Our Products #4949188

The dspInstrument family is a collection of semi-custom instruments that can be tailored for the specific needs of your audio interfacing & signal processing applications or acoustic & vibration measurement systems. While the dspInstrument is primarily targeted for these applications, they are well suited for many small quality control systems and test cells, audio signal processing, signal conditioning, and test generators.

A majority of dspInstruments start from a specific customer requirement. However, Danville Signal has many pretested circuits and existing PCB layouts, all of which fit into a standardized enclosure. Building on pre-existing hardware and software allows us to facilitate the design process quickly and efficiently. In essesence, Danville Signal can create a dspInstrument to meet your specific needs, but without the cost of a full custom design, and in a much shorter time-frame.

Below are just a few examples of existing dspInstrument products; to get a better idea of some of the additional possibilites, please refer to the following documents:

ntroducing the Snowbird Audio Module
The Snowbird Digital Audio Processing Board from Danville Signal is a stand-alone, hi-performance audio platform built to let you quickly and easily design sophisticated Audio DSP into a product. Featuring a powerful Analog Devices SHARC DSP, high quality IO with an AKM stereo codec, and a custom software interface, the Snowbird Audio Module is the ideal platform for a variety of audio applications.
The Snowbird Audio Module is supported by a custom version of DSP Concepts Audio Weaver programming software. Audio Weaver is a powerful graphical design package that lets you create your signal processing chain by simply dragging and dropping highly optimized audio processing modules. You can use any of the dozens of pre- built audio functions - EQs, crossovers, mixers etc - or enhance and combine them with your own custom processing to create precisely the functions you need. Once the design is done, the file can be directly saved and run stand-alone on the Snowbird Audio Module.

The world of high performance audio is changing. Sure, you can still find vinyl enthusiasts and advocates for 10 watt triode amplifiers, but you will also find many more listeners that are taking advantage of newer digital technologies. What they all have in common, is that they all want great sound.
Danville Signal is uniquely positioned in that we are a partnering company that has extensive experience in both DSP (> 20 years) and high performance audio solutions (> 35 years). We are active members of Analog Devices and XMOS third party partner programs.
Here are a few of the application areas that we address:The bulk of our audio products are semi-custom solutions tailored to individual customer requirements (ODM & OEM). You probably won't see them on this web site, but they are in brands you know. We invite you to start a conversation.
We also have off-the-shelf products that perform well, but are not fancy. These may be useful as take off points or repackaged to fit your needs.

Analog Devices SHARC and Blackfin DSPs are great products but without software they are just plastic, metal and a bit of refined sand. It takes software to turn ideas into products. At Danville Signal, we understand the development process. Danville engineers have been using Analog Devices DSPs since 1992.
In 2005, we became the first company to license the Analog Devices EZ-Kit debugger for inclusion on a third party board. With our dspstak "with ICE" boards, you can debug your software without the need of an external emulator. It works just like an EZ-Kit. You can even use the free kit license of Visual DSP if your project is not too large.
Our dspFlash SHARC & Blackfin programmer is a production programmer that uses the DSP's JTAG port to program on-board flash memory. We support most popular SPI and parallel flash.

Danville Signal offers a complete line of Analog Devices development and programming tools.
dspFlash SHARC & Blackfin Programmer
VisualDSP++5.1.2
CrossCore Embedded Studio
Analog Devices Emulators (ICE)
dspblok DSP Modules with ICE (on board EZ KIT Debugger)
Graphics based development: DSP Concepts' Audio Weaver
We are an authorized reseller of Analog Devices Visual DSP++, CrossCore Embedded Studio and In-Circuit Emulators (ICE). These are the tools we use to develop our software. Our engineers can help you decide which tools will best fit your needs.

Up to 384 kHz sample rate
SN in excess of 120 dBA
BalancedUnbalanced IO
USB Audio Class 2
Analog Devices SHARC DSP
Low phase jitter clocks
AKM DACs
Optional analog input module
Optional custom configurations
The dspMusik 28 is a stereo in, eight out multichannel DAC platform, suitable for high performance DSP loudspeaker crossovers, music decoders and many other high quality audio algorithm applications.
The dspMusik 28 platform is available in a variety of configurations including PCB assemblies where you provide your own housing, or it can be provided in an extruded aluminum enclosure. Panels can be customized and rebranded with your companys logos and trademarks to fit your companys specific requirements and branding.
The dspMusik 28 is supported by a custom version of DSP Concepts Audio Weaver programming software. This is a powerful graphical design package that lets you create your signal processing chain by simply dragging and dropping highly optimized audio processing modules. You can use any of the dozens of pre-built audio functionsEQs, crossovers, mixers etcor enhance and combine them with your own custom processing to create precisely the functions you need. Once the design is done, the file can be directly saved and run stand-alone on the dspMusik platform.

