boosting volume on Adafruit soundboard--remove solder jumper

[AnnaTemp]

Hi,

My soundboard (with built in amp) works great and is currently playing through a 4ohm speaker. I would like it a bit louder though. Experimented with volume triggers and find it is already at max. I have not been able to make louder sound files without them sounding pretty awful (though open to suggestions on this front). I'm considering removing the solder jumper on the amplifier gain. But I'm a beginner here. Do I scratch out the connection on the G0 and G1 pads? Is that what is meant by removing the solder jumper? Or would that not do anything anyway if I cannot manage to renormalize by files?

Thanks!
Anna

[adafruit_support_mike]

The FX Board uses a TPA2012 speaker amp. We also have a TPA2012 breakout board, and the schematic shows the gain settings you can get using G0 and G1:

https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/a ... 1391553207

Decibels measure ratios, so ‘+6db’ means ‘twice as much’. 12db is 6db+6db, so it’s four times as much, and so on.

The FX Board already has G0 connected, so the default is 18db (8x). The only step up from there is to close G1 and get 24db (16x).

You might also want to check your power supply. A 4-Ohm speaker operating at 2.2W uses about 750mA.

[AnnaTemp]

Thanks for the quick response. It's looking to me like both G0 and G1 are already connected. Am I misinterpreting this? Could easily be!

IMG-2049.JPG (1015.21 KiB) Viewed 242 times

[adafruit_support_mike]

Yep, those are connected. I was looking at an older board that only had a cuttable link between the pads on G1.

That means the amp’s gain is maxed out. Your next option will be to attach an external speaker amp like the MAX98357:

https://www.adafruit.com/product/3006

The MAX98306:

https://www.adafruit.com/product/987

or the MAX9744:

https://www.adafruit.com/product/1752

[AnnaTemp]

Ok. Thanks! In my next iteration of this project, I'll test that out.

[AnnaTemp]

Adafruit_support_mike,

Do you have a recommendation about which of the three amps you recommended above would be best for my project? I have a single 8ohm speaker, and Adafruit 2x2W Amp soundboard controlled by an ESP32, all powered off a 5V powerbank. I'm looking to keep the size and power draw low.

Thanks!
Anna

[adafruit_support_mike]

I'm afraid I can't choose anything outright. Volume and power savings are competing requirements.. 'louder' == 'more power' and 'less power' == 'quieter'.

Loudness is also subjective and sensitive to surrounding noise, so objectively measured values don't help much. You need to test and measure in the operating environment to find the balance of power use and loudness you prefer.

Since you're using an 8-Ohm speaker, you have the option to switch in a 4-Ohm or 3-Ohm speaker to get more volume from the same amplifier.

Beyond that, audio volume increases with the square of the voltage across the speaker, so an amp that can handle higher supply voltages will give you the most flexibility. The MAX98306 3.7W amp is the next step up from the TPA2016, but the MAX9744 will give you more room to experiment:

https://www.adafruit.com/product/987
https://www.adafruit.com/product/1752