GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Conventional headphone amplifiers require a bulky DC-blocking capacitor between the headphone and the amplifier. DirectDrive produces a ground-referenced output from a single supply, eliminating the need for large DC-blocking capacitors, saving cost, board space, and component height. SmartSense automatically detects the presence of a short at either the left or right amplifier output. Under a fault condition, the shorted output is automatically disabled and the stereo input signal is automatically mixed and routed to the remaining active channel. This feature is useful in cell phone and PDA applications where a variety of headphone jacks with unknown loads can be inserted into the headphone jack socket. SmartSense prevents both damage to the amplifier and eliminates battery drain into a shorted load. A high (92dB at 217kHz) power-supply rejection ratio (PSRR) allows the device to operate from noisy digital supplies without additional power conditioning. The gain of the MAX9720 is set internally, further reducing component count.
Maxim Integrated