Accoustics Vibration Measurements
IEPE Power
Direct Calibration
USB 3.0 Interface
Digital IO: 3 input, 3 output

The dspMusik 28 platform delivers audiophile performance, featuring state-of-the-art components from Analog Devices, XMOS and AKM. Each part has been carefully selected to build a precisely integrated system.
The dspMusik starts by using low phase jitter clocks driving all the data converters. The optional ADC incorporates very high common mode rejection low noise balanced inputs and DACs with minimum phase anti-imaging filters (desirable to avoid pre-echo effects). Signals are processed by an audio-optimized 32-bit40-bit floating point DSP capable of up to 384 kHz performance.

The DSP-8200e Card Cage Family consists of a 5-14 x 19 inch rack mounted card cage chassis, 12 plug-in DSP modules, a Control Module, and two redundant Power Supply modules. The card cage chassis is built around Euro rack standards. Access to modules and cabling is from the rear side of the chassis. Status LEDs are on the chassis front panel and duplicated on each module.
Each DSP module has signal processing for two audio channels. Overload and Normal Level indicators are provided for each channel. A Heartbeat Status LED flashes at a one-second interval to show proper operation. The input and output audio interface are balanced 600 ohm lines with audio transformers. A watchdog timer monitors circuit operation and will reset each the module in the event of program failure. To insure that audio is never interrupted, each audio channel is passively relay bypassed when the unit is unpowered.
The control module monitors each DSP module for proper operation. Through the use of a computer interface, the Control Module provides fault detection, diagnostics and reprogrammability.
In the event of a DSP module failure, an audible alarm will alert the operator that a problem has occurred. To assist in identifying the failed module, the heartbeat indicator will blink at 4 times the normal rate. In addition, the BNC connector will go into fault position.
The DSP-8200e includes a logging feature that records tone incidences including time, date , frequency and duration.
A relay switch closure output (BNC connector) is provided which will indicate if power has been lost to the DSP-8200e as well as an individual module failure. This output may be configured (via shorting jumper) as either normally open or normally closed.
Operators can connect the DSP-8200e to a standard terminal program using a RS-232 or USB cable. One such common terminal program that is included in all Windows Operating Systems since Windows 95 is HyperTerminal.
Each power supply module is fully capable of supplying all of the necessary power to operate all the modules. If one of the power supply modules fail, the card cage will continue to operate. Each power supply module is supplied with a 5x20mm DIN 1A fuse. The power supply modules can be configured for either 115V or 230V operation.

Other Applications for the DSP-8200e Card Cage System
Our DSP-8200e Tone Suppression & Noise Reduction System is designed to protect radio operators from inadvertent signaling or test tones and to reduce noise in radio communications.
Many other signal processing applications are possible with the DSP-8200 family. These could include automatic level controls, limiters, multichannel diagnostic or monitoring systems, signal routing systems; essentially applications where multichannel signal processing is desired in the audio frequency range.

