High Performance Stereo Audio DAC
 
ES8156 
 
 
 
 
 
APPLICATIONS 
 
•  Headphone 
•  Speaker 
•  TV 
•  Portable audio devices 
ORDERING INFORMATION 
 
ES8156 -40°C ~ +85°C 
QFN-20 
 
 
 
FEATURES 
 
•  High performance and low power multi-
bit delta-sigma audio DAC 
•  110 dB signal to noise ratio, -80 dB 
THD+N 
•  24-bit, 8 to 96 kHz sampling frequency 
• 
Integrated headphone driver with 
capless option 
•  Differential output for higher SNR and 
CMRR 
I2S/PCM master or slave serial data port 
• 
•  256/384Fs, USB 12/24 MHz and other 
non standard audio system clocks 
I2C interface 
• 
•  7-band fully adjustable EQ 
•  Dynamic range compression 
•  Playback signal feedback 
•  Pop and click noise suppression 
•  1.8V to 3.3V operation 
 
1 
Everest Semiconductor 
Confidential 
ES8156 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1.  BLOCK DIAGRAM 
M
C
L
K
  
Clock Mgr 
 
C
D
A
T
A
 
C
C
L
K
 
C
E
 
I2C 
SCLK 
LRCK 
SDIN 
SDOUT 
Audio 
Data 
EQ 
DRC 
Stereo 
DAC 
 
HP Driver 
LOUTP/LOUTN 
 
ROUTP/ROUTN 
Analog Reference 
 
V
R
P
 
V
M
D
I
 
H
P
C
O
M
 
 
Power Supply 
A
G
N
D
 
A
V
D
D
 
D
G
N
D
 
P
V
D
D
 
D
V
D
D
 
Revision 8.0 
Latest datasheet: www.everest-semi.com or info@everest-semi.com 
2 
October 2021 
Everest Semiconductor 
Confidential 
ES8156 
2.  PIN OUT AND DESCRIPTION 
S
D
O
U
T
 
V
M
D
I
 
V
R
P
 
A
V
D
D
 
C
E
 
2
0
 
1
9
 
 
1
8
 
1
7
 
1
6
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Pin Name 
CDATA, CCLK, CE 
MCLK 
SCLK 
SDIN 
LRCK 
SDOUT 
LOUTP, LOUTN 
ROUTP, ROUTN 
HPCOM 
PVDD 
DVDD, DGND 
AVDD, AGND 
VMID 
VRP 
 
CDATA 
CCLK 
MCLK 
DVDD 
PVDD 
1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
 
 
 
ES8156 
6
 
7
 
8
 
9
 
1
0
 
15 
14 
13 
12 
11 
 
LOUTP 
LOUTN 
AGND 
ROUTN 
ROUTP 
 
 
 
S
C
L
K
 
D
G
N
D
 
S
D
N
I
 
L
R
C
K
 
H
P
C
O
M
 
Pin number 
1, 2, 19 
3 
7 
8 
9 
20 
15, 14 
11, 12 
10 
5 
4, 6 
16, 13 
18 
17 
Input or Output 
I/O, I, I 
I 
I/O 
I 
I/O 
O 
O 
O 
Analog 
Analog 
Analog 
Analog 
Analog 
Analog 
Pin Description 
I2C clock, data, address 
Master clock 
Serial data bit clock/DMIC bit clock 
DAC serial data input 
Serial data left and right channel frame clock 
Playback signal feedback 
Left channel differential analog output 
Right channel differential analog output 
Virtual ground for capless headphone 
(Only available in software mode) 
Power supply for the digital input and output 
Digital power supply 
Analog power supply 
Filtering capacitor connection 
Filtering capacitor connection 
 
 
Revision 8.0 
Latest datasheet: www.everest-semi.com or info@everest-semi.com 
3 
October 2021 
Everest Semiconductor 
Confidential 
ES8156 
3.  TYPICAL APPLICATION CIRCUIT 
 
 
Revision 8.0 
Latest datasheet: www.everest-semi.com or info@everest-semi.com 
4 
October 2021 
Everest Semiconductor 
Confidential 
ES8156 
 
