Oxford Semiconductor FireWire Audio Controller Supports First Bus-Powered, High Fidelity Speakers from LaCie.MILPITAS, Calif. -- A FireWire audio controller from Oxford Semiconductor is the enabling technology behind the first ever bus-powered speakers from LaCie. LaCie's new FireWire Speakers boast a unique exterior design by Neil Poulton Neil Poulton (1963-) is a Scottish-born product designer, based in Paris, France. He specializes in the design of simple, mass-produced objects and has won numerous international design awards. , while using the Oxford Semiconductor OXFW970 chip to bring high-quality sound to desktops and notebooks via a single FireWire connection. The speakers also feature an audio line input for direct connection of MP3 players. "With FireWire ports in all MACs and gaining acceptance in more than 50% of Windows laptops, consumer applications that utilize the power of FireWire for audio and video applications are on the rise," said Sundar Vanchinathan, Oxford Semiconductor VP of Business Development. By harnessing FireWire's characteristically high line power capacity, the LaCie FireWire Speakers produce a minimum 8W output and as a consequence, achieve a deeper, richer sound than possible from limited 2W USB USB in full Universal Serial Bus Type of serial bus that allows peripheral devices (disks, modems, printers, digitizers, data gloves, etc.) to be easily connected to a computer. speakers. Being bus powered, the speakers remove the need for separate batteries or AC power adaptors. Compatible with FireWire, the OXFW970 takes in 24-bit serial audio data, samples it at 96 kHz, and produces digital sound from four I2S (Inter-IC Sound) An internal digital audio interface for consumer electronics devices such as CD and DVD players, sound processors and digital TV (DTV). It is also used between a digital controller and an analog/digital codec similar to the AC Link and HD Audio Link outputs. It also provides two audio inputs for instrument and microphone line inputs. In a 100-pin TQFP See QFP. package, the chip integrates an ARM7 processor, high-speed buffer manager, RAM and flash memory. By enabling digitized sound to be carried from the PC for distribution to a satellite speaker configuration with a built-in high precision audio DAC See D/A converter and discretionary access control. DAC - Digital to Analog Converter , the FireWire audio controller offers immunity from conducted noise, hum and crackle crackle /crack·le/ (krak´'l) rale. , which can be a feature of the analog audio output of some PCs. Through its FireWire audio controllers, Oxford Semiconductor has led the development of breakout boxes, external sound cards and multi-channel speaker systems, providing laptop users with quality sound for the very first time. Oxford's 3rd generation audio controller, the OXFW971, with the capability to support 16 inputs and 16 outputs along with SPDIF See S/PDIF. and MIDI, has been designed into leading suppliers to the music industry and is in production now. FireWire[R] is a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. About Oxford Semiconductor Oxford Semiconductor designs and markets high-performance connectivity solutions for the storage, multimedia, communication, computing, and industrial markets. Founded in 1992, Oxford Semiconductor is a privately owned company headquartered in Milpitas, California Milpitas (IPA pronunciation: mɪlpitʌs; inhabitants are called 'Milpitans') is a city in Santa Clara County, California. It is located with San Jose to its south and Fremont to its north, at the eastern end of Highway 237 and generally between Interstate freeways 680 and . Oxford Semiconductor recently acquired TransDimension, a fabless semiconductor company A fabless semiconductor company specializes in the design and sale of hardware devices implemented on semiconductor chips. It achieves an advantage by outsourcing the fabrication of the devices to a specialized semiconductor manufacturer called a semiconductor foundry or "fab. based in Irvine, Calif., adding USB connectivity solutions to its product portfolio. As the market leader in IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, New York, www.ieee.org) A membership organization that includes engineers, scientists and students in electronics and allied fields. 1394 (FireWire) and USB interface controllers for direct attached storage applications, Oxford Semiconductor has shipped more than 50 million devices, and today supplies all of the world's major external storage manufacturers. Oxford Semiconductor also has a strong reputation in high speed serial communication chips, and offers complete solutions for bridging between a wide-range of standard computer interfaces. Through its FireWire audio controllers, Oxford Semiconductor has led the development of breakout boxes, external sound cards and multi-channel speaker systems, providing laptop users with quality sound for the very first time. More information about Oxford Semiconductor can be found at http://www.oxsemi.com. About LaCie LaCie creates external storage solutions and color monitors that help professionals and everyday users easily manage their digital lives. Powerful technology combined with unique designs by the internationally acclaimed Philippe Starck, Neil Poulton, Porsche Design GmbH, Ora-Ito and Karim Rashid make LaCie the world leader in storage innovation. Established in France in 1989, LaCie is now headquartered in North America, Europe and Asia and listed on the Paris Nouveau Marche Nouveau Marche An equity market unit of the Paris Bourse that deals solely in innovative, high-growth companies. (code 5431). For more information, visit www.lacie.com. |
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