
MAX4410
80mW, DirectDrive Stereo Headphone Driver
with Shutdown
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13
4) When using the headphone jack as a line out to other
equipment, the bias voltage on the sleeve may con-
flict with the ground potential from other equipment,
resulting in possible damage to the drivers.
Low-Frequency Response
In addition to the cost and size disadvantages of the DC-
blocking capacitors required by conventional head-
phone amplifiers, these capacitors limit the amplifier’s
low-frequency response and can distort the audio signal.
1) The impedance of the headphone load and the DC-
blocking capacitor form a highpass filter with the
-3dB point set by:
where RL is the headphone impedance and COUT is
the DC-blocking capacitor value. The highpass filter
is required by conventional single-ended, single
power-supply headphone drivers to block the midrail
DC bias component of the audio signal from the
headphones. The drawback to the filter is that it can
attenuate low-frequency signals. Larger values of
COUT reduce this effect but result in physically larg-
er, more expensive capacitors. Figure 2 shows the
relationship between the size of COUT and the result-
ing low-frequency attenuation. Note that the -3dB
point for a 16
headphone with a 100F blocking
capacitor is 100Hz, well within the normal audio
band, resulting in low-frequency attenuation of the
reproduced signal.
2) The voltage coefficient of the DC-blocking capacitor
contributes distortion to the reproduced audio signal
as the capacitance value varies as a function of the
voltage change across the capacitor. At low fre-
quencies, the reactance of the capacitor dominates
at frequencies below the -3dB point and the voltage
coefficient appears as frequency-dependent distor-
tion. Figure 3 shows the THD + N introduced by two
different capacitor dielectric types. Note that below
100Hz, THD + N increases rapidly.
The combination of low-frequency attenuation and fre-
quency-dependent distortion compromises audio
reproduction in portable audio equipment that empha-
sizes low-frequency effects such as multimedia lap-
tops, as well as MP3, CD, and DVD players. By
eliminating the DC-blocking capacitors through
DirectDrive technology, these capacitor-related defi-
ciencies are eliminated.
Charge Pump
The MAX4410 features a low-noise charge pump. The
320kHz switching frequency is well beyond the audio
range, and thus does not interfere with the audio sig-
nals. The switch drivers feature a controlled switching
speed that minimizes noise generated by turn-on and
turn-off transients. By limiting the switching speed of the
switches, the di/dt noise caused by the parasitic bond
wire and trace inductance is minimized. Although not
typically required, additional high-frequency noise atten-
uation can be achieved by increasing the size of C2
(see Typical Application Circuit).
f
RC
dB
L OUT
=
3
1
2
π
LF ROLL OFF (16
LOAD)
MAX4410
fig02
FREQUENCY (Hz)
ATTENUATION
(dB)
100
-30
-25
-20
-10
-3dB CORNER FOR
100
F IS 100Hz
-15
-5
-3
0
-35
10
1k
33
F
330
F
220
F
100
F
Figure 2. Low-Frequency Attenuation for Common DC-Blocking
Capacitor Values
ADDITIONAL THD + N DUE
TO DC-BLOCKING CAPACITORS
MAX4410
fig03
FREQUENCY (Hz)
THD
+
N
(%)
10k
1k
100
0.001
0.01
0.1
1
10
0.0001
10
100k
TANTALUM
ALUM/ELEC
Figure 3. Distortion Contributed by DC-Blocking Capacitors