Class D = Trash?

Well... a lot of techy discussion here... and... I don't really know why my "Class D Audio" SDS-470C sounds so incredible (e.g. Ice vs Hypex vs something else or switching vs linear, etc.) - I just know it does.  

And... it seems to sound as good or better than my other amps, which are very good.  

And... I've not tried any other class d amps... so... I have no basis for comparison - I'm not really sure I need any - it sounds so grand!    

Hi Tim, Thanks

I apologize for what I wrote was not very clear. So let me rephrase and make it a bit more clear. You’re right that there is not a direct relationship between good bass and an analog power supply, which makes sense, after all power supply is but one of the many fundamental aspects of any amplifier design. Great sounding power amplifiers requires many aspects of the design, and not just the power supply. What I can say from what I have implemented and heard is that an unregulated analog power supply seem to always sound better than those with SMPS. And this is strictly in the context of class D Icepower. As indicated, I have implemented and listened to the NCore 400 modules with an analog power supply of my own design, but cannot compare to any Ncore (400 or otherwise) modules implemented with SMPS and so therefore cannot make any evaluation as compare to the Ncore 400 modules with my own an analog power supply. I have requested to buy sample of Ncore 1200 from Hypex to test as I am a manufacturer and have been declined by Hypex. It seems as though Hypex wants to supply to only those manufacturers with reputable brand names, sort of exclusive club if you know what I mean, since H2O is a no body apparently, and that is my feeling. My goal is obviously to find the best technology which sounds good to high-end community. No matter though, from what I have implemented and heard, especially with Icepower, there is absolutely nothing to fear, at least from my point view.

Henry

Tim,

I wanted to add that though I have not have a chance to listen to one yet! But I believe the D-sonic amp is an great amp from what I have read.  And ice on the cake is the price especially.

Henry

Personally I have lost all interest in hard to drive speakers because I find their total cost of ownership just too high for little value.

+1 on that!

When you can connect headphones to the power supply of any amplifier and hear the audio signal, you may count on the fact that the power supply is contributing to IMD. This is a very audible form of distortion! It is for this reason that we have a separate power supply for our driver circuits as opposed to our output circuits.

IMO this should be the case in a class D amp too, and I think that should pan out as the input circuitry usually has very different requirements as opposed to the output section.

@atmasphere

Hah!

A recent phrase has made it into the news, I'd like to co-opt as a statement I never want to make:

I am being dominated by my loudspeakers

Speakers, like friends and family, should be easy to get along with for me. Not the secret Mistress whose every whim should be catered to. That's what secret mistresses are for.

About headphones and power supplies:  True, I also think it's a way of checking for checking the effectiveness of power supply filtering. For instance, if you get a lot more HF in your supply, may mean you need less inductive filter/shunt caps. It is also a way of knowing when you have done enough, so if I ever worked in the field again, it is a technique I'd try to apply to see if I could learn about any power supplies I worked on.

Best,


E