A sound module is a circuit with a programmed sound like a brain memory and a sounding device as the mouth. By understanding the circuits and the devices, it’s now easy to tell why some sound items have low sound quality and why some require huge minimum.

It’s very common to see products equipped with sound module such as door bells, Christmas cards, toys, sound books and many other consumer products. These sound items are usually equipped with a sound device powered by an integrated circuit (IC) chip.

A buzzer is a simple sounding device that requires a melody IC chip. On the other hand, voice IC chip uses a speaker. As a buzzer signals a square wave, using a buzzer on voice IC chip will cause a low volume. Both buzzer and speaker are RoHs-ready electronic components.

Melody IC chip generally has a lower production unit cost but a higher minimum quantity than voice IC chip. For melody IC chip, the size of the IC is based on “notes”; and for voice IC chip, the size is based on “bits”.

When a product needs to be designed very thin, buzzer is a better choice than speaker. However, if the sound quality is important, speaker with voice IC chip would be the best alternative.