WM8910 - Wolfson launches ultra low power DAC for enhanced quality sound and extended playback times

The WM8910 is the latest addition to Wolfson’s family of market-leading DACs, delivering high performance audio and low power consumption in an ultra slim, low profile form factor.

Incorporated within the WM8910 is a control write sequencer to ensure ease of system design, and a ground-referenced headphone amplifier to improve ‘pop and click’ performance and reduce external component count, allowing consumer electronics designers to push boundaries and develop highly differentiated end products at a reduced cost.

The WM8910 features Wolfson’s innovative SmartDAC(tm) technology, a unique low power DAC capacitor switching architecture, which enables DAC to headphone power consumption of less than 4.5mW. Sitting alongside this 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 headphone amplifier technology intelligently tracks the actual music signal level and uses an adaptive dual drive charge pump to not only optimise power dissipation, but also eliminate the need for large DC blocking headphone capacitors, resulting in significant savings in PCB space and the audio subsystem bill of materials (BOM).

Audio performance is enhanced further with the integration of Wolfson’s innovative SilentSwitch(tm) technology, which extends its ‘pop and click’ suppression capability by incorporating sophisticated clamp and sequencer circuitry. With this feature, unwanted noise at the headphone amplifier output is reduced during power-up and mute/un-mute by clamping the output to ground. Using an integrated sequencer with programmable delay times to power-up and power-down parts of the WM8910 significantly reduces ‘pops and clicks’, as well as reducing time to market by lowering software driver development time.

The WM8910 provides the core for a distributed ultra low power audio subsystem, and its inherent flexibility offers the system designer the option to use the latest digital microphones through an integrated digital microphone interface. Analogue line inputs are supported, with bypass paths to the class W headphone and line output also included in the WM8910.

Duncan Macadie, Wolfson’s Low Power Audio Product Line Manager said: “The WM8910 is a highly advanced low-cost device which delivers significantly extended playback time, enhanced audio performance and an overall reduction in the external component count. This represents an ideal solution for all portable multimedia applications.”