GaN Talk Blog

The professional audio industry has traditionally prioritized reliability, predictable lifecycles, and long-term product stability when evaluating new semiconductor technologies. As a result, emerging device platforms are typically introduced only after their electrical performance and robustness are well understood.

Against this backdrop, Markus Bätz, CEO and co-founder of Innosonix, made the decision to transition from silicon to gallium nitride (GaN) power devices as early as 2020 - several years before GaN became widely discussed within professional audio circles.

With the rapid adoption of gallium nitride transistors and integrated circuits, designers can now accomplish the required headline marketing THD+N performance targets and reduce transient intermodulation distortion to achieve the warm subtleties and color of music intended for the optimal listening experience.

World-changing innovations such as the first video cassette recorder (VCR) in 1970 to the world’s first laptop that can charge wirelessly have been announced at CES, the worlds gathering place for innovation.

World-changing innovations and Gallium Nitride (GaN), a critical building-block component behind many of today’s new and exciting consumer technology innovations such as self-driving cars, robots, drones, wireless power solutions, world-class audio and cutting-edge automotive solutions go hand in hand.

We are quite excited about this year’s CES being held in Las Vegas from January 9th through the 12th.  Our excitement is grounded in the fact that we will be showing the power of GaN technology in two locations – within the AirFuel™ Alliance booth at the Sands Hotel and in our hospitality suite at the Venetian hotel!

Class-D audio amplifiers have traditionally been looked down upon by audiophiles, and in most cases, understandably so. Switching transistors for Class-D amplifiers have never had the right combination of performance parameters to produce an amplifier with sufficient open-loop linearity to satisfy the most critical listeners. This restricted the classical analog modulator Class-D systems to lower-power, lower-quality sound systems.

To accomplish the required headline marketing THD+N performance targets, Class-D amplifiers have had to resort to using large amounts of feedback to compensate for their poor open-loop performance. By definition, large amounts of feedback introduce transient intermodulation distortion (TIM), which introduces a ‘harshness’ that hides the warm subtleties and color of the music that were intended for the listening experience.