Sony STR-DA2100ES Technical Background - Page 4

S-Master Pro amplifier with 32-bit DSP The video signal in home theater is increasingly digital from the latest digital cinematography in Hollywood through digital transmission channels to digital television display panels. The audio in home theater is increasingly digital from the microphone mixing console through the distribution channels, to the digital inputs and digital signal processing of your A/V receiver. With digital sources, digital switching and digital preamplification, it was only a matter of time until the power amplifier also made the move from analog to digital. Even so, some observers were surprised in 2003 when Sony introduced ES Series A/V receivers with a digital amplifier we called S-Master Pro. Fiercely independent critics evaluated the Sony STR-DA9000ES receiver using the finest source material and ancillary equipment. Their response was overwhelming. They brought out their highest superlatives, calling the sound of the DA9000ES "airy," "delicate," "pure," "relaxed," "open," "fantastic," and "a revelation." Not content with establishing a new benchmark in A/V receiver sound quality, the engineers of Sony's ES Series continue to press ahead with an upgraded, 32-bit S-Master Pro LSI, redesigned MOS FET transistors and a fresh approach to transistor cooling. Process S-Master Generation Introduction Technologies First 2001 • Clean Data Cycle • C-PLM • S-TACT "Digital Drive" S-Master Second 2002 • Clean Data Cycle • C-PLM • S-TACT • Pulse Height Volume Control S-Master Pro Third 2003 • Clean Data Cycle • C-PLM • S-TACT • Pulse Height Volume Control • DC Phase Linearizer • Discrete Output Transistors S-Master Pro (2005) Fourth 2005 • 32-bit S-Master Pro DSP • Clean Data Cycle • C-PLM • S-TACT • Pulse Height Volume Control • Integrated DC Phase Linearizer • Discrete MOS FET Output Transistors, redesigned cooling ES Receivers v1.0 Page 4