Understand. I'm using them in an active 2way setup too (i.e. directly connected) and didn't experience any issues.
Yes, I'm very happy with them and imho they match very well. In my experience the Mangers are not fussy at all. They are of relatively high sensitivity and represent an easy load to the amp. Usually the MSW is used in passive setups where the low crossover frequency might create effects that people relate to the driver itself. Going the active route is certainly a big step forward in terms of sound quality.
sounds good !
hi buzzy
i'm using 2x goldpoint ballanced attentuaters in 50k between my dbx260 and the hypex ucd400 hg ,i havent ran them yet but from what i can gather using attentuaters this way with the hypex modules is fine
the value of 50k was recomended to me by goldpoint based on the 100k input impeadence of the hypex modules
some people say to match it to the imput impeadence of the amp though (100k)
hi buzzy
i'm using 2x goldpoint ballanced attentuaters in 50k between my dbx260 and the hypex ucd400 hg ,i havent ran them yet but from what i can gather using attentuaters this way with the hypex modules is fine
the value of 50k was recomended to me by goldpoint based on the 100k input impeadence of the hypex modules
some people say to match it to the imput impeadence of the amp though (100k)
Hi all,
I just finished building a amp around UCD400st. One of the channels didn't power up(No LED). I checked the V+, V- and they are both fine. The low voltage regulators are hot to touch, however, the LED flickered the first time and then went off. The main heat sink is cool, while the other channel is warm. I checked the ON wire and it was pulled to GND. Power cycle didn't fix it.
It's the first time the module is powered up, and I wonder where I should start from here?
Thank you for your advices.
I just finished building a amp around UCD400st. One of the channels didn't power up(No LED). I checked the V+, V- and they are both fine. The low voltage regulators are hot to touch, however, the LED flickered the first time and then went off. The main heat sink is cool, while the other channel is warm. I checked the ON wire and it was pulled to GND. Power cycle didn't fix it.
It's the first time the module is powered up, and I wonder where I should start from here?
Thank you for your advices.
maxlorenz said:To all UCD users, check tightness of nuts and bolts that attach the power transistors to the T-bone heatsink, from time to time.
Hi maxlorenz,
I took your advice on a few modules. Wound up cracking the brittle, hard to find ceramic insulator on one by giving it only another 1/8 turn to see if it was tight, I guess it was. Can I just replace it with a few of these in parallel, will they work as good?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hownowdesign/2111123378/
On the other module they didn't crack, but since I had to hold the screwdriver on an angle due to it being an awkward thing to get to, it slipped and now the light doesn't come on. I don't even really know where all that charge came from, it should have been off. Do you think a screwdriver welded to it will violate my warranty, can it be repaired or will I have to buy new ones ? I really needed them for my only daughter's wedding this week, she's 37 and we fear there will not be another.
That's why "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Those are torqued to spec at the factory and include lock washers that maintain positive pressure on the threads. The possibility of them ever comming loose by themselves is remote, and would be cause for fewer failures than if everyone took that advice and started messing with them preemptively.
Further consider that if they ever did get loose you'd notice it sooner by a failed module than you ever would by intermittent inspections.
If there was some common issue with them Hypex would see it in the returned modules and take measures to prevent it from happening again, or it would just cost them money on a continued basis. As that assembly has remained the same since the very first version you can be assured no such need exists.
I know your intentions were good but a tip like that just rings an alarm causing undue paranoia and you end up with a self fulfilling prophecy leaving a trail of cancelled weddings and unborn children and do you really want that kind of blood on your hands?
Sorry to hear, really
One of my modules kaput after 2 years of faithful service and the only fault I've found so far is loose nut and bolt which were not of the self-tightening type...
I should have mentioned checking this with power off, unit disconnected and allowing time to discharge the PS caps.
On the other hand, an untighted locking system is readily detectable to gentle manipulation.
My apologies,
M
One of my modules kaput after 2 years of faithful service and the only fault I've found so far is loose nut and bolt which were not of the self-tightening type...
I should have mentioned checking this with power off, unit disconnected and allowing time to discharge the PS caps.
On the other hand, an untighted locking system is readily detectable to gentle manipulation.
My apologies,
M
Recenetly finished a pair of 400HG HxR monos and like them a lot. I had been using a pair of 500 Ice modules and the 400s are clearly better. I wanted to improve the input caps and as most have discovered there are no good Polyprop film caps that will be a direct fit--most mods have gone to off board input caps. Before doing this I thought I would just try bypassing the existing input caps with .01 MKP2s. The results were quite satisfactory. It cleaned up a bit of roughness in the treble area that was heard with violins and female vocals. So, for those that might not want to go with off board input caps, this is a viable improvement.
