"The Wiener" TPA3118 amplifier, group buy #3 + "Wiener Pro" prototypes.
People keep asking me for these cards, so it's time for group buy #3!
UPDATE: MAY 24/2016
Group buy is now closed! I'm taking no further orders.
I am building a number of extra cards, just in case some cards that I build don't work. Once all orders have been built and shipped, if any of these cards remain, I'll have them available for sale.
Thanks everyone!
UPDATE: MAY 3/2016
Now taking payments! My PayPal address is:
REMOVED - GROUP BUY CLOSED
Be sure to pay in $CAD, not $USD. Make sure your PayPal mailing address is correct, and you specify what you're ordering (including load impedance) when you make your order.
Here's the game plan:
- I'm going to take payments for the next two or so weeks. I have a bunch of things to build and get ready (programming jig for the Wiener Pro microcontroller, software to run on said microcontroller, Mouser BOM's, etc) in the meantime.
- Monday May 23, the group buy is closed and I'm ordering the PCBs/parts/tools/solder paste/whatever. PCBs are coming from Elecrow and will be shipped via DHL, and should take 1-2 weeks to arrive, arriving in early June.
- I'll bang out and test a Pro card immediately, to ensure everything's OK with the design and get the microcontroller software finalized.
- Assuming all is good with that, I'll start building orders. Orders will be shipped out in order of payment received.
Thanks!
...original post below...
The Wiener:
AudioLapDance put out a request for a highly configurable TPA3116 card in this thread:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/class-d/267039-proper-tda3116-pcb.html
One day I was stuck home in a snowstorm, and decided to bang out a card design that met his requirements. Soon several other people started throwing in suggestions and requests, and the design evolved into a very high end design that we all felt pretty good about. AudioLapDance himself proclamed "we have a wiener!", and the name stuck.
Since then, two group buys of the card have happened and a PBTL version of the card was created. People seem to like the card, so I guess I did something right 🙂
Stereo Wiener features:
- New for version 2.0: There's now ground terminals on the input terminal block, to make grounding the amp and source together more convenient.
- Small size: 5x10cm.
- TPA3118 amplifier IC (same silicon IC as the TPA3116, but heatsinked to the PCB)
- Differential inputs, allowing connections from both single ended and balanced audio sources.
- Everything is easily/quickly configurable with DIP switches and trimmer pots. Switching frequency, BD/1SPW mode, gain, master/slave mode, PLIMIT threshold and startup/unmute delay.
- "Wideband" PVCC decoupling; multiple layers of decoupling capacitors and a tight PCB layout provide a very low PVCC impedance, from low frequencies well up into the tens of MHz.
- Extra RC filtering added on the TPA3118's AVCC supply pin.
- Snubbers before and after the output filter.
- Good quality output filter: ICE Components 1D14A, which has a flat current/inductance curve over its operating range, and Epcos B32529 film capacitors. Sagami 7G14A inductors can also be used.
- Multiple output filter options available depending on load impedance - 4 ohm (10uH/1.5uF), 6 ohm (10uH/0.68uF) and 8 ohm (15uH/0.47uF).
- Good quality input film capacitors (2.2uF KEMET film)
- Microprocessor controlled power-up/power-down sequencing with an adjustable unmuting delay. No turn-on/turn-off pops!
- Connections provided for a standby switch and a power/status LED.
- Thermal pad available, allowing card to be heatsinked to chassis if desired.
PBTL Wiener features:
- All of the above features of the stereo Wiener card (It's largely the same design/layout)
- "complete overkill" output filter - Coilcraft VER2923 output inductors and paralleled Epcos film capacitors.
- Configurable for 2 ohm, 4 ohm, 6 ohm and 8 ohm operation.
Costs:
Stereo and PBTL cards are available as a bare or partially assembled PCB, or as a fully assembled card.
Bare PCB and preprogrammed microcontroller: $12 CAD
Add a soldered on, bed-of-nails-tested TPA3118 chip: $15 CAD
Fully assembled and tested cards: $100 CAD for a stereo card, $105 CAD for a PBTL card.
"Filter kit": add $18 CAD for stereo cards, $25 for PBTL cards. This is a bag of extra output inductors and capacitors, allowing a card to be reconfigured for 4/6/8 ohm operation.
"Thermal kit" for Stereo and PBTL cards: add $12. Includes a H48G series thermal pad, standoffs/spacers, and #4 hardware for chassis mounting.
Shipping costs: For bare PCBs, $10 CAD. For up to three fully assembled amplifiers, $15 to the USA and $20 international.
