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Post by NPAudio on Oct 29, 2020 22:34:07 GMT
 Sorry for the extremely poor translation from Japanese Sudden Fire! AKM Semiconductor, Inc., a Japanese joint venture company, Kyodo News, Inc., at noon on the 20th, Asahi Kasei's flagship company, AKM Semiconductor, Inc. The end of the construction process. News society, Miyazaki. 400 evacuated and fire extinguished at Asahi Kasei factory in Nobeoka Miyazaki 2020/10/21 1916 KYODO "Asahi Kasei Microsystem" Nobeoka Manufacturing There was a fire at the place after 4:30 pm on the 20th, and the fire department continued to extinguish the fire on the 21st. According to the fire department, the prospect of fire suppression is not set. About 400 employees have been evacuated and no one has been injured. An employee said, "Smoke is coming out of the automatic door on the 4th floor." According to the fire department, some members evacuated due to irritation on their skin during the fire fighting activities, and the activities were temporarily suspended. Firefighters have not reached the ignition point "Asahi Kasei Microsystem" Nobeoka Factory = 21st afternoon Nobeoka City, Miyazaki Prefecture Shintomo (Kyodo News) Half-point, fire-fighting reduction Yes complete fire fighting, fire department Nobeoka advance fire-fighting work. At the time of the fire situation, at the time of possession, 400 multi-talented workers were evacuated to a safe position, and the next fire was sunk. On the other hand, the cause of the fire, the local fire department, the fire department, the fire department during the process of the fire, Stopping fire activity. Unexpected, Asahi Kasei direction, Ignition factory 1C manufacturing factory, mortal and harmful items. Confirmation, the main industrial production large-scale integrated circuit. Japanese matchmaker, Asahi Kasei's only production LSI-like construction, non-existent partial demand requester, outsourced work.  Comment from Fiio  |
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Post by frost15 on Oct 29, 2020 22:51:10 GMT
Can whatever/whoever is controlling this planet make this year end once and for all?... What a year man...
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Post by NPAudio on Oct 29, 2020 23:05:17 GMT
Something more legible: According to Japanese media reports, a fire broke out in a factory of AKM Semiconductor, Inc. in Nobeoka-shi, Japan. AKM Semiconductor is a subsidiary of Asahi Kasei Microdevices (AKM) engaged in IC manufacturing, and is also the only fab under the AKM Group. The report pointed out that it took three days for the fire to be completely extinguished, and the situation was far worse than the previous fires at Samsung and Toshiba's chip factories. At present, the factory has stopped production, and it will take at least half a year to recover. According to the report, AKM Group said it would increase outsourcing production to meet market demand. There is no detailed description of the specific impact on production and supply, but according to the supply chain, the fire caused panic in the supply chain. Companies using AKM chips, sensors and other products have begun to increase their purchases to prevent possible shortages in the future. Supply chain sources said that considering that the ICs produced by AKM are not common processors, flash memory, memory, etc., it will not affect the overall IC market, but there may be price increases and shortages in specific industries.  |
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Post by NPAudio on Oct 29, 2020 23:12:59 GMT
 We have become aware of a fire at the Asahi Kasei Microsystem (AKM) semiconductor factory in Nobeoka city in Japan on 20th October 2020. The plant is known for the production of high-end DACs/ADCs IC components for high-end audio devices. We have the latest details… According to an eye witness… "White smoke is rising from the automatic door on the 4th floor." About 400 employees were evacuated and there are no reports of any injuries. Part of the roof and walls collapsed after a fire broke out on the 5th floor of the building. It took over 80 hours to totally extinguish the fire. The AKM Group are reported as saying that they would increase outsourcing production to meet market demand. Although there isn’t a detailed description of the specific impact on production and supply, according to the supply chain, the fire has caused panic in the supply chain. It is already being reported that companies using AKM chips, sensors and other products have begun to increase their purchases to prevent possible shortages in the future. However, considering that the ICs produced by AKM are not common processors, flash memory, memory, etc., it will not affect the overall IC market, but there may be price increases and shortages in specific industries, including the pro-audio sector. We are already aware that Millennia will be affected by the loss of the supply of chips made in the AKM plant. Millennia Media reported on their Facebook page… “A shock to the professional and consumer audio industries -- the largest provider of audio ADC and DAC chips "AKM" has experienced a fire in their fab line. I'm told they could be off-line for a year. The disruption to our industry will likely be massive, with possible re-designs to untold numbers of products. Millennia uses top-line AKM converters in the new HV-316 remote mic preamp. Luckily, we have enough stock to last us for roughly one year of demand. We will be re-designing the ADC circuit in case AKM is not back by 4Q21, assuring no disruption in HV-316 shipments.” We are also aware that Merging use chips made by AKM in their Horus, Hapi and Merging+Anibus products. |
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Post by Queen6 on Oct 30, 2020 8:06:42 GMT
Bad news all round; no doubt the unscrupulous will ramp up pricing and some companies may slow development. Only good I can see is that it may force the hand of companies to break out of the endless loop of only producing DAP's that are basically clones driven solely by AKM DAC's...
