Does the audio output voltage swing negative, or does it stay positive?
Put another way, does the output waveform look like this (view in fixed font):
__ __ / \ / / \ /
-------\------/----- 0 V \ / \__/
or like this?
__ __ / \ / / \ / \ / \ / _________\__/________ 0 V
Thanks!
Michael
Forgot to clarify - I was asking what the headphone output looks like on CD players, MP3 players and the audio outputs of computers and receivers.
Yes.
No. That would waste power and probably add distortion.
John
Ok thanks!
Where is 0V defined? If it's the negative terminal of the battery, the waveform will look like the bottom one. If it's the opposite terminal of the headphone, your waveform will look like the top. A more important question was what the current waveform looks like (should look like the top or you're wasting power and perhaps damaging the headphone).
When I was about 14 years old, and starting to get interested in electronics, I could not understand how a single-ended car stereo amplifier could put out 0 to 12v - before the output capacitor - and still have current flow both ways at the speaker. Understanding the function of the output capacitor took me a while to comprehend fully.
Bob
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