Headphone and Speaker Amplifiers

Embedded Technology INSIDER

Fairchild Semiconductor (San Jose, CA) has introduced the FAB1200 stereo Class-G ground-referenced headphone amplifier with integrated buck converter, and the FAB2200 audio subsystem with stereo Class-G headphone amplifier and 1.2W Class-D mono speaker amplifier. The FAB1200 features a charge pump that generates a negative supply voltage, allowing the headphone output to be ground-centered and capacitor-free. An integrated inductive buck regulator provides direct battery connection and adjusts the supply voltage between two different levels based on the output signal level resulting in reduced power consumption. The FAB2200 is an audio subsystem that combines a capacitor-free stereo Class-G headphone amplifier with a Class-D speaker amplifier. A proprietary integrated charge pump generates multiple supply rails for a ground-centered Class-G headphone output significantly reducing power dissipation when compared to Class-AB design implementations.