Hi Folks,
A friend recently sent me an amp he got from AliExpress for $4. These go by the name “XY-AP15H”. Do a search and you will get hundreds of hits. There are also higher power versions up to 50w. I have just the 15W version and it’s quite fine for a small room.
My friend wanted my opinion on the sound quality. It’s a tiny board only 52mm x 52mm and arrives fully, built but not assembled with PCB like top and bottom covers plus some brass standoffs and screws. I don’t know what chip it uses but it has built in Bluetooth 5.0, a USB-C memory card reader, 3.5mm aux in and out. But the cool thing is the big knob rotary encoder on the top for changing volume, selecting tracks, pause/play and power on/off. The knob rotates as well as acts as a pushbutton selector via pressure.
You need to supply an external 12v to 24v DC power supply. There is a standard 5.5mm coaxial connector. It also comes with an screw terminal adapter to allow you to use flying leads for power. The speakers outs are screw terminal blocks. Assembling it requires little hands and little screwdrivers as these are M2 screws and standoffs for hardware. I used a Meanwell 24v 65W desktop brick that I had on hand. I figure many other leftover 12v to 24v SMPS bricks can be used. I used 16ga zip cord speaker cables with crimped pin end connectors, and everything connected easily and looks tidy enough. I connected to my Rockville 2 way speakers (an homage to the LS3/5A but with better bass), and I was not expecting much. Turned it on, my phone connected to the BT easily and no annoying voice recording of some lady from HK telling me my BT is connected
I played some music from my Amazon HD music account and tried some usual tracks that I know. Drumroll….
I was very pleasantly surprised! It sounds very good. Clear sound, decent bass, nice overall balance. No annoying BT noise, hiss or AC mains hum. I can press my ear to the speaker and it’s silent with no music playing. For $4 to $5 it’s an incredible value for background music, bedroom speakers, kitchen speakers etc. I listened for a long time and no fatigue resulted so I think the amp is doing a decent job on the harmonic distortion profile.
Anyhow, highly recommended. For $4 to $5 you have nothing to lose. This is the new “Lunch Money Amp”, but is now more like the “Coffee Money Amp” as it costs about as much as a cup of fluffy coffee made by a barista at your local Starbucks!
Closeup of the bits for $4:
A friend recently sent me an amp he got from AliExpress for $4. These go by the name “XY-AP15H”. Do a search and you will get hundreds of hits. There are also higher power versions up to 50w. I have just the 15W version and it’s quite fine for a small room.
My friend wanted my opinion on the sound quality. It’s a tiny board only 52mm x 52mm and arrives fully, built but not assembled with PCB like top and bottom covers plus some brass standoffs and screws. I don’t know what chip it uses but it has built in Bluetooth 5.0, a USB-C memory card reader, 3.5mm aux in and out. But the cool thing is the big knob rotary encoder on the top for changing volume, selecting tracks, pause/play and power on/off. The knob rotates as well as acts as a pushbutton selector via pressure.
You need to supply an external 12v to 24v DC power supply. There is a standard 5.5mm coaxial connector. It also comes with an screw terminal adapter to allow you to use flying leads for power. The speakers outs are screw terminal blocks. Assembling it requires little hands and little screwdrivers as these are M2 screws and standoffs for hardware. I used a Meanwell 24v 65W desktop brick that I had on hand. I figure many other leftover 12v to 24v SMPS bricks can be used. I used 16ga zip cord speaker cables with crimped pin end connectors, and everything connected easily and looks tidy enough. I connected to my Rockville 2 way speakers (an homage to the LS3/5A but with better bass), and I was not expecting much. Turned it on, my phone connected to the BT easily and no annoying voice recording of some lady from HK telling me my BT is connected
I played some music from my Amazon HD music account and tried some usual tracks that I know. Drumroll….
I was very pleasantly surprised! It sounds very good. Clear sound, decent bass, nice overall balance. No annoying BT noise, hiss or AC mains hum. I can press my ear to the speaker and it’s silent with no music playing. For $4 to $5 it’s an incredible value for background music, bedroom speakers, kitchen speakers etc. I listened for a long time and no fatigue resulted so I think the amp is doing a decent job on the harmonic distortion profile.
