雜談GaN技術

專業音訊產業在評估新型半導體技術時，傳統上優先考量可靠性、可預測的產品生命週期，以及長期產品穩定性。因此，新興元件平台通常只有在其電氣性能與強固性獲得充分驗證與理解後，才會被導入。

在這樣的背景下，Innosonix 執行長暨共同創辦人 Markus Bätz 早在 2020 年便決定從矽基功率元件轉向氮化鎵（GaN）功率元件——那時距離 GaN 在專業音訊領域被廣泛討論還有數年之久。

傳統上，發燒友一直看不起D類音頻放大器，因為開關電晶體從未實現具備足够開環綫性度的放大器以滿足最挑剔的聽衆的需求。隨著氮化鎵電晶體和積體電路的普及，設計人員現在可以用行銷標題為“達到THD+N性能目標和減少瞬態互調失真，實現微妙的溫暖感和添加色彩，享受最佳的聆聽體驗”。

在CES這個全球創新聚集地，曾經宣布了改變世界的創新，如1970年的第一台錄影機（VCR），以及全球第一台可無線充電的筆記型電腦。

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.