Japanese electronic component manufacturer ROHM Semiconductor has a strong connection with music and audio, being the source for a wide range of audio converters, amplifiers, and processors. Recently, ROHM started a new development project for a variety of new high fidelity solutions supporting high resolution audio. First in the new MUS-IC range and now available is the ROHM BD34301EKV, a 32-bit D/A converter designed for high-end audio designs. ROHM also launched the BD34301EKV-EVK-001 evaluation board available via distributor channels.

Designed to maximally extract and convert high resolution audio data to analog, audio DAC chips are one of the most important components for determining the quality in audio equipment. Leveraging the company’s 50 years of expertise in developing audio ICs, ROHM is able to offer products that deliver the required superior sound quality, including processing and power management ICs.

The result of the ardency of ROHM engineers, the new 32-bit DAC is described as the masterpiece of its ROHM Musical Device “MUS-IC” high-grade range, both in terms of the numerical values and sound quality performance required in an audio device to the utmost limits – 32-bit/768kHz PCM and DSD up to 22.4MHz. The chip is manufactured using ROHM’s vertically integrated production process, from circuit design and wafer to stacked package assembly line, implementing a total of 28 control parameters that were identified to affect sound quality and are carefully adjusted one by one to create the desired results. The new BD34301EKV DAC chip represents the pinnacle of its efforts, emphasizing spatial reverberation, quietness, and dynamic range, which are qualities important for reproducing classical music.

As ROHM explains, its original design technology makes it possible to successfully reproduce the target sound quality by incorporating a circuit in the signal processing block to check audio quality. At the same time, class-leading low noise and distortion (130dB SN ratio, -115dB THD+N) provide the high performance demanded by high fidelity audio equipment. The customizable FIR filter enables to faithfully process all details and achieves a rejection band attenuation of 150dB or
less – a key function of the digital signal processing circuit – supporting the creation of the ideal sound sought by audio equipment manufacturers.

The BD34301EKV two-channel DAC chip was adopted originally by renowned manufacturer of high-end audio equipment Luxman Corporation, for the digital circuitry of the brand’s flagship SACD/CD player, the D-10X, announced in 2020. Masakazu Nagatsuma, Director and General Manager of the Development department at Luxman, praised the performance and sound quality of the BD34301EKV from the development stage: “The sound is natural and flat across the audio spectrum, making it easy to listen to for extended periods of time.”

The Luxman D-10X flagship SACD/CD player was built on the outstanding heritage of the company’s acclaimed D-08u, adding more playback capabilities, the latest conversion technology, robustly reinforced mechanics and a refined analog output stage and fully balanced output amplifier section. The heart of the digital circuitry utilizes dually configured ROHM BD34301EKV D/A converter ICs.