Revision 8.0 
Latest datasheet: www.everest-semi.com or info@everest-semi.com 
5 
October 2021 
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ES8156 
4.  HARDWARE MODE 
The  device  works  either  in  hardware  mode  (HW  mode)  or  software  mode  (I2C  mode).  The 
default is hardware mode. Software mode is enabled by setting bit 2 of configuration register 
0x02. 
In  HW  mode,  LRCK  and  SCLK  are  supplied  externally.  LRCK  and  SCLK  must  be  synchronously 
derived from the system clock with some specific rates. The device can auto detect MCLK/LRCK 
ratio according to Table 1. The device only supports the MCLK/LRCK ratios listed in Table 1. The 
SCLK/LRCK ratio is normally 64. 
Table 1 Slave Mode Sampling Frequencies and MCLK/LRCK Ratio 
Speed Mode 
Single Speed 
Sampling Frequency  MCLK/LRCK Ratio 
8kHz – 50kHz 
32, 64, 96, 128, 192, 256, 
384, 512, 640, 768, 1024, 
1152, 1280, 1536 
5.  CLOCK MODES AND SAMPLING FREQUENCIES 
In software mode, the device supports standard audio clocks (32Fs, 64F, 128Fs, 256Fs, 384Fs, 
512Fs, etc), USB clocks (12/24 MHz), and some common non standard audio clocks (16 MHz, 25 
MHz, 26 MHz, etc). 
According to the serial audio data sampling frequency (Fs), the device can work in two speed 
modes:  single  speed  mode  or  double  speed  mode.  In  single  speed  mode,  Fs  normally  ranges 
from 8 kHz to 48 kHz, and in double speed mode, Fs normally range from 64 kHz to 96 kHz. 
The device can work either in master clock mode or slave clock mode. In slave mode, LRCK and 
SCLK  are  supplied  externally,  and  LRCK  and  SCLK  must  be  synchronously  derived  from  the 
system  clock  with  specific  rates.  In  master  mode,  LRCK  and  SCLK  are  derived  internally  from 
device master clock. 
6.  MICRO-CONTROLLER CONFIGURATION INTERFACE 
The  device  supports  standard  I2C  micro-controller  configuration  interface.  External  micro-
controller  can  completely  configure  the  device  through  writing  to  internal  configuration 
registers. 
I2C interface is a bi-directional serial bus that uses a serial data line (CDATA) and a serial clock 
line (CCLK) for data transfer. The timing diagram for data transfer of this interface is given in 
Figure 1a and Figure 1b. Data are transmitted synchronously to CCLK clock on the CDATA line on 
a  byte-by-byte  basis.  Each  bit  in  a  byte  is  sampled  during  CCLK  high  with  MSB  bit  being 
transmitted firstly. Each transferred byte is followed by an acknowledge bit from receiver to pull 
the CDATA low. The transfer rate of this interface can be up to 400 kbps. 
Revision 8.0 
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ES8156 
A master controller initiates the transmission by sending a “start” signal, which is defined as a 
high-to-low transition at CDATA while CCLK is high. The first byte transferred is the slave address. 
It is a seven-bit chip address followed by a RW bit. The chip address must be 0001 00x, where x 
equals CE. The RW bit indicates the slave data transfer direction. Once an acknowledge bit is 
received, the data transfer starts to proceed on a byte-by-byte basis in the direction specified by 
the RW bit. The master can terminate the communication by generating a “stop” signal, which is 
defined as a low-to-high transition at CDATA while CCLK is high. 
In I2C interface mode, the registers can be written and read. The formats of “write” and “read” 
instructions are shown in Table 2 and Table 3. Please note that, to read data from a register, you 
must set R/W bit to 0 to access the register address and then set R/W to 1 to read data from the 
register. 
Table 2 Write Data to Register in I2C Interface Mode 
 
start 
Chip Address 
0001 00 CE 
R/W 
0 
 
ACK 
Register Address 
RAM 
 
 
ACK 
Data to be written 
DATA 
 
ACK 
 
Stop 
ACK 
Write Data 
ACK 
 
 
 bit 1 to 8 
 
Chip Addr 
Write ACK 
 
 bit 1 to 7 
 
 
Reg Addr 
 
 bit 1 to 8 
 
 
 
 
CDATA 
CCLK 
 
 
START 
 
Figure 1a I2C Write Timing 
Table 3 Read Data from Register in I2C Interface Mode 
STOP 
 
 
Start 
 
Start 
Chip Address 
0001 00 CE 
Chip Address 
0001 00 CE 
R/W 
0 
R/W 
1 
Register Address 
RAM 
Data to be read 
Data 
 
ACK 
 
NACK 
 
 
 
Stop 
Chip Addr 
Write ACK 
Reg Addr 
 
 bit 1 to 7 
 
 
 bit 1 to 8 
Chip Addr 
Read ACK 
Read Data 
NO ACK 
  bit 1 to 7 
 
 
 bit 1 to 8 
 
Figure 1b I2C Read Timing 
 
Latest datasheet: www.everest-semi.com or info@everest-semi.com 
STOP 
 
October 2021 
 
ACK 
 
ACK 
 
ACK 
 
 
 
 
 
START 
7 
CDATA 
CCLK 
 
 
START 
 
Revision 8.0 
Everest Semiconductor 
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ES8156 
7.  DIGITAL AUDIO INTERFACE 
The device provides many formats of serial audio data interface to the input or output through 
LRCK,  SCLK  and  SDIN  or  SDOUT  pins.  These  formats  are  I2S,  left  justified,  right  justified  and 
DSP/PCM. SDIN is sampled by the device on the rising edge of SCLK. SDOUT is out on the falling 
edge of SCLK. The relationship of SDATA (SDIN or SDOUT), SCLK and LRCK with these formats are 
shown through Figure 2a to Figure 2d. 
LRCK 
SCLK 
SDATA 
LRCK 
SCLK 
SDATA 
LRCK 
SCLK 
SDATA 
LRCK 
SCLK 
SDATA 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1 SCLK 
 
L Channel 
 
MSB 
LSB 
1 SCLK 
 
R Channel 
 
MSB 
LSB 
 
 
 
 
Figure 2a I2S Serial Audio Data Format 
 
 
 
L Channel 
 
MSB 
LSB 
 
 
 
 
R Channel 
 
MSB 
LSB 
 
Figure 2b Left Justified Serial Audio Data Format 
 
 
 
1 SCLK 
 
L Channel 
R Channel 
 
 
MSB 
LSB MSB 
 
 
 
 
LSB 
 
Figure 2c DSP/PCM Mode A Serial Audio Data Format 
 
 
L Channel 
R Channel 
 
 
MSB 
LSB MSB 
LSB 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 2d DSP/PCM Mode B Serial Audio Data Format 
 
 
Revision 8.0 
Latest datasheet: www.everest-semi.com or info@everest-semi.com 
8 
October 2021