Class D Audio Amplifier
This is the prototype project for building a class D audio amplifier based on Texas Instruments' TPA3122D2 chip. The design is heavily related to the evaluation board. This prototype can be built on a bread board PCB with about 50mm by 85mm dimension.
Inhalt
- System description
- Circuit design and layout
- Hardware used/ Bill of material
- Datasheets of Components
- Image footage
- First impressions
System description ↑
The overall design of this prototype is based on the evaluation desing from Texas Instrumens (slou214a). I applied a littel interface adder to control the mute signal from any MCU voltage reference by adding a transistor logic.Components have been selected from an easily accessible supplier base and might slightly vary in performance characteristics. The output LC-filter inductor has been selected to almost match with the type given in the TI reference design - however quality reference source from Würth Electronic could be sourced from Conrad Elektronik, a somewhat cheaper reference was chosen (see for BOM/datasheets).
Circuit design and layout ↑
Download the latest EAGLE files (schematic & layout):article_d-ampvp1_schematic_layout.zip (zip-container)
Alternatively, get the schematic as PDF:
article_d-ampvp1_schematic.pdf
Hardware used/ Bill of material ↑
Download the latest BOM including referenced suppliers as csv-file:article_d-ampvp1_bom.csv
Datasheets of Components ↑
The following list allows you to access datasheets to the components used -refer to the BOM for referenced resources:
Image footage ↑
The following image shows the readily assembled amp. The TI chip is not yet installed.
First impressions ↑
The first impression is rather impressive!Using my lab power supply at 15V and connecting my smart phone returns pretty cool audio quality - considering some 10EUR in material, two old loudspeakers and some 2 hours of soldering and assembly.
For an implementation solution I had intended to use a switch mode power supply (SMPS) from Meanwell. It turns out, that when not playing music the amp goes to some "hardly using any energy" mode (which surely is one of the reasons for going for a D-amp).
Unfortunately, that leaves the SMPS with almost no load and as with many SMPS driven at low loads the SMPS started to make some audible noise itself - rather odd.
Verdict: cheap and powerful audioamplifier with impressive audio output. The powering concepts needs to be carefully planned, however.
The implementation project "piNOS Audio System" gives some further insight and more about audio capabilities.