Audio lines create noise that weakens signals and affects sound. A filter fixes both—here’s how it changes smartphone and wearable design.
TDK Corporation has introduced the MAF0603GWY series of noise suppression filters for smartphones and wearables, designed to reduce electromagnetic noise without degrading audio quality. Electromagnetic noise radiated from audio lines in smartphones, wearable devices, and similar products interferes with built-in antennas and can reduce receiver sensitivity. The common countermeasure is chip beads. While effective at suppressing noise, they have the drawback of degrading audio quality on the audio line, which users may find annoying.
The series addresses this drawback by employing a newly developed proprietary low-distortion ferrite material. It introduces minimal change to audio-line characteristics and significantly reduces audio distortion, eliminating the sound-quality degradation that occurs when chip beads are used. The filters provide industry-leading high attenuation in the 5 GHz band, with impedance up to 3220 Ω at 5 GHz, enabling effective noise suppression. Compared with conventional products, they also feature lower resistance, which reduces attenuation of audio signals and enables a wide dynamic range.
According to TDK Corporation, the filters achieve industry-leading noise attenuation in the high-frequency range exceeding 5 GHz. The newly developed low-distortion ferrite material reduces audio distortion by minimizing performance variations in the audio line. Lower resistance further helps reduce signal loss and supports a wider dynamic range.
The filters are intended for use by design engineers and product developers working on smartphones, tablets, and wearable devices. They can integrate these components into audio signal paths to suppress high-frequency noise while maintaining audio quality, improve antenna performance by reducing interference, and design compact devices without compromising signal integrity. The filters support applications involving Bluetooth, Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz), 5G (Sub-6), and next-generation communication standards such as 6G.
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