Zap Pulse or UcD

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#2
There is an extensive discussion about this here:

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=57846&perpage=10&highlight=&pagenumber=1

L C Audio documents a lot of the application of their modules on their website, but a lot of information about the application of the UcD modules can be found here and with a bit of navigation on the hypex.nl site. Try searching around the forum a bit. It may require a little (a lot) of reading, but there are quite a few discussions comparing/ contrasting the sound quality and application of the two modules on the forum.

Hope this helps...
 
#3
carlos spud said:
I want to build a five channel amp any opinions on whether i should go with the zappulse 2.3se or the ucd 400 the lc audio stuff seems geared towards noobs like me a little more. Thoughts, Comments, Suggestions all appreciated
Cheers,Carlos
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I would advise UcD, they now have almost everything put together with their softstart units coming out soon. You can use their softstart, they sell transformers as well, they have two supplies to choose from (high grade and standard) and the supplies provide DC protection (when one of the amps produces DC at the ouput, the supply shuts of). Everthing has nice connectors so putting it all together should be quite easy with only minimal soldering.

By the way, if you decide for ZAPpulse, I would advise the low noise version as in some applications, the normal version is too noisy, at least for me the old 2.2SE was too noisy when driving tweeters directly. UcD is super silent, just amazing. The low noise ZAP has a lower input impedance so you need to check whether your preamp can live with that.

Best regards

Gertjan
 
#4
Oh no please no not another one of these "which is best" threads. We've already had our class Vs class discussion so I guess it brought us full circle back to Zap Vs UCD again.

Best is you do some research before posting you would have seen a tonne of these already and why more of the same is bound to get few replies.

Anyway, do you want to build someone else's dream amp or your own?

I think it's a bit of a mistake saying any of these are geared towards noobs? Anyone who got one of these to sound good.... I'd think..... more than likely put in alot of reading and effort, they may be close to it but not exactly plug and play yet.

Regards,
Chris
 
#6
Yes, these threads do end up in arguments
It would be nice though to read somebody's results who has compared something like a UCD based amp against a well known commercial or diy classA or AB amp

I'm still tempted to try out a pair of UCD400's , all I want is to build something that sounds better than what I currently have rather than something else that will just add to my collection of tried and now not used stuff
 
#7
t. said:
Yes, these threads do end up in arguments
It would be nice though to read somebody's results who has compared something like a UCD based amp against a well known commercial or diy classA or AB amp

I'm still tempted to try out a pair of UCD400's , all I want is to build something that sounds better than what I currently have rather than something else that will just add to my collection of tried and now not used stuff
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Some people have reported comparisons. I compared a slightly modded UcD180 with my Accuphase E407, the UcD180 won easily. UcD has a very open and dynamic sound, completely free from distortion, very good imaging and extremely low noise level.

If you have never tried Class-D, give it a try and I'm quite sure you will be happily surprised.

Best regards

Gertjan
 
#9
not trying to start ww3

Thank you Raoul and ghemink for the helpful responses for the others:
you know its pretty sad when people cant understand when someone is asking for a simple comparison , I am not trying to start a conflict i simply wanted to know if anyone had any reviews or had built both and had comments................
as far as doing research b4 i post well EXCUSE me I am human and we are prone to making mistakes, I read on the subject of DIY speakers and amps on average about 4-5 hours a day pardon me for thinking there would be some people here who could maybe answer a few questions
Jocko Homo,classd4sure: if my posts are so offensively noobish i would invite you not to reply as you have not contributed anything to the question i originally asked, the first reply i received more than answered my question so i fail to see what your posts accomplished other than to say "man this guy is a noob"
Cheers, Guy who should search b4 he posts😀
 
#10
"Thoughts, Comments, Suggestions all appreciated"

Here is one:

The search function probably isn't the best around. I find it is easier to browse the thread list in any given forum. You could most likely find your answer there as easily as you could by pounding on the keyboard.

Jocko
 
#11
ghemink said:



Some people have reported comparisons. I compared a slightly modded UcD180 with my Accuphase E407, the UcD180 won easily. UcD has a very open and dynamic sound, completely free from distortion, very good imaging and extremely low noise level.

If you have never tried Class-D, give it a try and I'm quite sure you will be happily surprised.

Best regards

Gertjan
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Thanks mate🙂
I do have a little Amp3 class T amp which sounds good for such a cheap tiny unit.
Obviously the UCD's are much more powerful but I hope the sound is as good, hopefully better than the Tripath TA2021 based amp3.
 
#12
sound comparison

T,
I too have a nice amp3 setup, use it on my computer. I have built a UcD 400AD based amp as well. They both have the same rightness about them. The UcD is a whole level up from the amp 3. All the attributes are even more apparent with less dynamic compression, less distortion and real “kick butt” bass. Bottom line, the UcD sounds more like real music, is far more forgiving of various speaker loads and is just plain more enjoyable to listen to. To get this level of performance the AD version with input cap replacement is necessary.
Roger
 
#13
Re: sound comparison

sx881663 said:
T,
I too have a nice amp3 setup, use it on my computer. I have built a UcD 400AD based amp as well. They both have the same rightness about them. The UcD is a whole level up from the amp 3. All the attributes are even more apparent with less dynamic compression, less distortion and real “kick butt” bass. Bottom line, the UcD sounds more like real music, is far more forgiving of various speaker loads and is just plain more enjoyable to listen to. To get this level of performance the AD version with input cap replacement is necessary.
Roger
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Thanks a lot Roger, this was the sort of thing I wanted to know😀
Believe it or not somebody actually told me to stick with the Tripath classT chips instead of classD, to be honest I thought ClassD and ClassT was basically the same thing 😕
Its that sort of advice thats been almost putting me off, I'm still new to this technology so it gets a bit confusing.
Well if the UCD400 is better (sound wise) than the Amp3 then thats good enough for me😉
 
#16
your mind and how it works

Jocko Homo said:
You think it was bad on this forum............!

At least no one told me that I was mentally impaired, and had an IQ around 50.

And at least you have a job.................

Jocko
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Yes, questioning my sanity is one thing but don't insult my intelegance! 🙄
Roger
 
#18
Re: sound comparison

t. said:


Thanks mate🙂
I do have a little Amp3 class T amp which sounds good for such a cheap tiny unit.
Obviously the UCD's are much more powerful but I hope the sound is as good, hopefully better than the Tripath TA2021 based amp3.
Click to expand...


sx881663 said:
T,
I too have a nice amp3 setup, use it on my computer. I have built a UcD 400AD based amp as well. They both have the same rightness about them. The UcD is a whole level up from the amp 3. All the attributes are even more apparent with less dynamic compression, less distortion and real “kick butt�Ebass. Bottom line, the UcD sounds more like real music, is far more forgiving of various speaker loads and is just plain more enjoyable to listen to. To get this level of performance the AD version with input cap replacement is necessary.
Roger
Click to expand...


I have a Tripath based Marantz 4-channel amp, so called Class T is also a Class D amp (it switches). Anyway, is has some similarities with the UcD sound, something all Class D amps have in common. Just UcD is in another league, note that power supplies etc are of course different so my judgement has to be taken with a grain of salt. Maybe a well build T amp can sound as good, I don`t know. Besides that, the Marantz T-amp produces more noise than the UcD. UcD is extremely silent. So with high efficient speakers or for active applications where you drive the speakers directly, UcD is highly recommended. With the Marantz driving tweeters I had far too much noise.

Best regards

Gertjan
 
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