Maxim MAX98390 smart amplifier

Maxim Integrated Products has introduced the MAX98390 smart amplifier, with an integrated Dynamic Speaker Management (DSM) algorithm to efficiently deliver loud, clear, rich sound at low quiescent power. The boosted, digital Class D DSM smart amplifier unleashes a system’s full audio potential by safely driving higher power levels (up to 5.1 W) into tiny speakers typically rated for lower power between 1 and 3 W.

As speakers shrink, loudness or sound pressure level (SPL) decreases while the resonant frequency increases, leading to less bass. Driving the speakers harder to increase loudness and bass response can damage micro speakers through overheating and over excursion. The smart amplifier solves this problem by utilising integrated IV (current and voltage) sense and Maxim’s DSM algorithm to drive speakers to their maximum specified limits, while protecting against over-excursion and over-temperature events. DSM’s thermal protection empowers designers to safely push their speakers well beyond their specified power rating, enabling the speakers to produce their maximum loudness. DSM’s excursion protection enables designers to drive speakers to their specified excursion limits, producing sound up to two octaves below the resonant frequency limit.

The easy-to-use DSM Sound Studio GUI allows users to quickly and easily characterise many speakers. Combined with DSM’s thermal protection, the result is maximum loudness across the extended frequency ranges in minutes, with no complex programming required. To cater to the miniaturisation of devices and shrinking batteries, the amplifier offers peak efficiency at 86%, which is further improved with DSM’s Perceptual Power Reduction (PPR) feature that can yield up to an additional 25% efficiency, and low quiescent power consumption of ~24 mW, making it suitable for low-power devices that need long battery life.