Xref: utzoo rec.audio:4563 sci.electronics:1909 Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!hao!ames!ucbcad!pasteur!ucbvax!hplabs!hp-sdd!megatek!rgs From: rgs@megatek.UUCP (Rusty Sanders) Newsgroups: rec.audio,sci.electronics Subject: Re: Sony serial digital-audio converter Message-ID: <256@megatek.UUCP> Date: 14 Jan 88 19:13:56 GMT References: <290@spar.SPAR.SLB.COM> Organization: Megatek Corporation, San Diego, Ca. Lines: 34 in article <290@spar.SPAR.SLB.COM>, malcolm@spar.SPAR.SLB.COM (Malcolm Slaney) says: > > In article <255@megatek.UUCP> rgs@megatek.UUCP (Rusty Sanders) writes: >>I've heard that Sony is making a chip which accepts a serial digital >>output stream (like what comes off that back of a CD or DAT player) and >>converts it to 16 bit parallel (serial?) format for easier use. I have a >>need for such a chip in a device that I'm coming up with. > > It's not clear what you want. If you just want to convert the serial bit > stream to a parallel bit stream then a couple of shift registers and a > PAL will do it much cheaper than anything with a Sony label on it. > [ ... Stuff about Sony serial D/A converters ... ] No, no, no... and you are right, I probably wasn't sufficienctly clear as to what I wanted. The digital output ports of a CD or DAT player use a standard protocal and encoding scheme. From what I seem to remember it's a fm encoded bit stream (I won't get into it, but it's non-trivial to decode) that arrives in frames. Each frame of data is bits long and includes both subcode data and many 32 bit data packets for each left/right channel sample. What I believe sony makes is a chip which will do the demodulation of the FM signal, and split the subcode and data streams out to different ports. It's basically a protocol converter. I don't want to figure out the protocol myself, nor come up with the design to decode it. I have the Sony D/A-A/D parts book (1988) which you mentioned (they have a second book for memories, by the way). The chip I'm looking for isn't in it. I remember the chip being mentioned on the net, but that at the time Sony was still deciding whether they were going to market it in the US or not. Last I heard Sony decided to go ahead with it, but that was only a couple months ago. The chip wouldn't have made it into the book yet. So, has anyone heard of such a beastie?