10 years ago class D had already been around for a while, but back then they weren't bringing home the bacon against the prior art. But it was obvious even ten years ago that it was a rising star.
In the last few years though its become a technology to be taken seriously. So about a year ago we began working on our own design.
Despite this, I can't call it a mature technology, a since price/performance curves define what is mature, and the technology is still improving at a rapid rate.
The major problem, as George points out, is the switching speed, but in recent years that is a problem that is fading. Part of the issue of switching speed has to do with the introduction of dead time, which makes distortion. But there have been a lot of advances in relatively cheap semiconductors recently, and the result has been that for a given switching speed, there is less dead time required because the newer devices are so much faster.
This means also that higher switching speeds are showing up.
Somewhere in this, a threshold is being crossed. We see this with the many responses on this thread. Class D, while like any other technology that has its better and worse executions, has arrived.
Its my opinion that any amp manufacturer that ignores the implications of class D is doing so at their own peril.
Looks like our first patent in the field will be filed soon...
In the last few years though its become a technology to be taken seriously. So about a year ago we began working on our own design.
Despite this, I can't call it a mature technology, a since price/performance curves define what is mature, and the technology is still improving at a rapid rate.
The major problem, as George points out, is the switching speed, but in recent years that is a problem that is fading. Part of the issue of switching speed has to do with the introduction of dead time, which makes distortion. But there have been a lot of advances in relatively cheap semiconductors recently, and the result has been that for a given switching speed, there is less dead time required because the newer devices are so much faster.
This means also that higher switching speeds are showing up.
Somewhere in this, a threshold is being crossed. We see this with the many responses on this thread. Class D, while like any other technology that has its better and worse executions, has arrived.
Its my opinion that any amp manufacturer that ignores the implications of class D is doing so at their own peril.
Looks like our first patent in the field will be filed soon...