Hello, i'm a beginner in circuit design and audio circuit, but i want to make my first toy project.
I'm planing to make a simple board that will play sound from sdcard, and i chose pcm1798 to be the DAC chip. I don't know whether i can connect the output of that chip directly to a speaker and good with it, or i need an amp chip.
I'm planing to make a simple board that will play sound from sdcard, and i chose pcm1798 to be the DAC chip. I don't know whether i can connect the output of that chip directly to a speaker and good with it, or i need an amp chip.
Welcome to diyAudio.
Perhaps a simple LM386 based chip might suit. It has high gain and low power consumption and should be perfect for what you describe. Do a web search for LM386 chip amps.
LM386 Data Sheet
Perhaps a simple LM386 based chip might suit. It has high gain and low power consumption and should be perfect for what you describe. Do a web search for LM386 chip amps.
LM386 Data Sheet
Thank you for your reply. I read the datasheet and this chip looks really simple to use, I'll try it out!
386 is a headphone amp, IIRC. Only 750 mW, enough for a small unit.
Decide how much power is needed, and go from there.
Chinese 2822 are common in computer speakers. As are many chip amps found in small devices.
Or you could use a FM module, DAC + many more features like Bluetooth.
You also need to tell us single or dual channel, and speaker details.
Decide how much power is needed, and go from there.
Chinese 2822 are common in computer speakers. As are many chip amps found in small devices.
Or you could use a FM module, DAC + many more features like Bluetooth.
You also need to tell us single or dual channel, and speaker details.
Or LM3886 if you want more power. Or some Class D chipamp. The TPA-series by TI springs to mind. I'm sure you can find a cheap board for, say, the TPA3255 on ePay/aliBubba.
Tom
Tom
For my project, a simple speaker around the loudness of a laptop speaker is enough, so about 1W of power. My DAC chip can deliver 2 channels, so a 2 channels amps is always welcome. Sound quality is a concert too but i don't think i need anything that is better than a laptop speaker.
Then I think 386 is enough, use one per channel (IIRC it is a mono chip, may be mistaken).
Or a 6283 running one / both channels, mighty mouse at 2 watts each ...and the TDA 2822.
You may find one in your old computer speakers, the power supply, speakers and controls can be recycled.
Or a 6283 running one / both channels, mighty mouse at 2 watts each ...and the TDA 2822.
You may find one in your old computer speakers, the power supply, speakers and controls can be recycled.
Last edited:
Then the LM386, LM1875, and TDA2020 spring to mind. Of those, I'd probably go with the LM1875. It would also be an excellent learning opportunity if you wanted to build a discrete design. "Build an amp that can deliver a few watt into 8 Ω" is a common 3rd semester electrical engineering student assignment.
Tom
Tom
After a bit of researching, i see that the TDA2020 is very old, and maybe TDA2050 is a better replacement, but do i really need that 50w of power and need to deal with the cooling for that chip 😱
Use a TDA 2030A instead,or LM 1875, at 16V will give a lot more power - 3 watts. The minimum seems to be +/-8V, so 16V.
That is why I said use a circuit from a computer speaker, the TDA 2822 gives about 1Watt at 12 V per channel, and many audio chips are used in TV sets, sound bars, boom boxes and so on, in the 12V supply range.
And you may have some discarded computer speakers lying around, so you are simply using it for another purpose.
If you prefer, you get many ready populated circuit boards, in Classes AB and D...find them and use them.
That is why I said use a circuit from a computer speaker, the TDA 2822 gives about 1Watt at 12 V per channel, and many audio chips are used in TV sets, sound bars, boom boxes and so on, in the 12V supply range.
And you may have some discarded computer speakers lying around, so you are simply using it for another purpose.
If you prefer, you get many ready populated circuit boards, in Classes AB and D...find them and use them.
Write down your own specification for what you want.
What do you intend to drive with this amp?
A small chip like an LM386 will give the kind of output a small portable radio or TV would give. It can operate from a single rail battery supply if you wish or a single rail AC supply which makes it easy to use.
For my project, i'll use a small speaker, around 3W@4 omh or 8omh max. So a simple amp chip that sound good, forgiving in design layout will be enough. Currently, i'm looking at TI's chip selection and see some names like TPD3189D2 and TPA6030A4 🤔
Passive cooling, consume small amount of power (i'll run it from battery) and the simple in the design & layout is an important factor, since i don't want to mess with too many components at once.
I don't know whether i need 2 channels amp chip or just use 2 of it, or just use 1 channel, any recommend?
This is for a music box only, no hi-fi or whatsoever, the sound just need to be clean and loud enough for a person to hear.
Passive cooling, consume small amount of power (i'll run it from battery) and the simple in the design & layout is an important factor, since i don't want to mess with too many components at once.
I don't know whether i need 2 channels amp chip or just use 2 of it, or just use 1 channel, any recommend?
This is for a music box only, no hi-fi or whatsoever, the sound just need to be clean and loud enough for a person to hear.
Last edited:
H
HAYK
You do not need any DAC to read sdcards. Most SDcard readers decode MP3 and output analog. Bellow is a tiny module sdcard MP3 reader with few watts Amp for less than $1.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32271693515.html
You need microcontroller of your toy to operate.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32271693515.html
You need microcontroller of your toy to operate.
You must decide and write down what you want (for your own use). Otherwise it is easy to get side-tracked.
For example the TPA6030A4, could be a good choice BUT are able to use it? Are you able to work with surface mount parts like these? Look at the data sheets, look how small the chip is, look how many closely spaced pins there are.
Are you hoping to design a board for these because there is no other way to use parts like those.
1 channel or 2?
If you want stereo you need 2, if you are driving a single speaker you do not.
Bit late to this but this thread came up when I was searching for something else.
You can play audio stored on an SD card with esp32. Not hifi but I would have thought ideal for a toy box.
https://www.xtronical.com/esp32mp3/
You can play audio stored on an SD card with esp32. Not hifi but I would have thought ideal for a toy box.
https://www.xtronical.com/esp32mp3/
It looks like the venerable LM380 and LM384 are still available. These are about as simple as it gets. Otherwise, a trip to the TI web site lists several modern chip amps, some class-D and some AB.
https://www.ti.com/audio-ic/amplifiers/speaker-amplifiers/overview.html
But if you are going to the trouble of using a DAC, a better match would be a discrete amp since no chip amp is going to have audiophile performance. Perhaps an audio quality op-amp with a discrete 2EF output buffer.
https://www.ti.com/audio-ic/amplifiers/speaker-amplifiers/overview.html
But if you are going to the trouble of using a DAC, a better match would be a discrete amp since no chip amp is going to have audiophile performance. Perhaps an audio quality op-amp with a discrete 2EF output buffer.