Introducing Aphex® Audio Enhancement Technology

About Aphex® Audio Enhancement Technology
The DW Collection is proud to present the most exciting and effective audio enhancement system available today. Developed in collaboration with Aphex Systems, Ltd, a world leader in the professional audio field for over 30 years, Aphex® is designed to bring life back to music files, improve intelligibility and reproduce the musical experience as the original artist intended.

• Aphex circuitry breathes new life into all your music – even heavily compressed, low bit rate files – by restoring musical harmonics.
• Vocals, drums, pianos, guitars, and all instruments are more distinct and detailed.
• Clarity and presence are improved and stereo imaging is increased to create a more spacious and realistic performance.
• Bass frequencies are richer, deeper and more resonant.
• Lo-fi audio systems are more convincing and full range systems are nothing short of amazing.
• The emotional impact of the music is improved even when listening at low volumes.
• Improved speech intelligibility improves books on CD/Tape, Audible™ files, and podcasts.

When this circuitry was first developed it was so exclusive top artists rented it in recording studios for $30 per minute! Today, the Aphex circuitry is a more refined version of that original circuit, optimized for playback of recordings from any source, especially compressed music players.

The popularity of MP3 and other compressed music format players proves that many listeners are willing to sacrifice music quality for convenience. But with the Aphex circuit it doesn’t have to be a compromise! To fit so much music data into those tiny hand held products, various conventional data compression methods are used to reduce the bit rate. This process selectively removes data bits from the music, representing sound supposedly masked by higher level signals. As more bits are removed there is greater loss of fidelity. In response to this detrimental compression, Aphex circuitry reverses the fidelity loss by restoring the harmonic richness lost in the conversion/compression process. Ultimately, Aphex restores the sound that the original artist intended.

Background – Aphex® Technology
For three decades, professional recording engineers have used the Aphex® technology to bring life-like sound back to audio recordings made in the studio. This innovative circuit technology has proven its ability, to restore the musical impact lost in the recording process, and is endorsed by the most demanding professional musicians and recording engineers working today.

Aphex® Technology – Just Ask The Pros
DWC’s Aphex® technology has been an industry standard for over thirty years in the recording studio, broadcast and professional sound system industries. We have all heard it on countless recordings, commercials, streaming media, sporting events, award shows, media events and at concerts where the absolute best sound is critical.

This effective processing is used by many of the best-known artists and studios including: Paul McCartney, Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Wonder, Alan Parsons, the 2009 Grammy Awards Show, ESPN and CNBC. Albums such as Rumors, Abbey Road and Dark Side of the Moon are just a sampling of mega- classics produced with Aphex. In the words of multi-platinum artist, Mick Fleetwood, “The Rumors album would never have been possible without Aphex technology.”

Available To Consumers For The First Time
After significant development and engineering, DWC puts this recording industry technology in your hands, refined and optimized to transform your reduced bit-rate compressed audio files into a more life-like performance that is more spacious and clear, with better detail and powerful bass.

Aphex® - Not An Equalizer
Unlike conventional “audio enhancement” methods, the Aphex® circuit is not an equalizer. The DWC circuit looks for musical transients and intelligently restores the right amount of harmonic content to those transients, enhancing the “live” characteristics of the audio. It also improves the audible results of the masking algorithms in the compression scheme by improving the level of masking by high-level sounds without amplifying the low-level masked signals. The undesirable audible artifacts of the compression process are reduced so they become inaudible.

Aphex also extends the frequency response of the playback signal by restoring the musically related signals lost in the conversion process. It improves the high frequency airiness without making the high frequencies blazing “hot” directly in front of the loudspeaker. You’ll be able to enjoy your music at lower levels without losing the detail and impact associated with high level listening all while dramatically reducing listening fatigue.

You’ll Love Our Big Thick Bass
Aphex® also incorporates a new bass enhancement circuitry, which reverses the loss of bass in compressed audio. Unlike less sophisticated, fixed equalization or multi-band compression, the DWC technology does not result in muddy or indistinct bass. Instead, the low end sounds fuller and better defined. DWC has designed its circuits to carefully control the amount of enhancement and has made sure that it is determined by the actual musical signal and not predefined at a fixed level (as with EQs) ensuring that unwanted artifacts are not enhanced.

The Aphex circuit contours and tightens the bass, allowing individual notes to be better articulated and more recognizable. Bass response is optimized to isolate and enhance the lowest bass frequencies, providing deeper and more resonant bass. Ultimately, the circuit delivers a more “live” sound, while increasing the bass capacity of a music system as though subwoofers were added.

While we’re pretty sure you’ll never want to turn it off, we include a bypass switch on all of our DW Collection products so you can compare the sound with, and without, Aphex - and it’s not going to cost you $30 per minute to use!

Aphex® Circuit – Restoring Harmonics
Reprocessed sound is different than live sound because a loss of harmonic detail often results in dull and lifeless reproduction. Thankfully, Aphex’s unique, patented technology creates and restores missing harmonics. Harmonics are musically and dynamically related to the original sound. They reveal the fine differences between vocals and instruments, creating the music’s natural brightness, clarity, and presence, improving detail and voice intelligibility and bring life to music.

In addition to restoring harmonics to your music, Aphex technology also enhances stereo imaging. You will perceive a more realistic performance and spaciousness, without any additional noise AND it also increases the perception of low frequencies without increasing the maximum output.

How It’s Done
The patented engineering of these circuits manipulate dynamic phase, frequency and amplitude and blend them together with the unaltered original signal. The result is clearer, more lifelike reproduction that offsets the inevitable losses in the compression, storage, and reprocessing stages of conventional and compressed recording technology. The DWC circuit does not add anything, like equalization, to the signal – it simply restores what was lost in production.

And A Bit More: Aphex® Vs. Conventional Enhancement Options
Bit rate reduced audio is a fact of life. With over 120 million iPods and an equal number of MP3, computer and other digital systems being used daily, trying to improve the listening experience is typically done through EQ, which actually adds noise and makes the music worse. A popular method people use to achieve more impact is to boost the low frequency and high frequency level. Boosting EQ may sound different initially, but after a short time, the user will experience listening fatigue. This method is particularly bad for bit rate reduced audio (MP3 files) in that it “unmasks” the masking algorithms, thus making the bad compression artifacts more obvious. Bit rate reduction algorithms use the theory that lower level audio within what is called a critical band is “masked” by a signal that is higher in level. In theory, these masked signals can then be thrown away without changing the perceived audio quality. By changing the equalization, either by fixed equalization or by multi-band compression in playback, the amplitude relationships between the masking signals and the missing signals can change.

The greater the amount of equalization change, the greater the amount of “unmasking” which induces or amplifies unwanted artifacts. In addition, performing this EQ manipulation will impact all the music being played in the same way. This is clearly the wrong approach as all songs have different mix characteristics.

Unlike conventional “enhancement” systems, the Aphex® circuit takes its cues from the varying characteristics of the incoming audio stream, and adapts itself in subtle but significant ways to restore missing harmonics with the proper balance and only when appropriate, resulting in a more realistic listening experience. Whether you use a low budget, portable, high-end or world-class audiophile system to listen to your music, Aphex will make your listening experience better. One listen will prove it to you!