Wolfson Microelectronics announces the launch of the WM8912 DAC - designed to extend playback time, and enhance audio performance in portable applications, including media players, headsets, multimedia phones and navigation devices. The device features Wolfson’s SmartDAC technology, a low power DAC capacitor switching architecture, which enables DAC to headphone power consumption of less than 4mW.

Also incorporated 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 ground referenced amplifier technology uses an adaptive dual drive charge pump to optimise power dissipation and eliminate the need for large DC blocking capacitors on both headphone and line outputs. The chip also features a control write sequencer to ensure ease of system design by enabling and disabling the DAC with a single register write.

Flexible clocking options are provided by a low power Frequency Locked Loop (FLL). A programmable dynamic range controller compresses the output signal, ensuring maximum volume is achieved when desired. Used in conjunction with ReTune Mobile parametric equaliser, the DAC offers features to optimise the performance of an output transducer, such as a headphone or speaker. The WM8912 is available for sampling now in a 32-pin4x4mm QFN package.

Customer evaluation boards with the Wolfson Interactive Setup and Configuration Environment (WISCE) are available to aid device evaluation and development. WISCE connects to the evaluation board over USB and offers an interactive register map interface. This interface provides control and overview ofthe device settings.

Technical features

• 4mW quiescent power consumption for DAC to headphone playback
• DAC SNR 96dB typical, THD -86dB typical
• DAC supports standard sample rates from 8kHz to 48kHz
• 32-pin QFN package (4x4mm, 0.4mm pitch)