Anyhow, highly recommended. For $4 to $5 you have nothing to lose. This is the new “Lunch Money Amp”, but is now more like the “Coffee Money Amp” as it costs about as much as a cup of fluffy coffee made by a barista at your local Starbucks!
Closeup of the bits for $4:
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https://www.ebay.com/itm/203829047303 $12 and free shipping; many want $12 for just shipping...
This one says it's a USB DAC as well, power DAC that is. I wonder what chip it uses?
This one says it's a USB DAC as well, power DAC that is. I wonder what chip it uses?
It seems that about $with shipping is about as low as I can find it. Still not that much.
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mskuljE
I am testing it with a good DAC and playing a track at 24bit 192kHz into the aux inout. Immediately, the amp makes a chime sensing that something is connected it switches out of BT mode automatically. There’s a bit of a background hiss from the speakers with my ear pressed to the cone now. Not silent like the BT case which I suspect artificially put the amp into standby mode when no music is playing.
It still sounds very good playing music and surprisingly gets quite loud with 83dB sensitive speakers. Louder than I would ever want to turn the speakers up to in the bedroom. So the analog input checks out. I have heard that the USBC in with a memory card reader doesn’t sound so good. At least that is from the reviews on AliExpress. I have to say I never intended to use this to play tunes from a hard disk or flash memory really.
I am actually considering making a precut flat pack Karlsonator 0.40x speaker kit with drivers, hot melt glue, and this amp thrown in for a complete audio system. Cappuccino is actually a great name for it!
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mskuljE
I am testing it with a good DAC and playing a track at 24bit 192kHz into the aux inout. Immediately, the amp makes a chime sensing that something is connected it switches out of BT mode automatically. There’s a bit of a background hiss from the speakers with my ear pressed to the cone now. Not silent like the BT case which I suspect artificially put the amp into standby mode when no music is playing.
It still sounds very good playing music and surprisingly gets quite loud with 83dB sensitive speakers. Louder than I would ever want to turn the speakers up to in the bedroom. So the analog input checks out. I have heard that the USBC in with a memory card reader doesn’t sound so good. At least that is from the reviews on AliExpress. I have to say I never intended to use this to play tunes from a hard disk or flash memory really.
I am actually considering making a precut flat pack Karlsonator 0.40x speaker kit with drivers, hot melt glue, and this amp thrown in for a complete audio system. Cappuccino is actually a great name for it!
I am actually considering making a precut flat pack Karlsonator 0.40x speaker kit with drivers, hot melt glue, and this amp thrown in for a complete audio system. Cappuccino is actually a great name for it!
You'll be the darling of every high school shop class in America and then some!
I got mine the other day and just hooked it to a 19V PSU and the JBL HLS 610s in my garage. Sounds pretty good for $12!
Plugged the USB into my bench PC running W10 and it immediately found and installed a driver to make it play. I only had to select the output device in foober2000 to make it play. Sound was lively and with good instrument separation. Would be just fine for background while I work, easily going into distracting SPLs with those speakers.
I wonder what the AP3016D chip is and what the output filter topology is on this? Not that I'd be able to touch it with the skills and dexterity I have these days, but the mind is still curious!
Just for posterity, the high power version is called "XY-AP50L".
Edit:
I guess we can safely say that these things are dethroning the TDA7297 for value per buck.
I "guesstimate" about 22 clean-ish Watts in 8 ohms, perhaps 35 clean-ish Watts in 4 ohms at about 25V.
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There's a picture of the XY-AP50H where it clearly shows a TPA3116.
Looks fairly standard as far as output filters go.
The other versions have this Somethingsomething24256something chip that may be responsible for BT and whatnot.
There is an even higher power version that utilizes TWO of the mystery chip AP3050D.
They claim it to be able to produce upto 72W at 8ohm in 26V, which is very impressive if it's true, even for 10%THD. If it can do 35W at 1% THD that is still very impressive. They state a suggested PSU of 6A, and 26V max, that's close to 65W per channel if it has an efficiency over 85%.
