That may seem true by statistical observance, but how many people still think that Class D is a "digital" amp? Sometimes the masses are just fooled into believing something.
The Truth about Modern Class D
All my amps right now are Class D. ICEpower in the living room, and NAD D 3020 in the bedroom.
I’ve had several audiophiles come to my home and not one has ever said "Oh, that sounds like Class D."
Having said this, if I could afford them AND had the room, I’d be tempted to switch for a pair of Ayre monoblocks or Conrad Johnson Premiere 12s and very little else.
I’m not religious about Class D. They sound great for me, low power, easy to hide, but if a lot of cash and the need to upgrade ever hits me, I could be persuaded.
The point: Good modern Class D amps just sound like really good amplifiers, with the usual speaker/source matching issues.
You don’t have to go that route, but it’s time we shrugged off the myths and descriptions of Class D that come right out of the 1980’s.
I’ve had several audiophiles come to my home and not one has ever said "Oh, that sounds like Class D."
Having said this, if I could afford them AND had the room, I’d be tempted to switch for a pair of Ayre monoblocks or Conrad Johnson Premiere 12s and very little else.
I’m not religious about Class D. They sound great for me, low power, easy to hide, but if a lot of cash and the need to upgrade ever hits me, I could be persuaded.
The point: Good modern Class D amps just sound like really good amplifiers, with the usual speaker/source matching issues.
You don’t have to go that route, but it’s time we shrugged off the myths and descriptions of Class D that come right out of the 1980’s.
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- 288 posts total
Yep, vaccinations cause autism, soy causes infertility and androgeny, the moon landing is a hoax, the Earth is flat, and... Class D is digital and invariably sounds terrible. No end to ever-popular conspiracy theories and urban legend, Ain’t it? But wait, has anyone seen where I mislaid my trusty high-end tinfoil hat? Aliens are after me again *Grins!* G. |
As it stands now the switching frequency noise output filter, has phase shift effects that reach right down to 5khz, that doubled for the worse at 10khz and doubled worse again 20khz. That's what many listeners find objectionable, in the upper mids and highs.This statement is false. The filter is set to be operational at a fairly high frequency, and are usually 12 db per octave filters. 6 db/octave filters exhibit phase shift over the widest range, so if the pole frequency is at 90KHz you could see some artifact at 9KHz but not at 5KHz. But most filters I've seen are 12db/octave and so don't have phase shift artifact anywhere within the audio passband. What many listeners likely 'find objectionable' is not the filter- its likely something else. Several issues exist that can account for that- higher ordered harmonics caused by poor loop feedback implementation, breakdown of the encoding scheme at higher volume levels, distortion from the input circuit... but its not the filter. IME a good class D amp has artifacts, but not the kind typical to traditional solid state, so in many cases I find especially the later generations to be more musical than traditional solid state. |
Unfortunately, this book is now out of print, but I think it would remind us of where we are : https://amzn.to/2M0bBLB |
- 288 posts total