A
A
Thanks for this input. I had meant to bypass the input caps on my treble UcDHG180s with regulators but forgot about it since the sound is already so much better than the now discontinued premium op-amps UcD180 with outboard input caps.
I was considering adding little switches (or simply little connectors on flexible bypass wires) to experiment with on-off bypass but based on your comments (and on the fact that my cross-over does't seem to output DC) I will just go ahead and bypass them - a number of people including Hypex say it is very worthwhile. I wonder if there is any reason to bypass the UcD180HGs used for the mids (and the UcD400HGs used for the bass).
I am assuming it is less useful for mids? Is it useful at all for bass? It seems that bypassing them on the bass modules will change the bass response since it removes a high-pass filter, is it good or is it dangerous to let infra-bass in?. Does anybody has experience with bypassing input caps with multi-amping UcDs?
Guy
I was considering adding little switches (or simply little connectors on flexible bypass wires) to experiment with on-off bypass but based on your comments (and on the fact that my cross-over does't seem to output DC) I will just go ahead and bypass them - a number of people including Hypex say it is very worthwhile. I wonder if there is any reason to bypass the UcD180HGs used for the mids (and the UcD400HGs used for the bass).
I am assuming it is less useful for mids? Is it useful at all for bass? It seems that bypassing them on the bass modules will change the bass response since it removes a high-pass filter, is it good or is it dangerous to let infra-bass in?. Does anybody has experience with bypassing input caps with multi-amping UcDs?
Guy
Guy:
You wrote: "I was considering adding little switches (or simply little connectors on flexible bypass wires) to experiment with on-off bypass but based on your comments (and on the fact that my cross-over does't seem to output DC) I will just go ahead and bypass them - a number of people including Hypex say it is very worthwhile. I wonder if there is any reason to bypass the UcD180HGs used for the mids (and the UcD400HGs used for the bass). "
The term bypassing as used in my post, does not mean jumpering or replacing the input caps with a straight wire. It means adding a second capacitor in parallel with the existing input capacitor. You must be very careful if not using any DC blocking input capacitors. I tried this with my amps as my preamp has low DC output--but measured 180mV of DC offset at the amp outputs (not good) when I tried it--so back in went the input caps.
I have been using a multiamp active speaker setup off and on for years and find for best sonic performance the amps should be sonically matched for best sound. Whatever mods you do to one, should be done to all.
A.
You wrote: "I was considering adding little switches (or simply little connectors on flexible bypass wires) to experiment with on-off bypass but based on your comments (and on the fact that my cross-over does't seem to output DC) I will just go ahead and bypass them - a number of people including Hypex say it is very worthwhile. I wonder if there is any reason to bypass the UcD180HGs used for the mids (and the UcD400HGs used for the bass). "
The term bypassing as used in my post, does not mean jumpering or replacing the input caps with a straight wire. It means adding a second capacitor in parallel with the existing input capacitor. You must be very careful if not using any DC blocking input capacitors. I tried this with my amps as my preamp has low DC output--but measured 180mV of DC offset at the amp outputs (not good) when I tried it--so back in went the input caps.
I have been using a multiamp active speaker setup off and on for years and find for best sonic performance the amps should be sonically matched for best sound. Whatever mods you do to one, should be done to all.
A.
Interesting, thanks.
It makes sense to make the same mods to all amps. Now I wonder if I should have gotten the regulators for the bass amps and/or maybe get two UcD180HG instead of one UcD400HG for my paralled woofers. Oh well... I think the UcD400HG are matched sonically to the UcD180HG and my 6 monoblocks do work very very well with the Linkwitz Orions.
I have 2.0 Auricaps, bypassing with those might be overkill but I could try.
A good way to experiment would be to solder two flexible wires around each input cap, each wire ending with a male or female mini-connector and have the same on the bypass caps. That way pure bypass, no bypass, or various cap bypass can be tried.
Could anyone point me to where I could find mini-connectors that can be soldered at the end of a small wire? I remember some that were barely thicker than the wire itself, silver coated, but I don't know how they were called or were to find them (takes a while to search digikey or mouser if I don't know the name).
Guy
It makes sense to make the same mods to all amps. Now I wonder if I should have gotten the regulators for the bass amps and/or maybe get two UcD180HG instead of one UcD400HG for my paralled woofers. Oh well... I think the UcD400HG are matched sonically to the UcD180HG and my 6 monoblocks do work very very well with the Linkwitz Orions.
I have 2.0 Auricaps, bypassing with those might be overkill but I could try.
A good way to experiment would be to solder two flexible wires around each input cap, each wire ending with a male or female mini-connector and have the same on the bypass caps. That way pure bypass, no bypass, or various cap bypass can be tried.
