Quickfilter Technologies Announces Support for Stereo Widening with Its WideAudio Technology
Latest Functionality Allows Spatialization and Two Channels of Equalization, All of Which Are Handled in a Single QF1Da512 Audio SavFIRe Chip
Date: July 27, 2009
ALLEN, TX - Quickfilter Technologies today announced immediate availability of its WideAudio(TM) stereo spatialization capability for use in its QFIDa512 Audio SavFIRe chip.
In smaller-sized stereo products such as iPods® and MP3 docking stations, speakers are very close together, minimizing the listener's ability to hear good stereo separation. The Quickfilter WideAudio(TM) technology provides the developer with a psycho-acoustic effect that gives the listener the sensation that the speakers are much farther apart. This effect greatly enhances the overall stereo listening experience.
The Quickfilter WideAudio technology is implemented in the QF1Da512 Audio SavFIRe chip when used with the latest version of the Quickfilter QFPro development software. The WideAudio functionality enables stereo widening (spatialization), along with two channels of audio equalization. All of these features can be implemented in a single QF1Da512 Audio SavFIRe chip at no additional cost when an audio filter is designed using this latest version of the QFPro development software. The customer can enable this functionality during the filter design. When the design is complete, the WideAudio functionality is downloaded to the chip. There are no royalties or up-front license fees required for the use of the WideAudio feature.
The latest version of the QFPro QF1Da512 Audio SavFIRe software can be downloaded from the Quickfilter website at no cost.
"When the original QF1D512 SavFIReTM chip was announced in September 2006, it was embraced by audio equipment manufacturers as a solution for their audio quality problems," said Don DiDonato, Quickfilter Technologies Vice President of Sales. "With the release of the QF1Da512 Audio SavFIRe chip in January 2009, we added gain, compression and volume control. We also committed to continually enhancing the Quickfilter Technologies development tools to provide ever increasing functionality and value for the consumer audio marketplace.
"The QF1Da512 Audio SavFIRe chip is being adapted by major consumer audio players as a solution for low-cost digital signal processing," DiDonato continued. "Our low-power technology allows manufacturers to enhance their product's audio quality with an excellent price/performance ratio. This is critical in today's economic environment. We provide the developers with the ability to deliver excellent audio quality at an overall low cost."
The QF1Da512 Audio SavFIRe chip is available now in production quantities. The QF1Da512 Audio SavFIRe chip costs less than 75 cents in volume, comes packaged in a 3x3mm QFN and consumes only 2.8mW of power, which provides the user with a clear price-performance advantage. Its associated development kit, the QF1Da512-DK, is also available now for purchase at DigiKey and Mouser.
About Quickfilter Technologies
From Concept to Product in Minutes, not Days
Quickfilter Technologies utilizes patent pending techniques for implementing a programmable IC that allows an engineer to design a custom circuit for signal processing without the cost and complexity of programming a DSP. Using the Quickfilter solution, it is possible to create and begin operating a custom four-channel analog front end, digital converter and multi-stage digital filter in less than five minutes. Quickfilter's products are ideally suited for sensors in industrial monitoring and control, medical equipment, homeland security, and engine control applications.
The Quickfilter solution comprises over a dozen individual component functions, both analog and digital, into a single integrated circuit (IC) that is programmable using Quickfilter software. This enables customer to rapidly complete a design at significantly lower cost and higher performance. In addition, the IC can be reprogrammed in circuit during design, at the time of shipment or in the field.
Quickfilter Technologies is a private equity funded fabless semiconductor company founded in 2003 by Bob Silco and located in Allen, Texas. The company is developing a family of programmable mixed-signal integrated circuits that convert noisy analog signals into clean, usable digital signals.