The Wiener Pro:
The Wiener Pro is a TPA3250D2 based amplifier I've designed. The TPA3250D2 is a higher end, higher power successor to the TPA3118 chip, with a number of improvements and new features.
I will make some of these cards available to offset the cost of prototyping. I must warn however: this is a more complex design than the standard Wiener card, and there is a possibility of design mistakes being made. So cards I mail out may have wire bodges/trace cuts or worse, or may be delayed because I've had to order another set of PCBs. This shouldn't happen, but it could 🙂
Features include:
- Small-ish size (75x125mm)
- The same "optimized" design philosophy as the stereo and PBTL Wiener cards. "Broadband low impedance" decoupling on the TPA chip and everything else that needs it, and a good selection of components. Audio performance should be limited only by the TPA chip itself, not by anything around it.
- "Proper" balanced audio inputs, using a LM4562/LME49724 based, fully differential instrumentation amp to receive audio and convert it to a balanced/symmetric signal for the TPA3250D2. The circuit is able to handle several volts of common mode voltage, and has great CMRR even with unbalanced source impedances.
- Fixed 20dB gain, gain can be increased further by plugging through-hole resistors into provided sockets. Resistors provided for 23, 26, 29, 32 and 36dB gain.
- "Deliciously overkill" output filter using Coilcraft VER2923 inductors and Epcos B32529J capacitors.
- Onboard microcontroller which provides turn-on/turn-off muting, fault handling and low voltage protection. Outputs provided to drive a bicolor red/green LED, providing status and clipping indications.
- 2 position DIP switch to select the TPA3250D2's switching frequency.
- Onboard switching regulator which generates +-12V for the audio front end parts, enabling a single 18-36V power supply to be used to power the card.
- Board is configurable (with some straightforward soldering work) to operate in PBTL mode.
Costs:
Bare PCB and programmed microcontroller: $20 CAD.
Fully assembled/tested board: $185 CAD.
Filter kit (additional output filter inductors/capacitors, enabling board to be reconfigured for 4/6/8 ohms): $45 CAD
Thermal kit (same kit as the standard Wiener thermal kit): $12 CAD.
Shipping: For bare PCBs, $10 CAD. For fully assembled PCBs, $18 CAD for up to two boards to US addresses, and $25 to international addresses. PM for a quote on larger shipments.
People keep asking me for these cards, so it's time for group buy #3!
UPDATE: MAY 24/2016
Group buy is now closed! I'm taking no further orders.
I am building a number of extra cards, just in case some cards that I build don't work. Once all orders have been built and shipped, if any of these cards remain, I'll have them available for sale.
Thanks everyone!
UPDATE: MAY 3/2016
Now taking payments! My PayPal address is:
REMOVED - GROUP BUY CLOSED
Be sure to pay in $CAD, not $USD. Make sure your PayPal mailing address is correct, and you specify what you're ordering (including load impedance) when you make your order.
Here's the game plan:
- I'm going to take payments for the next two or so weeks. I have a bunch of things to build and get ready (programming jig for the Wiener Pro microcontroller, software to run on said microcontroller, Mouser BOM's, etc) in the meantime.
- Monday May 23, the group buy is closed and I'm ordering the PCBs/parts/tools/solder paste/whatever. PCBs are coming from Elecrow and will be shipped via DHL, and should take 1-2 weeks to arrive, arriving in early June.
- I'll bang out and test a Pro card immediately, to ensure everything's OK with the design and get the microcontroller software finalized.
- Assuming all is good with that, I'll start building orders. Orders will be shipped out in order of payment received.
Thanks!
...original post below...
The Wiener:
AudioLapDance put out a request for a highly configurable TPA3116 card in this thread:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/class-d/267039-proper-tda3116-pcb.html
One day I was stuck home in a snowstorm, and decided to bang out a card design that met his requirements. Soon several other people started throwing in suggestions and requests, and the design evolved into a very high end design that we all felt pretty good about. AudioLapDance himself proclamed "we have a wiener!", and the name stuck.
Since then, two group buys of the card have happened and a PBTL version of the card was created. People seem to like the card, so I guess I did something right 🙂
Stereo Wiener features:
- New for version 2.0: There's now ground terminals on the input terminal block, to make grounding the amp and source together more convenient.
- Small size: 5x10cm.
- TPA3118 amplifier IC (same silicon IC as the TPA3116, but heatsinked to the PCB)
- Differential inputs, allowing connections from both single ended and balanced audio sources.
- Everything is easily/quickly configurable with DIP switches and trimmer pots. Switching frequency, BD/1SPW mode, gain, master/slave mode, PLIMIT threshold and startup/unmute delay.
