Virtual Ground Circuits

A common problem in analog electronics is having a requirement for a
dual-voltage supply (e.g. ±5 V) but only having a
single supply available, such as a battery. There are many ways to “split” a
single supply so that it behaves like a dual supply. This article describes
several such circuits and the tradeoffs involved.

This article is written with solid-state headphone audio circuits in
mind. Generalizing this to other situations is an exercise left to the
reader.

Two Batteries

The simplest way to solve the problem of needing a dual supply when using
batteries is to simply use two batteries in this configuration:

The problem with this is that if one battery drains faster than the other
such that one gets down to about 1 V or lower
before the other gets low, the DC offset at the output will begin to rise. (I’ve
tested this with several different op-amps. It’s possible some designs won’t
have this problem.)

Batteries can drain unevenly for a number of reasons. Perhaps you put your
batteries in a drawer after buying them and pull them out randomly and draw an
old one and a new one. Perhaps you’re using rechargeables, and one or more cells
is dying. Perhaps you’re just unlucky today.

To be fair, before this happens you will get a warning: the amp will start
sounding bad for other reasons. It will probably audibly clip the music well
before this danger point due to insufficient supply voltage, and it may also be
current-starved due to battery exhaustion. So, the most likely way this problem
will occur is if you leave a battery-powered headphone amp on for an extended
period without music, or without listening to the music that is playing. Ever
fall asleep while listening to headphones?

If you don’t turn the amp off before you get to this danger point, the
resulting high DC offset is likely to damage your headphones. So, we try various
virtual ground schemes to let us use a single battery and still have a dual
supply.

Resistor Divider

The CMoy
pocket amplifier power supply is a resistor divider type virtual ground
supply:

The two 4.7 kΩ resistors create a “virtual
ground.” Let’s say there’s 12 V across this
circuit. The resistors are an 0.5× resistive divider: there is 6 V
at the midpoint of the divider. The “distance” between the midpoint of the
divider and the negative side of the power supply is -6 V and the distance to the positive side of the power
supply is +6 V. Voilá, two equal but
opposite voltages from a single power supply!

Unfortunately, this simple configuration is prone to becoming unbalanced. To
see why, consider this schematic, a CMoy pocket amplifier driving headphones,
drawn from the DC perspective:

The 1 mV battery (Vos) simulates the op-amp’s input offset voltage. This
is a reasonable value for an OPA132, though it does vary between chips in
practice.

This offset forces 1 mV across R3. Because
op-amps always force their input voltages to be equal, this in turn forces 10 mV across R4. As you can see, this puts 11 mV
of DC across the load. If the load is 32 Ω at DC
(such as a pair of Grado
SR-60s), 0.34 mA is forced through the load.
This current can only come from the rail splitter, which looks like two parallel
resistors to the load. Ohm’s law tells us that since the current is 0.34 mA
and the resistance is 2.35 kΩ (two 4.7 kΩ
resistors in parallel), the voltage at the midpoint of the divider is forced
~0.8 V away from the ideal midpoint.

In this particular situation, then, a 9 V
battery would split to about +3.7 V and -5.3 V instead of the ideal ±4.5 V. Different op-amps, headphones, and resistor
values will give a different split. Therefore, it is best to simply realize
that this offset will be significant with low-impedance loads, and it will
increase as the load impedance goes down, rather than calculating offset and
trying to counteract it somehow.

The Problem with Unequal Virtual Ground Splits

In a circuit like the CMoy pocket amplifier, an uneven virtual ground split
doesn’t hurt the sound all by itself. The input and output are both referenced
to the same ground point, so the shift doesn’t create an electrical
compatibility problem. You’re probably asking, then, why worry about it?

Most op-amps can’t swing the output voltage from rail to rail; they have some
minimum distance. The OPA132, for example, needs approximately 3 V
of distance between the power rails and the output with relatively low-impedance
loads like headphones.

Let’s say we’re using a 9 V battery, and under
load our virtual ground circuit splits that unevenly to +4 V and -5 V. Let’s also
say our output signal’s peaks are 1 V from ground.
Add in the 3 V of headroom needed by the op-amp,
and we’re right at the clipping point on the V+ rail. Since our power supply is
a battery, its voltage will drop over time, so we’ll get very little run time
before it starts clipping.

Ways to Fix the Problem

One quick and dirty way to fix this problem is to simply increase the power
supply voltage. But, this requires a larger, more expensive power supply if
you’re using wall power, or more batteries.

Another way to fix the problem is to lower the virtual ground resistors’
values. The problem with this is that it increases the current the divider
draws. This is a balancing act: if the the extra current drawn from the battery
is high enough, it can wipe out the run-time increase you get from having a
lower battery voltage where clipping starts.

Most of the subsequent circuits in this article use an entirely different
solution: buffering the virtual ground. These techniques make the voltage
divider appear to have a very low impedance while still drawing little current.
This keeps the virtual ground point nicely centered between the rails under
load. The extra parts can easily pay for themselves by allowing you to use a
smaller power supply, or by increasing your battery’s run time.

