TI headphone amp with interesting possibilities

[FastEddy]

TI just made publicity release of this interesting headphone amp:

TPA6130 http://focus.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/tpa6130a2.pdf

Decent specs inc. 0.005% or better THD+noise at 1/2 power.

[Nordic]

Would make a neat chipamp buffer, with digital volume control and some stereo mono controls etc... with minimum parts count.

[lineup]

Originally posted by FastEddy

TI just made publicity release of this interesting headphone amp:
TPA6130 http://focus.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/tpa6130a2.pdf
Decent specs inc. 0.005% or better THD+noise at 1/2 power.

1st October 2006, I did have a look at another
High Fidelity Stereo Headphone Driver: TPA6120a2
Did some general comment on headphones amps data, as well as did some other clever guys.
See topic:
diyAudio: TPA6120 Power Requirements

*********************************************


I wonder if not TPA6120a2 is the better one in quality.
While TPA6130a2 has got some additional built in feature, like volume control.
Though I must say, THD 0.005 % really is MORE than HIFI anybody should need.


TPA6120A2 - High Fidelity Stereo Headphone Driver
http://focus.ti.com/docs/prod/folder...tpa6120a2.html

TPA6130A2 - DirectPath(TM) Stereo Headphone Amplifier with I2C Volume Control
http://focus.ti.com/docs/prod/folder...tpa6130a2.html

All Texas HeadPhones Amplifiers overview, with parameters for compare:
Texas HeadPhones Amp Chips, Overview List


For eventual more opinions / info on HIFI chip TPA6120 you should search forum.
Keywords: TPA6120 or TPA6120A2


Regards
lineup
Lineup Lab Discrete Class A HeadPhones Amplifiers
http://lineup.awardspace.com/

[FastEddy]

Nordic: " ... Would make a neat chipamp buffer, with digital volume control and some stereo mono controls etc ..."

This was my thought too ... and it might make an interesting remote "line receiver" / pre-amp for the back bedroom ... or just a good quality small footprint dorm room power amp front end.

Lineup, you seem to be right on top of these newer TI releases ... " ... I wonder if not TPA6120a2 is the better one in quality. While TPA6130a2 has got some additional built in feature, like volume control. Though I must say, THD 0.005 % really is MORE than HIFI anybody should need. ..."

I'm not sure how much we should trust that number.TI can do some very interesting things with relatively low quality parts ... but fail to include these tricks in their reference designs. I would bet that the drive to quality here is just that, however = a better sounding version of previous designs. (There are many here that will feel that 0.005% is not as good as it can get, nor stopping at 0.005% being "MORE than HIFI anybody should need". ... but I don't trust that 0.005% number until I can see it.)

" ... There's always a faster gun ... " http://www.hgwt.com/HGWT19.jpg

[paulb]

The TPA6120A2 has a higher power supply range (+/- 5 to 15), so will definitely be superior driving higher-impedance headphones. My Sennheisers are 300 ohms. TPA6130 is +5V max.
Also, TI specs the TPA6120A2 at 0.00014% THD + N. For what it's worth. Less features, though: no volume control, needs op amps on its inputs unless driven from a low-impedance source.

[FastEddy]

paulb: " ... TI specs the TPA6120A2 at 0.00014% THD + N. For what it's worth. Less features, though: no volume control, needs op amps on its inputs unless driven from a low-impedance source. ..."

It may not get any better than this for headphones in the near future ... it would be a shame to put mechanical variable resistors in front for gain control ( noisier than a hen house ) =

0.0002% is less than any of my equipment can measure ... I guess its time to upgrade the shop ...

[alfiax]

Eeep, QFN or BGA packages only.... Might make a nice sounding headphone out on a cellphone.

[Leolabs]

QFN or BGA packages only

Not easy to deal with esp you are making your own PCB.

[suzyj]

Originally posted by alfiax
Eeep, QFN or BGA packages only....

QFN packages aren't as horrid as you might think. I've done a bunch.

The trick for hand assembly is to treat the center and outside pins seperately. Put a little solder paste on the center pin, place the component, then warm the whole board to reflow it (I generally use a high-zoot vapour phase oven, but have used a simple hotplate a couple of times). Once the middle is done, the outside pins can be soldered using a very fine soldering iron, with lots of flux.

One of my workmates has a board where (rather than using lots of small vias in the middle pad) he used one large plated through hole. He soldered the outside pads first, then put solder through to the large middle pad from the back. Made it so he could do the whole thing completely with a soldering iron.

Here's one of my boards:

http://www.atnf.csiro.au/people/sjac...test_board.jpg

The two large chips on either side are QFNs (56 on the left and 72 on the right) The one in the middle is a 256 pin BGA (no good trying to do these with hand tools - it's reflow oven or don't bother). The smaller ones on the bottom left are DFN voltage regulators.

Cheers,

Suzy

[Leolabs]

I do know how to solder.I was talking about PCB making.