New Class-D Audio Amplifiers trio for smart home audio

Texas Instrument (TI) came out with three new audio amplifiers to be used by engineers with a goal of delivering a high-resolution audio for more device applications, in particular, smart-home and voice-enabled apps, and at the same time reduce board space as well as their BOM cost. They are, of course, all using digital input (Class D) rather than linear or near-linear (Class A, AB, or B), and support power level between 15W mono to 175W stereo. Following the needs of new audio installations, they are compatible with applications such as smart speakers, TVs, soundbars as well as projectors. They each have different features intended for different functions and here is what they are.

 

TAS2770

TAS2770 is a monophonic audio amplifier and its main purpose is to monitor loudspeakers behavior (voltage and current) using built-in monitoring, as well as allowing increases in loudness while still improving audio quality for the applications that do require small speakers. The amplifier itself has a digital-microphone input channel so it can capture acoustic information such as voice and ambient for echo cancellation as well as noise reduction when it comes to voice-enabled applications. Talking about monitoring of behavior of loudspeakers, TAS2770 is designed to automatically decrease gain in case when an audio signal goes over the set threshold value, which would prevent degrading sound in certain situations, while still extending playback time. TAS2770 can be shared by 8 devices using a common bus via I2S/TDM or I2C interfaces.

When it comes to the price of TAS2770, for the 26-pin VQFN it goes from $1.49 (1000 pieces).

 

TAS4825M

TAS5825M is the second of the audio amplifier trio and it has several main functions from being able to achieve high-resolution audio because of its high input-sampling frequency and providing flexible and yet integrated processing flow, to providing bass enhancement as well as thermal protection for the speakers. Besides this, it has an integrated SRC (sample-rate converter) that will detect the input sample rate and then automatically convert it to the target sample rate. Due to the way it was designed and its proprietary hybrid-more modulation scheme, TAS4825M help decrease the idle-power losses as well as thermal dissipation when you are using the device, and all of this without even degrading the quality of the sound. Talking about the price of TAS4825M, it starts at $2.64 for the 32-pin VQFN (1000 pieces).

 

TAS3251

TAS3251 audio amplifier was designed by Texas Instruments as the first integrated digital-input amplifier that will support the high output power, as well as performance, and use not only one, but two different channels through which it both delivers 175W. Another option is to combine the channels with a goal to double power in one of them, but this is possible only in the BTL (bridge-tied load) mode. Another characteristic of this audio amplifier is that it also keeps a lookout for any issues and reports any errors such as too low voltage, circuit with too short output, cycle-by-cycle liming, too high of the temperature and the shutdown, and, not to forget, the DC speaker protection. Referring to the price of the TAS3251, for the 56-pin HSSOP device, it is $5.95 (1000 pieces).

All of the new audio amplifiers can be found for purchase on the Texas Instruments website.

Read also: TEAC launches three small amplifiers with MQA decoder

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