Music delivery systems are rapidly changing. The days of a CD changer and a huge library of CDs is quickly being replaced by a computer with the content residing on a large harddrive.
Unfortunately, the internal soundcards in most computers are not nearly good enough for the demands of high quality audio.
USB Audio Class 2 has become the interface of choice for extracting the digital content from the music server computer to a target DAC or headphone amplifier. This is a relatively recent development. Although USB audio has been around since the early days of USB, it was basically a 48k, 16 bit stereo interface (USB Audio Class 1.1). USB Audio Class 2 can support multiple channels at high sample rate and full bit depth. It uses an external clock from the USB client that helps insure minimal jitter at the target device.
The leader in USB audio class 2 chip solutions is XMOS. Danville Signal is a third party partner with XMOS. We have utilized and extended their technology in several ways, primarily by combining their chips with Analog Devices' SHARC DSPs. This allows the XMOS device to concentrate on communications while the DSP to manages signal processing and control.
An audio class driver is mostly concerned with streaming audio data at various sample rates and bit depth. It has limited control, such as volume up and down. Danville has extended the control capability of our XMOS targets by appending a HID interface into the XMOS code. This allows us to download code or instructions to the DSP or interface to a graphical design and tuning interface such as DSP Concepts' Audio Weaver. We supply a Window DLL so that custom programs can be easily created to take advantage of these features without the need to be an XMOS programmer.
There is native USB Audio Class 2 support for Apple and Linux. Microsoft has not opted to provide similar support with their operating systems. This may be because USB Audio Class 2 places demands on the computer that not all PCs can support. We have driver support for Microsoft Windows (XP, 7 & 8). We provide these drivers with our general purpose dspblok modules such as our dspblok 21479u8a and with our more dedicated targets such as our wireless audio transmitters.
If you are considering your own design, we suggest you consider our dspblok 21479u8a. This module combines an XMOS XS1-U8A processor with an Analog Devices ADSP-21479 DSP. We use this module in many of our turnkey OEM audio products. With the dspblok, you don't need to program the XMOS device at all (XMOS programming is tricky). You also get Windows driver support. If you are interested in a more custom solution, we can provide a complete hardware and software package with optional graphical design and tuning capability. Check out the dspblok 21479u8a page for more information.

The DSP-8200s is a single channel tone notching (suppression) instrument intended for air traffic applications. It typically is used in two types of voice communication systems:
Voice Switching and Control System (VSCS)
Tower Audio and Control (TAC)
The DSP-8200s uses a 32 bit floating point DSP to execute a unique tone suppression algorithm developed by Danville. This algorithm has been used to prevent tone incidences in air traffic control systems since 1998.
The audio input and output amplifiers are transformer coupled. The input gain and output level are adjustable in 1 dB steps. This allows the DSP-8200s to perform level conversion as necessary. The circuits are automatically loopbacked (with optional attenuation) using relays when power is removed from the DSP-8200s.

The DSP-8200e Card Cage Family consists of a 5-14 x 19 inch rack mounted card cage chassis, 12 plug-in DSP modules, a Control Module, and two redundant Power Supply modules. The card cage chassis is built around Euro rack standards. Access to modules and cabling is from the rear side of the chassis. Status LEDs are on the chassis front panel and duplicated on each module.
Each DSP module has signal processing for two audio channels. Overload and Normal Level indicators are provided for each channel. A Heartbeat Status LED flashes at a one-second interval to show proper operation. The input and output audio interface are balanced 600 ohm lines with audio transformers. A watchdog timer monitors circuit operation and will reset each the module in the event of program failure. To insure that audio is never interrupted, each audio channel is passively relay bypassed when the unit is unpowered.
The control module monitors each DSP module for proper operation. Through the use of a computer interface, the Control Module provides fault detection, diagnostics and reprogrammability.
In the event of a DSP module failure, an audible alarm will alert the operator that a problem has occurred. To assist in identifying the failed module, the heartbeat indicator will blink at 4 times the normal rate. In addition, the BNC connector will go into fault position.
The DSP-8200e includes a logging feature that records tone incidences including time, date , frequency and duration.
A relay switch closure output (BNC connector) is provided which will indicate if power has been lost to the DSP-8200e as well as an individual module failure. This output may be configured (via shorting jumper) as either normally open or normally closed.
Operators can connect the DSP-8200e to a standard terminal program using a RS-232 or USB cable. One such common terminal program that is included in all Windows Operating Systems since Windows 95 is HyperTerminal.
Each power supply module is fully capable of supplying all of the necessary power to operate all the modules. If one of the power supply modules fail, the card cage will continue to operate. Each power supply module is supplied with a 5x20mm DIN 1A fuse. The power supply modules can be configured for either 115V or 230V operation.

Other Applications for the DSP-8200e Card Cage System
Our DSP-8200e Tone Suppression & Noise Reduction System is designed to protect radio operators from inadvertent signaling or test tones and to reduce noise in radio communications.
Many other signal processing applications are possible with the DSP-8200 family. These could include automatic level controls, limiters, multichannel diagnostic or monitoring systems, signal routing systems; essentially applications where multichannel signal processing is desired in the audio frequency range.