Wolfson Microelectronics has launched what the company claims is the world-leading ultra low power DAC designed to extend playback time, reduce system cost and enhance audio performance in portable applications, including media players, headsets, multimedia phones and navigation devices.
The WM8912 is the latest addition to Wolfson's portfolio of ultra low power audio solutions, delivering Wolfson-quality audio performance and low power consumption in an ultra thin, cost competitive package.
The WM8912 features Wolfson's SmartDAC technology, a low power DAC capacitor switching architecture, which enables DAC to headphone power consumption of less than 4 mW. Also incorporated into the WM8912 is Wolfson's Class W amplifier technology, an evolution of class G, which includes an adaptive dual drive charge pump and DC servo circuit architecture.
The Class W ground referenced amplifier technology uses an adaptive dual drive charge pump to optimise power dissipation and eliminate the need for large DC blocking capacitors on both headphone and line outputs, resulting in significant savings in PCB space and the audio subsystem bill of materials (BOM).
The WM8912 also features a control write sequencer to ensure ease of system design by enabling and disabling the DAC with a single register write. Flexible clocking options are provided by a low power Frequency Locked Loop (FLL). A programmable dynamic range controller compresses the output signal, ensuring maximum volume is achieved when desired. Used in conjunction with ReTune Mobile parametric equaliser, the WM8912 offers powerful features to optimise the performance of an output transducer, such as a headphone or speaker. The total package allows consumer electronics designers to develop highly differentiated end products at a reduced cost.
The WM8912 is available for sampling now in a 32-pin 4 x 4 mm QFN package.
WM8912 customer evaluation boards with the Wolfson Interactive Setup and Configuration Environment (WISCE) are available to aid device evaluation and development. WISCE connects to the evaluation board over USB and offers an interactive register map interface that provides control and overview of the device settings.