TPA3116D2 Amp

It is the 3118 though, correct? any reason you chose that over the 3116?

It's in my opinion the 3118 is ever so slightly better.

And don't be fooled. Even though it will not be able to sustain the same RMS output. There is no problem using it on an amp that will produce music at the same power level as the 3118 as they are identical apart from the way they are cooled.
 
Hi !

75mm x 75mm 4 layer. A bit more expensive but i wanted a dedicated GND PLANE.

Stereo configuration.

I liked the grounding better on the 3118.

Wima PPS smd 2824 (black caps).

Designed for a 6 ohm load. 22uh & 1uf LC FILTER.

Here is another angle. I am waiting for the battery to arrive. I will be using a LIFEPO4 4 cell design from batteryspace.

Thanks for the kind words :D
 

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In looking at that list, it strikes me that in the end most people are probably more interested in a better version of the standard boards as designed/built by TI and Yuanjing, than a radical redesign.

So far, I have not seen too many people writing about active speakers or a need to change clock frequency or modulation mode, onboard power supplies or active filters. Changing gain does not require anything more than parts choices (as I read the TI datasheet).

The TPA3118 has not attracted nearly as much attention as the TPA3116, so it seems that the dinky little heatsinks used so far seem to be working for people. Mine never even get warm.

In other words, the idea has great possibility for those happy with the basic board, but wanting better (maybe even legitimate) parts than Yuanjing puts on their boards.

I've been secretly following this thread too. :) I Agree with Hammet, most of us would be satisfied with taking a stock Yuanjing board and just swapping out the critical components. After all, there are only a handful, if that. Modularization seems a bit over the top, but hey, this is DIY after all!

I just order the completed amp from along - since he's one of my most trusted and reliable eBay vendors. How can you go wrong for $42. I'm contemplating buying just a finished PCB and exchange some of the components mentioned in this thread for better ones to see just how much of a difference it really makes. If there's a significant sonic difference then I'll simply replace the board in the finished amp with my modified board. Simple solution without the fuss.
 
I've been secretly following this thread too. :) I Agree with Hammet, most of us would be satisfied with taking a stock Yuanjing board and just swapping out the critical components. After all, there are only a handful, if that. Modularization seems a bit over the top, but hey, this is DIY after all!

I just order the completed amp from along - since he's one of my most trusted and reliable eBay vendors. How can you go wrong for $42. I'm contemplating buying just a finished PCB and exchange some of the components mentioned in this thread for better ones to see just how much of a difference it really makes. If there's a significant sonic difference then I'll simply replace the board in the finished amp with my modified board. Simple solution without the fuss.

Along this line, I hope someone could summarise all the mods that had been reported and rank them in terms of "biggest bang for the bucks" and/or providing "the most noticible improvement in sound". Such a summary will invaluable to everyone following this thread.

Regards,
 
Founder of XSA-Labs
Joined 2012
Paid Member
Happyrabbit,
You get my vote for the best looking, most compact, cool TPA311xD2 PCB design! I have built both the the 3116 and 3118 and have to say it is difficult to discern the differences in sound. IIRC, the 3118 may actually have more choices for the modulation frequency selection?

I am sure we are all salivating on this design and wish we too could have the PCB. Would you contemplate sharing the design files for us to get the board fabbed? If not, I am sure folks around here would be willing to buy the boards from you in a group buy to play with.

Again, congratulations on a fantastic job there! :D
 
Happyrabbit,
You get my vote for the best looking, most compact, cool TPA311xD2 PCB design! I have built both the the 3116 and 3118 and have to say it is difficult to discern the differences in sound. IIRC, the 3118 may actually have more choices for the modulation frequency selection?

I am sure we are all salivating on this design and wish we too could have the PCB. Would you contemplate sharing the design files for us to get the board fabbed? If not, I am sure folks around here would be willing to buy the boards from you in a group buy to play with.

Again, congratulations on a fantastic job there! :D

Ditto:up:

Regards,
 
Member
Joined 2008
Paid Member
I thought soemone also suggested the use of certain input capacitors or inductors.

Regards,

Yeah, but no real consensus since there are so many variables (ceramic caps vs polyprop, etc shielded/unshielded inductors, inductor values and so on...). The best reference IMO are the two TI pdfs - the one for the TPA3116 and then the one on Class D amps with recommended filter values.
 
