I think quite a few people on here now have one of these amplifiers.
The regulator is different to other TPA3255 designs. The main buck is an XL7015E1 which is good up to 80 volts. The 12 volt regulator is a 7812 (input voltage 35 volts) and 3.3 Volt regulator is a LM1117-3.3 (input voltage 15 volts).
I assume the main buck which is good up to 80 volts will drop the supply voltage down to a level that is safe for the other devices. Not had a chance to put a volt meter on any of the devices as yet !!
The main supply caps are rated at 50 volts.
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I invite you to read my tests of those two amplifiers made by AIYIMA (tested with Linear PSU + SMPS PSU, no worries)
I have the TPA3251 + 3255 and also have the 3E Audio.... and others.
The AIYIMA boards are excellent and stand apart among Chinese cards.
made with Nichicon and ELNA Audiophile grade caps and you can switch the OP amps , everything has been said and Rhing compared it VS a McIntosh MC240 here :
TPA3251d2
With some OPA1656 or burson Audio V5i, they absolutely shine !
The only bad point for the TPA3255 version, is the lack of Anti Pop circuit @ Startup.
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I would rather buy the 3e-audio stuff, but they just sold out of the 4 channel TPA3251 boards and only have two left of the 2 channel TPA3255 boards. I hope that more will be made available...
Charlie.....3e now have an Aliexpress outlet and they have stock of the 4ch 3251
Edit for link..
#Aliexpress ￡56.74 | TPA3251 4x100W 4Ch Class D Audio Amplifier
TPA3251 4x100W 4Ch Class D Audio Amplifier|Amplifier| | - AliExpress
Showing 18 of 3251 4ch in stock and 5 of 3255 2ch
Edit for link..
#Aliexpress ￡56.74 | TPA3251 4x100W 4Ch Class D Audio Amplifier
TPA3251 4x100W 4Ch Class D Audio Amplifier|Amplifier| | - AliExpress
Showing 18 of 3251 4ch in stock and 5 of 3255 2ch
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Thanks for the info and explanation of the onboard regs. Much appreciated!
Ah, I didn't think to look there. I've found the store. I have two 4x TPA3251 on order now and I will wait to see how those work out.
Having just opened my AIYIMA TPA3255 amplifier to answer the regulator questions earlier in the thread I thought I would check out the Capacitors.
The Main Supply Caps are Nichicon as seems to be the norm for many of the AIYIMA products but all the rest of the caps both in the Power Supply area and the Signal area round the Op-Amps are just SAMWHA WF Series (Low ESR, Extremely Low Impedance).
Some of the other owners on here seem to have some more interesting if not audio grade caps fitted, especially around the input Op-Amps. I was a bit disappointed to see that I had just the basic cooking versions of these capacitors. I believe SAMWHA are part of Samsung.
I also noted that there are two inductors in the power supply area of the board - One is a 101 Inductor for the main buck and this value matches the board which also marked as 101. The other inductor is marked on the board as a 220 but the inductor is another 101 so not sure if this is correct or not given it is about 5x the value. Any comments welcome.
The rest of the board the components appear to match the silk screen markings on the board.
The Main Supply Caps are Nichicon as seems to be the norm for many of the AIYIMA products but all the rest of the caps both in the Power Supply area and the Signal area round the Op-Amps are just SAMWHA WF Series (Low ESR, Extremely Low Impedance).
Some of the other owners on here seem to have some more interesting if not audio grade caps fitted, especially around the input Op-Amps. I was a bit disappointed to see that I had just the basic cooking versions of these capacitors. I believe SAMWHA are part of Samsung.
I also noted that there are two inductors in the power supply area of the board - One is a 101 Inductor for the main buck and this value matches the board which also marked as 101. The other inductor is marked on the board as a 220 but the inductor is another 101 so not sure if this is correct or not given it is about 5x the value. Any comments welcome.
The rest of the board the components appear to match the silk screen markings on the board.
If it can help
Around AIYIMA TPA3255 OPA:
Around AIYIMA TPA3251 OPA:
Hi Daniboun. I note looking at your pictures that you clearly have the better capacitors installed in your amplifiers - BUT you also have the wrong inductor installed on the TAP3255 Amplifier towards the front panel which should be a 220 not a 101.
Have also looked at other pictures of this board that people have posted and they appear to have the correct Inductor installed.
As we have no circuit diagram for these amplifiers it is difficult to see where this inductor sits in the circuit and whether it might have any detrimental affect on the sound or Power Supply performance.
The 7812 installed is also the 78M12 which is the .5 Amp version whereas the silk screen specifies the 1 Amp version. Not sure that this is an issue as the 12 volt supply is probably only needing 100mA or so.
My output capacitors are physically half the size of yours but appear to be the right value.
