Audio and Video

Self-contained Raspberry Pi audio amplifier HAT board for audio applications

25 May 2020
The new Raspberry Pi HAT board for use with speakers with wireless music streaming. Source: Infineon

Infineon Technologies AG has developed what it claims is the first fully self-contained Raspberry Pi audio amplifier hardware attached on top (HAT) board.

The multilevel technology uses state-of-the-art power efficiency and high definition audio quality for Raspberry Pi users in the target field of use for active speakers with wireless music streaming.

The board, called KIT_40W_AMP_HAT_ZW, is compatible with the Raspberry Pi Zero W and Raspberry Pi 3 and 4. The board includes the MERUS multilevel class D amplification enabled by the MERUS MA12070P amplifier that allows for filter-free amplifier design that does not need a filter-coil at the output filter.

Infineon said the board significantly reduces the bill of materials (BOM) and printed circuit board (PCB) area and includes a high output power in small form factor up to 40 W instantaneous peak power at 4 ohms. The board allows for a playback time up to 20 hours with a ~6700 mAh power bank and requires no need for additional power supplies as it only needs a single 5 V/2.5 A USB power supply.

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Discussion – 1 comment

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Re: Self-contained Raspberry Pi audio amplifier HAT board for audio applications
#1
2020-Jun-08 3:38 AM

Why specify 40Watt instantaneous peak power, nobody is interested in the peak power it's a marketing value only.

It makes more sense to specify the RMS output power of this board.

The board supply is 5V / 2.5A = 12.5Watt, efficiency 90% ?

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