DS Audio

DS Audio is part of the powerful Digital Stream Corporation (DSC), which has been operating in the laser optics market for 25 years. It supplies “lasers” for industrial optical disc systems and other optical devices. DSC manufactures optical disc testing equipment, and its 25 years of experience allow it to state that “if we see read errors, they are 100% caused by disc defects.” Digital Stream Corporation’s market share is nearly 95%. Another sector the company is involved in is computers—or, more specifically, peripherals. Optical computer mice were developed in collaboration with Microsoft. USB version 1 was the first standard used in Microsoft gaming devices, and DSC received the “Outstanding Engineering Excellence” award from Microsoft. In 2011, DSC received the “300 Excellent Companies in Manufacturing” award from Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry. The name Digital Stream Corporation may not mean much to many readers, but it is a company that manufactures state-of-the-art laser devices, as well as CD/DVD/Blu-ray players. Now the company has drawn on its experience to introduce an optical turntable cartridge. Toshiba was a pioneer in this field. The idea comes from Tetsuaki (Aki) Aoyagi. On the second floor of DSC’s headquarters, a space has been set aside where DS Audio devices are built entirely by hand. The cartridges and equalizers are assembled by skilled workers. The cartridge components are manufactured on-site rather than outsourced to external companies. The “preamplifier” is manufactured in the same way. Its parts are soldered by hand, and the “legs” of some electronic components are soldered to the printed circuit board and additionally connected with wires, because, as determined, a 35 µm-thick trace is too thin. The process of manufacturing and testing the cartridge is so complex and time-consuming that only two cartridges are produced per day. After all components are assembled, the cartridge undergoes testing. It is connected to two four-channel oscilloscopes, each of which displays the voltage signals from the photodetector. The circuit is balanced, retested, and “burned in.” Before packaging, each cartridge undergoes additional testing on a special board.