Analog Devices' Third-Generation SHARC Processors Provide Studio-Quality Sound for Mass-Market Audio Systems.

Entertainment Editors/Business Editors

NORWOOD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 9, 2003

ADI's SHARC Processors enable advanced surround sound and are

first to support latest Dolby and Microsoft Windows Media Audio 9

Professional Audio Algorithms.

Designers of audio/video receivers (AVRs), digital video disc (DVD) players, home-theater equipment and in-car entertainment systems are striving to bring studio-quality audio to customers quickly and at affordable prices. In response to this trend, Analog Devices, Inc. (NYSE: ADI), today announced its third generation of SHARC(R) Processors designed specifically to meet the needs of a broad range of consumer products. Audio industry leaders Denon, Dolby, Kenwood, Pioneer and Yamaha applaud the advancement. (See "Quote" section below.)

The new SHARC Processors feature high integration for lower system costs, support for the latest audio decoders and postprocessors, and numerous audio-specific on-chip peripherals. They empower manufacturers to offer everyday consumers the same listening experience already provided by previous generations of SHARC Processors in studio equipment from industry leaders such as DBX, Solid State Logic (SSL) and Mackie. Through its programmable design, the SHARC Processor offers manufacturers the ability to support new audio formats and post-processing technologies, enabling faster time-to-market for a broad range of products with different feature sets and price points.

Responding to consumer demand to bring the movie theater experience into the home, ADI has leveraged its industry leadership in studio pro audio equipment and high-end home theater to deliver affordable technologies to a wider range of consumer products. Furthermore, this expertise allows ADI to bring an equally robust experience to automotive audio systems.

"ADI has built a strong reputation in all segments of the professional and audiophile equipment markets, with the SHARC Processor recognized as a de facto standard for top-of-the-line AVRs, recording studio consoles and luxury-car audio systems," said Brian McAloon, group vice president and general manager, Digital Signal Processing Systems division, Analog Devices, Inc. "With our newest generation of processors, we are able to provide this same quality in audio signal processing for a broader range of applications, allowing our customers to add more functions and performance to their products at mass-market prices."

According to a recent IDC Report(1), the consumer audio market is seeing exponential growth. IDC estimates that the combined worldwide revenue of DVD recorders, home theater in a box (HTiB) systems and automotive DVD units will reach more than US$11 billion by 2005.

Being first-to-market is critical to remaining competitive for consumer electronics manufacturers. ADI fosters this competitive advantage by being first to be certified for consumer electronics equipment running Microsoft(R) Windows Media(R) Audio 9 Professional (WMA 9 Pro) and Dolby(R) Pro Logic(R) IIx.

About ADI's Third-Generation SHARC Processors

The new family of high-performance SHARC Processors provides a complete audio processing platform for automotive and consumer electronics manufacturers. With a total of 6Mbits of internal memory, the ADSP-21266 is targeted at the AVR market where on-chip support for a large number of audio decoders and postprocessors is required. The ADSP-21267 is a lower-cost version of the ADSP-21266 and offers 4Mbits of on-chip memory to very cost-sensitive car audio market segments. The ADSP-21364, with its high-performance sample rate converters, is targeted at the professional audio market while the ADSP-21365 is targeted at mid- and upper-level car audio applications.

Enabling higher audio sample rates and providing the computational capability to support the newest formats, the new SHARC Processors offer up to triple the performance over previous product generations and provide the highest overall performance in the industry for consumer audio applications. In addition to Dolby ProLogic IIx and Microsoft WMA 9 Pro, the new SHARC Processors support the full range of high-resolution audio formats, including PCM 96 kHz, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital EX, DTS(R) Discrete 6.1, DTS-ES(TM) Matrix 6.1, DTS 96/24 5.1, DTS Neo:6(TM), MPEG2, MPEG2 AAC and SRS(R). These audio algorithms enable functionality such as 7.1-channel audio, bass management and 96 kHz sampling rates to support the latest DVD formats.

