GaN Systems Announces New Series of 12V Class D Audio Amplifier Reference Designs

GaN Systems, a company specialized in GaN (gallium nitride) power semiconductors, published a new technical document titled, “12V High-Efficiency Audio Reference Designs using GaN Power Transistors.” The technical note was developed following the launch of the new GaN Systems Class-D audio amplifier evaluation kit and from growing customer interest for designs in the 12V market for automotive, marine, powersports, and other applications from power system design engineers.

Orchard Audio announced the launch of the Starkrimson Integrated HiFi Stereo Amplifier, a concept that combines two-channels of the company's existing BOSC amplifiers (recently reviewed in audioXpress) and its popular PecanPi DAC into a single slim enclosure. The inputs are either balanced analog, USB or S/PDIF and it already ships with XLR jumpers to allow side-chaining external preamps or DSPs. An ideal system to bridge a streaming source and a Dirac Live processor. Just add speakers.

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.

Power and charging technology specialist AUKEY grabbed a lot of attention in January at CES 2020 when it announced its brand-new Omnia USB-C charger series, including the ultra-compact Omnia 100W model, just 32mm thick, offering an ideal combination of power and portability. AUKEY now confirmed that it is accepting orders for the new charger, which uses the latest gallium nitride (GaN) technology.

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.

Infineon Technologies broadened its CoolGaN series with two new devices: the CoolGaN 400 V and the CoolGaN 600 V. Gallium nitride (GaN) offers fundamental advantages over silicon, with outstanding specific dynamic on-state resistance and smaller capacitances compared to silicon MOSFETs. The new CoolGaN 400 V device will appeal to audio product designers looking for a premium solution for home or professional Class D amplifiers.

There is a very interesting new audio project being promoted on Kickstarter. Coming from Orchard Audio, the BOSC is a well engineered hi-fi monoblock audio amplifier that explores the latest gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductor technology to achieve ultra-high performance in a small package. This compact and affordable 150 watt amplifier shows a lot of potential, with an impressive circuit design and high-quality sound, and is available in 3-4Ω (13.8dB gain) or 6-8Ω (16.8dB gain) versions.