Simple Buffered Virtual Ground Circuits

The most elegant buffered virtual ground circuit is Texas Instruments’
TLE2426. This part is called a “rail splitter:” it splits a single supply in
two, so you have two “voltage rails” plus ground. It’s basically a glorified
voltage divider, so it replaces the resistors in the simple resistor-divider
power supply: you apply a voltage between its IN and COM pins, and it puts out ½
that on the OUT pin. Unlike a simple resistor divider, though, it has some
buffering circuitry inside so it doesn’t become unbalanced. (Oh, there may be a
tenth of a volt of error or so, but that’s a small matter.) Here’s the modified
power circuit:

The first schematic shows the simple 3-pin package, and the second shows the
circuit for the 8-pin versions which have a noise reduction pin. The latter has
slightly better performance.

Notice that there is just one capacitor across the battery instead of a cap
between each rail and virtual ground as in the resistor divider supply. In the
resistor divider circuit, two capacitors are absolutely necessary to the success
of the circuit. Below, I will talk about the advantages of using two caps like
this in an active virtual ground circuit, as well as the disadvantages. For now,
assume that it’s better to have just one before the active “rail splitter.”

The main problem with the TLE2426 is that it can only handle 20-40 mA of
current, depending on conditions. If your load draws more than that, a
TLE2426-based power supply will become unbalanced. For higher-load situations,
you can try a buffer-based power supply instead:

This is similar to the circuit inside a TLE2426. By making a rail splitter
out of parts, we can get higher output current. Notice that the resistor values
are much higher than in the simple CMoy power supply. By adding the buffer, we
don’t need low divider resistors to keep offset under control. Because the
resistor values are so high, the quiescent current of the circuit is dominated
by the quiescent current of the buffer alone; the divider contributes negligible
current draw.

The high resistor values work as long as the power draw on this circuit is
evenly balanced, as it is in a simple headphone amp. If you have an unbalanced
draw, the divider is likely to become unbalanced. In that case, you can replace
the divider with a TLE2426. Another virtue of the TLE2426 over resistors is that
it takes less space, and you don’t need to do resistor matching to get high
accuracy. That’s how we did the virtual ground in the META42
amp.

I’ve used Burr-Brown’s BUF634 here. It can handle up to 150 mA in the DIP-8
package, and in the larger metal-based packages it can source up to 250 mA, with
appropriate heat sinking. There are many other open-loop buffers on the market
that will give similar performance in this circuit. The disadvantages relative
to the lone TLE2426 are that it’s more complicated, it costs more, it has higher
output impedance, and it has a higher quiescent current draw (~1.5 mA vs. ~0.3
mA).

If you can’t get a TLE2426 and you don’t want to mail order one, this is a
closer substitute than the above circuit:

You can use a cheap generic op-amp — such as the ubiquitous μA741 — here.
It’s acting like a buffer, just as in the previous circuit. The major difference
is that it has lower output current than the buffer, but unlike an open-loop
buffer it has feedback so it has low output impedance. Low output impedance has
many salutary effects on the circuit; in a heapdhone amp, the biggest is lower
crosstalk.

The 1 kΩ resistor in the feedback loop is
arguably optional. Its purpose is to keep the op-amp stable in the face of heavy
capacitive loads, such as bypass capacitors in the circuit being powered.

If you use a cheap generic op-amp, this circuit’s performance is no better
than for a TLE2426 and it takes more board space, so you should only do that
when you can’t get a TLE2426. But, if you use a better op-amp, you can get
better performance than a TLE2426. The main spec to look for here is high output
current. More-or-less drop-in replacements with higher than average output
current are the LMH6642 and the AD817.

The highest output current op-amps tend to be current feedback types. These
require a bit more care in application than the common voltage feedback type.
Consider this circuit, which can put out 250 mA:

C2 is the compensation capacitor, and R3 is there to reduce supply current a
bit as explained in the datasheet in the section on the shutdown feature.

If you need even more than 250 mA, the LT1206’s big brother, the LT1210,
works in a very similar circuit. Other manufacturers make similar high-current
CFB chips that can work here, but read their datasheets before making circuits
for them: CFB op-amps generally won’t drop into an existing circuit without
changes.

Another option is to make a buffer from generic discrete components. This
simple design comes from miniaturization guru Sijosae:

The transistors can be most any complementary pair of small-signal
transistors. Suitable alternatives are the PN2222A and PN2907A.

The diodes are generic small-signal types. An acceptable alternative is the
1N914.

This circuit has better performance than a simple resistive divider virtual
ground, and the parts cost is lower than for any other circuit mentioned here.
It is, however, the least accurate of the buffered virtual ground circuits.

