ANALOG DEVICES' SHARC PROCESSOR DIGITALLY RE-INVENTS VINTAGE AUDIO TECHNOLOGY

Leveraging an analog/digital hybrid technology in its TimeLine and Glass Nexus product lines, Damage Control used the power of the SHARC,

in combination with the VisualDSP++ tools, allowed to write code in 'C' rather than in assembly language. This enabled more freedom and creativity in the development of algorithms, and allowed the designers to spend time trying new ideas rather than worrying about the low- level workings of the processor. The end result is an enriched analog sound that musicians and listeners are accustomed to, in addition to giving professional guitarists more control over tone, range, and style.



Today's musicians are choosy - they want the comforting analog sound we all know and love, the sound they are most familiar with, said Dave Fruehling, Senior Partner, Damage Control. However, they also recognise that new digital equipment offers a wider range of tonal refinements than previously existed. Analog Devices has earned its reputation as a leader in audio signal processing; using its SHARC processor, our designers have the freedom to spend their time creating new algorithms rather than worrying about the low-level workings of

the processor.



Damage Control's previous products used analog architecture, but its TimeLine and Glass Nexus represent a shift toward digital technology.

TimeLine is a stereo parametric delay offering continuous controls to product phasing, chorus, flange, vibrato, slapback, long delay and

reverse delays. Glass Nexus is a premium mod-effects pedal combining custom modulation effects with dual 12AX7 tubes. The floating-point

performance of the ADSP-21369 provided Damage Control with control over the gain and dynamic range in the algorithms they developed.



SHARC's on-chip integration saved Damage Control money and development time by eliminating the need for a host processor to handle interface

and system chores. Damage Control achieved this by using the processor's Digital Audio Interface (DAI), a rich peripheral set of audio-specific peripherals, which include the software programmable Signal Routing Unit (SRI) and eight serial ports (SPORTs) that provide an interface to a wide variety of digital and mixed-signal peripheral devices and digital peripheral interface (DPI) features.



The ADSP-21369 SHARC processor is a 32/40-bit floating-point processor with 2 Mb on-chip of SRAM and 6 Mb of mask-programmable ROM and

multiple internal busses to eliminate I/O bottlenecks. It is supported with a complete set of CROSSCORE software and hardware development

tools, including ADI's emulators and the VisualDSP++ integrated development environment (IDE). Analog Devices also offers a range of EZ-KIT Lite evaluation platforms to use as a cost-effective method to learn more about developing or prototyping applications with Analog Devices' processors, platforms, and software tools.



Analog Devices' SHARC processor has been distinguished as the leading processor for professional audio applications, said Jerry McGuire,

General Manager, Convergent Platforms and Services Group, Analog Devices. By delivering the industry's highest floating-point performance on a core running up to 400 MHz, SHARC is ideally suited for high fidelity applications.



Damage Control also leverages Analog Devices' high-performance analog components, like the AD7908, an 8-bit high-speed, low power, 8-channel, successive-approximation analog-to-digital converter (ADC). The converter is designed to interface easily the SHARC process, handles digital signal conversion in the user interface, and the AD5207, a digital potentiometer (digipot) which is used in the audio signal chain to calibrate system tolerances.