- "Wideband" PVCC decoupling; multiple layers of decoupling capacitors and a tight PCB layout provide a very low PVCC impedance, from low frequencies well up into the tens of MHz.
- Extra RC filtering added on the TPA3118's AVCC supply pin.
- Snubbers before and after the output filter.
- Good quality output filter: ICE Components 1D14A, which has a flat current/inductance curve over its operating range, and Epcos B32529 film capacitors. Sagami 7G14A inductors can also be used.
- Multiple output filter options available depending on load impedance - 4 ohm (10uH/1.5uF), 6 ohm (10uH/0.68uF) and 8 ohm (15uH/0.47uF).
- Good quality input film capacitors (2.2uF KEMET film)
- Microprocessor controlled power-up/power-down sequencing with an adjustable unmuting delay. No turn-on/turn-off pops!
- Connections provided for a standby switch and a power/status LED.
- Thermal pad available, allowing card to be heatsinked to chassis if desired.
PBTL Wiener features:
- All of the above features of the stereo Wiener card (It's largely the same design/layout)
- "complete overkill" output filter - Coilcraft VER2923 output inductors and paralleled Epcos film capacitors.
- Configurable for 2 ohm, 4 ohm, 6 ohm and 8 ohm operation.
Costs:
Stereo and PBTL cards are available as a bare or partially assembled PCB, or as a fully assembled card.
Bare PCB and preprogrammed microcontroller: $12 CAD
Add a soldered on, bed-of-nails-tested TPA3118 chip: $15 CAD
Fully assembled and tested cards: $100 CAD for a stereo card, $105 CAD for a PBTL card.
"Filter kit": add $18 CAD for stereo cards, $25 for PBTL cards. This is a bag of extra output inductors and capacitors, allowing a card to be reconfigured for 4/6/8 ohm operation.
"Thermal kit" for Stereo and PBTL cards: add $12. Includes a H48G series thermal pad, standoffs/spacers, and #4 hardware for chassis mounting.
Shipping costs: For bare PCBs, $10 CAD. For up to three fully assembled amplifiers, $15 to the USA and $20 international.
The Wiener Pro:
The Wiener Pro is a TPA3250D2 based amplifier I've designed. The TPA3250D2 is a higher end, higher power successor to the TPA3118 chip, with a number of improvements and new features.
I will make some of these cards available to offset the cost of prototyping. I must warn however: this is a more complex design than the standard Wiener card, and there is a possibility of design mistakes being made. So cards I mail out may have wire bodges/trace cuts or worse, or may be delayed because I've had to order another set of PCBs. This shouldn't happen, but it could 🙂
Features include:
- Small-ish size (75x125mm)
- The same "optimized" design philosophy as the stereo and PBTL Wiener cards. "Broadband low impedance" decoupling on the TPA chip and everything else that needs it, and a good selection of components. Audio performance should be limited only by the TPA chip itself, not by anything around it.
- "Proper" balanced audio inputs, using a LM4562/LME49724 based, fully differential instrumentation amp to receive audio and convert it to a balanced/symmetric signal for the TPA3250D2. The circuit is able to handle several volts of common mode voltage, and has great CMRR even with unbalanced source impedances.
- Fixed 20dB gain, gain can be increased further by plugging through-hole resistors into provided sockets. Resistors provided for 23, 26, 29, 32 and 36dB gain.
- "Deliciously overkill" output filter using Coilcraft VER2923 inductors and Epcos B32529J capacitors.
- Onboard microcontroller which provides turn-on/turn-off muting, fault handling and low voltage protection. Outputs provided to drive a bicolor red/green LED, providing status and clipping indications.
- 2 position DIP switch to select the TPA3250D2's switching frequency.
- Onboard switching regulator which generates +-12V for the audio front end parts, enabling a single 18-36V power supply to be used to power the card.
- Board is configurable (with some straightforward soldering work) to operate in PBTL mode.
Costs:
Bare PCB and programmed microcontroller: $20 CAD.
Fully assembled/tested board: $185 CAD.
Filter kit (additional output filter inductors/capacitors, enabling board to be reconfigured for 4/6/8 ohms): $45 CAD
Thermal kit (same kit as the standard Wiener thermal kit): $12 CAD.
Shipping: For bare PCBs, $10 CAD. For fully assembled PCBs, $18 CAD for up to two boards to US addresses, and $25 to international addresses. PM for a quote on larger shipments.
Last edited:
Hi, I am interested in both the stereo 3118 and 3250 full assembled board.
One note is that opamp sound can be highly affected by the decoupling as well and I normally use audio grade e-caps very close to the opamp. Is there anyway to make some room to put on some premium e-caps next to the opamps? Thanks.
