Best class D amp for studio monitoring and brutal revealing nature

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aarvin2

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Joined 2012
HI guys which class D/T amp of around 15W Rms (25Wpeak) could I use for monitor speakers ??

I need brutal honesty(no coloring or warmth if it's not present in the source material).

I need super fast transient speed , flat frequency response , super low THD(less than 0.01 at 25W), SnR greater than 100dB, no hum no hiss.

Just brutal honesty, some amp which can show me when the source material is harsh when it is harsh and sound sweet when the source is sweet.

Some amp which can clearly show when a track was badly recorded and engineered , and sound good only with well recorded and engineered material.

An amp which doesn't make piercing sounds sound sweet. It should sound piercing when the material is piercing.

Price , around 150 Dollar MAXIMUM.

HELP PLEASE :(
 
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bear

bear

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Joined 2002
bearlabs.com
Studio monitoring on 15 watts?

What speakers??

Suggest building a good quality class A analog amplifier instead.
Or consider the "Wire" amp build thread - they are using paralleled ultra low distortion chip amps - or use that as the driver for a class A output stage.

And unless you have a super high sensitivity horn system you need more than 15 watts for monitoring live music, imo.

_-_-bear
 
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aarvin2

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Joined 2012
bear said:
Studio monitoring on 15 watts?

What speakers??

Suggest building a good quality class A analog amplifier instead.
Or consider the "Wire" amp build thread - they are using paralleled ultra low distortion chip amps - or use that as the driver for a class A output stage.

And unless you have a super high sensitivity horn system you need more than 15 watts for monitoring live music, imo.

_-_-bear
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Yups nearfield monitoring, 15 Watts RMS is plenty loud , best mixing engineering is done at whisper levels :D

Why would you advise class A amps over Tripath or class D amps ? :) How do they compare with regards to transient speed and consistency ?

Thank for your advice my friend :)
 
Mark.Clappers

Mark.Clappers

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Joined 2010
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AP2

Banned
Joined 2009
Some features on paper, unfortunately not establish that the amp has a great realism in the reproduction or high definition, if we refer to the class D.
for this low price, I can recommend a class AB mosfet, I think $ 30 is enough if it is complete. then select a good smps, maybe that does not drop the voltage if you are interested in a good transient response.
hehe .. I have no other advice for this price.
 
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Ahmad_tbp

Member
Joined 2004
in solid state section "Apex" has a thread for a studio reference amp it s a very good design and has pcb and everything for that , I suggest you take a look at that ;)
and keep in mind that most of monitors don use class d and lm3886 is very popular in studio monitors ,but if you wanna go passive monitor and a diy amp you want something better than lm3886 so go for an active crossover and class A bi-amping !
and if the money is not a issue take a look at this monster :
ExtremA, a reference class-A DIY amplifier.
ExtremA, a reference class-A DIY amplifier. - Introduction
 
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Ahmad_tbp

Member
Joined 2004
o I forgot ampslab has a design named "synergy" with active crossovers and bi amping in one board take a look at that as well it s a hell of a design specially made for studio monitors with lm3886t :
Synergy - 18dB/oct Active Bi-Amp Kit by AmpsLab

1) Balanced Input

2) Master Volume Adjustment

3) Tweeter Volume Adjustment

4) 18dB/oct 2-way electronic crossover

5) 6 selectable crossover frequencies (1K5 2K 2K4 2K8 3K3 3K7)

6) Lm3886TF Overture Power Amp for Tweeter

7) Lm3886TF Overture Power Amp for Woofer

8) 18,800uF of Power Supply Filter Capacitors
(Rubycon 4,700uF/63V x 4 pcs)

9) +/- 15V Voltage Regulation
 
Mark.Clappers

Mark.Clappers

Member
Joined 2010
aarvin2 said:
I need super fast transient speed , flat frequency response , super low THD(less than 0.01 at 25W), SnR greater than 100dB, no hum no hiss.
Click to expand...

If you really want those numbers you need at least a UcD180 (that will do 0.01% THD+N @25W into 4 Ohms) from the Hypex range.

It would be very very hard if not impossible to get those numbers with for example a LM3886 setup. Which is capable of 0.03% THD+N according to the datasheet. SNR is "only" 92.5dB tough.

I did build monitors powered by LM3886's and they sounded fine, so the main question here is what numbers are acceptable for you when looking at your budget?
 
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aarvin2

Member
Joined 2012
Ahmad_tbp said:
in solid state section "Apex" has a thread for a studio reference amp it s a very good design and has pcb and everything for that , I suggest you take a look at that ;)
and keep in mind that most of monitors don use class d and lm3886 is very popular in studio monitors ,but if you wanna go passive monitor and a diy amp you want something better than lm3886 so go for an active crossover and class A bi-amping !
and if the money is not a issue take a look at this monster :
ExtremA, a reference class-A DIY amplifier.
ExtremA, a reference class-A DIY amplifier. - Introduction
Click to expand...