Maybe they build the early ones with premium components to get the good reviews but once in mass production they substitute cheaper parts !!
Thanks for your observations. I also remind what has been said by Rhing :
In the Aiyima TPA3251 2.0 amp, the input caps to the NE5322 op amps are the Toshin Kogyo UTSP standard series for audio, and the input caps to the TPA3251 inputs are Elna Starget "Red Robe" ROD series capacitors for audio applications.
Hi everyone,
I recently got a no-name unbranded TPA3255 based amp from ebay ($45 shipped from China). My 4 year old Tripath based Lepai LP2020A (heavily modded following the instructions from this website) started malfunctioning recently and I wanted to get a replacement.
My observations:
1) Out of the box it looks like the Aiyama 3255 without the branding. The internals are clean and organized very similar to the Aiyama with Nichicon Caps and NE5532P op-amps as has been posted before by many others in this thread.
2) Powered it up with a 36V 4A power adapter I had lying around. I do not need the full power of the amp hence this is OK.
3) The first listening was not a good experience. The sound was harsh and bright, lacking the vibrant/warm sweet sound of the Lepai. However, after 24 h of playback, the sound is a now a lot more pleasant, detailed and better sounding.
4) The amp is dead quiet (unlike the Lepai) when there is no input. No POP issues. I have it powered 24/7 hooked to my NUC using a Creative Omni sound card/DAC.
5) After a week of listening, I hooked the setup back to the Lepai (which still works for about 10 min after powering up, but then the left channel stops working). I am glad that TPA3255 amp sounds so much better in both detail and vibrancy compared to the Lepai.
6) I turned up the volume knob to 50%, very nice and clean sound and no audible distortion. Additionally, I increased the sound volume from the NUC/Creative to Amp input at 100%, still no audible harshness/distortion. Was listening to Linkin Park's Meteora (24 bit 96 KHz flac, Musicbee, ASIO).
I have a question for you guys. Will upgrading the op-amps to OPA1622 from NE5532P be worth it?
Thank you.
Some photos:
I recently got a no-name unbranded TPA3255 based amp from ebay ($45 shipped from China). My 4 year old Tripath based Lepai LP2020A (heavily modded following the instructions from this website) started malfunctioning recently and I wanted to get a replacement.
My observations:
1) Out of the box it looks like the Aiyama 3255 without the branding. The internals are clean and organized very similar to the Aiyama with Nichicon Caps and NE5532P op-amps as has been posted before by many others in this thread.
2) Powered it up with a 36V 4A power adapter I had lying around. I do not need the full power of the amp hence this is OK.
3) The first listening was not a good experience. The sound was harsh and bright, lacking the vibrant/warm sweet sound of the Lepai. However, after 24 h of playback, the sound is a now a lot more pleasant, detailed and better sounding.
4) The amp is dead quiet (unlike the Lepai) when there is no input. No POP issues. I have it powered 24/7 hooked to my NUC using a Creative Omni sound card/DAC.
5) After a week of listening, I hooked the setup back to the Lepai (which still works for about 10 min after powering up, but then the left channel stops working). I am glad that TPA3255 amp sounds so much better in both detail and vibrancy compared to the Lepai.
6) I turned up the volume knob to 50%, very nice and clean sound and no audible distortion. Additionally, I increased the sound volume from the NUC/Creative to Amp input at 100%, still no audible harshness/distortion. Was listening to Linkin Park's Meteora (24 bit 96 KHz flac, Musicbee, ASIO).
I have a question for you guys. Will upgrading the op-amps to OPA1622 from NE5532P be worth it?
Thank you.
Some photos:
Attachments
Very interesting... As Bushellj said, we see that they switched the Nichicon caps and put some SAMWHA WF Series instead.... better or not humm???
If you have to change the OP Amps, you can get directly some OPA1656 instead, same price as the OPA1622 and they perform better. You will ear a difference compared to the NE5532P in any case.
Do you confirm that you do not have any Pop issue ? If yes.. it means they improve something on it.
I see that AIYIMA has released a third version of this TPA3255 with blue caps. But they say : non anti pop circuit .
AIYIMA TPA3255 amplificateur de puissance 300Wx2 classe D amplificateur Audio numerique stereo HiFi 2.0 amplificateur de son haut parleur Home cinema bricolage|Amplificateur| | - AliExpress
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Bushellj > I forgot to ask you : do you have the Pop issue at startup with your version (seems you have the same as rockthegod ) ?
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rockthegod,
Your amp definitely looks identical to the Aiyima A07 TPA3255 2.0 amplifier without the markings on the Aluminum faceplate. The dark blue with gold stripe marked 10uF electrolytic caps on the inputs to the TI NE5532 op amps and on the inputs to the TPA3255 IC look like Panasonic FC electrolytics, but their markings are not consistent with Panasonic FC caps. That is no big deal as long as you are satisfied with the sound quality. If curiosity gets the better part of you, you might want to try Nichicon electrolytic caps from a source like Mouser or Digikey.
