New Audio Processors for Digital TV and MP3 Player - Texas Instruments TAS3208 and TAS3204

Texas Instruments announced the new TAS3208 and TAS3204 audio processors. The TAS3208 is optimized for  audio systems of flat-panel digital TV. The TAS3204 is designed for MP3 player sound processing. The chips support an extensive portfolio of pre-programmed basic audio functions and advanced audio algorithms. This chips fully support third-party virtual surround sound algorithms, such as Dolby and SRS, as well as a number of license-free TI algorithms.

The release of those chips is on respond of market demand,  audio processors which small enough to fit into sliver of space and still generate high quality sound that will fill the room. TI claim, these new audio processors offer analog integration and control and high performance audio output at a very low price.

The TAS3208 and TAS3204 are audio-specific DSP, integrated with analog data converters to provide a complete system-on-a-chip (SoC) audio solution. The processor clocked at 135-MHz and able to serve up to five simultaneous operations per cycle. This processor handle the control, communication interface and other basic processing task. The embedded signal processor of this chips enhance the audio response of low-cost speakers and acoustical enclosures by enabling custom digital equalization and dynamic signal processing.

The TAS3208 and TAS3204 are fully programmable, enabling the implementation of customized algorithms. Multiple digital I/O channels, delay memory and a host of other features ensure these devices are flexible enough to meet the needs of a variety of audio applications.

To provide sufficient precision and processing power for audio applications, TAS3208 and TAS3204 are armed with 48-bit data path with a 140-dB dynamic range and a unique single-cycle 76-bit accumulator.

From TAS3108 to TAS3208
The TAS3208 is improvement of TAS3108 stand-alone audio DSP launched in 2006. TAS3208 includes all of the audio functionality necessary for digital TV applications. The TAS3208 is designed specifically to address the multiple digital and analog audio source processing requirements of flat-panel TV systems. The analog features of the TAS3208 include 10 stereo input pairs and three stereo output pairs coupled with high-performance data converters. This provides the multi-speaker capability and enhanced audio experience required by HDTVs to match their video quality. The integrated analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) and digital-to-analog converters (DACs) provide better than 93-dB and 97-dB of dynamic range, respectively. The TAS3208 also supports multiple digital I/O channels in I2S and SPDIF format. The TAS3208 can support speaker configurations of up to 5.1 channels.

The TAS3204 for Audiophile Experience
The TAS3204 is designed specifically for digital music player docking station. The high-performance ADCs and DACs offering 102-dB and 105-dB of dynamic range, respectively. Combined with the high-precision digital core, this ensures a low-cost system can offer an immersive listening experience. Two stereo digital I2S input and output channels are also included. The TAS3204 is ideal for bi-amped or 2.1 speaker configurations.

PurePath Studio
TI's offers PurePath Studio, a graphical environment to simplify the software developmentof the TAS3208 and TAS3204.

Pricing at 10K:
TAS3208 is priced at $5.53 each
TAS3204 is priced at $5.28 each

Source: Texas Instruments