KORG selects Analog Devices SHARC processor for its WAVEDRUM mini percussion synthesizer

BANGALORE, INDIA: Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) announced that KORG Inc., an electronic musical instrument pioneer, has selected ADI’s SHARC processor as the digital signal processing (DSP) engine within its WAVEDRUM Mini, a new portable percussion synthesizer available worldwide.

By leveraging ADI’s ADSP-21375 SHARC 32-bit floating point DSP processor at the heart of the WAVEDRUM Mini, KORG has pioneered a next-generation, portable, battery–powered version of its percussion synthesizer, the WAVEDRUM WD-X, launched in 2009. Designed for musicians “on-the-go,” the WAVEDRUM Mini combines a unique, patent-pending sound source system, which allows the musician to express the full gamut of musical articulation, from subtle nuances to dynamic and aggressive playing styles.

Sonically richer and more sensitive, this second generation WAVEDRUM uses ADI’s SHARC floating point audio processing power to faithfully reproduce the extremely realistic percussion sounds and a wide dynamic range of acoustic musical instruments. By leveraging SHARC’s floating point architecture, the KORG audio system is able to implement specialized algorithms that take advantage of SHARC’s speed and memory architecture to ensure optimal audio fidelity.

When KORG began developing the WAVEDRUM Mini, the company looked for a high-performance compiler with superb floating-point arithmetic processing power and a code-generating tool with excellent optimization capabilities. KORG selected ADI’s ADSP-21375 SHARC 32-bit floating-point DSP processor, enabling its engineers to rapidly implement audio algorithms developed and evaluated on a PC for the Waveform Mini’s DSP system, while maintaining arithmetical accuracy.

“We’ve used ADI’s DSP products in our products for several years,” says Hiromi Iwashita, an engineer in KORG’s DR Group, Development Department 3. “ADI’s DSP processors offer high performance and compatibility with a wide range of peripherals and development environment and tools. At the same time they can help us to reduce cost and development times. That’s why they’re so attractive. In the WAVEDRUM Mini, the single ADSP-21375 SHARC processor handles virtually all required processes and operations, including the basic system, sound sources, effectors, and rhythm and loop functions. We plan to continue using ADI’s products in future products to make the best use of the ADI product system assets we’ve accumulated.”

Using ADI’s VisualDSP++ 5.0 and ADZS-HPUSB-ICE development tools and the ADSP-21375 evaluation kit, KORG’s audio engineers were able to unlock the full power and value of their audio design, and ensure exquisite sound quality that surpasses the expectations of even the most discerning audiophiles.

“Up to now, SHARC has been used mostly in high-end audio products,” said Hiroyuki Fujikawa, senior manager, DSP Technology Group, Analog Devices. “In recent years, ADI’s SHARC is used within a wide range of innovative, consumer products, including the WAVEDRUM Mini. We are very gratified to have KORG, an industry innovator, adopt our SHARC architecture to realize state-of–the–art acoustical processing in their leading edge products. The Analog Devices SHARC DSP processor family and development tools are the ‘gold standard’ for premium audio processing.”