Patent ID: 7254244

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: an audio amplifier to generate an output to an audio load; a digital-to-analog converter to drive the audio amplifier during at least one of powering up and powering down the audio amplifier, the digital-to-analog converter to control the audio amplifier to ramp the voltage at the output at a predetermined rate to reduce audio pop and click from being heard at the load during the at least one of powering up or powering down of the audio amplifier; a control circuit to generate data sent to the digital-to-analog converter during at least one of powering up and powering down the audio amplifier; and a clamping switch at the output of the amplifier to selectively clamp the output of the amplifier to a power return potential, wherein the clamping switch is on to clamp the output to the return potential during initiation of a powering up sequence and the clamping switch is off when the audio amplifier and the digital-to-analog converter are substantially turned on.