What are your sources? This would be good news but I find it hard to believe. The Tripath chips use outdated geometries and are expensive to make. I don't think the profit margins on their silicon were sufficient to sustain a business. That may be why they went under. I can see where the intellectual property may have some value, but as a going concern it is hard to see why anyone would buy them. If the price was low enough just to acquire the IP it might make sense. Can you confirm your sources?
Apparently there was an auction of Tripath assets recently. That may be what the 'informed source' was referring to. From everything I have been able to find on this topic it seems pretty certain that Tripath has been liquidated. The assets were auctioned off piecemeal. The company was not sold as a viable whole. The best that can be hoped for now is that some company has picked up the intellectual property and decided to continue making at least some of the good parts or will make new parts based on the technology. But the notion that Tripath has been bought by Cirrus or anyone else is a fantasy. Tripath is tits up, RIP. The assets have been divided up and sold off. It's gone.
I was going to check for info and ask over at
http://www.tripathpower.com/
but it's gone.
A very informative site. Sad to see it go...
One more place to check.
http://www.tripathpower.com/
but it's gone.
A very informative site. Sad to see it go...One more place to check.
Tripath had more than 10 millions dollars revenue last year with its "outdated geometries." 
That is not something you can buy picking up some assets.
If that revenue were not enough to survive is simply because costs for research and development in the IC market were to high for such a small company.
To think it is because of product quality, it is then difficult to understand why so many manufacturers, and their engineers, wanted to waste their millions dollars
That is not something you can buy picking up some assets.If that revenue were not enough to survive is simply because costs for research and development in the IC market were to high for such a small company.
To think it is because of product quality, it is then difficult to understand why so many manufacturers, and their engineers, wanted to waste their millions dollars
thomaeliot,
I didn't mean for my comments to imply that I had a low regard for Tripath. The tone of your last post sounded as if you were a bit offended. I was just being truthful. In fact, I love their products and own three Tripath based amplifiers. I am listening to one now. Despite the fact that they made great sounding products, I don't thing you can argue that they had a viable business model. And you also can't argue with the fact that they are finally gone. We can only hope that Tripath technology gets a chance to live on in some other company's product line.
I didn't mean for my comments to imply that I had a low regard for Tripath. The tone of your last post sounded as if you were a bit offended. I was just being truthful. In fact, I love their products and own three Tripath based amplifiers. I am listening to one now. Despite the fact that they made great sounding products, I don't thing you can argue that they had a viable business model. And you also can't argue with the fact that they are finally gone. We can only hope that Tripath technology gets a chance to live on in some other company's product line.
audiosteve said:
Sorry for the tone
I think that Tripath bet were to grow fastly with their class-d monopoly in the IC consumer market. For a few years this worked, but when competitors came up, they were not yet big enough to sustain high research costs.
john65b said:
Just hope the news is confirmed officially
Cirrus Buys Tripath
A search in the world business archives turns up reports that Cirrus Logic purchased Tripaths intellectual property on May 3rd for a bit over $3 million USD. Take a look at this link:
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/transactions/transactions.asp?symbol=CDNS.O
Dennis
San Diego, CA
A search in the world business archives turns up reports that Cirrus Logic purchased Tripaths intellectual property on May 3rd for a bit over $3 million USD. Take a look at this link:
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/transactions/transactions.asp?symbol=CDNS.O
Dennis
San Diego, CA
Tripath Website Still Up
If you go to www.tripath.com, you can still download all their application notes. All other information is removed from the site as dead links. I suggest that the Class -T enthusiast community download this technical information before it vanishes forever.
Getting back to the financial demise of Tripath, my first impression is one of tragedy. Very rarely do we witness a firm whose corporate goals include an improvement of the listening experience itself. Lowest cost of production and greater corporate profits are typically the primary driving factors in any modern audio technology. Tripath was a corporate anomaly in this regard...as they delivered highly sophisticated technology that was extremely easy to implement...and sounded GREAT in the meanwhile. We may never see such a convergence again.
Why they went out of business remains a mystery. Without detailed information regarding their operations and a thorough analysis of the marketplace, all comments on this forum remain mere conjecture. I wonder why people have formulated opinions that the founder was a "bad businessman" or that Tripath technology is archaic and expensive to implement? Unless you are a venture capitalist whom has performed extensive due diligence on Tripath, I seriously doubt that these comments are grounded in any fact. As we are all witnessing a funeral of sorts, I suggest that you please afford your greatest respect for these visionary people whom have brought us the unique Tripath technology.