My Yuan Jing board arrived today.
I have to say, I am quite blown away by it. I tested it on a pair of Kef C55's.
I wasn't able to listen for a long time, and I used a crappy 9V adapter...
I don't have high end hi-fi amplifiers to compare it with, but the TPA3116 is at least as good as my Kenwood KR-4140 and my Realistic STA-225 and it's muuuch better than my Yamaha RX-396.
I like the clarity and treble, the stereo image. Imho, there is no lack of bass at all. I can hear that's something not 100% right in male vocals. But all in all, a very good amplifier for 15$...

I didn't mod the board at all. In fact, I already have bought some parts to mod it with, but after I have heard it without mods, I'm not sure I'm going to mod it after all...
I want to say this: to all the people who think it needs to modded to make it sound good (I did): it doesn't. It sounds so good out of the box.

But, of course, there's always room for improvement.

I'm going to listen to it with different power supplies, and maybe mod it. I'll post my findings here (but it's going to take a while).
 
I don't think there's any real consensus around the mods other than around 21v being a sweet spot for power and bypassing/replacing the volume pot.


I doubt enough people have tried the various mods for a consensus to develop. These really are new boards and I think are just in their infancy (unless TI comes out with something better). There is a lot of potential in this family of chips.

I can agree with PsychoM that these amps do not need to be modified to sound good. I am running one wholly original amp on my downstairs setup and enjoying it daily.

I do think that the mods improve the amp, but mostly by refining the basic sound a bit (reducing glare, increasing transparency in my case).

You don't have to go crazy with effort or money to improve the sound in pleasing ways.

That said, there are people with greater skills than mine having a fine time by doing more radical mods and I have no doubt that they are reaping the benefits. This is a really fine basic design.
 
I doubt enough people have tried the various mods for a consensus to develop. These really are new boards and I think are just in their infancy (unless TI comes out with something better). There is a lot of potential in this family of chips.

I can agree with PsychoM that these amps do not need to be modified to sound good. I am running one wholly original amp on my downstairs setup and enjoying it daily.

I do think that the mods improve the amp, but mostly by refining the basic sound a bit (reducing glare, increasing transparency in my case).

You don't have to go crazy with effort or money to improve the sound in pleasing ways.

That said, there are people with greater skills than mine having a fine time by doing more radical mods and I have no doubt that they are reaping the benefits. This is a really fine basic design.


Totally agree!!:)

In my opinion, this little amp easily beats out all the commercial integrated amps in the a few hundred dollars price range. Granted one don't get a nice looking chasis and other functionalities e.g. switching.

Regards,
 
I have the stock yj 2.0 board. 20V and used without the pot meter. I have the impression that the amp sounds better now then new. Furthermore i have the impression the sound improves after an hour of use. Is it just me? or have others the same experience?


Exactly the same experience, not only for this board but also for previous tripath based boards.

Hi !

75mm x 75mm 4 layer. A bit more expensive but i wanted a dedicated GND PLANE.

Stereo configuration.

I liked the grounding better on the 3118.

Wima PPS smd 2824 (black caps).

Designed for a 6 ohm load. 22uh & 1uf LC FILTER.

Here is another angle. I am waiting for the battery to arrive. I will be using a LIFEPO4 4 cell design from batteryspace.

Thanks for the kind words :D

I'm hoping that some day it will be possible to have one of this beautiful boards...
 
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I've had a good read through this thread and have come away really interested in getting a tpa3116/8 based amp up and running.

Although I'm sure I'm amongst the many that would love to buy some of happyrabbit's lovely looking pcb's, which of the current ebay pcb's are considered to be better than others, just in case our wishes don't come true :p

I'm only interested in 2 channels, may also consider bridged boards.

Pending the inevitable twitchy fingers, it seems that the most immediate mod is to replace the local de-coupling electrolytics on the chips is the first port of call?
 
...
I'm only interested in 2 channels, may also consider bridged boards.

Pending the inevitable twitchy fingers, it seems that the most immediate mod is to replace the local de-coupling electrolytics on the chips is the first port of call?

For now, it's the only thing that I 've made on my boards , also adding binding posts and RCA.
I cannot hear any change on audio quality after replacing the caps.
I was thinking to test the boards at 24V, and the rating of stock caps was low (25V).
Anyway I'm stuck on 19V laptop smps, no time for experimenting.
 
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