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NATIONAL 3D ENHANCEMENT
The LM49720 features National’s 3D sound enhancement.
3D sound improves the apparent stereo channel separation
whenever the left and right speakers are located close to each
other, widening the perceived sound stage in devices with a
small form factor that prohibits proper speaker placement.
An external RC network , shown in Figure 1, enables the 3D
effect. R3D sets the level of the 3D effect; decreasing the val-
ue of R3D will increase the 3D effect. The 3D network acts
like a high pass filter C3D sets the frequency response; in-
creasing the value of C3D will decrease the low cutoff fre-
quency at which the 3D effect starts to occur, as shown by
this equation:
f3D(-3dB) = 1/2π(R3D)(C3D) (1)
Enabling the 3D effect increases the gain by a multiplication
factor of (1 + 20kΩ/R3D). Setting R3D to 20kΩ results in a
6dB increase (doubling) of the gain, increasing the 3D effect.
The level of 3D effect is also dependent on other factors such
as speaker placement and the distance from the speakers to
the listener. The values of R3D and C3D should be chosen
for each application individually, taking into account the phys-
ical factors noted before.
POWER SUPPLIES
The LM49270 uses different supplies for each portion of the
device, allowing for the optimum combination of headroom,
power dissipation and noise immunity. The speaker amplifier
gain stage is powered from VDD, while the output stage is
powered from LSVDD. The headphone amplifiers, input am-
plifiers and volume control stages are powered from HPVDD.
The separate power supplies allow the speakers to operate
from a higher voltage for maximum headroom, while the
headphones operate from a lower voltage, improving power
dissipation. HPVDD may be driven by a linear regulator to fur-
ther improve performance in noisy environments. The I2C
portion if powered from I2CVDD, allowing the I2C portion of the
LM49270 to interface with lower voltage digital controllers.
PROPER SELECTION OF EXTERNAL COMPONENTS
Audio Amplifier Power Supply Bypassing/Filtering
Proper power supply bypassing is critical for low noise per-
formance and high PSRR. Place the supply bypass capacitor
as close to the device as possible. Typical applications em-
ploy a voltage regulator with 10µF and 0.1µF bypass capac-
itors that increase supply stability. These capacitors do not
eliminate the need for bypassing of the LM49270 supply pins.
A 1µF capacitor is recommended.
Bypass Capacitor Selection
The LM49270 generates a VDD/2 common-mode bias voltage
internally. The BYPASS capacitor, CB, improves PSRR and
THD+N by reducing noise at the BYPASS node. Use a 1μF
capacitor, placed as close to the device as possible for CB.
Audio Amplifier Input Capacitor Selection
Input capacitors, CIN, in conjunction with the input impedance
of the LM49270 forms a high pass filter that removes the DC
bias from an incoming signal. The AC-coupling capacitor al-
lows the amplifier to bias the signal to an optimal DC level.
Assuming zero source impedance, the -3dB point of the high
pass filter is given by:
f(–3dB) = 1/2πRINCIN (2)
Choose CIN such that f-3dB is well below that lowest frequency
of interest. Setting f-3dB too high affects the low-frequency re-
sponses of the amplifier. Use capacitors with low voltage
coefficient dielectrics, such as tantalum or aluminum elec-
trolytic. Capacitors with high-voltage coefficients, such as
ceramics, may result in increased distortion at low frequen-
cies. Other factors to consider when designing the input filter
include the constraints of the overall system. Although high
fidelity audio requires a flat frequency response between
20Hz and 20kHz, portable devices such as cell phones may
only concentrate on the frequency range of the frequency
range of the spoken human voice (typically 300Hz to 4kHz).
In addition, the physical size of the speakers used in such
portable devices limits the low frequency response; in this
case, frequencies below 150Hz may be filtered out.
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LM49270