An Evolving Legacy in High-Fidelity Audio

For four decades, Cirrus Logic has built its reputation as an expert in audio IC innovation. In the early 1990s, through the acquisition of Crystal Semiconductor, the company pioneered the creation of audio converters that helped to spark the digital audio revolution in professional audio and consumer home theater. Cirrus Logic's audio innovation continues today with the development of MasterHIFI™ and SmartHIFI™ products from the industry's best audio IC design engineers. These integrated circuits, along with embedded software and DSP algorithms, are driving excellence in audio playback in new generations of mobile products.

Cirrus Logic audio products with the MasterHIFI or SmartHIFI designation meet the company’s highest standard in high-fidelity audio playback. MasterHIFI and SmartHIFI products deliver the very best performance in sound clarity and pure, euphoric audio listening just like the artist intended. The devices should not unintentionally “color” the audio, but should maintain the “brightest” sounds expected from a recorded track.

Designing High-Fidelity Audio at the Silicon Level

MasterHIFI and SmartHIFI performance standards focus on specific thresholds that indicate true high-fidelity audio. The engineers at Cirrus Logic have specifically focused on the performance of smart codecs and D/A converters. These products use a unique and patented "clock clean up" technology to negate the effects of system clock jitter on the audio path. This means the audio performance is not effected by modulations on the clock, giving the best audio experience irrespective of the system in which they are implemented.

These MasterHIFI and SmartHIFI products also use advanced high-fidelity filtering for the best impulse response and clarity of sound. They excel at cancelling out the effects of the digital world, specifically "pre-ringing," which causes some sound to be introduced before the real sound occurs. Originally created for Cirrus Logic’s highest performance audio ICs and used in many high-end pro audio systems, these filtering techniques are now a key design element in MasterHIFI and SmartHIFI devices.

Established Standards for Performance Quality

The designation of MasterHIFI and SmartHIFI are unique in that they specify performance thresholds. Only Cirrus Logic products that meet our highest audio specifications for a true high-fidelity playback experience get to be called MasterHIFI and SmartHIFI. Those specifications include:

• High dynamic range, the measure of listening range available
• Low distortion, giving the listener the best clarity in sound
• Best frequency response, reproducing all the audio content as consistently as possible
• High sample rate and high bit depth, to guarantee the highest fidelity audio tracks

Audio bit rate is the key performance benchmark. Audio is recorded at a 24-bit data rate in order to output the clearest and most detailed version possible. The "24-bit" refers to the "bit depth," which determines the number of recording levels that are readily available. The more levels that are captured the more a listener hears. Even the more seemingly insignificant subtleties that tie a piece of music together for a fuller, more defined sound are reproduced brilliantly.