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fc +
1
2p R
I
C
I
3 dB
fc
(8)
C
I +
1
2p R
I
fc
(9)
Power Supply Decoupling, CS
Midrail Bypass Capacitor, CB
10
C
B
250 k
v
1
R
F )
R
I
C
I
(10)
TPA741
SLOS316C – JUNE 2000 – REVISED JUNE 2004
The value of CI is important to consider as it directly affects the bass (low-frequency) performance of the circuit.
Consider the example where RI is 10 k and the specification calls for a flat bass response down to 40 Hz.
Equation 8 is reconfigured as Equation 9.
In this example, CI is 0.4 F, so one would likely choose a value in the range of 0.47 F to 1 F. A further
consideration for this capacitor is the leakage path from the input source through the input network (RI, CI) and
the feedback resistor (RF) to the load. This leakage current creates a dc offset voltage at the input to the amplifier
that reduces useful headroom, especially in high-gain applications. For this reason, a low-leakage tantalum or
ceramic capacitor is the best choice. When polarized capacitors are used, the positive side of the capacitor
should face the amplifier input in most applications as the dc level there is held at VDD/2, which is likely higher
than the source dc level. It is important to confirm the capacitor polarity in the application.
The TPA741 is a high-performance CMOS audio amplifier that requires adequate power supply decoupling to
ensure the output total harmonic distortion (THD) is as low as possible. Power supply decoupling also prevents
oscillations for long lead lengths between the amplifier and the speaker. The optimum decoupling is achieved by
using two capacitors of different types that target different types of noise on the power supply leads. For higher
frequency transients, spikes, or digital hash on the line, a good low equivalent-series-resistance (ESR) ceramic
capacitor, typically 0.1 F, placed as close as possible to the device VDD lead, works best. For filtering lower
frequency noise signals, a larger aluminum electrolytic capacitor of 10 F or greater, placed near the audio
power amplifier is recommended.
The midrail bypass capacitor, CB, is the most critical capacitor and serves several important functions. During
start-up or recovery from shutdown mode, CB determines the rate at which the amplifier starts up. The second
function is to reduce noise produced by the power supply caused by coupling into the output drive signal. This
noise is from the midrail generation circuit internal to the amplifier, which appears as degraded PSRR and THD +
N. The capacitor is fed from a 250-k
source inside the amplifier. To keep the start-up pop as low as possible,
the relationship shown in Equation 10 should be maintained. This ensures that the input capacitor is fully charged
before the bypass capacitor is fully charged and the amplifier starts up.
As an example, consider a circuit where CB is 2.2 F, CI is 0.47 F, RF is 50 k, and RI is 10 k. Inserting these
values into the Equation 10 we get:
18.2
≤ 35.5
which satisfies the rule. Bypass capacitor, CB, values of 0.1-F to 2.2-F ceramic or tantalum low-ESRcapacitors
are recommended for the best THD and noise performance.
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