Marketing & Sales Center, Asahi Kasei Microdevices Corporation
Sato entered Asahi Kasei Corporation in 1998. Since then he has been involved in the development of ICs for audio equipment and internationally pioneered the planning of 32-bit DACs and ADCs. In 2009, he became the Audio Meister of Asahi Kasei Microdevices. Since then, he has brought into the world the VELVET SOUND series of DAC chips, including the AK4490, AK4497, and AK4499. They are used in numerous pieces of audio equipment. One of the recordings he uses to review sound quality is the 1988 Philips Saint-Saens: Carnival of the Animals performed by Argerich, Kremer and others. His hobby is making speakers and he uses an exclusive Fostex unit to listen through his own enclosures.
