Hello,
could you give me some quick advice about class d amps please?
How good do they sound compared to a "traditional" amp, I have a Cambridge Audio A4 how would it compare to that for instance?
How good is the sound quality?
Thanks in advance.
could you give me some quick advice about class d amps please?
How good do they sound compared to a "traditional" amp, I have a Cambridge Audio A4 how would it compare to that for instance?
How good is the sound quality?
Thanks in advance.
I used to have one of these years ago - Digital Party like it’s 1999 | | THE SONNETEER NEWSTHE SONNETEER NEWS
It reviewed well, was well built and it was very detailed but ultimately soulless and unengaging , I sold it on after about a month. To be honest, it put me off digital but from what some people say, they may well have got better in the years since. You could try a Bantam or similar to see if you like it, you could easily punt it on ebay later if you don't get on with it.
It reviewed well, was well built and it was very detailed but ultimately soulless and unengaging , I sold it on after about a month. To be honest, it put me off digital but from what some people say, they may well have got better in the years since. You could try a Bantam or similar to see if you like it, you could easily punt it on ebay later if you don't get on with it.
This is guaranteed to get some flaming BUT I will say it;
If the amp (any amp) measures well, there is more than a fair chance (almost 100%) that it will be fine. Unlike a lot of my fellow forum members, I KNOW my senses are very fallible and, also, that many things (mood, time of day, booze, the list goes on and on) will affect how I respond to even the songs and music I really like.
Knowing this, I also know that if I hear differences they will probably be caused by these fallibilities. On one day, I don't want to listen to Warren Zevon and other days I do.
So, knowing and understanding this, I appreciate that if I think I can hear differences between amps, it will almost certainly be my imagination. I say buy a class D amp/s and try it/them. I suspect that you won't be disappointed.
OK, all you golden ears, let's hear the claims you can hear a pin drop at 100 metres and that the fly f@rting outside the window can affect your appreciation of the music. 🙂
Abs
If the amp (any amp) measures well, there is more than a fair chance (almost 100%) that it will be fine. Unlike a lot of my fellow forum members, I KNOW my senses are very fallible and, also, that many things (mood, time of day, booze, the list goes on and on) will affect how I respond to even the songs and music I really like.
Knowing this, I also know that if I hear differences they will probably be caused by these fallibilities. On one day, I don't want to listen to Warren Zevon and other days I do.
So, knowing and understanding this, I appreciate that if I think I can hear differences between amps, it will almost certainly be my imagination. I say buy a class D amp/s and try it/them. I suspect that you won't be disappointed.
OK, all you golden ears, let's hear the claims you can hear a pin drop at 100 metres and that the fly f@rting outside the window can affect your appreciation of the music. 🙂
Abs
Not up to the top rung of analogue (OK then, classA and AB) amps yet. Bruno's Ncore is top of the pile in regard to measurements (and way better than most of the non-switching amps on the market) but the subjective reports don't have owners ditching their classA/AB amps for Ncores yet.
Whether you'll be satisfied by a classD amp is another matter - it depends on what you're used to. If you listen through a normal sigma-delta type DAC (PCM1792 type and variants thereof) then probably the amp isn't the limitation of your fidelity, the DAC will be.
I ended up picking up one of these a few years ago
TI-600 Amplifier - Amplifier Modules
I did some fairly extensive testing with it, using an Arcam CD73 CD player, Musical Design SP-2b preamp and Infinity Kappa 8 speakers.
Not only did it sound great, but it nicely handled the <4 ohm load of the Kappas.
I found it very easy to listen to, and I wouldn't hesitate to get another one if I needed it.
For comparison amplifiers, I have various Threshold and Halfer amps in stock and modified configurations.
TI-600 Amplifier - Amplifier Modules
I did some fairly extensive testing with it, using an Arcam CD73 CD player, Musical Design SP-2b preamp and Infinity Kappa 8 speakers.
Not only did it sound great, but it nicely handled the <4 ohm load of the Kappas.
I found it very easy to listen to, and I wouldn't hesitate to get another one if I needed it.
For comparison amplifiers, I have various Threshold and Halfer amps in stock and modified configurations.
