This Op-amp based Class-D audio amplifier is made up of very generic components that you can find them in your local hobby store. In this section, we will go through every major block of the circuit and explain every block. The completed perfboard circuit is shown below. We made most of the connections with the help of copper wire, but in some final stages, we had to use some hookup wires to complete the build. Because, first the circuit is very simple, and second if something goes wrong, we can modify it quickly and easily. The schematic diagram for our Class-D amplifier circuit is shown below:Īs you can see from the main image, we have made the circuit on a piece of perfboard. Parts-List to build a Class D Power Amplifier:Ĭlass D Audio Amplifier- Schematic Diagram A list of components with a picture is given below. As this is a simple test project, the component requirement is very generic and you can find most of them from a local hobby store. Now, we have understood the basics of a Class-D audio amplifier and we can move to find the components to build a DIY Class D amplifier. Components Required to build Class-D Audio Amplifier Circuit At the output, we get a powerful high-frequency square wave at the output, which we pass through a low pass filter stage to get our final audio signal.
#CLASS D POWER AMPLIFIER DRIVER#
With this setup, we just modulated the input audio signal with a high-frequency carrier signal, which then connects to a MOSFET gate drive IC, and as the name implies, the driver is used to drive the gate of two MOSFETs for both the high side and low side once. At this point, when the voltage of the input audio signal is greater than the voltage of the triangular wave, the output of the comparator goes high, and when the signal is low, the output is low.
Now, back to our simplified block diagram of the Class D audio amp, as you can see at the non-inverting terminal, we have our audio input, and on the inverting terminal, we have our high-frequency triangular signal. To learn more about the topic, check out our article on classes of power amplifiers where we discussed all the related loss factors. Where the maximum efficiency of a Class AB amplifier is 60-65%, because they work on the active region and exhibits low power loss, if you multiply collector-emitter voltage with the current, you can find that out. Compared to Class A, Class B, and Class AB amplifiers, the Class D audio amplifier can reach an efficiency of up to 90-95%. So why a switching amplifier? The obvious answer to this question is Efficiency. But in order to understand its working, we need to learn how it functions and how the switching signal is produced, for that, you can follow the block diagram given below. What is a Class-D audio amplifier? The simplest answer will be, it's a switching amplifier. If you are interested in audio amplifier circuits, you can check out our articles on the topic where we have built circuits using op-amps, MOSFETs, and IC like TDA2030, TDA2040, and TDA2050. Sounds interesting right! So let's get right into it. Finally, we will be building a hardware prototype of the amplifier and testing its performance. So in this project, we will be taking the opportunity to discuss a Class D amplifier and know the pros and cons of it. Despite advancements in speaker technology, improvements in amplifier methodology played a big role and the obvious answer to this question is a Class D amplifier. As an electronic enthusiast, this question always comes to my mind. So how does it work, and how it sounds that good.
#CLASS D POWER AMPLIFIER PORTABLE#
Among all these innovations, portable media players have become one of the first choices among consumers, because of their vibrant sound quality and long battery life. Audio content has come a long way over the past decades, from a classic tube amp to modern-day media players, technological advancements have changed the way digital media is consumed.