TPA 3116 vs the tripaths

Muse TDA1543 DAC

One of the DACs i wish i had tried.
Did yours have the correct regulator fitted to it in stock form ?

Is there a mod summary for that DAC ?

I recall there being another one by a French guy.
 
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Through a wrinkle in the China-US postal system, I recently ended up with two new amplifiers: a Nobsound TPA3116 dual-chip (100W/channel) and an FX Audio FX502SPRO TPA3250, both from ebay seller doukmall. I also have a Yuan-Jing TPA3116 single-chip board purchased two years ago from Parts Express and packaged in a cigar box. So, I thought I would do a little review and comparison.

For the most part, I am listening to these on a desktop system: lossless CDs on a Synology NAS -> MacBook Air USB -> Schiit Modi 2 Uber DAC -> amplifier -> Q Acoustics 3010 speakers (86dB, 6ohm). I have three laptop-style power adapters for the amplifiers: a 12V 5A, 19V 6.3A, and 24V 4A (which came with the FX Audio). The difference among the power supplies is subtle, but I think all the amplifiers sound slightly better with the 19V 6A supply. It may be confirmation bias, but I think the bass is slightly fuller and distortion becomes noticeable at a slightly higher volume.

Nobsound TPA3116 first impressions. Compared to my cigar-box YJ TPA3116, the Nobsound delivers much more bass. It also gets loud very quickly. A little sound comes out at 0 on the dial, 1/8 turn is where sound gets audible, and 1/4 turn is pretty loud. The amplifier sounds fine, but it produces a lot of hiss/hum that increases with higher volume. You can't really hear this when music is playing, but it's apparent when there's no signal past about 1/2 way on the dial.

Overall, the sound is very good. It sounds clear and detailed. The high treble range seems a little "hot" and can sound harsh at higher volumes. At normal listening levels this is not an issue. This is a very nice amplifier, but I think I see how it could be improved through the gain modification mentioned on this forum.

I also listened to the Nobsound on larger speakers: Synology NAS -> Airport Express -> Nobsound TPA3116 amplifier -> Wharfedale Diamond 10.7 speakers (floor standing, 90dB, 6ohm). This setup seemed to confirm my initial impressions. The amplifier sounds clean and has strong bass at lower listening levels. It gets loud very fast, and on these speakers I could not turn the knob much past 1/4 without it getting uncomfortable. The treble harshness is even more pronounced, and at higher volumes this is annoying. Compared to my 20 year old Harman Kardon AVR40, the Nobsound sounds cleaner and more precise with very little (if anything) lacking in the low end.

FX Audio TPA3250 first impressions. The FX Audio TPA3250 sounds quite good. I think it is the best amplifier of the pack. At 0 on the dial there is no sound output to the speakers. Sound becomes audible around 1/8th turn, a little loud around 1/4 turn, and very loud around 1/2 way. I don't detect noticeable distortion until at least 5/8 of the way around, and I would never listen to music that loud. The volume knob is stepped, but I don't think the potentiometer is--I think it's a regular potentiometer with a stepped dial. I can hear a slight hiss near maximum volume with no source playing, but it's a lot less than on the Nobsound TPA3116. This amplifier sounds clear and detailed. I don't detect any range of frequencies dominating or becoming harsh. The volume can go very loud and not sound distorted.

I was very impressed with this amplifier connected to the Wharfedale speakers. There is good bass, lots of detail, and the volume gets very loud with everything sounding very clear. I could not turn the volume up enough to hear noticeable distortion.

Comparing the Nobsound TPA3116 and the FX Audio TPA3250. Although these amplifiers have probably not had enough running time to "break in", my initial impressions are that the FX Audio is a good deal better than the Nobsound. Both sound better than the YJ TPA3116. However, the Nobsound sounds a little "hot"--the volume gets too high too quickly, the distortion kicks in fairly early, and the treble range sounds harsh at higher volumes. The FX Audio gets very loud as well, but can go much louder before distortion kicks in. The FX Audio appears to have better bass and overall is better balanced across all frequencies and more pleasurable to listen to.

Driving large floor standing speakers, again the FX Audio is preferred over the Nobsound. Both amplifiers sound good at normal listening levels, but the FX Audio is better balanced and sounds very good at higher volumes. In fact, I have left the FX Audio connected to my main system, displacing the 20 year old Harman Kardon, at least for now. This leaves me with the Nobsound on my desktop setup, and it sounds fine, just not quite as good as the FX Audio.

Do the gain mod and compare again. I'll send you the rest of my resistors if you want... I hope you have good eyes, and steady hands though lol
 
One thing I like about using a linear regulated ps ( besides their improved sound ) is they have an on/off switch. The Astrons unlike some others have the switch on the front while the connections are on the back.