One note is that opamp sound can be highly affected by the decoupling as well and I normally use audio grade e-caps very close to the opamp. Is there anyway to make some room to put on some premium e-caps next to the opamps? Thanks.
Thanks GMarsh.
You can count me in for two of the bare stereo PCBs and two of the microcontrollers.
You can count me in for two of the bare stereo PCBs and two of the microcontrollers.
Right now there's 0.33uF, X7R ceramic caps at each of the four op-amps. There's 2.2uF ceramic capacitors on the +-12V switching power supply outputs, followed by a 10 ohm/2.2uF RC filter.
So the power supplies should be clean. The op-amps have a fairly easy job to do, they're basically buffering audio - they're not handling HF content like an I/V stage has to do and they're not being operated at high gain, so they've got tons of GBW margin that'll take care of any ripple on their rails.
No reason you can't bodge some on if you want though, I could add some vias to facilitate that.
Per single amplifier.
Yeah, it's expensive 🙂 Mouser parts cost is currently $51.01 CAD before taxes, $58.66 CAD after. Output inductors are $4.92 USD each, or $14.72 CAD taxes in for a pair, we're up to $73.38 CAD on parts alone. Then add shipping, customs, PCB, supplies, my time, etc... I think it's a fair deal.
Stereo card BOM at Mouser is $91.06 CAD, $104.72 after taxes, though this gives you the full set of output filter components.
Thankfully ordering as a group of people knocks this price down a little.
I lied. I'll go in for 4 of the bare PBTL boards and 4 of the microcontrollers. Those CoilCraft inductors are too awesome looking to pass up.
They perform as good as they look: Typical Current vs Frequency - VER2923 Series Power Inductors
In the worst case, an amp operating off 24V and driving full scale into a 4 ohm load is going to put 6 amps into the output inductor. The inductance of the 10uH inductor rolls off around 30A. 🙂 Deliciously overkill.
In the worst case, an amp operating off 24V and driving full scale into a 4 ohm load is going to put 6 amps into the output inductor. The inductance of the 10uH inductor rolls off around 30A. 🙂 Deliciously overkill.
Anyway, getting the order/interest list going. Quote the most recent post and add your name to it if you want something.
loafimus: 4 x bare PBTL PCB + 4 x microcontroller
ChuckT: fully assembled stereo Wiener + fully assembled Pro
loafimus: 4 x bare PBTL PCB + 4 x microcontroller
ChuckT: fully assembled stereo Wiener + fully assembled Pro
The problem is those opamps are handling audio frequency, not digital high frequency, and smd caps don't sound very good for that. Even a small 10uf e-cap or film cap will probably be better for audio frequency decoupling.
Thanks if you could just leave some room next to those opamps for those itchy future tweaker.
If the mono with only half the components is more expensive to supply then fair enough, no one has the right to say how much you charge anyway but I might as well buy 2x stereo versions fully built than 2 monos, i guess it means the stereo one is a bargain!
Put me down for 2 fully built stereo, I will just use one channel from each board and remove 4 inductors for another project! 😀
The mono doesn't have half the parts. There's half the audio input parts, half the output snubbers, but every other part on the stereo card - decoupling, DIP switches, pots, microcontroller, TPA, terminal blocks, PCB, etc... is still on there.
Biggest annoying cost adder on the PBTL card is getting a Coilcraft order into Canada, which added about $50 CAD in shipping and customs brokerage last time.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
Biggest annoying cost adder on the PBTL card is getting a Coilcraft order into Canada, which added about $50 CAD in shipping and customs brokerage last time.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
The way the upcoming US election is looking, not at the moment 🙂
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
Anyway, getting the order/interest list going. Quote the most recent post and add your name to it if you want something.
loafimus: 4 x bare PBTL PCB + 4 x microcontroller
ChuckT: fully assembled stereo Wiener + fully assembled Pro
TNT: 2-6 mono Pro boards, fully assembled.
loafimus: 4 x bare PBTL PCB + 4 x microcontroller
ChuckT: fully assembled stereo Wiener + fully assembled Pro
TNT: 2-6 mono Pro boards, fully assembled.
Originally Posted by TNT View Post
Anyway, getting the order/interest list going. Quote the most recent post and add your name to it if you want something.
loafimus: 4 x bare PBTL PCB + 4 x microcontroller
ChuckT: fully assembled stereo Wiener + fully assembled Pro
TNT: 2-6 mono Pro boards, fully assembled.
DawgNo1: 2x stereo 3118 fully built.
jonners: 1x stereo fully assembled Pro