The SHARC ADSP-21266 is sampling today and will be in production in Q1 2004. The ADSP-21267 and ADSP-21365 will be sampling in Q1 2004, and the ADSP-21364 will be sampling Q2 2004. Per-unit pricing in quantities of 10,000 units for the ADSP-21267 is $9.95, for the ADSP-21266 is $14.95, for the ADSP-21365 is $19.95, and for the ADSP-21364 is $24.95. For more information, please visit: www.analog.com/SHARC.

Partner and Customer Quotes in Support of SHARC

"Denon's philosophy has always been to utilize the most advanced audio and video technologies to deliver the best home entertainment experience to our customers," said Hirofumi Ichikawa, General Manager, Products & Marketing, Denon, Ltd. "By including Analog Devices' SHARC 32-bit DSP audio processors in our acclaimed AVR-5803 and AVR 3803 audio/visual receivers - as well as in our new D-M71DVSXP DVD receiver 2.1-channel home theater system, the world's first audio/video product to incorporate Dolby Virtual Speaker surround sound technology - Denon is able to offer a level of sonic performance that would simply not be possible otherwise."

"Whether you are a home theater enthusiast or surround sound novice, Dolby is committed to delivering a highly compelling home theater listening experience with technologies such as 7.1 channel Dolby Pro Logic IIx, Dolby Headphone or Dolby Virtual Speaker," said Craig Eggers, director consumer technology market at Dolby Laboratories. "Analog Devices, through its SHARC series of semiconductor products, has been a valuable partner to Dolby in introducing these technologies to the marketplace."

"Kenwood has continuously been at the forefront of audio innovation, creating exciting home multimedia products that make the latest advanced audio technologies accessible to our customers," said Eijiro Tamura, Chief Engineer, Home Electronics Division, Kenwood Corporation. "We selected SHARC processors in 2000 to ensure our products the highest possible audio quality. It's great to know that even more of our customers will be taking advantage of Kenwood products in home multimedia entertainment."

"Pioneer has recently introduced a breakthrough audio/visual entertainment product in Japan, which uses Analog Devices' SHARC audio processors. Pioneer's new top-of-the-line VSA-AX10Ai-N multichannel AV amplifier is the world's first AV amplifier to support Windows Media Audio 9 Professional (WMA 9 Pro), which is supported through ADI's SHARC Melody(R) Ultra chipset. With ADI's audio processors, we are able to give our customers the high levels of audio performance and quality that they expect from Pioneer products. The product is scheduled to be available in North America also as a receiver VSX-59TXi in January 2004," said Shirou Suzuki, manager for the AV Business Division, Home Entertainment Company, Pioneer Corporation.

"Yamaha originally started as a musical instrument maker, and we've continued to serve professional musicians, successfully adding consumer audio/video products to our mix. With our musical instrument heritage, and the advanced 7.1-channel surround sound, Yamaha leads in audio technology. We carefully select the parts for our products by evaluating every aspect, and Analog Devices' SHARC audio processors have long been an important part of our professional products. We are very excited about being able to include the audio performance of the SHARC Processors in a wider range of consumer audio products within our extensive product line," said Akihiro Muramatsu, General Manager, Home Theater Products Development, AV & IT Business Group, Yamaha Corp.

About Analog Devices

Analog Devices is a leading manufacturer of precision high-performance integrated circuits used in analog and digital signal processing applications. The company is headquartered in Norwood, Massachusetts, and employs approximately 8,400 people worldwide. It has manufacturing facilities in Massachusetts, California, North Carolina, Ireland, the Philippines and the United Kingdom. Analog Devices' stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the company is included in the S&P 500 Index.

(1) "Worldwide DVD Player Revenue by Form Factor, 2002-2007," IDC.

SHARC and Melody are registered trademarks of Analog Devices, Inc. All other trademarks included herein are the property of their respective owners.