Digital Amplifier - Cheap

dorokusai

Here is a way for you hardcore SS and tubeheads to try out digital amplification.

Sonic Impact Digital Amplifier

dorokusai

It uses the Tripath digital chip...it's legit, just cheap.

Early B.

BTW -- are digital amps the future of audio? Will the 50 lb. 200 watt amp soon become a dinosaur? Any differences in SQ?

VR3

Yes

Yes

gidrah

http://clubpolk.polkaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=19184

dorokusai

Mark - Ah I knew I had read this before....sorry man, I couldn't remember who posted it or the title. Same damn thing....

It's nice at the Asylum, they actually talk about audio.

Phil Dawson

B&O has started producing a digital amp called "Ice Power". The amp is being sold in B&O products and being sold as component parts to custom amp builders. They are very small, produce no heat and sound better than any SS amp I have ever heard. They sound almost as good as tubes. Check them out if you get a chance. If I could afford it at this point I would buy them and save a lot of spce in my system and get better sound to boot.

Phil

5.1 surround music system:

SRS SDA 1.2s bi-amped with PSE stereo and mono blocks - front
SRS SDA 2.3s bi-amped with PSE stereo amps - rear
CS400i (2) center using 1 PSE stereo amp
Shure sub using Mac 2100 bridged to mono
B&K Ref 21 (Ref 10 upgraded to Ref 50) Pre-Pro
Pioneer DV45a universal player
Sony X7ESD CD Player
Technics 1200 MK II w/ shure V15 type 3 Turntable
PSE Studio II stereo pre-amp and phono pre-amp
Harmon Kardon Citation 18 FM tuner
Pioneer TX 6800 AM-FM tuner
Nacamichi MR@ Pro cassette deck

dorokusai

I have heard the Sony ES version of the digital drive, and while it is certainly dynamic....it also sounded lifeless. Uncolored is something alot of people look for in equipment, so it's personal preference in the end.

Sony has a clinical sound to me anyhow, so it just seemed normal. Gear choice will have a great effect on any amplifier, regardless of design.

I am not completely sold on the digital drive idea. When it becomes more popular, and more industry standard, then I'll consider listening to that idea again.

radkrisdoc

I agree with you doroko...
Did you see the THD levels at rated power for those Sony ES receivers? 0.8%...whats up with that??? Looks like they will sound harsh.....no IM distortion, I agree, but 0.8% THD??
I have not come across any technical discussion about digital amps and their damping factors....I assume just cos they are digital, they should have a high rise time (the value is in microseconds, so high rise time= a low numerical value) cos they should have excellent transient response. Slew rate should depend on how much power the amp has and how how fast it can respond to signal bursts....
Typically, when one looks at all the models available these days, a very typical way of thinking has been practised by engineers of each high fidelity era. The 50's and 60's saw SS coming in, saw parameters being defined and standards set....the 70's and 80's saw the pursuit of higher standards...if you look at any high end amp from the late 70's to the early 80's, typical characteristics would be a VERY high slew rate (typically more than 200V per microsec and a short rise time of around 0.5 microsec. Design values also pursued high damping factor values. After the early 80's design values started to fall with cheap amps coming into the market.
Tube amps have different values (low damping factor etc., which are far from ideal though) that attribute to the "sweet" sound.
It looks like digital amps measure up with "ideal" values as far as these parameters are concerned...distortion values are mostly attributed to the sampling rate, which in time can be improved; transient characteristics can be improved by the LC circuit at the output as well as the damping factor value.....these last few characteristics can either be alterred to mimic a high quality analog amp or not alterred at all. The problem will then be amp/speaker matching. I think that problem exists even now for those Sony ES receivers.
Like I said, I agree....Im gonna wait and see what happens in a few years before I get into digital amps, whether speaker designers adapt to digital amps or amp designers adapt to (analog-like) speakers. For all we know, Sony might just stop going that way and come back to analog! Kris

Phil Dawson

Not all digital amps are created equal, nor as we all know are all SS or tube amps created to sound alike. The B&O Ice Power product is worth listening to. We should all also remember that what is important is the sound coming out of the speakers and not the spec sheet. I have never personally heard a good sounding spec sheet - only good sounding equipment.

Phil

gidrah

Doro - Agreed. Sometimes you've got to sift through some BS, egoes, and such, but it is there.


There is a pretty large thread over at AA about this amp. Here is the link.
http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/HUG/messages/70231.html

Within this thread there is also a link for a retailer that sells it for $21 (currently out of stock) an a link for a Blaupunkt amp with much more power.

DarqueKnight

If you want a digital amp with a bit more power, here is one to consider:

Exodus Audio 2.2SE 200 watt/channel Digital Amplifier

gregure

HK has a couple of digital receivers, which is interesting. I've seen the 1005 around, which is 50 wpc, a little low. The 2005 has 100 wpc, which would be worth listening to at least, but I've not found it in stores yet. Furthermore, the THD for the 2005 is listed as .15%. That seems really high to me. Still, listening would be the true test. I read another thread in which someone said the new 50 wpc HK digital receiver sounded ok but seemed to lack guts. Has anyone had any experience with the 2005? Personally I think the biggest advantages of these new digital receivers (provided they get the sound up to par) is the lighter weight and the lack of heat.