I know this is a daft idea but I will suggest it anyway: why not put this thread in the Class D forum?
I notice they now have some interesting high power SDS models.
I bought my TI-600 in kit form, so it came with a big toroid and a nice ps board.
Still haven't put it into a nice enclosure yet, but that is on the list for this winter.
I bought my TI-600 in kit form, so it came with a big toroid and a nice ps board.
Still haven't put it into a nice enclosure yet, but that is on the list for this winter.
Well,that's pretty misleading. There are plenty enough reports of people switching to UCD/Ncore, coming from big Pass Labs clones and the like, to balance those who don't switch. It seems more like a matter of preference rather than absolute superiority. Unless you want to qualify more precisely what class A/AB amplifiers you have in mind.
But maybe they do listen to delta sigma dacs 🙄
The question is impossible to answer without a DBT because if you know it's class D that will invalidate the listening test. That, and 37 other things that cause us to hear differences. There's no question we really hear those differences, I certainly do, but when the biasing factors are all removed the differences often fade away to nothing. Unless there really is a difference, and then the test bench should reveal why. It's the "why?" of the whole hobby I find the most fascinating and the least investigated.
Fair enough, I wasn't previously aware of those reports. But then again I didn't have Pass Labs clones in mind either.
How it seems to you is rather different to how it seems to me, I accept that. Those whose listening reports I read did qualify what the differences in transparency were between the amps they favoured and the Ncores. UcD is less transparent than Ncore by all accounts.
I would go and take a look for you on WBF which is where I read about this. However the admins there have seen fit to block my IP address so you'll have to do that for yourself.
If they do that, they're already seeing through a glass darkly so differences in amp transparency would be harder to spot.
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Something like this (quoting from WBF) ? I'll be brief; I agree with Paul in saying that the ncores are a tad "colder", (less romantic?) than a SET or indeed a Class A SS amp like the F4, but the level of clarity, transparency and articulation is just in a different league. And then there is the power. I thought that the F4s (combined with my high voltage output (80v) Leben preamp provided all the power my Quads needed, but I was woefully mistaken. The ncores enable the 57s to produce very respectable bass - they now rock! Can't wait to get the 989s back in the system.
But we're bound to disagree anyway. Nothing wrong with modern delta sigma DAC ime.
Yep, you got it. The 'a touch colder' I took not to be a preference,
S-Ds are your preference, that's fine by me. Each to their own. What they're clearly not is transparent, at least the ones I've heard, which doesn't include ES9018.
It's not what I said... I wonder how chips like the pcm1794 could be anything but transparent considering their specs.
Perhaps some study of how a quantizer enclosed in a feedback loop can be provided with the appropriate level and pdf of dither? If you're really curious you could look up Martin Mallinson's RMAF presentation (I think it was in 2011) on how S-D works and what some of the pitfalls are that he and colleagues have discovered and mitigated in their designs.
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Thanks for the answers, as I'm in line for a new amp I think I'll give one a try. As has been said, I'll put it on Ebay if I don't like it.
I'm sorry if I posted in the wrong section but I didn't really know where to start this thread!
I'm sorry if I posted in the wrong section but I didn't really know where to start this thread!
No worries, I checked in the lounge and didn't see any "No Class D" signs in there 🙂
Just out of curiousity, what kind of budget did you have for your amp?
Also, did you want a completely assembled and enclosed unit, or a bit of a diy project?
Let us know how it works out for you.
Just out of curiousity, what kind of budget did you have for your amp?
Also, did you want a completely assembled and enclosed unit, or a bit of a diy project?
Let us know how it works out for you.
I have heard a couple high end class D amps. From what I hear, they are different. Not better, not worse, different. Kind of like digital photos are different from film. Not sure what the difference is, just different.
As far as switching, two of my subs are BASH. Two are analog. All my main amps are analog ( Parasound, Hafler, Creek, mine) I see no reason to change until one fails.
As far as switching, two of my subs are BASH. Two are analog. All my main amps are analog ( Parasound, Hafler, Creek, mine) I see no reason to change until one fails.
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