For fun, I took apart an old Sony A806 I had, since it had actual screws. Behold:
The DAC here appears to be a Cirrus Logic 42l51C, which the datasheet I read from Alldatasheet.com says is apparently both a 96kHz 24Bit oversampling DAC, and a headphone amp. (I thought it would actually be a Sony chip, but hey!
Next we'll find out that the Sony X shares DACs with the iPod nano)
CS42L51-CNZ datasheet pdf datenblatt - Cirrus Logic - Low Power, Stereo CODEC with Headphone Amp ::: ALLDATASHEET :::
The software chip is also a Xilinx chip, which is less interesting.
I'm a complete beginner when it comes to these kinds of things, but a couple of things from the data sheet caught my eye, which I'm trying to relate to the functions on the DAP:
1. The Cirrus chip notes that it has tone controls with 4 adjustment points. However, the actual EQ on the Sony walkman has 5 - four bands and the 'Clear Bass' band. Does this mean that the Sony EQ is actually software as opposed to hardware - or that the Clear Bass function is actually different from a standard EQ control?
2. Does the DAC actually perform oversampling to 96kHz/24? Is this related to DSEE - ie: Noise floor improvements? (I've read in RMAA tests that DSEE actually improves high frequency roll off on the Sony players.)
3. What does Clear Stereo actually do? Sony claims that "The Clear Stereo function enables individual left and right digital processing of the sound. This prevents audio signals leakage so that clear stereo sound of the original source can be reproduced." This almost sounds like dual DACs, but there only seems to be one to me. I don't think Clear Stereo is as simple as a tone control - it does have the effect of increasing stereo seperation widening the sound stage, at the cost of recessing vocals slightly and reducing detail. Is it some kind of hardware control?
4. Every recent higher end Sony DAP has DSEE, Clear Stereo etc functions. If these are hardware functions, then does that mean that they all share very similar DACs? Perhaps the Sony X has the same DAC but bypasses the cirrus headphone amp to go to it's own S-Master?
5. If not, then what DAC is actually in the Sony X? Anyone want to take apart their insanely expensive DAP to enlighten us?
Anyway, I'm just curious if anyone knows or wants to explore.
The DAC here appears to be a Cirrus Logic 42l51C, which the datasheet I read from Alldatasheet.com says is apparently both a 96kHz 24Bit oversampling DAC, and a headphone amp. (I thought it would actually be a Sony chip, but hey!
Next we'll find out that the Sony X shares DACs with the iPod nano)CS42L51-CNZ datasheet pdf datenblatt - Cirrus Logic - Low Power, Stereo CODEC with Headphone Amp ::: ALLDATASHEET :::
The software chip is also a Xilinx chip, which is less interesting.
I'm a complete beginner when it comes to these kinds of things, but a couple of things from the data sheet caught my eye, which I'm trying to relate to the functions on the DAP:
1. The Cirrus chip notes that it has tone controls with 4 adjustment points. However, the actual EQ on the Sony walkman has 5 - four bands and the 'Clear Bass' band. Does this mean that the Sony EQ is actually software as opposed to hardware - or that the Clear Bass function is actually different from a standard EQ control?
2. Does the DAC actually perform oversampling to 96kHz/24? Is this related to DSEE - ie: Noise floor improvements? (I've read in RMAA tests that DSEE actually improves high frequency roll off on the Sony players.)
3. What does Clear Stereo actually do? Sony claims that "The Clear Stereo function enables individual left and right digital processing of the sound. This prevents audio signals leakage so that clear stereo sound of the original source can be reproduced." This almost sounds like dual DACs, but there only seems to be one to me.
I don't think Clear Stereo is as simple as a tone control - it does have the effect of increasing stereo seperation widening the sound stage, at the cost of recessing vocals slightly and reducing detail. Is it some kind of hardware control?4. Every recent higher end Sony DAP has DSEE, Clear Stereo etc functions. If these are hardware functions, then does that mean that they all share very similar DACs? Perhaps the Sony X has the same DAC but bypasses the cirrus headphone amp to go to it's own S-Master?
5. If not, then what DAC is actually in the Sony X? Anyone want to take apart their insanely expensive DAP to enlighten us?
Anyway, I'm just curious if anyone knows or wants to explore.
