Increase the Gain! audioXpress July 2020 Focuses on Audio Amplifiers

audioXpress July 2020 is now available, and there's a quiet revolution happening in audio amplification. Essentially it is the direct result of strong innovation in Class-D technology, with incremental improvements introduced on multiple fronts. In this month's Market Update, J. Martins details a few of the "Class-D Products Getting Smarter" and then Stuart Yaniger discusses Class-D amplifiers from two of those companies: Purifi Audio and Orchard Audio. Also, Ward Maas details his visit to Purifi Audio. Dimitri Danyuk shares his "Fully Balanced Transconductance Preamplifier" project, Roger Russell is "Hunting the Elusive Transient," and Ed Simon concludes his "Powering Your Circuits" series. And there's much more valuable content in this edition. Download or view your issue online now.

Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) introduced the first of a new integrated circuit (IC) product family offering higher performance and smaller solution size for high power density applications including DC-DC conversion, motor drive, and Class-D audio amplifiers. EPC announced an 80 V, 12.5 A power stage integrated circuit designed for 48 V DC-DC conversion. The EPC2152 is a single-chip driver plus eGaN FET half-bridge power stage using EPC’s proprietary GaN IC technology.

STMicroelectronics announced the new FDA901 class-D audio amplifier IC, a new design that incorporates the world-class audio expertise of Japanese manufacturer of car audio equipment, Alps Alpine. The new ST chip aims to contribute to the creation of multi-function, high-fidelity car audio systems that fuse the high efficiency of class-D amplifiers with the high-quality sound of ST’s class-AB amplifiers.

d&b audiotechnik announced the introduction of the KSLi System at ISE 2020. Delivering a complete installation package for the most comprehensive range of installations and applications, the system features the KSLi8/KSLi12 loudspeakers, combined with KSLi-SUB/KSLi-GSUB subwoofers, the new 40D high performance installation amplifier, plus a complete catalog of system specific accessories and customization options.

Ideal for active speakers, studio monitors and stereo amplifiers, the new ICEpower 200AS2 amplifier module is now in stock and ready for purchase, confirms the Danish class-D audio amplification company. Part of the AS amplifier family, a series of highly competitive, high efficiency, ultracompact and lightweight modules, "ready to rock’n roll", the new ICEpower 200AS2 features a capable 300W fly back power supply, combined with a 2x 215W class D amplifier.

For our July 2019 edition, audioXpress focused on audio amplification technologies and platforms, including a Market Update on Audio Amplifiers. Eric Eklund writes about Smart Power Audio Amplifiers for Smartphones, and Ward Maas discusses Powersoft's OEM amplifier modules. Read the reviews on the Dayton Audio HTA20BT Hybrid Stereo Tube Amplifier, and on Sonarworks’ True-Fi Software, learn about control and monitoring user interfaces for AoIP, and much more. Download your edition now!

NAD Electronics, the acclaimed high fidelity audio brand, particularly recognized for its innovations in amplifiers, announced that it will be the first international brand to incorporate and launch Purifi’s new patent-pending class-D technology into its product family. The announcement was made at the opening of another edition of the High End 2019 show, in Munich, Germany. NAD will license Purifi’s patent-pending amplification technology to create its next-generation amplifier platform.

Qualcomm Technologies, a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, announced CSRA6640, a flexible, highly integrated single-chip amplifier solution with Qualcomm DDFA Digital Amplifier Technology. With its single-chip architecture, the CSRA6640 brings a new level of integration to make superior class-D amplification more commercially viable on smaller form factors and lower tier products, helping manufacturers to create portable and power-efficient speakers that offer differentiated audio quality.

The new generation of PMC’s IB2S active range is aimed at studios working in stereo and surround formats who require true high-end monitoring - with both analogue and digital inputs - for reference and mastering applications. According to the brand, the three-way IB2S-AII offers all the attributes of PMC’s large ATL reference active monitors but in a more compact form. The PMS IB2S-AII and the twin cabinet IB2S XBD-AII systems bring even more power, detail and flexibility.

Continuing audioXpress' Amplifier Series, looking at the latest technologies and Class-D amplification platforms, Ward Maas writes about Axign, a new company from The Netherlands, founded by former Philips and NXP employees who worked on the pioneering Class-D efforts. Established in 2014, their efforts have resulted in the development of the AX5689m a Class-D audio amplifier controller chip in a QFN package. audioXpress visited the company to find out more and to receive a demo. This article was originally published in audioxpress, December 2017.