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Can some one tell me what is Raspberry Pis analog audio output capability? I would like to know how munch power 3.5 mm jack of raspberry pi can deliver in terms of watts. This will be helpful to decide what kind of speakers I can buy to use with Raspberry Pi along with many other audio devices. I am using Raspberry Pi model B with Arch Linux loaded in it. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

MVSR
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2 Answers2

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You will have to purchase an amplifier. I took an old set of computer speakers and grabbed the amplifier out of it. It runs on 12v. This is a snippet from my tutorial on a Pi Arcade:

Power Harness and Audio Amplifier

When you are ready to cram all the components of your Raspberry Pi arcade into a MAME cabinet, you have the choice of suppling power to pcb, pi and monitor separately or create a single power supply.

I decided to create a single power supply with the following components. I purchased a Wall Wart Power Supply - 12VDC 1.5AMP at a local electronics store to be my main power source. I needed 12v to power the monitor (a 7" reversible car monitor). Since the pi only needs 5v, I used an old Tom Tom GPS car charger to drop the 12v to 5v. In addition, I added a audio Amplifier (12v also), The pi's audio is very low, so adding an Amplifier is needed. I found an old computer's external speakers amplifier and used it.

Pi Arcade tutorial with Audio Amplifier

Amplifier

PhillyNJ
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  • Thanks @Phil for the quick response. I don't want to connect the amplifier. I just want to use it as it is. I would like to know weather raspberry pi can drive 16 W speakers. What is the maximum wattage speakers it support with out any amplifier? – MVSR Jun 06 '14 at 04:23
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    You are going to need an amplifier. Take a look at the Wolfson Audio Card - http://www.element14.com/community/community/raspberry-pi/raspberry-pi-accessories/wolfson_pi – PhillyNJ Jun 06 '14 at 10:50
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I had to crank up the volume to max on the Pi and on my PC speakers to barely hear anything out of the Pi's builtin audio jack.

I purchased a Syba SD-CM-UAUD USB Stereo Audio Adapter to get acceptable sound from the Pi (obviously when not using HDMI which works very well). Looking on Amazon now I now see this lower cost alternative which has a comment saying someone was successfully using this unit on their Pi.

HeatfanJohn
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  • Thanks for the answer, heatfanjohn. I would like to know maximum power of speakers raspberry pi can output. I could not find this in technical specifications anywhere. – MVSR Jun 06 '14 at 04:30