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Build Your Own Professional-Grade Audio Amp on the Sort-Of Cheap

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Re: Build Your Own Professional-Grade Audio Amp on the Sort-Of Cheap

#51

Post by blattimwind »

mrob wrote: post #42

It's bizarre how none of these chips seem to have a digital input. All my music is digital, and despite the modern rise of vinyl, I don't think that's unusual. If I want an amplifier like this then I'm forced to have a completely useless DAC/ADC pair degrading the signal quality. Does anybody know of an easily available class-D amplifier with digital input? You'd think that would be an obvious feature for a digital a…

> You'd think that would be an obvious feature for a digital amplifier.

That's because these amplifiers are not digital. The control loop is generally analog. Though there are chips which do in fact use digital inputs and do most of the work via fixed-function DSP, but those are mostly bigger chips targeted at 5.1 or 7.1 systems.

Re: Build Your Own Professional-Grade Audio Amp on the Sort-Of Cheap

#52

Post by Matsta »

janekm wrote: post #15
jelling wrote: post #8

Any recommendations for people that are tempted to build this but should really put their time elsewhere?

If you are looking for something already built, the eBay/aliexpress shops of the Shenzhen companies often have the option of selling you a complete amplifier made up of their modules. Which will probably end up cheaper than getting all the parts yourself...

Bang on. A popular amp is a TPA3116 module. You can see thousands of examples on Aliexpress: https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?catId=0&initiative_id=S...

For speakers, the cheapest option is to buy some second-hand ones on eBay/Gumtree/Craigslist. Just Google model names and look for ones with good reviews. I like British speakers, so I usually search for Tannoy, B&W, KEF etc.

Re: Build Your Own Professional-Grade Audio Amp on the Sort-Of Cheap

#54

Post by Matsta »

comboy wrote: post #18

Any DAC chip and some usb interface for it that you could recommend to go with this? And slightly OT, but does anybody know any ABX test of balanced input/output signal? I find it hard to believe that there is a single person who can hear the difference.

There's thousands of options. Schiit are generally regarded for having high quality products that are relatively cheap.

A good place to find DAC reviews is head-fi: https://www.head-fi.org/forums/dedicated-source-components.7...

Re: Build Your Own Professional-Grade Audio Amp on the Sort-Of Cheap

#55

Post by blattimwind »

rubatuga wrote: post #33

If you just want the amp without building it, you can get a TPA3116 Class D amplifier. It is only $21 USD from aliexpress (with free shipping of course!). It accepts a supply voltage of up to 24V meaning that you can just dig around for your old laptop power supply (19V). It comes with a nice and sleek aluminum case, and has low enough noise floor that I can't detect it at all unless my ear is right up against the sp…

I guess in technical terms this article is about "making" an amplifier as opposed to "building" an amplifier. "Making" as in "Maker", since the electronics come as pre-made assemblies connected together and put in a case.

Re: Build Your Own Professional-Grade Audio Amp on the Sort-Of Cheap

#56

Post by MrTonyD »

I'm probably the only one with this opinion...but I sure miss the old days of tube amps that weren't able to be highly accurate. They would roll-off the on the high end, distort a bit all over, and gave a very warm and relaxing feel to the albums I played obsessively. Now I've owned high-end tube and solid-state gear, and the music hasn't sounded good for decades. Combine that with the very limited bits provided by CDs, preventing any possibility of good playback, and music has been completely destroyed. Old timers like me are dying off, and most of the people who remember good music will be dead. Kind of makes me sad.

Re: Build Your Own Professional-Grade Audio Amp on the Sort-Of Cheap

#57

Post by radus »

kposehn wrote: post #41

> Nobody is having those arguments anymore. There are many class-D amplifiers on the market now, and the best of these are dominating the upper reaches of the high end. Not quite. Frankly, Class A or AB still has the upper hand from a pure sound quality perspective, and class D struggles to output sufficiently at high levels with lower levels of distortion in my experience. That said, there have been many small class…

This may be true of Class D amps commonly used in home equipment, but many high end powered PA speakers use Class D amps and get very loud with minimal distortion.

Re: Build Your Own Professional-Grade Audio Amp on the Sort-Of Cheap

#58

Post by gruez »

Karunamon wrote: post #44
fermienrico wrote: post #16

It is refreshing to see these types of articles. Of all disciplines of human interests and hobbies, Audiophiles are one of the most stubborn, misinformed, anecdotal and delusional bunch. Of course I am generalizing, but every time I engage in a discussion about audio quality, it is a losing battle. Not because of lack of data or supporting evidence, but because of the fundamental dissent for data driven arguments. Yo…

Of course they’re anecdotal - listening to music is a subjective experience. If someone really thinks their music sounds better after adding $100 cable lifters and taping $50 bags of rocks to their $10,000 system, they are automatically correct . Their ears, their hobby. It would be like saying that something can’t work because it’s a placebo - even if all they’re getting is a sugar pill, if the symptoms went away, t…

>We’re not talking about medical efficacy here, we’re talking about artwork.

if only audiophiles see it this way themselves...

Re: Build Your Own Professional-Grade Audio Amp on the Sort-Of Cheap

#59

Post by dharma1 »

willtim wrote: post #36
fermienrico wrote: post #16

It is refreshing to see these types of articles. Of all disciplines of human interests and hobbies, Audiophiles are one of the most stubborn, misinformed, anecdotal and delusional bunch. Of course I am generalizing, but every time I engage in a discussion about audio quality, it is a losing battle. Not because of lack of data or supporting evidence, but because of the fundamental dissent for data driven arguments. Yo…

Your generalisation is unfair. Most Audiophiles just want to listen to music the way the artists intended. This is not easy in a industry where colouring the sound is even celebrated, e.g. 'Beats by Dre'. I recently tried the latest noise cancelling headphones by Sony (1000XM3). The noise cancelling was excellent, but the bass was +5db overblown, boomy and drowned out most of the mids, the treble was dark to hide the…

As far a noise sound quality for cancelling wireless closed headphones go, the Sony's are the best along with Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 on-ear.

There are of course much better headphones, and I wouldn't call them audiophile headphones, but I haven't found other wireless ones that do noise-cancelling and isolation as well and still manage to sound acceptable.

Re: Build Your Own Professional-Grade Audio Amp on the Sort-Of Cheap

#60

Post by bcheung »

fermienrico wrote: post #16

It is refreshing to see these types of articles. Of all disciplines of human interests and hobbies, Audiophiles are one of the most stubborn, misinformed, anecdotal and delusional bunch. Of course I am generalizing, but every time I engage in a discussion about audio quality, it is a losing battle. Not because of lack of data or supporting evidence, but because of the fundamental dissent for data driven arguments. Yo…

> one of the most stubborn, misinformed, anecdotal and delusional bunch

I've had professional recording artists tell me they won't use MIDI over USB because the volume is lower than the old 9-pin connectors.

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