DAC ESS Technology ES9033Q: 2V stereo output in a 6x6mm case
American semiconductor company ESS Technology has introduced a 2-channel DAC ES9033Q. As stated, the novelty can seriously simplify the circuitry of new DACs – large and small. The fact is that two linear drivers are integrated into the general case, providing an output signal with a span of 2 V — additional analog stages can be sharply reduced, or even completely removed.
A quartz or other frequency generator is also not needed — it will be replaced by a phase-locked frequency control (PLL) system built directly into the chip. At the same time, the new product processes PCM at frequencies up to 768 kHz and DSD up to DSD512, as well as TDM and DoP formats. There are several programmable input signal options: I2C, SPI, and others.
At the same time, the THD + N index of the ES9033Q is not worse than -108 dB in each channel. How tiny the devices based on the ES9033Q DAC can be can be judged by the body of this chip. It is issued in the QFN 28 form factor: it is a 6-mm square, on each side of which there are seven contacts.
Manufacturers of audio equipment have already been offered an evaluation board and a reference design of the device based on the new chip.
