Long-lasting music playback performance that comes in compact, cost-effective, and power-efficient designs, is indispensable, especially for battery-powered applications. Infineon's new MERUS 2x 37W audio amplifiers feature the second generation of MERUS multilevel Class-D switching amplifier technology, optimized for low power and battery-powered applications.
"The ability to drive 2x 37W at full power, while supporting inductor-less, low EMI outputs and an idle power level at one-tenth of competitive products, offers OEM’s and ODM’s unique benefits," says Dafydd Roche, Director Marketing of Class-D Audio at Infineon. "These benefits include smaller form factor products and lower system costs by removing big, bulky inductors and shielding and by lowering battery capacity for the same playback hours. Our ecosystem partners complement the system solutions we can offer. With their decades of audio expertise, they are a unique addition to design-in and product support of our MERUS amplifier generations, enabling customers a faster time-to-market."
The new MERUS multilevel switching technology makes new audio products sound better while consuming only one-tenth of the idle power of traditional Class D amplifiers. Multilevel Class-D amplifiers need only ferrite beads instead of big inductors for the output low-pass-filter circuity, significantly reducing the PCB space and additional cost of inductors. Two major associated partners of Infineon, currently developing unique audio solutions based on the MERUS Class D audio amplifiers, are Eleven Engineering and Volumio, in the Global and EMEA business regions, respectively.
Eleven Engineering, the Canadian company behind the cutting-edge wireless audio standard SKAA, supports manufacturers and brands with high-quality audio designs in key audio markets such as home theater, whole home, portable audio, and outdoor. As the creator of the SKAA technology for wireless audio, the Infineon partnership extends the company's range of engineering services in both wireless networking and battery-operated speakers, leveraging Eleven’s off-the-shelf motherboards, Strawberry and Saskatoon, combining SKAA and MERUS silicon on field-proven PCBAs.
"Infineon’s Class-D amplifier topology significantly increases the battery life of SKAA wireless-enabled products, making them more desirable to customers," says John Sobota, CEO, Director and Founder of Eleven Engineering. “This benefit is pretty obvious. What’s less obvious is the cost impact of using Infineon amplification. When you can eliminate costly items from the bill of materials, such as output inductors, chassis boxes, and dedicated heat sinks, it makes our joint offerings fantastically attractive."
Volumio is the company that created the free and open source Linux music player of the same name, and which meanwhile has evolved into a complete catalog of products, from DIY "build your own music player" based on a Raspberry Pi, Tinker Board or PC, to a range of dedicated music streamers, such as the Volumio Primo, Rivo, or Integro. Volumio also offers OEM and engineering services in system integration and licensing. "We have chosen to design our Integro integrated streaming amplifier around the MERUS multilevel Class-D audio technology because it offers the best synthesis of sound quality, efficiency, and power," says Michelangelo Guarise, Founder and CEO of Volumio. "Our customers just love that such a compact design can deliver a powerful and crisp musical presentation, and this has been possible thanks to the MERUS platform."
Volumio provides its music players designed for high-quality music playback, controlled with any device with a browser and offering an intuitive UI that allows the integration of different music formats and services. Volumio OEM provides a tailored audio system to companies based on the Volumio software, already trusted by 30 OEM partners.
www.elevenengineering.com
www.volumio.com
https://www.infineon.com
