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PCM2912A: USB/SPDIF 2 Stereo Pair Mixer Design

Part Number: PCM2912A


Hi!

I'm working on a simple 2 channel stereo mixer product that needs to mix USB audio with either SPDIF or a TRRS connection. The idea is to play audio back to one headset from two sources, while still sending microphone capture back to both playback devices (effectively connecting a headset to two devices at once).

My current plan is to use two separate USB and SPDIF codecs that both produce analog outputs, and then use a simple op-amp based analog mixer (with volume and tone adjustment potentiometers of course) to mix the two stereo pairs. Finally, I'd pass the mixed audio signals through an op-amp based headphone amplifier to the headset.

I would also like to optionally accept a standard TRRS connection instead of SPDIF. I figured I would just add a switch to bypass the SPDIF codec to accommodate this.

Take a look at the attached "simple_topology" image for the basic idea.

So far I was thinking I’d use the PCM2912A for the USB codec, and one of your headphone DACs that accepts SPDIF input.

But here’s my first question: is there a way I can simplify this topology? Am I overlooking any of your products that can mix USB input with SPDIF input? It seems like mayyyybbe the PCM5906C can do this (but I think not)?

I’m also a bit concerned about the audio quality of a simple analog mixer at the end, which brings me to my second question: Do you have any simple digital mixing solutions? Perhaps I could use USB/SPDIF to I2S codecs and then a digital I2S mixer before converting the final output to an analog signal. I’m still looking for a relatively simple plug and play solution, but I could add a microcontroller to issue basic I2C configuration and tone/volume control commands if needed.

Thanks!

-Peter

  • There's nothing wrong with an analog summing stage. Professional mixing consoles used op-amp summing for decades.

    Do digital mixing if all of the sources are already digital. TRRS is analog, so you'd have to digitize that before you can digitally mix.