Boston Acoustics decides on USB audio controller from Micronas (0003)

The sound card will be rendered obsolete

February 2000 - Micronas has announced that Boston Acoustics, Inc. has selected Micronas' USB Audio Controller, UAC 3552A, for its premier digital multimedia sound systems, ideally suited for the new trend of all-in-one PCs.

The Boston Acoustics BA735 USB delivers three critically important benefits to the end user that sound card/speaker combinations can not - fast digital streaming through the USB connection, easy hookup to the computer, and four-channel gaming with only two front satellite speakers. This renders the sound card obsolete, taking the costs out of the PC.

This subwoofer/satellite system received high praise from attendees at the October Plugfest in Milpitas, Silicon Valley, and was chosen the standard USB speaker for all the USB Implementers Forum' (USB-IF) test and debug suites at the Plugfest in January. Boston's speakers were the first USB speakers performing flawlessly when connected to the computer through five linked hubs. As a result of the excellent performance, the USB-IF has selected Boston Acoustics as the USB speaker in the "Gold Tree" of USB devices. "Gold Tree" devices represent the latest in cutting edge technology for USB devices and are used to test all USB peripherals and systems seeking the USB logo.

The Micronas audio controller chip contains everything required to balance a loudspeaker enclosure and connect speakers directly to a personal computer without the use of a sound card, which makes retrieving high-quality music from the PC (e.g., via MP3) possible at a lower price.

The integration on the Micronas chip of a DSP (96 MIPS, 48 MHz, pipelined), EEPROM, digital-to-analog converter, operation amplifier, and a USB controller gives speaker manufacturers a wide scope of new options while they don't require external components such as microcontrollers, DSPs, or analog ICs in order to implement their design. The UAC 3552A performs the entire baseband processing of the audio signal. Since the audio signals are transmitted digitally to the peripherals, no noise problems will arise, and the sound quality does not differ from that of an expensive CD player.

Due to the on-chip EEPROM, the speaker manufacturer gets a completly new level of freedom and flexibility in designing new systems. One design can be used for different speakers; only the content of the EEPROM needs to be matched with the corresponding speaker type. Once created, designs can be used repeatedly. The manufacturer can pass on tonal characteristics measured in the laboratory, for example supplying classic, jazz, or pop settings as presets for the embedded equalizer. This allows a PC and speaker system equipped with the UAC 3552A to be configured for optimal performance.

The Boston Acoustics digital audio system will be available as an upgrade option on Gateway's new Astro and Profile computer systems.