Efficiency of Switch-Mode Power Audio Amplifiers—Test Signals and Measurement Techniques

Iversen NE, Knott A, Andersen MAE. Efficiency of Switch-Mode Power Audio Amplifiers—Test Signals and Measurement Techniques. In: AES Convention 140. Audio Engineering Society; 2016. Paper 9499. Available from: https://aes.org/publications/elibrary-page/?id=18198

@inproceedings{Iversen2016_18198,
  author = {Iversen, Niels Elkjær and Knott, Arnold and Andersen, Michael A. E.},
  title = {{Efficiency of Switch-Mode Power Audio Amplifiers—Test Signals and Measurement Techniques}},
  booktitle = {AES Convention 140},
  note = {Paper 9499},
  year = {2016},
  month = may,
  publisher = {Audio Engineering Society},
  url = {https://aes.org/publications/elibrary-page/?id=18198}
}

TY  - CPAPER
TI  - Efficiency of Switch-Mode Power Audio Amplifiers—Test Signals and Measurement Techniques
AU  - Iversen, Niels Elkjær
AU  - Knott, Arnold
AU  - Andersen, Michael A. E.
T2  - AES Convention 140
M1  - Paper 9499
PY  - 2016
DA  - 2016/05/06
UR  - https://aes.org/publications/elibrary-page/?id=18198
PB  - Audio Engineering Society
LA  - en
AB  - Switch-mode technology is greatly used for audio amplification. This is mainly due to the great efficiency this technology offers. Normally the efficiency of a switch-mode audio amplifier is measured using a sine wave input. However this paper shows that sine waves represent real audio very poorly. An alternative signal is proposed for test purposes. The efficiency of a switch-mode power audio amplifier is modelled and measured with both sine wave and the proposed test signal as inputs. The results show that the choice of switching devices with low on resistances are unfairly favored when measuring the efficiency with sine waves. A 10% efficiency improvement was found for low power outputs. It is therefore of great importance to use proper test signals when measuring the efficiency.
ER  -