THAT Forges New Digital Direction with High Performance PLL ICs

New 7200 IC family “cleans your (audio) clock”, delivering 25ps baseband jitter to coax maximum performance from latest-generation audio ADCs and DACs

MILFORD, MASS., USA - News Direct - 19 January 2024 - THAT Corporation today announced its first foray into digital Integrated Circuits (ICs) with three state-of-the-art audio clocking ICs.

The 7200, 7210, and 7220 are phase locked loop (PLL) ICs based on the acclaimed JetPLL^TM technology invented by audio clocking guru Chris Travis. Licensed from Sonopsis Ltd., Travis' technology has been deployed in hundreds of thousands of professional audio products offered by some of the industry's most prestigious brands. JetPLL technology combines a highly programmable digital loop for precision control with an analog loop that suppresses the digital loop's quantization noise.

According to THAT's President, Les Tyler, "These new ICs represent a significant evolution for our company. Until now, we've focused on analog and digitally controlled analog. But Chris Travis' powerful JetPLL® technology enabled us to apply our audio expertise to clocking, which in its own way is just as tricky and 'analog-y' as microphone preamps and Analog Engines®."

Dennis Fink, THAT's Applications and Engineering Manager explained the three new ICs: "The 7200 is a complete audio-focused clocking system, generating a low-jitter MCLK from a jittery WCLK or its own internal generator. The 7210 is a clock cleaner, generating a low-jitter MCLK from a jittery WCLK. The 7220 is a clock generator, supplying a low-jitter MCLK and WCLK without the need for an external reference."

All three parts feature 25 ps typical baseband jitter, a phase-aligned frame clock (conforming to AES11), and more than 60dB jitter attenuation as a clock cleaner. Each is pin- and code-compatible with one of Cirrus Logic's CS2x00 series of Clock Multipliers/ Generators.

Mr. Travis commented: "These ICs are ideal for networked audio systems, and contain integral features to improve the sound of any digital audio system. We at Sonopsis are proud and excited to have partnered with THAT for the first standalone implementations of JetPLL® ICs."

Mr. Fink noted that the parts include an SPI / I2C port that offers complete control over an extensive complement of useful features for audio clocks. Fink continued: "Each IC initially starts up in compatibility mode: the THAT 7200 matches the Cirrus CS2000, the 7210 the CS2100, and the 7220 the CS2200. Additional registers to control additional unique JetPLL features are accessible after start up."

Key specs include:

• Baseband jitter 25ps rms (typ, 100Hz-40kHz)
• Wideband jitter 50ps rms (typ, 100Hz-1MHz)
• Jitter attenuation >60dB (above 100Hz)
• MCLK frequency range 6-50MHz
• Analog and highly configurable digital loops
• Clock multiplier and frequency synthesizer PLL
• Generates MCLK/BCLK & Frame clocks
• Phase aligned Frame clock (per AES11)
• Industry standard MSOP10 package
• +3.3V power supply

To learn more, click here.

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About THAT Corporation

THAT Corporation, founded in 1989, designs, manufactures, and sells high-performance (until now, mostly) analog integrated circuits for professional audio manufacturers. Besides the new JetPLL ICs, THAT offers InGenius® input and OutSmarts® output stages, low-noise analog-and digitally controlled preamplifiers, digital preamp controllers, Analog Engine® processors, and Blackmer® voltage-controlled amplifiers (VCAs). THAT also licenses Total Sonics® audio technology under the dbx-tv® brand name. The company is headquartered in Milford, Massachusetts, with semiconductor fabrication facilities in Milpitas and San Jose, California.For more information, please visit www.thatcorp.com or contact ICmarketing@thatcorp.com.