Tripath?
"Kevin McMurtrie" wrote in
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In article ,
"Arny Krueger" wrote:
"Eeyore" wrote
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[ snip ]
Sure, but it'll use less power than a linear amp.
In most office and home applications that's not an
issue. Even in mobile applications like a car, there's
plenty of power available.
There's never enough power and cooling available!
It's a matter of perspective. For example, in a car you have to deal with
heat from the exterior in the summer. Such tiny amounts of heat that the car
radio makes is relatively small.
Car audio is especially problematic because 12V wiring is
expensive and there's no room for cooling.
Car audio as done by large OEMs is no mystery to me, if you know where I
live. I have a number of close friends in the business, and I've been in a
number of engineering shops that specialize in car audio, both OEM and
supplier.
My Roku Radio
uses a Class D amp so the entire enclosure can be a tuned
woofer cabinet without overheating. Small electronics
use Class D so that the audio amp fits on the main PCB
without extra copper layers for cooling.
Historically, class D has been a no-no for OEMs because of EMI concerns.
That is changing about right now, as switchmode equipment with really low
EMI is becoming available.
Home theater also seems to have reached the point where
the Class D electronics are cheaper than the bulk.
I haven't been watching that market very hard lately, as I mostly work with
SR and recording these days.
Half of the new models I saw this Christmas were Class D.
Consumer audio is heavily driven by costs. One benefit of switchmode
equipment is that one model can work efficiently with all the different
kinds of AC power that is used worldwide.
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