Although $3 million USD is practically coffee money to Cirrus, it is obvious they have some interest in Tripaths technology. My bet is that in the future, we will see an integrated Cirrus chip that contains a D/A converter, digital volume control and Tripath power amp all on one die. It was MUCH cheaper for Cirrus to buy the Tripath designs then to spend $10 or $20 million USD in an attempt to do this themselves.
The Tripath deal at $3.25 million USD was an absolute bargain...!
Dennis Lusis, MBA
San Diego, CA
If you go to www.tripath.com, you can still download all their application notes. All other information is removed from the site as dead links. I suggest that the Class -T enthusiast community download this technical information before it vanishes forever.
Getting back to the financial demise of Tripath, my first impression is one of tragedy. Very rarely do we witness a firm whose corporate goals include an improvement of the listening experience itself. Lowest cost of production and greater corporate profits are typically the primary driving factors in any modern audio technology. Tripath was a corporate anomaly in this regard...as they delivered highly sophisticated technology that was extremely easy to implement...and sounded GREAT in the meanwhile. We may never see such a convergence again.
Why they went out of business remains a mystery. Without detailed information regarding their operations and a thorough analysis of the marketplace, all comments on this forum remain mere conjecture. I wonder why people have formulated opinions that the founder was a "bad businessman" or that Tripath technology is archaic and expensive to implement? Unless you are a venture capitalist whom has performed extensive due diligence on Tripath, I seriously doubt that these comments are grounded in any fact. As we are all witnessing a funeral of sorts, I suggest that you please afford your greatest respect for these visionary people whom have brought us the unique Tripath technology.
Although $3 million USD is practically coffee money to Cirrus, it is obvious they have some interest in Tripaths technology. My bet is that in the future, we will see an integrated Cirrus chip that contains a D/A converter, digital volume control and Tripath power amp all on one die. It was MUCH cheaper for Cirrus to buy the Tripath designs then to spend $10 or $20 million USD in an attempt to do this themselves.
The Tripath deal at $3.25 million USD was an absolute bargain...!
Dennis Lusis, MBA
San Diego, CA
Re: Tripath Website Still Up
Hey Dennis, long time no see!
I sure did, first thing this AM. Maybe we should get them all, I just got what I use or plan to use.
Can not find any other news of the Cirrus-Tripath thing. Anyone have an idea other than Google news of where to search?
Hey Dennis, long time no see!
Diogenio said:
I sure did, first thing this AM. Maybe we should get them all, I just got what I use or plan to use.
Can not find any other news of the Cirrus-Tripath thing. Anyone have an idea other than Google news of where to search?
There was recently an auction put on ebay for 2,025 pcs. of Tripaths TDA2075A IC. The auction had a starting price of $9.99 and I had auction sniper loaded and ready with a max bid $500. The seller canceled the auction to my dismay. I asked why he ended it and this was his response.........
So it seems my $500 dollar offer was chump change compared to what he was looking to get for them. I didn't bother to respond and ask who "they" are or what other chips "they" have. If someone here is seriously interested in trying to get a hold of whatever Tripath stuff "they" have, I will contact this person for more information.
So it seems my $500 dollar offer was chump change compared to what he was looking to get for them. I didn't bother to respond and ask who "they" are or what other chips "they" have. If someone here is seriously interested in trying to get a hold of whatever Tripath stuff "they" have, I will contact this person for more information.
RE: Cirrus - Tripath Connection
People like Wright are consummate professionals in all things Silicon Valley. Tripath no doubt had other high-powered people working at their firm. I do not believe their demise was due to either a lack of talent OR a bad product.
If I were to take an educated guess, I'd think that Tripath did not succeed because of stringent market price demands. Unfortunately, the best quality products do NOT always come out the winners. For Tripath to succeed, they would have had to penetrate both the mobile music market (car audio players) and cheapass, low-end "rack" stereo market. Wal-Mart anyone?
