The MAX9729 evaluation kit (EV kit) is a fully assembled and tested printed-circuit board (PCB) that evaluates the MAX9729 stereo DirectDrive® headphone amplifier with BassMax and volume control. The MAX9729 consists of a Class AB amplifier, a 3:1 stereo input multiplexer/mixer, comprehensive click-and-pop suppression circuitry, and a 2-wire interface. (The EV kit is designed to operate from a 1.8V to 3.6V DC power supply and delivers 52mW (at 3V) into a 32Ω stereo headphone.) The EV kit includes a 3.5mm stereo headphone jack and an I²C/SMBus-compatible interface that allows for software control of the BassMax (bass boost), shutdown, beep level, and output volume-setting features.

The MAX9729 evaluation system (EV system) consists of the MAX9729 EV kit and the Maxim CMAXQUSB command module. Windows® 98/2000/XP-compatible software is also available for use with the MAX9729 EV system and can be downloaded from Maxim's website (www.maximintegrated.com/evkitsoftware).

The Maxim CMAXQUSB command module provides the I²C/SMBus interface and is connected to the computer through the universal serial bus (USB) port. The MAX9729 EV kit software provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for exercising the MAX9729 features.