You know mate actually all top notch active monitors I know have Class D MOSFET, for example the ATC 150 monitors(which sounds super precise) ... which costs like a little house :( could you please tell me why they are using this type of amp ?? I am really confused.
 
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aarvin2

Member
Joined 2012
Mark.Clappers said:
Hi Aarvin2,

No experience using the ICE amps, I do own pair of Hypex PSC2.400d plate amps powering my latest project. http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/multi-way/207159-trinium-my-latest-build.html

The specs of these amps are very good indeed, and with real live performance to back up the specs. If you would like to know more about this particular class D implementation (self oscillating with post filter feedback) read this white paper: http://www.hypex.nl/docs/papers/ncore wp.pdf
Click to expand...

Those speakers look indeed like monitor speakers :D Stunning craftmanship my friend !! I am reading the white papers and trying to make some sense in this :) I'm a noob in the amp domain :eek:
 
Mark.Clappers

Mark.Clappers

Member
Joined 2010
aarvin2 said:
Those speakers look indeed like monitor speakers :D Stunning craftmanship my friend !! I am reading the white papers and trying to make some sense in this :) I'm a noob in the amp domain :eek:
Click to expand...

Thanks! Take your time and read it twice if needed, a lot of usefull info in there.

I think a good reason for using class D besides it's obvious efficiency is the very low distorsion and high loop gain within the audioband for well designed class D amps. Actually Ncore is about as good as it gets, if you aim for uncoloured amplification.
 
A

Ahmad_tbp

Member
Joined 2004
aarvin2 said:
You know mate actually all top notch active monitors I know have Class D MOSFET, for example the ATC 150 monitors(which sounds super precise) ... which costs like a little house :( could you please tell me why they are using this type of amp ?? I am really confused.
Click to expand...
one thing is that not all of the top monitors use class d , and even if they use you know it better that monitors are made to be accurate an honest as possible ! so if they do use a class D amp they designed it specifically for their setup , so you r not able to find a good design as them in diy world or in commercial class d amps modules and if you do , it s not in 25w power range , I do the same thing I mean I'm mixing music and I know what r you looking for and what you mean by accurate , and I m searching for a diy amp and setup for a while know , so keep a few things in mind , if you wanna search for a diy amp (class d or a or ab ) look for reference design , don go nuts with numbers , most of very good commercial designs don't have a good specifications on paper but they sound real great for example take a look at the freq response diagram of yamaha ns8 ,
and if you ask me go for bi amping ,almost all of the monitors use active crossovers and bi-amping , and one other thing is don go with class d you r not gonna find a good class d in that output range but there r lots of very good class a or ab reference designs (or kit or complete modules) for monitors , and keep in mind that most of good diy amp will satisfy your needs for a studio amp the most important part is your speakers and you speaker cabinet ...
there s a reason that a monitor is 30000$ , but unless you have high end mic and pre and other studio equipments and a good acoustic room and good placement , it s not worth it to investigate all your money on monitors ... keep in mind that an studio that has a 50000$ or more monitors has more than 200000$ equipments !
if you want I can send you some links for good studio amps that i found during my researches ,
 
A

aarvin2

Member
Joined 2012
Ahmad_tbp said:
one thing is that not all of the top monitors use class d , and even if they use you know it better that monitors are made to be accurate an honest as possible ! so if they do use a class D amp they designed it specifically for their setup , so you r not able to find a good design as them in diy world or in commercial class d amps modules and if you do , it s not in 25w power range , I do the same thing I mean I'm mixing music and I know what r you looking for and what you mean by accurate , and I m searching for a diy amp and setup for a while know , so keep a few things in mind , if you wanna search for a diy amp (class d or a or ab ) look for reference design , don go nuts with numbers , most of very good commercial designs don't have a good specifications on paper but they sound real great for example take a look at the freq response diagram of yamaha ns8 ,
and if you ask me go for bi amping ,almost all of the monitors use active crossovers and bi-amping , and one other thing is don go with class d you r not gonna find a good class d in that output range but there r lots of very good class a or ab reference designs (or kit or complete modules) for monitors , and keep in mind that most of good diy amp will satisfy your needs for a studio amp the most important part is your speakers and you speaker cabinet ...
there s a reason that a monitor is 30000$ , but unless you have high end mic and pre and other studio equipments and a good acoustic room and good placement , it s not worth it to investigate all your money on monitors ... keep in mind that an studio that has a 50000$ or more monitors has more than 200000$ equipments !
if you want I can send you some links for good studio amps that i found during my researches ,
Click to expand...

Please send me your links!!! :D

Actually I already have a set of monitors, I use Barefoot monitors but the amp I am looking for is for a single speaker(auratone style, but not as crap), for mono testing and to check is my frequencies are not harsh etc.

So i need very revealing amps which slap me in the face when something is wrong :D The speaker and cabinet are capable , but i'm looking for a special amp for them :)

Do you think that the TOPPING amp stuff are any good ? I have heard guys bragging about this T-Amp - Class T integrated amplifier - [English] but since I don't have a clue how to read the specs of an amp, what's good and what's not , I better come and ask here :D
 
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