The use of Sparkos and Sonic Imagery is mostly driven by the market. Discrete circuits are preferred by the audiophiles because they are boutique products and therefore they must sound better, right? The fact that they can deliver more current and voltage is secondary - even though that may have ultimately an influence in some cases. The Sonic Imagery ones do actually sound very neutral, details, dynamic, and just great, subjectively, even though they do not measure like a LM4562 (LME49720) or a OPA1612 and similar ones. Mind you, these have been developed to offer better performance and sound than a NE5532, but that one is old stuff now.
RE: the 4562 – I do not think you will hear a difference. Their measured differences are very very small. They behave differently, however and the 4562 is better in the context of a more complex circuit like the Neurochrome, which uses two dual opamp chips (i.e. two opamps per channel) instead of one.
The 1612 is just great in those simple designs, and Apollon offers it in an amp with sweet, sweet, sweet casework and an absolutely killer price for the quality of assembly and care in attention to detail they put in. If I had not decided much earlier to DIY my own amp, I would have probably bought the Apollon - as a former owner of Apollon NC500-based amps (where I had Sparkos, NewClassD ultimate, and Sonic Imagery small socket opamps) I know I could rely on them.
Last edited:
Thanks for your opinion. At the moment I am going to stick with 1612 as I am getting great results. May be in future I can try Sonic Imagery 990 or May be Weiss which is rather expensive but considered best by some.
Do you think Apollon Purifi integrate with 1612 will sound differently or better than my VTV . The only difference will be the Input buffer which in case of Apollon is a dedicated buffer for 1612 and One SMPS1200 instead of two in mono amplifiers having dedicated power supply.
Do you think Apollon Purifi integrate with 1612 will sound differently or better than my VTV . The only difference will be the Input buffer which in case of Apollon is a dedicated buffer for 1612 and One SMPS1200 instead of two in mono amplifiers having dedicated power supply.
Noob question here 
.
So I got 3x purifi eval, hypex smps1200 and Ghent audio case. I put everything together hook it up and I have white noise coming from the left channel in 2 of the amps. Source connected or not.
So I open everything up again to see what's up and notice that in the 1 amp that didn't have the noise problem I had forgotten to ground the mains to the chassis. So before closing everything up again I thought I'd ask here if that's to be expected and I shouldn't attach the mains ground to the chassis. I'm not using a balanced source to drive the amps should that matter.
.So I got 3x purifi eval, hypex smps1200 and Ghent audio case. I put everything together hook it up and I have white noise coming from the left channel in 2 of the amps. Source connected or not.
So I open everything up again to see what's up and notice that in the 1 amp that didn't have the noise problem I had forgotten to ground the mains to the chassis. So before closing everything up again I thought I'd ask here if that's to be expected and I shouldn't attach the mains ground to the chassis. I'm not using a balanced source to drive the amps should that matter.
Noob question here
So I got 3x purifi eval, hypex smps1200 and Ghent audio case. I put everything together hook it up and I have white noise coming from the left channel in 2 of the amps. Source connected or not.
So I open everything up again to see what's up and notice that in the 1 amp that didn't have the noise problem I had forgotten to ground the mains to the chassis. So before closing everything up again I thought I'd ask here if that's to be expected and I shouldn't attach the mains ground to the chassis. I'm not using a balanced source to drive the amps should that matter.
Please check that the AUX voltage to the FE02 boards is sufficient. If it is too low then the modulators will get a low voltage and the result is white noise. I have been there.
Noob question here
So I got 3x purifi eval, hypex smps1200 and Ghent audio case. I put everything together hook it up and I have white noise coming from the left channel in 2 of the amps. Source connected or not.
So I open everything up again to see what's up and notice that in the 1 amp that didn't have the noise problem I had forgotten to ground the mains to the chassis. So before closing everything up again I thought I'd ask here if that's to be expected and I shouldn't attach the mains ground to the chassis. I'm not using a balanced source to drive the amps should that matter.
@Zonneschimmel,
Do you have any updates ?
Did you check the Regulated/Unregulated settings on the Hypex SMPS1200 (see previous posts about proper unregulated settings) ???
TIA
Yup, changing jumper J6 and J7 fixed the issue. Thanks guys
Excellent !!! Let us know what you think once you have some run time on them.
Has anyone here built an amp using Purifi 1ET400 modules with Nord Rev D buffers (with Hypex SPMS 1200A400)? I'm sure it's possible but I can't find any data sheet for the Nord buffer so it's a bit of a puzzle as to how to connect the Hypex to the Nord buffer. I recently got a great deal on a set of parts including Ghent cases from a chap that never got around to putting it all together but now I'm wondering if it's possible or I should just move the parts on.
I would suggest to go for the Neurochrome Purifi/hypex buffers and ask Tom.
If you want to do some opamp rolling, ask Apollon and if they agree to sell you a pair of buffer boards with instructions I am sure they can beat Nord’s outrageous pricing and you get better quality.
Hmm.
Have you asked Colin at Nord for info, he is usually fairly helpful. My understanding is that it is not very difficult to use the Nord input boards with the Purifi modules. You will need to break out the outputs from the SMPS 1200 into two leads (the main power connector and ribbon cable connector will need to make a Y type split somehow).
Have you asked Colin at Nord for info, he is usually fairly helpful. My understanding is that it is not very difficult to use the Nord input boards with the Purifi modules. You will need to break out the outputs from the SMPS 1200 into two leads (the main power connector and ribbon cable connector will need to make a Y type split somehow).
Ah you already have the Nord D buffers! I am not sure I can help you then. However, at least for power building the Y split connectors should be easy.
Otherwise I can sell you a nearly mint FE02 board (the connection board of the Purifi EVAL1 kit) in case you do not have it.