For replacing the op amps, you can try OPA1622 or OPA1656 as daniboun mentioned. Depending on your soldering skills, you could purchase these op amps already assembled on small PCB DIP8 adapters for plug-and-play convenience, or make your own using something like BrownDog DIP adapters. Please note that the OPA1622 op amps will require some additional components to make them compatible with the amp.
OPA1622 on DIP8 Adapter
OPA1656 on DIP8 Adapter
You'll need a tool to properly extract the NE5532 op amps from the DIP8 sockets on the amplifier PCB. There isn't much space. I happened to have a stainless dental tool that I could slide between the input caps and underneath the NE5532 op amps and pull up to remove them without damaging anything.
Since the op amps will be on the DIP8 adapters, they should easily plug into the sockets. Just make sure that you are not statically charged when you handle the op amps, and that you orient the op amps correctly.
In the photo above, note the orientation of the op amps relative to the heat sink in my Aiyima A04 TPA3251 amp.
I would advise you to try other op amps. You may like the sound of the original NE5532 op amps. Right now, I have dual OPA627AU op amps on each channel, and I am quite satisfied with them. However, I will makeup a pair of OPA1656 dual op amps on BrownDog adapters to try out in my Aiyima A04 TPA3251 amp.
Your amp definitely looks identical to the Aiyima A07 TPA3255 2.0 amplifier without the markings on the Aluminum faceplate. The dark blue with gold stripe marked 10uF electrolytic caps on the inputs to the TI NE5532 op amps and on the inputs to the TPA3255 IC look like Panasonic FC electrolytics, but their markings are not consistent with Panasonic FC caps. That is no big deal as long as you are satisfied with the sound quality. If curiosity gets the better part of you, you might want to try Nichicon electrolytic caps from a source like Mouser or Digikey.
For replacing the op amps, you can try OPA1622 or OPA1656 as daniboun mentioned. Depending on your soldering skills, you could purchase these op amps already assembled on small PCB DIP8 adapters for plug-and-play convenience, or make your own using something like BrownDog DIP adapters. Please note that the OPA1622 op amps will require some additional components to make them compatible with the amp.
OPA1622 on DIP8 Adapter
OPA1656 on DIP8 Adapter
You'll need a tool to properly extract the NE5532 op amps from the DIP8 sockets on the amplifier PCB. There isn't much space. I happened to have a stainless dental tool that I could slide between the input caps and underneath the NE5532 op amps and pull up to remove them without damaging anything.
Since the op amps will be on the DIP8 adapters, they should easily plug into the sockets. Just make sure that you are not statically charged when you handle the op amps, and that you orient the op amps correctly.
In the photo above, note the orientation of the op amps relative to the heat sink in my Aiyima A04 TPA3251 amp.
I would advise you to try other op amps. You may like the sound of the original NE5532 op amps. Right now, I have dual OPA627AU op amps on each channel, and I am quite satisfied with them. However, I will makeup a pair of OPA1656 dual op amps on BrownDog adapters to try out in my Aiyima A04 TPA3251 amp.
Hi Daniboun.
Yes mine is exactly the same unit as rock the god. Same caps (including the smaller output ones) and same wrong inductor nearest the front panel. I am guessing this is from the same production run. I am yet to power this particular unit up as I have been too busy with the COVID-19 stuff in our local community - I help run the local volunteers !!
Unfortunately the bulk of the caps in this unit with the exception of the main Power Supply which are Nichicon are all the SAMWHA blue and gold WF Series Caps as I said in an earlier message.
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Full of courage for this complicated period and this health crisis !
When you have time, keep us posted and share your opinion.
God bless you all
Hi daniboun, my amp has been turned on 24/7 since I received it, so I double checked the POP issue just now in detail. When the front panel power switch on the amp is flipped ON, there is no POP. However, when the switch is flipped OFF, there is definitely a mild POP sound. However, if the power supply is disconnected from the amp directly, either by pulling out the cable or turning off the mains switch, there is definitely no POP sound at all.
Thank you for the Op-Amp replacement suggestions. I will try out the OPA1622/1656 replacements. I do not have a detailed idea about capacitor brand/quality so I am not sure if having Samwha would be better than having Nichicon, which I hear is the preferred brand caps for audio.
Thank you very much rhing for the detailed reply. I will try out the Op-Amp replacements and post the updates. I see the pre-soldered 1622/1656 DIP8 versions on sale on ebay/amazon with good reviews. I am not going to change the caps at the moment as the sound quality is good enough, but I do have that "itch of curiosity" of trying out cap replacements, which might get the better of me sooner than I think.
