A switching power stage for producing an output voltage to a load may include a power converter and a controller. The power converter may include a power inductor and plurality of switches arranged to sequentially operate in a plurality of switch configurations. The controller may be configured to, based on a measured parameter associated with the switching power stage, select a selected operational mode of the power converter from a plurality of operational modes, and sequentially apply switch configurations from the plurality of switch configurations to selectively activate or deactivate each of the plurality of switches in order to transfer electrical energy from an input source of the power converter to the load in accordance with the selected operational mode.A switching power stage for producing an output voltage to a load may include a power converter and a controller. The power converter may include a power inductor and plurality of switches arranged to sequentially operate in a plurality of switch configurations. The controller may be configured to, based at least on an input signal to the switching power stage, determine the differential output voltage to be driven at the load, and based on the differential output voltage to be driven at the load, apply a switch configuration from the plurality of switch configurations to selectively activate or deactivate each of the plurality of switches in order to generate the differential output voltage.A method may include sequentially applying a plurality of switch configurations in a power converter to selectively activate or deactivate each of the plurality of switches in order operate the power converter as a differential output buck converter, such that: during a charging phase of the power converter, the power inductor is coupled between (i) one of a first terminal of a power source and a second terminal of the power source and (ii) one of a first terminal of the output load and a second terminal of the output load; during a transfer phase of the power converter, at least one of the plurality of switches is activated in order to couple the power inductor between the first terminal of the output load and a second terminal of the output load; and the output voltage is a differential voltage between the first and second terminal of the output load.