Power Amplifier Testing
Linked Resources:
The dScope Series III's can perform all the traditional audio
measurements associated with power amplifiers - THD+N, Noise,
Frequency
response, Intermodulation distortion, etc. The dScope's FFT
display can also
reveal noise and distortion components at a glance, giving information
that is
not available from simple numerical measurements.
| QUICK STARTS |
  Power Amplifier 1% THD+N regulated sweep |
| Power Amplifier 1% THD+N regulation |
| Power Amplifier Amplitude vs Frequency Sweep |
| Power Amplifier gain vs frequency sweep |
| Power Amplifier Nested THD+N vs Frequency sweep |
| Power Amplifier Nth harmonic vs frequency |
| Power Amplifier THD+N vs Frequency |
| Power Amplifier THD+N vs Power sweep |
| WEBINARS |
 Beyond THD+N: How does your power amplifier REALLY perform? |
| RELEVANT PRODUCTS |
| Low Pass Filter |
| dScope Series III |
| dScope Series IIIA |
| dScope Series IIIA+ |
In addition it has several features that are particularly useful for testing of amplifiers:
dScope measured parameters can be plotted on both axes of a Sweep allowing (for example) an amplifier's THD+N to be plotted against output power.
Regulation can be used to determine, for example, the maximum output amplitude of an amplifier by regulating the input of the device (the dScope's output) until the device's output reaches its maximum value. This can also be applied to Sweeps, so for example a Sweep of maximum output power vs frequency can be measured quickly and easily at the click of a button. The dScope's regulation feature is powerful and fast and uses finely-tuned algorithms to home in on its target value as quickly as possible.
Switch-mode digital power amplifiers
Switch-mode amplifiers are becoming more popular and can offer significant power efficiency and size advantages. However they present certain challenges for test and measurement equipment. The basic operation of a switch-mode amplifier involves high-frequency switching between power supply rails, which causes strong signal components outside the audio-band. This signal can interfere with the audio measurement unless steps are taken to remove the high-frequency component from the signal before applying it to the dScope's inputs. Prism Sound's passive low-pass filter allows these high frequency signals to be removed, preventing measurement errors (non-linearities) due to the high slew rates and allowing the dScope to accurately measure the signal in the audio-band.
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App ID: 0002, Resource ID: 85