Could anyone point me to where I could find mini-connectors that can be soldered at the end of a small wire? I remember some that were barely thicker than the wire itself, silver coated, but I don't know how they were called or were to find them (takes a while to search digikey or mouser if I don't know the name).
Guy
Hi all,
I have just bought 2 UCD400HG modules with the super-regulators. Still using them with a temporary PSU from another project while planning this project.
So far I have decided to use dual 2x40V 500VA transformers. For the power supply I am thinking of either:
- The Hypex HG mono supplies
- The NT-E supply from schuro.de (http://www.diy-selbstbau.de/produkte/nte-en.htm).
This supply uses hexfreds and the T-Network 4-pole capacitors which are the same make as those slit-foils in the hypex HG but much more expensive.
My question is then, have anybody tried the T-networks versus slit-foils? Would the added resistance between transformer and modules be a bad thing? Is the extra filtration effect at all noticeable? (my main goal right now is to make the amp as good as possible, not the cheapest )
Bruno or Peter: Any comments on why I should or shouldn't get the Hypex PSU? Or will the SMPS400 be even better if I can find the patience?
Sincerely,
Robin
I have just bought 2 UCD400HG modules with the super-regulators. Still using them with a temporary PSU from another project while planning this project.
So far I have decided to use dual 2x40V 500VA transformers. For the power supply I am thinking of either:
- The Hypex HG mono supplies
- The NT-E supply from schuro.de (http://www.diy-selbstbau.de/produkte/nte-en.htm).
This supply uses hexfreds and the T-Network 4-pole capacitors which are the same make as those slit-foils in the hypex HG but much more expensive.
My question is then, have anybody tried the T-networks versus slit-foils? Would the added resistance between transformer and modules be a bad thing? Is the extra filtration effect at all noticeable? (my main goal right now is to make the amp as good as possible, not the cheapest
)Bruno or Peter: Any comments on why I should or shouldn't get the Hypex PSU? Or will the SMPS400 be even better if I can find the patience?
Sincerely,
Robin
I've been using for the last few weeks two 400HGs HxR with HG monos and 500VA xformers in two monoblocks.
Last nite while watching a movie, my right channel cut out with no lights at all from the module or the HxRs. This happened twice only during intense scenes with deep bass. After a few minutes, I notice the HxRs lighting up again before slowly going out (no external power was supplied). Then the amp became usable again. I had been playing music loudly the whole day without a problem, so it seems to be due to deep bass/current draw. Actually, the volume wqasn't even turned up during the movie
I measured the DC rails and it was at a stable 61V. DC protect was enabled from the supply, but the DC at the speaker terminla was very low, around 5mV. I did not short the DC decoupling cap (yet).
What can be wrong with the module or supply to trigger an apparent shutdown? I know it's unlikely to be due to over-voltage or DC at the speaker. I do not use a subwoofer so all the bass gets directed to the UcDs.
Last nite while watching a movie, my right channel cut out with no lights at all from the module or the HxRs. This happened twice only during intense scenes with deep bass. After a few minutes, I notice the HxRs lighting up again before slowly going out (no external power was supplied). Then the amp became usable again. I had been playing music loudly the whole day without a problem, so it seems to be due to deep bass/current draw. Actually, the volume wqasn't even turned up during the movie
I measured the DC rails and it was at a stable 61V. DC protect was enabled from the supply, but the DC at the speaker terminla was very low, around 5mV. I did not short the DC decoupling cap (yet).
What can be wrong with the module or supply to trigger an apparent shutdown? I know it's unlikely to be due to over-voltage or DC at the speaker. I do not use a subwoofer so all the bass gets directed to the UcDs.
Little help needed with SMPS400/67 and UCD400
Hi.
I apologise if my question has an answer earlyer in this subject but as more than 60 pages are there i found not enough time to read all this.
I'm trying to put together the SMPS400/67 and UCD400 and at this moment without success.
The amplifier module stays off with the led off and no sound comming out. May be some of the non connected wires have to be connected but as i'm not native english speaking this is not clear reading the technical sheets.
From the SMPS400/67 the following are not connected:
J4 amplifier control connector pin 1 & 2 (May be pin 2 has to be connected somewhere to the UCD400 but this is not clearly documented).
J5 Aux & Control From 1 to 7 are not connected. (May pin 2 should be connected somewhere to the UCD400 but this is not clearly documented).
I connected the + loudspeaker output of the UCD400 module to pin 1 of J6 pin 1 that is DC error connector hoping that this could be the cause of the problem but this solved nothing.
If somebody has the knowledge about this i would apreciate some help.
Thanks a lot.
Hi.
I apologise if my question has an answer earlyer in this subject but as more than 60 pages are there i found not enough time to read all this.
I'm trying to put together the SMPS400/67 and UCD400 and at this moment without success.
