Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Conexant intros ultra low-power class H, audiophile-grade 2.8V headphone amplifier

USA: Conexant Systems Inc. announced the CX3000, its new high-performance, ultra low-power, Class H headphone amplifier with I2C control. CX3000 is the first Class-H amplifier to drive up to 2.8V into matching high impedance headphones with 106dB SNR and 100+ dB THD.

Additionally, it has an integrated impedance sense feature that enables dynamic power throttling to match different headphone transducers with the ideal drive strength and lowest power consumption. CX3000 is targeted to smartphones, music featured phones, PCs, portable media players, and audiophile-grade portable headphone amplifiers.

The rise of smartphones and the prevalence of digital media have combined to make premium headphones a must-have item for consumers. Audiophiles know that high-end headphones have long favored high impedance (32~600ohms). Higher impedance allows for more coil turning in the transducer, resulting in finer analog resolution for high fidelity sound.

High impedance headphones also draw less current from the amplifier, resulting in less distortion. The standard integrated Class G headphone amplifier that is typical in today’s mobile devices lacks the headroom to drive such headphones, leading to poor sound quality. Conexant’s CX3000 is specifically designed to achieve adequate drive strength through an ultra-low power Class H architecture, meeting the needs of the premium mobile device market, which requires low-power consumption and audiophile audio quality.

In addition, an integrated charge pump allows for direct connection to the headphone jack, eliminating DC blocking capacitors and reducing board area and BOM costs. In order to prevent clipping and maximize efficiency, the charge pump’s three operating modes (.5X, 1X and 2X) are based on amplifier signal amplitude.

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