Bruce Rose, Principal Applications Engineer, CUI Inc
A buzzer can provide a cost-effective yet intuitive aspect to the user interface of a wide variety of products, such as a home appliance, security panel, door-entry system or computer peripheral. Usually, the choice is between either a magnetic or piezoelectric type. It should be an easy decision, but you need to know the current and voltage of the driving signal and whether a simple or more complex multi-tone audio output is required for your application.
The decision-making criteria include whether your driving signal has enough current to drive a magnetic buzzer, whether you need the higher sound pressure level (SPL) of a piezo type at the expense of a larger footprint, or whether you have the option to design your own circuitry to drive a transducer, which can generate more sounds and tones than basic indicator buzzers.
This CUI Insights blog focusing on “Buzzer Basics”, describes the types available, their key differences, and the various ways of driving each type, to help you make the right choice for your design.
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