July 19th, 2021
Nihon Dempa Kogyo Co., Ltd.
Representative Director and President
Hiromi Katoh
Alps Alpine Co.,Ltd. adopted DuCULoN ® (*1) for AlpineF#1Status, the world's ultra high-end
car audio system
We are pleased to inform you that Alps Alpine Co.,Ltd. announced on June 22th, 2021 that the AlpineF#1Status,(world's first in the car audio industry that achieves 384kHz/32bit high-resolution playback sound), adopted ourDuCULoN® (NH47M47LA a quartz oscillator with the industry's best specifications) as the heart of the system.
Reasons for Adoption of DuCULoN® (pronounce as Due-Ka-Ron)
In order to accurately reproduce a high-resolution sound source (*2), it is necessary to accurately convert the highresolution data, which is a digital signal, into an analog signal.
In order to reproduce the true sound during recording, a master clock signal consisting of a high-precision
conversion device (DAC: digital-to-analog converter) and an oscillator that reduces phase noise to theutmost limit is required.
We have commercialized DuCULoN® (Dual Crystal Ultra Low Noise OCXO with ultra-low phase noise)properties as a OCXO for high-resolution audio, and the concept of this OCXO has now been adopted thatmatches Alps Alpine's audio design philosophy.
Low phase noise by DuCULoN ®
The low phase noise of DuCULoN® has been developed with a focus on improving the performance inthe audible band (20Hz to 20kHz), which is considered to be the most effective for sound quality. The
circuit configuration of DuCULoN ® is shown in Fig. 1 in a simplified manner, but the low-noise
circuit design uses two crystal units with higher Q-factor (*3) .
The signal output from the oscillation loop composed of Amp.1 and X-tal1 passes through a narrowband crystal filter (X-tal2)
as a clock output with extremely pure properties with low phase noise.

Fig. 1. Low Phase Noise Circuitry Configuration of DuCULoN ®
In the future, we intend to further improve the phase noise characteristics by pursuing an oscillator
circuit configuration that can maximize the Q-factor of the crystal in addition to the low phase noisetechnology cultivated in DuCULoN®.
(*1) DuCULoN ® is a registered trademark of Nihon Dempa Kogyo Co.,Ltd.
(*2) High-Resolution Audio
Digitizing an analog signal involves "sampling" at a fixed frequency. However, to achieve a true
playback sound that is close to the original sound, it is necessary to increase the sampling frequency and bitrate.Compared with CD sources, current high-resolution sound sources have improved both sampling
frequency and bit rate, enabling digitization of sound closer to the original.
(*3) Q-factor (Quality Factor) Indicates the quality of the resonator in the equivalent circuit of the crystal unit.

[Photo]Car Audio "AlpineF#1Status" (Alps Alpine Co.,Ltd. News Release)
Here's a special AlpineF#1Status site. (Japanese)[Technical information]
Features of Ultra-low Phase Noise OCXO(DuCULoN®)[Product Information]
NH47M47LA(DuCULoN®)[Reading]
Relationship between audio equipment and crystal -Sound Quality and Clock Phase NoiseFor inquiries regarding products, please contact [Contact Information] below.
[Contact Information]
Nihon Dempa Kogyo Co., Ltd.
e-mail：newsrelease@ndk.com