Designing small audio devices with an eye for the power budget? Dialog believes that it only has the codecs you need.
Dialog Semiconductor has introduced its DA740x family of audio codecs, which the company says will deliver twice the audio quality while consuming half the power of competing devices.
According to the Dialog website, audio codecs can be defined as “The codecs are designed to offer different levels of dynamic range and improve power consumption for the recording and playback paths by optimizing the always-ON mode and using technologies Efficient Charge Pumps “.
These recently announced codecs are intended to help engineers designing rugged earbuds, hearing aids, and wireless stereo headphones (TWS) (although the separate interface means this product would also be suitable for wired applications).
The new devices are aimed at high-quality headphone manufacturers. Active noise cancellation is a must in this product category, but at the same time, consumers are also demanding the smallest size and weight for their headphones.
With its built-in custom filter, the DA740x also enables a fully hybrid implementation that combines the best of both worlds by providing high-performance ANC (Active Noise Cancellation) while maximizing audio quality and battery life.
The DA740x family. All Dialog Semiconductor images
Dialog’s Senior Vice President and General Manager of its Audio and Connectivity Business Group, Sean McGrath, was quoted in the family’s press release as saying that the chips have “a footprint of less than six millimeters square, which makes it suitable for even the smallest in-ear form factors. “
Additionally, the highly integrated nature of this family of codecs (and the need for fewer external components) means that there could be a smaller BOM for designers, which would naturally translate into easier manufacturing, lower costs, and a more reliable finished product.
Meet the family members
The product family was specifically designed to address the diverse segments of the headphone market, providing customers with a one-stop shop to optimize their full line of mid- and high-end products. Members of the series include:
- DA7402: High-performance stereo codec with ANC
- DA7401: Mono HP Codec with ANC
- DA7400: HP stereo codec
The DA7402 is designed for applications that require high dynamic range and low latency. The codec supports feedback and feedback topologies (where ANC microphones are located outside or inside the headphone cap, respectively), as well as hybrid topologies. It offers suppression of up to 35 dB, dynamic ranges for reproduction of 115 dB and sample rates of up to 384 kHz. It also offers 40 kHz audio bandwidth to support Hi-Res audio. Most importantly, the unit only draws 8.5 mW during stereo playback with ANC.
DA7402 Block Diagram
DA7401 is a derivative of DA7402. It offers 115 dB playback dynamic range, 103 dB recording dynamic range, hybrid ANC, and flexible clock architecture. This mono ANC codec is designed for TWS and portable applications.
The DA7400 is designed for consumer applications that do not require ANC.
Dialog is now presenting more details on the DA740x family at Computex Taipei 2019 at the Taipei International Convention Center.
Around the industry
Many manufacturers offer codecs. Here are two devices with ANC in their specs:
- Cirrus Logic’s CS47L90 is a highly integrated, low-power audio codec. Offers active mono ANC.
- AMS AS3515 is a codec offering> 20 db of ANC performance
Let us know what other audio codecs you are familiar with in the comments below.