These two markets are already flooded with "chip amps" (National, Texas, Phillips, etc) like those used by our DIY brethren of a different forum. These chip amps are basically overgrown op-amps, very cheap to produce and yet provide the necessary power output (read: specs!) for these low-end consumer items. Is the Tripath technology better sounding, lower distortion, more efficient, more advanced...? Well yes, of course. But do JVC, Pioneer, Sony and the others really care if Tripath sonics are true audiophile quality? NO! They are more interested in saving $0.50 per each car stereo sold, to keep profits aat a maximum. The market really IS that price sensitive and competitive, I know it is hard to believe.
Giants like National or Texas can easily run a firm like Tripath out of business, merely through the pricing of their competitive products. While I am not implying that they did so, the uphill challenge that a start-up like Tripath must face is daunting to say the least. Very few small firms can survive the intense competition that the giants pose. Burr-Brown is a great example of a small, "family" type company that made GREAT sounding devices. Lucky for them, they got snapped up by Texas and can now benefit from the giant's research capital, marketing and distribution network. They are safe. It is too bad that Tripath did not seek to sell their firm off much earlier on to a giant like National or even Cirrus. As they say, timing is everything.
Getting back to the chips themselves, I wish to reiterate that we have been give a rare form of gift. Take a moment to read through their white papers and witness the genius that lies within their technology. These are no ordinary Class D chips...they do not use PWM and have an inherent timing offset to accomodate the different switching lag times of the output devices. Even their clipping characteristic is amazing...the fundamental waveform is held intact while the overload is pushed above sonic range.
There is a tremendous amount of clever engineering going on each time you listen to a Tripath. Is it any wonder that a die-hard tube man like myself can listen to a Tripath and grin from ear-to-ear? Remember that two audiophile tube giants, Bel Canto and Audio Research...have both produced Tripath-based amplifiers! Bel Canto in fact ceased production of their mighty 845 tube amps and went 100% Tripath! Now what???
Enjoy the music...
Dennis Lusis, MBA
San Diego, CA
People like Wright are consummate professionals in all things Silicon Valley. Tripath no doubt had other high-powered people working at their firm. I do not believe their demise was due to either a lack of talent OR a bad product.
If I were to take an educated guess, I'd think that Tripath did not succeed because of stringent market price demands. Unfortunately, the best quality products do NOT always come out the winners. For Tripath to succeed, they would have had to penetrate both the mobile music market (car audio players) and cheapass, low-end "rack" stereo market. Wal-Mart anyone?
These two markets are already flooded with "chip amps" (National, Texas, Phillips, etc) like those used by our DIY brethren of a different forum. These chip amps are basically overgrown op-amps, very cheap to produce and yet provide the necessary power output (read: specs!) for these low-end consumer items. Is the Tripath technology better sounding, lower distortion, more efficient, more advanced...? Well yes, of course. But do JVC, Pioneer, Sony and the others really care if Tripath sonics are true audiophile quality? NO! They are more interested in saving $0.50 per each car stereo sold, to keep profits aat a maximum. The market really IS that price sensitive and competitive, I know it is hard to believe.
Giants like National or Texas can easily run a firm like Tripath out of business, merely through the pricing of their competitive products. While I am not implying that they did so, the uphill challenge that a start-up like Tripath must face is daunting to say the least. Very few small firms can survive the intense competition that the giants pose. Burr-Brown is a great example of a small, "family" type company that made GREAT sounding devices. Lucky for them, they got snapped up by Texas and can now benefit from the giant's research capital, marketing and distribution network. They are safe. It is too bad that Tripath did not seek to sell their firm off much earlier on to a giant like National or even Cirrus. As they say, timing is everything.
Getting back to the chips themselves, I wish to reiterate that we have been give a rare form of gift. Take a moment to read through their white papers and witness the genius that lies within their technology. These are no ordinary Class D chips...they do not use PWM and have an inherent timing offset to accomodate the different switching lag times of the output devices. Even their clipping characteristic is amazing...the fundamental waveform is held intact while the overload is pushed above sonic range.
There is a tremendous amount of clever engineering going on each time you listen to a Tripath. Is it any wonder that a die-hard tube man like myself can listen to a Tripath and grin from ear-to-ear? Remember that two audiophile tube giants, Bel Canto and Audio Research...have both produced Tripath-based amplifiers! Bel Canto in fact ceased production of their mighty 845 tube amps and went 100% Tripath! Now what???
Enjoy the music...
Dennis Lusis, MBA
San Diego, CA
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