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MAX98357A Amplifier Pinout

Run the MAX98357A Amplifier Pinout MicroSim Fullscreen

About this MicroSim

This is an interactive, hover-to-explore infographic built directly on top of a real photo of the MAX98357A Amp Kit breakout board. Explore mode lets you hover (or tap, on a touch screen) over any numbered marker or label to see what that part does. Quiz mode hides the labels and asks you to find each part from a visual hint instead.

Bloom's Taxonomy level: Understand (L2) — Explain the purpose of each pin on the MAX98357A amplifier board.

You can embed this MicroSim in your own course page with the following iframe:

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Labeled Parts

  1. Speaker Output — the green screw terminal that connects to a 4-8 ohm speaker
  2. MAX98357A Chip — the black square IC that turns digital audio into amplified sound
  3. LRC — Left-Right Clock (Word Select), connects to GPIO 12
  4. BCLK — Bit Clock, connects to GPIO 11
  5. DIN — Data In, connects to GPIO 13
  6. GAIN — sets the amplifier's volume boost, connects to GPIO 14
  7. SD — Shutdown, turns the amp on/off, connects to GPIO 15
  8. GND — ground reference, connects to the Pico's GND
  9. Vin — power input (2.5-5.5V), connects to the Pico's VBUS (5V), not 3V3 OUT

Lesson Plan

Learning objective: Students will identify each pin and component on the MAX98357A amplifier board and explain what it does in the audio circuit.

Suggested use (5-15 minutes):

  1. Predict first. Before hovering anything, ask students to guess what the green terminal and the seven bottom pins are for, just from the printed labels.
  2. Explore. Have students hover every numbered marker and read each description and tip.
  3. Quiz. Switch to Quiz mode and have students identify each part from its visual hint alone, without the printed label to rely on.
  4. Connect to wiring. Compare the labeled pins here to the actual wiring table in the MAX98357A Amp Kit page before students wire up their own board.

Discussion questions:

  • Why does the amplifier need both a digital "data" pin (DIN) and a separate "clock" pin (BCLK)?
  • What would happen to the sound if Vin were connected to the Pico's 3V3 OUT pin instead of VBUS?
  • Why do LRC and BCLK need to be on specific, related GPIO numbers on the Pico, while GND does not?

References