best sound quality class D ic ?

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ssportclay

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Joined 2010
My vote goes to the Infineon Technologies MERUS MA12070 class D chip which is used in the new SMSL DA-8s power amplifier. This unit sounds quite a bit better than any TPA-3116 amplifier I ever heard. Its not even a close call. I am currently using it to drive a pair of Alpair 11ms full range speakers. I am simply amazed by the pairing. I am running the unit balanced from an SMSL VMV-D1 balanced DAC.
 
daniboun

daniboun

Banned
Joined 2019
I own many class D :

Hypex Ncore double Mono
Pascal Ncore double Mono
TPA32XX with PFFB / 360 Customs design

They are all very good.
Soundstage : winner is TPA32XX / PFFB
Bass & Dynamics : winner is Pascal / Hypex Ncore
Sound details and clarity : All equal
Power and balance : winner Pascal / Hypex
value for money : Winner TPA32XX / PFFB
 
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jemraid

Member
Joined 2004
Hello all,

Beware of false comparisons, proper ones are conducted from a sitting position and a switch, that takes one instantly from one amplifier to another.

My personal experience is taking several days to actually hear any difference at all. Making the actual choices very difficult indeed and depends entirely on personal preference for a particular sound.

One person may like soft, warm and pleasing another, fast, bright and detailed to name a couple of polar opposites.

Cheers
 
Ro808

Ro808

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Joined 2010
abraxalito said:
TPA3255 is indeed a good choice but if you're after the best subjective SQ you won't get it from the datasheet application circuit. There's insufficient decoupling on the signal processing supply line. Same applies to TDA8932 which when implemented in an optimized circuit blows the socks off all other chipamps I've heard. But its rather limited in power output. I use my TDA8932 implementation as my desktop amp, its reference grade, no kidding.
Click to expand...

Any info about your implementation available somewhere?
 
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ElliJ

Member
Joined 2020
I agree with jemraid. I have a 3eAUDIO TPA3255 and have tried it with two different DACs as the source. With my DX160 it sounded bright and with a Khadas Tone Board it sounds warmer. I prefer the Khadas, they both produce a clear detailed sound. It is not just the amp but also what you pair it with. I have not experimented with different speakers as I have limited funds which is also why I built my own amp.
 
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abraxalito

abraxalito

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Joined 2007
Ro808 said:
Any info about your implementation available somewhere?
Click to expand...

Here you go : Transformer input TDA8932 mono amp

The key to a satisfying sound with this chip is keeping the VDDA power rail (pin 8) as clean as possible. The datasheet implementation is woefully inadequate in this respect with just 10R/100n as filtering from the main supply rail. There's a schematic on that thread - you'll see I'm using a pair of regulators, one for each supply.
 
abraxalito

abraxalito

Member
Joined 2007
Certainly that's true of a very large proportion of their classAB chipamps of old. The datasheets show load dump protection is built in, a sure sign that its an automotive part. TDA8932 though doesn't have that but perhaps more modern cars' electrical systems (higher voltage than 12V) don't need it?
 
abraxalito

abraxalito

Member
Joined 2007
Not stupid at all. The chip's input's going via a transformer so doesn't care if the source is balanced or unbalanced. Agnostic input, 2VRMS for full output in default sensitivity.

To get the noise levels down lower you could run the chip at higher voltage as you need no more than 15W output. With more output volts you can use a higher ratio step-down trafo.
 
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