The amplifier module stays off with the led off and no sound comming out. May be some of the non connected wires have to be connected but as i'm not native english speaking this is not clear reading the technical sheets.
From the SMPS400/67 the following are not connected:
J4 amplifier control connector pin 1 & 2 (May be pin 2 has to be connected somewhere to the UCD400 but this is not clearly documented).
J5 Aux & Control From 1 to 7 are not connected. (May pin 2 should be connected somewhere to the UCD400 but this is not clearly documented).
I connected the + loudspeaker output of the UCD400 module to pin 1 of J6 pin 1 that is DC error connector hoping that this could be the cause of the problem but this solved nothing.
If somebody has the knowledge about this i would apreciate some help.
Thanks a lot.
Re: Little help needed with SMPS400/67 and UCD400
Did you ordered the UcD400 together with the SMSP 400?
We have upgrade the overvoltage protection of the UcD400 to be compatible with the higher voltage of the SMSP 400. You can return the UcD400 module and we will update this, for free of course...
Jan-Peter
francisr6 said:
Did you ordered the UcD400 together with the SMSP 400?
We have upgrade the overvoltage protection of the UcD400 to be compatible with the higher voltage of the SMSP 400. You can return the UcD400 module and we will update this, for free of course...
Jan-Peter
Hi.
Thanks a lot for your answer.
Yes everything has been ordered together and we received them last week, it's why i hope the 69.4 volts at the output of the supply not to be an issue. I saw somewhere that the current modules are OK with those voltages something has to be wrong somewhere else but honestly i do not have any idea.
The amp module On/Off wire is linked to the ground and i found time to read quite all the content of the forum so i have better understanding of the use of the not connected wires now.
Even if i know this will not make the amps alive now, do you think i will later be able to use the aux supply voltage to drive the amp standby ?
Thanks a lot for your answer.
Yes everything has been ordered together and we received them last week, it's why i hope the 69.4 volts at the output of the supply not to be an issue. I saw somewhere that the current modules are OK with those voltages something has to be wrong somewhere else but honestly i do not have any idea.
The amp module On/Off wire is linked to the ground and i found time to read quite all the content of the forum so i have better understanding of the use of the not connected wires now.
Even if i know this will not make the amps alive now, do you think i will later be able to use the aux supply voltage to drive the amp standby ?
Hi.
Sending a mail to support is the first thing i did last week (but it was saturday morning). I got a first answer this morning that asked me the serial nums to verify that the modules sent to us were the last generation. I send them some minutes later and hope to have something new tomorrow.
I really appreciate your help that avoids me to feel too "Alone".
Thanks a lot.
Sending a mail to support is the first thing i did last week (but it was saturday morning). I got a first answer this morning that asked me the serial nums to verify that the modules sent to us were the last generation. I send them some minutes later and hope to have something new tomorrow.
I really appreciate your help that avoids me to feel too "Alone".
Thanks a lot.
Jan-Peter,
I did not know that you are still trawling these pages so I'm going to try my luck. I've posted this question on a couple of forums but have not gotten any answers. I'm way behind on the "UCD400 wave" of these guys on this forum.
My modules are UCD400AD ver 6.1. I've done the cap changes, bypassing input caps and I've heard improvements each time but still cannot seem to get the 'thunderous' bass that these guys talked about.
I saw on the Hypex website the article regarding connecting the auxiliary voltage of the HG power supply to the amp modules and am not sure if this is worthwhile for my version of modules? In the article it says to remove 'via' by drilling through the PCB. I checked my HG supply but there is no 'via' printed on the PCB. In that vicinity, I did see something like a component lead sticking out on the board. Is this the 'via' that the article is talking about? Also I think the transistors are no longer named BDX33 and BDX34? I'll have to use a seperate transformer so how many VA minimum?
Thanks in advance for any advice you may provide.
I did not know that you are still trawling these pages so I'm going to try my luck. I've posted this question on a couple of forums but have not gotten any answers. I'm way behind on the "UCD400 wave" of these guys on this forum.
My modules are UCD400AD ver 6.1. I've done the cap changes, bypassing input caps and I've heard improvements each time but still cannot seem to get the 'thunderous' bass that these guys talked about.
I saw on the Hypex website the article regarding connecting the auxiliary voltage of the HG power supply to the amp modules and am not sure if this is worthwhile for my version of modules? In the article it says to remove 'via' by drilling through the PCB. I checked my HG supply but there is no 'via' printed on the PCB. In that vicinity, I did see something like a component lead sticking out on the board. Is this the 'via' that the article is talking about? Also I think the transistors are no longer named BDX33 and BDX34? I'll have to use a seperate transformer so how many VA minimum?
Thanks in advance for any advice you may provide.