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The majority of all active speakers produced nowadays are Class-D, it's nothing really new (and the fact they are super cheap). No idea how this guy wrote this

by Matsta 8y ago

The majority of all active speakers produced nowadays are Class-D, it's nothing really new (and the fact they are super cheap). No idea how this guy wrote this article and didn't come across DIY Audio (or he just didn't mention it in the article). There is a tonne of information here: https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/class-d/ https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/class-d/

matt4077 8y ago
Your first point seems to be reflected in the article, except that, if they are correct, the high end of Class D amplifiers apparently is not "super cheap". I don't quite get the aggressiveness of your second point: surely just leaving whatever your first association to a topic is out cannot warrant such outrage? It's not like they present this article as groundbreaking innovation. Not only do they cite other DIY efforts. The whole premise of the article is that the author himself already did this ten years ago,.
- Matsta 8y ago
  It comes more down to the design of the board and the quality of the other components on the board. The TPA3250 he mentions is quite a new chip, but if you look on Aliexpress for an older chip like the TPA3116 there is literally thousands of examples: https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?catId=0&initiative_id=SB_20181031150947&SearchText=TPA3116 https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?catId=0&initiative_id=S... I imagine this guy must have found the components of a site similar to DIY Audio. It would have been a nice addition to steer people in the direction of more information if they are interested in the topic (which a lot of the comments here seem to be asking about).
irrational 8y ago
I have some questions. My son has been taking guitar lessons using a classic guitar. Using the advice of his instructor we are getting him a begginer's electric guitar for christmas. We also need to get him an amp. Is the amp in this article the same kind of amp that you could plug an electric guitar into? I know nothing about music or instruments, but I do know about electronics so I was thinking it might be fun to build an amp with my son. I went to the diyaudio link you suggested, but I didn't immediately see information like in the article (buy this, this, this and this to build the amp). Can you point to where I could find a similar purchase list and assembly instructions on diyaudio? Thanks!
- TylerE 8y ago
  No, guitar amps are a totally different beast with many different components.
  - 8bitsrule 8y ago
    Amen. Ask a guitarist. Kid needs a real guitar amp. And a couple of decent FX pedals.
    - TylerE 8y ago
      Well... I dunno about that. Digital has gotten really really good. I bought a Helix about a year ago and sold my tube amps a few months ago... not that they were BAD, but I could get all the sounds (and way more) out of the Helix. But obviously a new player isn't going to want to drop $1500 on a rig like that.
- taejo 8y ago
  > Is the amp in this article the same kind of amp that you could plug an electric guitar into? I'm no expert, but as far as I understand, this is a power amp, which takes an input at line level (~1 volt) up to a level that can power a speaker. Guitar pickups produce a signal around 100 mV, and typically need a "pre-amp" stage before the power amp to amplify this signal to line level.
- bitbldr 8y ago
  While you probably could use an amplifier like this for guitar, you usually wouldn't want to unless it's being used for acoustic guitar or vocals. The reason being, an electric guitar amplifier is going to add a lot of character to the guitar tone that you actually would want, where as an amplifier like this is going to strive for a perfect clean reproduction of the original audio. This is why a lot of guitar players prefer to use old tube-based amps, they add a lot of character to the sound through the preamps and power amps that match what you hear on the recordings of your favorite artists and sound great (though, some argue today solid-state modeling amps sound just as good). With that said, there are a lot of projects and schematics on the web which try to recreate some of the popular guitar amps like the Vox AC30 and Fender Twin Reverb, which would be fun to try and build. Now if you wanted to make a PA system, I don't see why you couldn't use an amplifier like this with some modifications.
8bitsrule 8y ago
If your listening needs don't involve more than 10-20 watts, inexpensive Class-D amps can sound really good through a pair of good speakers. And because of their efficiency, an external power supply only needs a handful of amps (much lighter). Win-win for me.
- brokenmachine 8y ago
  TPA3255 can do 75 Watts per channel at 0.003%THD+N, which is pretty damn good IMO. 3e Audio has a nice board using that as well.

by Matsta 8y ago

matt4077 8y ago

Your first point seems to be reflected in the article, except that, if they are correct, the high end of Class D amplifiers apparently is not "super cheap". I don't quite get the aggressiveness of your second point: surely just leaving whatever your first association to a topic is out cannot warrant such outrage? It's not like they present this article as groundbreaking innovation. Not only do they cite other DIY efforts. The whole premise of the article is that the author himself already did this ten years ago,.

Matsta 8y ago
It comes more down to the design of the board and the quality of the other components on the board. The TPA3250 he mentions is quite a new chip, but if you look on Aliexpress for an older chip like the TPA3116 there is literally thousands of examples: https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?catId=0&initiative_id=SB_20181031150947&SearchText=TPA3116 https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?catId=0&initiative_id=S... I imagine this guy must have found the components of a site similar to DIY Audio. It would have been a nice addition to steer people in the direction of more information if they are interested in the topic (which a lot of the comments here seem to be asking about).

irrational 8y ago

I have some questions. My son has been taking guitar lessons using a classic guitar. Using the advice of his instructor we are getting him a begginer's electric guitar for christmas. We also need to get him an amp. Is the amp in this article the same kind of amp that you could plug an electric guitar into? I know nothing about music or instruments, but I do know about electronics so I was thinking it might be fun to build an amp with my son. I went to the diyaudio link you suggested, but I didn't immediately see information like in the article (buy this, this, this and this to build the amp). Can you point to where I could find a similar purchase list and assembly instructions on diyaudio? Thanks!

TylerE 8y ago
No, guitar amps are a totally different beast with many different components.
- 8bitsrule 8y ago
  Amen. Ask a guitarist. Kid needs a real guitar amp. And a couple of decent FX pedals.
  - TylerE 8y ago
    Well... I dunno about that. Digital has gotten really really good. I bought a Helix about a year ago and sold my tube amps a few months ago... not that they were BAD, but I could get all the sounds (and way more) out of the Helix. But obviously a new player isn't going to want to drop $1500 on a rig like that.
taejo 8y ago
> Is the amp in this article the same kind of amp that you could plug an electric guitar into? I'm no expert, but as far as I understand, this is a power amp, which takes an input at line level (~1 volt) up to a level that can power a speaker. Guitar pickups produce a signal around 100 mV, and typically need a "pre-amp" stage before the power amp to amplify this signal to line level.
bitbldr 8y ago
While you probably could use an amplifier like this for guitar, you usually wouldn't want to unless it's being used for acoustic guitar or vocals. The reason being, an electric guitar amplifier is going to add a lot of character to the guitar tone that you actually would want, where as an amplifier like this is going to strive for a perfect clean reproduction of the original audio. This is why a lot of guitar players prefer to use old tube-based amps, they add a lot of character to the sound through the preamps and power amps that match what you hear on the recordings of your favorite artists and sound great (though, some argue today solid-state modeling amps sound just as good). With that said, there are a lot of projects and schematics on the web which try to recreate some of the popular guitar amps like the Vox AC30 and Fender Twin Reverb, which would be fun to try and build. Now if you wanted to make a PA system, I don't see why you couldn't use an amplifier like this with some modifications.

8bitsrule 8y ago

If your listening needs don't involve more than 10-20 watts, inexpensive Class-D amps can sound really good through a pair of good speakers. And because of their efficiency, an external power supply only needs a handful of amps (much lighter). Win-win for me.

brokenmachine 8y ago
TPA3255 can do 75 Watts per channel at 0.003%THD+N, which is pretty damn good IMO. 3e Audio has a nice board using that as well.