ALC658

The ALC658 has six channels of 20-Bit DAC, two pairs of stereo 18-Bit ADC, and an AC'97 2.3 compatible six channel audio CODEC designed for PC multimedia systems. The product incorporates proprietary converter technology to achieve 100dB sound quality. Not only to meet performance requirements on PC99/2001 systems, but also to make PC sound quality as good as consumer equipment.

The ALC658 CODEC provides three pairs of stereo outputs, with 6-Bit volume controls and multiple stereo and mono inputs, along with flexible mixing, and gain and mute functions to provide a complete integrated audio solution for PCs. The digital interface circuitry of the CODEC operates from a 3.3V power supply for use in notebook and PC applications. It integrates 50mW/20ohm headset audio amplifiers at Front-Out and AUX. Both are designed to be analog inputs and outputs automatically detected by hardware (Universal Audio Jack®).

To save BOM costs for motherboard makers, the product features a built-in high accuracy 14.318M to 24.576MHz PLL, saving the cost of an extra 24.576MHz crystal. A PCBEEP generator is integrated and can be programmed by the BIOS to generate POST beeps without a buzzer. The ALC658 also supports S/PDIF input and output functions, which offers easy connection of PCs to consumer electronic products such as AC3 decoders/speakers, and mini disk devices.

The ALC658 supports host/soft audio from Intel ICHx chipsets, as well as audio controller based VIA/SIS/ALI/AMD/nVIDIA/ATI chipsets. Bundled Windows series (98/ME/NT/2000/XP) and Linux drivers, EAX/Direct Sound 3D/I3DL2/A3D compatible sound effect utilities (supporting Karaoke, 26-types of environment sound emulation, 10-band equalizer), HRTF 3D positional audio, and Sensaura™ 3D (optional) providing an excellent entertainment package and game experience for PC users. The ALC658 also includes Realtek's impedance sensing techniques that allow device load on inputs and outputs to be detected.