I might get a couple of XY AP100L, they are 1 small beer each if you buy them at a pub here...
Very curious about this AP3050D chip.
Edit:
Found the XY S100L, I am not sure if it uses the same chips, but supposedly it's a 3 chip version 2.1 of some sort, with a variable 20-200hz filter for the sub out.
The interesting bit is that they specify an S/N ratio of 92dB, which seems like a "not improbable" number.
Oh! And it has a lot of shiny knobs, which is important I guess
They claim it to be able to produce upto 72W at 8ohm in 26V, which is very impressive if it's true, even for 10%THD. If it can do 35W at 1% THD that is still very impressive. They state a suggested PSU of 6A, and 26V max, that's close to 65W per channel if it has an efficiency over 85%.
I might get a couple of XY AP100L, they are 1 small beer each if you buy them at a pub here...
Very curious about this AP3050D chip.
Edit:
Found the XY S100L, I am not sure if it uses the same chips, but supposedly it's a 3 chip version 2.1 of some sort, with a variable 20-200hz filter for the sub out.
The interesting bit is that they specify an S/N ratio of 92dB, which seems like a "not improbable" number.
Oh! And it has a lot of shiny knobs, which is important I guess
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It would be interesting to play 1kHz sound file via BT and measure distortion of BT use case. Really, the BT is the only way I am going to use it. Forget about analog in.
Although I am curious what happens with this thing as it’s own DAC. I still cannot believe it does that plus BT and power amp for $4.
Attempting to do so via the internal USB DAC. Knocks my usb analog-in box offline when it gets in its place in W10 audio. Going to have to carry the laptop out to the garage it looks like...use a separate computer for source and REW spectrum...
The mystery chip in the first picture is from Zhuhai Jieli: http://www.zh-jieli.com/ and it is probably from the AC696N series. There was a discussion about an earlier version of the chip--the AC690N about 2 years ago on Parts Express: https://techtalk.parts-express.com/...his-tiny-little-bluetooth-amp-isn-t-bad/page2.
The JL AC690N parts use a common core design, with different packaging, ranging from 16-pin DIP to 64-pin. These chips show up in lots of devices, from Bluetooth speakers to car stereo heads. I've got the documentation for that series if anyone is interested--it's got the specs on the uP core and A/D and D/A. I've also got the JL toolchain that you can use to modify the code, but it had a somewhat complicated programming sequence that I never tried to implement.
It looks like the AC696N series is a nice improvement over the AC690N. Here is some info on the company, which calls itself "Jerry" in some of their documentation: https://posts.careerengine.us/p/61a6dd39bab4b93f61869fc6
The JL AC690N parts use a common core design, with different packaging, ranging from 16-pin DIP to 64-pin. These chips show up in lots of devices, from Bluetooth speakers to car stereo heads. I've got the documentation for that series if anyone is interested--it's got the specs on the uP core and A/D and D/A. I've also got the JL toolchain that you can use to modify the code, but it had a somewhat complicated programming sequence that I never tried to implement.
It looks like the AC696N series is a nice improvement over the AC690N. Here is some info on the company, which calls itself "Jerry" in some of their documentation
: https://posts.careerengine.us/p/61a6dd39bab4b93f61869fc6
I just plugged mine into a Win10 machine with USB-A to USB-C cable (a C to C cable did not work). It was recognized as a JieLi BR21 device capable of 16bit at 48kHz. It plays music into the headphone outs. I assume that if I were to connect speakers it would play music as well.
Given what Neil Davis said above, it looks like this is a bonafide ADC/DAC/BT/Class D amp all in one. Apparently there is capability to operate this from the included smartphone app as well.
Well, surprise, surprise! As Gomer Pyle would say.
Dang! That is a lot to pack in a tiny chip and sell the hole thing with a board for $4.
This device wins the most bang for the buck award that’s for sure.
I don’t think anyone has an excuse to say that they can’t afford a basic DAC or ADC or BT or Class D amp anymore. I’m curious to try this out as an ADC next. We need to see some FFTs next. THD, Noise floor, etc.