Q-6
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Post by gerelmx1986 on Oct 30, 2020 9:24:52 GMT
Then we will see DAPs being only ESS Sanre or cirrus lol
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Post by NPAudio on Oct 30, 2020 9:45:15 GMT
Bring back Brurr-Brown 🙏 😂
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Post by Queen6 on Oct 30, 2020 14:45:55 GMT
Bring back Brurr-Brown 🙏 😂 Absolutely, problem with BURR-BROWN is once you've listened to a good implementation of an R2R Multibit DAC, one can hardly go back to the more typical Delta Sigma sound signature provided by all the usual suspects as "it's an artificial sound and once you hear it, you can't unhear it." I have access to the majority, if not all the TOTL DAP's and the one that absolutely stood head and shoulders above the rest sonically was the R2R2000. By todays standards and expectations it's a primitive device, yet it's accurate and realistic sound is magnitude's better than the majority. All due to the hardware specifically the dual PCM 1702 Multibit DAC's. Word is HIFIMAN is working on the next Gen R2R2K... Q-6 |
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Post by NPAudio on Oct 30, 2020 14:53:05 GMT
Hopefully its the full package this time 👍
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Post by Queen6 on Oct 30, 2020 16:07:33 GMT
Hopefully its the full package this time 👍 Like to think so, but seeing the new HM1000 I'm not holding my breath. Hifiman is very much all about the audio and very less about the fluff. I would love to see them bring to market a fully fledged R2R DAP, however I don't see that in their DNA. The R2R2000 isn't a difficult device to live with and sonically beautiful, however it remains to be a very limited and niche DAP to say the very least and frankly the international pricing simply kills much of the interest in such a device. This why we see such diametric opinions on the R2R2000; those that take a look and those that own... Link to Hifiman HM1000Q-6 |
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maxx134
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Post by maxx134 on Jul 15, 2021 13:59:52 GMT
I have been looking into the latest info on this.
It seems this thread title is correct, but still was optimistic.
I do not see AKM ready this year.
Especially for thier top dac chip.
Upon looking a bit more into the AKM problem, and found out that another chip maker in Japan just recently had a fire. The giant Renesas Electronics factory in Hitachinaka, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan.
They say it was an electrical overload fire, attributed to running at over-capacity.
Why would they be running at over-capacity? Here is a clue.
Although it is unknown if there is any relationship, so cannot make any assumptions for sure, but I also don't believe in coincidence.
My guess is that they could have been one of AKM outsource company, as they are in Japan.
If so, this is another setback.
Then we have issues that AKM best chip is not the priority.
AKM made over 80 different parts in thier building, which included parts used in not only the audio industry, but also in other electronics sectors like the camera and smartphone industries.
Camera is a big one.
Sony Europe has specifically confirmed the shortage of parts needed in some of their key camera and video camera products.
The ongoing supply impacts several camera manufacturers, including Sony, Canon and Nikon.
As for audio, pioneer used alot of akm chips in their DJ products, and are now swapping out and making changes to quite a few I read (at least 5 models).
So I would conclude that we will see further scarcity of AKM dac chips into the next year (2022).
This is just an informed guess.
Let's hope they can outsource faster or team up, or buy another company.
To have chemical, fire, and water damage for three days in any factory would literally ruin the building.
Construction companies don't build before they clean up and asses damage, and then redesign. All that takes planning with different type engineers than what they have.
I just don't see this happening this year.
Its easier & faster for them to move into a new building, or buy an existing company to expand.
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Post by NPAudio on Jul 15, 2021 14:21:37 GMT
I have been looking into the latest info on this. It seems this thread title is correct, but still was optimistic. I do not see AKM ready this year. Especially for thier top dac chip. I agree, I doubt there will be anything for a while, especially top end DACs as they will be quite low volume/profit compared to their other components. The AK4498EQ and AK4191EQ dual chip DAC solution looked interesting. |
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maxx134
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Post by maxx134 on Jul 18, 2021 17:57:20 GMT
Think about this.
They said the second fore was an electrical fire.
This is not a valid excuse, coming from an electronic company, which by nature would know how much power they need.
The building has to have dedicated lines, circuit breakers, fault protection, regulators and default safety mechanisms in place even in the unit themselves that they are operating...
Even stupidity and negligence is covered by these protections, which by default, cannot exist with professional workers.
So, IMO, no way this could happen in a factory.
Maybe in a household complex but not a place where everything electrical is governed or designed, with workers around.
Chemical, and arson is about the only factor I see that could happen.
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maxx134
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Post by maxx134 on Aug 1, 2021 8:23:03 GMT
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Post by NPAudio on Feb 1, 2022 0:04:36 GMT
AKM resumes sample shipments of 13 VELVET SOUND DAC/ADC products for high-end and portable audio devices
2022/01/31
Description
Asahi Kasei Microdevices Corporation (AKM) resumes sample shipments of 13 VELVET SOUND brand D/A converter (DAC) and A/D converter (ADC) products. These samples start shipping in January 2022. Mass production is scheduled for the third quarter of 2022.
115dB 768kHz / 32-bit 2-/4-/6-/8-ch DAC: AK4452, AK4454, AK4456, AK4458
111dB 768kHz / 32-bit 4-/8-ch ADC: AK5534, AK5538
115dB 768kHz / 32-bit 2-/4-/8-ch ADC: AK5552, AK5554, AK5558
121dB 768kHz / 32-bit 2-/4-/8-ch ADC: AK5572, AK5574, AK5578
Differential Input Stereo 32-bit ADC with Excellent PSRR: AK5522
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