An hour of music at National Semiconductor

Like most people, I enjoy the sound of good music. So when I was invited to National Semiconductor’s sound room, I was anxious to hear how my favorite CD the Phantom of the Opera would sound with the company’s $25,000 speakers and state-of-the art audiophile equipment based on the company’s high-performance audio technology.

Mark Brasfield, principal audio applications engineer in National’s Audio Division, helped create the current version of the Audio Sound Room. He has more than 30 years of industry experience.

The sound room also features built-in high-, mid-, and low-frequency diffusers and selected tube traps. National’s high-performance audio parts make up the core analog signal path of the in-house-designed digital-to-analog converter/preamp as well as two mono-block (450-W / 0.0005% THD) power amplifiers that drive the Wilson WATT/Puppy or B&W 802D speakers.

With my eyes closed I listened to my CD. I felt like I was seeing the Broadway play again as I could distinguish every sound of each instrument playing on the CD. The audio was incredibly amazing I have never heard music with this sound quality before. The sound room has its own selections too, so Mark put on “Duets” by Jennifer Warnes. The sound was so perfect you could actually hear her lips touch while singing.