Given what Neil Davis said above, it looks like this is a bonafide ADC/DAC/BT/Class D amp all in one. Apparently there is capability to operate this from the included smartphone app as well.
Well, surprise, surprise! As Gomer Pyle would say.
Dang! That is a lot to pack in a tiny chip and sell the hole thing with a board for $4.
This device wins the most bang for the buck award that’s for sure.
I don’t think anyone has an excuse to say that they can’t afford a basic DAC or ADC or BT or Class D amp anymore. I’m curious to try this out as an ADC next. We need to see some FFTs next. THD, Noise floor, etc.
I think the amp is the TPA3116. The AC696N doesn't include the amp. But yes, it is an impressive chip.
I assume the Bluetooth uses the "High Quality SBC" codec, which some have claimed is comparable to the Qualcomm apt-X codecs. This chip doesn't support apt-X, but that's probably not as big a deal as some marketing types might claim. I haven't played with an AC696N chip, but I did set up a switch to evaluate the sound of audio going through the analog input to DAC chain for an AC690N. I noticed a difference in audio quality and decided that it is better to switch the audio outside the chip than using the internal routing.
I assume the Bluetooth uses the "High Quality SBC" codec, which some have claimed is comparable to the Qualcomm apt-X codecs. This chip doesn't support apt-X, but that's probably not as big a deal as some marketing types might claim
. I haven't played with an AC696N chip, but I did set up a switch to evaluate the sound of audio going through the analog input to DAC chain for an AC690N. I noticed a difference in audio quality and decided that it is better to switch the audio outside the chip than using the internal routing.
That amp chip is hard to track down. According to one site, this board is offered in 5 different "flavors", differentiated by the amp chip:
AP15H: AP3016D 20W*2
AP50L: AP3050D 50W*2
50H: TPA3116D2 50W*2
AP100L: AP3020D 100W*2
100H:TPA3116D2 50W*2
So, it looks like there are "imported" TPA3116D2 versions along with those "domestic" AP3016D, AP3020D, and AP3050D chips. The only reference I could find to any of the AP chips was at http://www.neko.ne.jp/~freewing/hardware/audio_digital_amp_ti_tpa3116_zk_502h/, where the AP3050D is identified as a CS8673E. That chip is only 16 pins, but the picture links to the CS8683, which has the right number of pins: http://www.szczkjgs.com/UploadFiles/fujian/4906/CS8683.pdf
Hard to tell, but my guess is that those AP chips are actually from Shenzhen Yongfukang Technology Co, who apparently make knock-offs of the TPA3116. The TPA3116 is over 10 years old, so I suspect the AP chips are decent replacements.
AP15H: AP3016D 20W*2
AP50L: AP3050D 50W*2
50H: TPA3116D2 50W*2
AP100L: AP3020D 100W*2
100H:TPA3116D2 50W*2
So, it looks like there are "imported" TPA3116D2 versions along with those "domestic" AP3016D, AP3020D, and AP3050D chips. The only reference I could find to any of the AP chips was at http://www.neko.ne.jp/~freewing/hardware/audio_digital_amp_ti_tpa3116_zk_502h/, where the AP3050D is identified as a CS8673E. That chip is only 16 pins, but the picture links to the CS8683, which has the right number of pins: http://www.szczkjgs.com/UploadFiles/fujian/4906/CS8683.pdf
Hard to tell, but my guess is that those AP chips are actually from Shenzhen Yongfukang Technology Co, who apparently make knock-offs of the TPA3116. The TPA3116 is over 10 years old, so I suspect the AP chips are decent replacements.
Yes, it is just the XY AP50H that utilizes the 3116.
Edit:
It seems like the CS8683 supports up to 36V? That makes the power claims a bit more believable. Tempted to buy a few and see what happens, most of those boards claim only 26v is supported not sure if that's only because of the caps or something else.
Edit:
It seems like the CS8683 supports up to 36V? That makes the power claims a bit more believable. Tempted to buy a few and see what happens, most of those boards claim only 26v is supported not sure if that's only because of the caps or something else.
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