Shortly after LG V20 was released, we were able to find the chip information of ES9218 on the English version of ESS official website. Next, let's translate and analyze this independent DAC launched in LG V20 worldwide.

ES9218 is a 32bit independent DAC chip with four stereo channels. Compared with the dual channel ES9018K2M, it uses more material, but it is inferior to the 8-channel ES9018S and ES9038PRO. Of course, the latter two palace level chips cannot be inserted into smart phones for the time being. ES9218 has 2Vrms (5.6Vpp) output voltage and adopts HyperStream II technology.

Like the ES9118 released by MWC in 2016 at the beginning of the year, the ES9218 adopts SoC assembly mode and integrates the ear amplifier chip on the basis of independent DAC. Similar solutions from friends this year include AKM's AK4376, Nubia Z11 and vivo X7 series models. This is also a trend in the future, which can further compress the space occupancy of chipsets in mobile phones while ensuring the Hi Fi experience of mobile phones.

Next, let's talk about HyperStream II. As early as CES 2016, ESS had introduced ES9038PRO, a decoding chip of the new SABRE PRO DAC series, which also uses 32-bit HyperStream II patented technology, providing unprecedented analytical power, that is, sound details. Today, ESS has decentralized this technology to the ES9218 of 4DAC.

Another technology of ES9218, Analog Volume Control (AVC), provides 130 dB signal to noise ratio, which can reduce noise while keeping sound signal unabated. As for 4DAC, the four stereo channels integrated in SoC can provide 124 dB dynamic range and lower than - 112 dB total harmonic distortion+noise. In addition, the ES9218 has an independent DAC and also integrates a high impedance ear amplifier, which can provide up to 2Vrms (5.6Vpp) output voltage.

According to ESS, the highly integrated Hi Fi SoC solution like ES9218 used to only be used for large and expensive components such as home theaters. Now it is undoubtedly a better choice for mobile devices with fever. Robert Wong, Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing of ESS, mentioned that "ES9218 provides a performance level Hi Fi SoC solution. More importantly than any number and parameter, the latest SABRE DAC with HyperStream II technology has a moving sound performance in our data sheet. This technology has been used in the world famous high-end hi fi audio equipment. "

ES9218 supports most popular lossless audio formats including FLAC, ALAC, AIFF and WAV. ES9218 fully supports the compression of audio files in traditional formats, thus ensuring that consumers can have a better hearing experience.

In terms of technical specifications, the ES9218 Hi Fi SoC scheme uses 40 pin CSP and QFN packaging technology, and provides 130 db signal-to-noise ratio, 124 dB dynamic range, and less than - 112 dB total harmonic distortion+noise through the 32-bit HyperStream II DAC architecture and time-domain jitter eliminator registered with the ESS patent. The integrated DAC of ES9218 is compatible with both PCM and DSD lossless audio coding methods. The former supports up to 384kHz/32bit sampling rate, while the latter supports up to DSD512 standard.

LG has cooperated with ESS for many times before. In the LG V10, the independent ESS decoder chip ES9018K2M was built in, and the LG Hi Fi Plus module of LG G5 integrated the ES9028C2M DAC and ES9602C op amp. Therefore, LG V20 should have a relatively mature ability to adjust the Hi Fi chip of ESS. This time, LG also hired an old partner, B&O, to help with tuning, and a pair of B&O customized earphones were attached.

Finally, let's compare the parameters of some ESS decoding chips in this article to see where the ES9218 is located.

As can be seen from the above table, ES9018S and ES9038PRO with 8 stereo channels are still the strongest decoding chips in ESS. As an upgraded version of ES9118, ES9218 not only improves the DSD256 decoding standard to DSD512, but also further improves the signal-to-noise ratio. These two SoC solutions have integrated Amp in addition to independent DAC. Compared with the ES9018K2M and ES9028Q2M/C2M, which were released earlier without Amp integration, the advantages of ES9218 are not too great, and the dynamic range and total harmonic distortion+noise are still lagging behind.