Getting More Complicated

The above buffered virtual ground circuits have one of two major problems.
The TLE2426 and VFB op-amp based circuits have fairly low output current
abilities. The other circuits have higher output current, but most lack feedback
so their output impedance is relatively high; this can result in problems like
increased crosstalk in a headphone amplifier. For simple circuits, the CFB
circuit above is the best balance of high output current, low output impedance,
and simplicity.

If you can sacrifice simplicity, you can still use VFB op-amps by combining
them with a buffer, like so:

By wrapping a buffer in an op-amp’s feedback loop, you get the higher current
ability of the buffer plus the high accuracy afforded by feedback.

The value of the resistor between the buffer and op-amp may need to vary in
your circuit. If you’re getting peaking at high frequency or even instability,
you need to raise its value, to perhaps 1 kΩ.
Similarly, the compensation capactior CC might
need to be increased if you’re having instability problems; it probably
shouldn’t go much higher than 100pF.

You can replace the resistor divider with a TLE2426 to get some of the
benefits described above. Then it’s just one small step from there to the ground
channel concept used by the PIMETA and PPA
amplifiers:

The ground channel concept works best when you have many small ground
currents and one big one. In a headphone amp, the circuit has several resistors
and such going to ground, but virtually all of the dynamic current to ground is
the return current from the headphones. The buffered op-amp handles the big
currents (OGND), and the TLE2426 sets the input of the big driver and handles
all the small currents (VGND).

For audio, I prefer to use the same op-amp and buffer in the virtual ground
as I do in the audio driver circuits. For instance, if the audio channels use an
AD8610 op-amp and a HA3-5002 buffer, I will usually use those parts for the
virtual ground driver as well. This gives the most symmetric performance since
the virtual ground driver and the headphone driver circuits effectively sit
across the load from each other.

Capacitors on the Output of a Virtual Ground Driver

Above I said that when moving to an active rail splitter, you want to
seriously consider putting the rail capacitors in front of the splitter. The
purpose of putting caps across the resistive ground divider shown at the start
of this article is because this passive splitter cannot deliver very much
current, so we need the caps to do that. The resistors are only maintaining the
DC level of virtual ground here. An ideal virtual ground circuit would have
infinite current delivery, so there should be no advantage to putting caps on
its ouptut. In fact, it can be detrimental.

An active virtual ground circuit has some “bandwidth:” that is, it will be
effective over some range of frequencies. If you put capacitors across its
output, that lowers its bandwidth: as frequency goes up, the capacitors are “in
charge” to a greater and greater extent. If the caps are large enough, the
virtual ground circuit’s bandwidth is completely swamped. It could end up being
good for no more than maintaining the DC level of virtual ground.

Output caps can be a good thing if the rail splitter has
a fairly low output current limit. That’s the situation in the MINT
amp, for example. The TLE2426 has an output current limit of between 20 to 40
mA, depending on operating conditions. When it goes into current limiting, its
output goes to the negative rail, which would make for a massive shift in the
virtual ground point, so we cannot allow this to happen. A heavy headphone load
could indeed exceed 20 mA, so putting caps on the ouptut of the TLE2426 saves
the design. Although the TLE2426 has no effect at audio frequency, it still has
benefits compared to a resistive voltage divider. First, its output impedance is
much lower, so the virtual ground shift described above doesn’t happen. Second,
it requires less operating current than the CMoy’s resistive divider.

Another potential problem with big caps on the output of a virtual ground
splitter has to do with stability. Some circuits will become very stable in this
situation: no bandwidth and no gain, hence no oscillation. Most circuits aren’t
made to cope with capacitive loads, however. They become less stable when
driving a capacitive load. Study the datasheets for the ICs you will be using.
Unless they specifically tout the fact that they can drive large capacitive
loads, beware of using them in virtual ground circuits. Don’t forget to
consider the system bypass caps, if they go from each rail to virtual ground:
there are many chips out there that will become unstable with less than a
nanofarad of capacitance on their output, and the bypass capacitors will count
against this. Ultimately, you will have to build real circuits and test them
before you know whether a given chip can cope with the capacitive load in your
setup.

There’s one more problem with putting caps on the output of the virtual
ground circuit: it wastes capacitance. In a very real sense, two caps across the
output of a virtual ground circuit are in series, so the total capacitance is
cut in half. Also, you require one capacitor in front of the rail splitter, but
two after it. This means putting the rail capacitance in front of the splitter
is actually four times as efficient: you can have twice the effective
capacitance in half the board area, or four times the capacitance in the same
board area.

References and Acknowledgements

The DC-perspective CMoy pocket amplifier schematic above and the original
explanation of it is due to PRR of Headwize, in this
post.

Many other interesting virtual ground ideas and discussions are in the thread
containing PRR’s post.

Sijosae posted his discrete rail splitter idea in this
thread.

Section 4.1.5 in Jerald Graeme’s Optimizing Op Amp Performance was
useful in designing the VFB op-amp based splitter. This section concerns running
op-amps into capacitive loads, which will often happen with a virtual ground
driver.

Updated Sat
Apr 23 2011 00:43 MDT

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