The MAX9725A–MAX9725D fixed-gain, stereo headphone amplifiers are ideal for portable equipment where board space is at a premium. The MAX9725E offers the flexibility to adjust the gain with external input and feedback resistors. The MAX9725A–MAX9725E use a unique DirectDrive® architecture to produce a ground-referenced output from a single supply, eliminating the need for large DC-blocking capacitors, saving cost, board space, and component height. Fixed gains of -2V/V (MAX9725A), -1.5V/V (MAX9725B), -1V/V (MAX9725C), and -4V/V (MAX9725D) further reduce external component count. The adjustable gain of the MAX9725E DirectDrive headphone amplifier allows for any gain down to -1V/V using external resistors.The MAX9725 delivers up to 20mW per channel into a 32Ω load and achieves 0.006% THD+N. An 80dB at 1kHz power-supply rejection ratio (PSRR) allows the MAX9725 to operate from noisy digital supplies without an additional linear regulator. The MAX9725 includes ±8kV ESD protection on the headphone output. Comprehensive click-and-pop circuitry suppresses audible clicks and pops at startup and shutdown. A low-power shutdown mode reduces supply current to 0.6µA (typ).The MAX9725 operates from a single 0.9V to 1.8V supply, allowing the device to be powered directly from a single AA or AAA battery. The MAX9725 consumes only 2.1mA of supply current, provides short-circuit protection, and is specified over the extended -40°C to +85°C temperature range. The MAX9725 is available in a tiny (1.54mm x 2.02mm x 0.6mm) 12-bump chip-scale package (UCSP™) and a 12-pin thin QFN package (4mm x 4mm x 0.8mm).ApplicationsCell PhonesMP3 PlayersPDAsPortable Audio EquipmentSmartphones