P9240026.jpg
 
Beastwoo, did you get these results using the 19v power supply for each amp? Just curious; my impression from reading this thread was that the TPA3250 required a lot more voltage to perform well.

I spent a while switching between the 19V 6A and 12V 5A power supply on the Nobsound TPA3116 because it arrived first. The volume seemed pretty similar with both supplies, and the difference was subtle, but I thought the 19V supply had a slightly fuller sound. I'm not sure I could identify the power supplies in a blind test, though. I switched between the 19V 6A and 24V 4A supplies when the FX Audio TPA3250 arrived, and again the 19V supply sounded just slightly better to me on both amps. I don't think I tried the 12V supply on the FX Audio. After I did those comparisons, I tried to use the 19V supply whenever I could for the rest of my evaluation.

I would be curious about using a regulated power supply like those Poultry uses, but I don't see many of these in the 24V range. Does anyone think there would be a benefit to using a larger regulated switching power supply, like a 24V 8.8A Mean Well? There's also a 14A version, but it has a fan for cooling, which I would think could add unwanted noise. Either way, building a case for these would be a project in itself.

Do the gain mod and compare again. I'll send you the rest of my resistors if you want... I hope you have good eyes, and steady hands though lol

Very kind offer. I am definitely considering doing the gain mod, but I'm not sure when I'll have time. I did recently do my first through-hole soldering, and I think that went OK, but I've never done surface mount. What do you practice on?
 
One thing I like about using a linear regulated ps ( besides their improved sound ) is they have an on/off switch. The Astrons unlike some others have the switch on the front while the connections are on the back.

View attachment 1080726

One thing I noticed with both my breeze audio amps, since you don't actually turn them off (led stays lit, just dimmer in off position), turning them off no pop. When I use a pyramid, when I turn on the pyramid, if I switch the amp on right away, there's a pop, and visible speaker excursion. But if I turn the pyramid on and wait a couple seconds, no pop, no excursion.

I spent a while switching between the 19V 6A and 12V 5A power supply on the Nobsound TPA3116 because it arrived first. The volume seemed pretty similar with both supplies, and the difference was subtle, but I thought the 19V supply had a slightly fuller sound. I'm not sure I could identify the power supplies in a blind test, though. I switched between the 19V 6A and 24V 4A supplies when the FX Audio TPA3250 arrived, and again the 19V supply sounded just slightly better to me on both amps. I don't think I tried the 12V supply on the FX Audio. After I did those comparisons, I tried to use the 19V supply whenever I could for the rest of my evaluation.

I would be curious about using a regulated power supply like those Poultry uses, but I don't see many of these in the 24V range. Does anyone think there would be a benefit to using a larger regulated switching power supply, like a 24V 8.8A Mean Well? There's also a 14A version, but it has a fan for cooling, which I would think could add unwanted noise. Either way, building a case for these would be a project in itself.



Very kind offer. I am definitely considering doing the gain mod, but I'm not sure when I'll have time. I did recently do my first through-hole soldering, and I think that went OK, but I've never done surface mount. What do you practice on?

I tried a 12v 40amp regulated switching psu I had. Bass was much stronger, but seemed a lot muddier as well. I went back to the pyramid 12v 8amp.

You'll need a good pair of tweezers to do SMD soldering. I didn't practice lol, melted a nearby capacitor, but fortunately no functionality damage. I'll probably replace those caps when I have time. I did the gain mod on my single chip tpa3116 afterwards, and it went much better, no melted nearby components.
 
I didn't practice either. :rockon:

My strategy was to do anything in short bursts to lower my chance of melting other components. I used a dental pick to apply pressure to the resistor, then I carefully used just the tip of the soldering iron to touch just the solder and tried a few short applications until I melted a side. Then I did the other. I think I had to re-melt the first side again to get it to release.

To put the new ones on, I held the resistor in place, on the previous solder beads. Then I heated the area while pushing the resistor down a bit. As soon as it dropped into the solder, I pulled out the iron. Same for the other side. By not adding any solder, I decreased the chances of shorting it out under the resistor.

This strategy worked well for me, so I thought I'd share it. I was doing it to the dual chip, so I had to remove 4 and solder on 2. I'll probably do it on my single-chip as well. Like I said above, I don't think it does enough for the dual chip.

Good luck!
 
This isn't right, is it? My new dual-chip nobsound TPA3116 outputs sound even with the volume all the way down. In addition to that, when I turn up the volume, there is a bit of turn where nothing happens before the volume kicks in.

I assume that isn't right. Are others seeing that with theirs?
Older post, I know.
I'm using mine with a good stepper pre-input pot and have none of the symptoms mentioned. Possibly a good simple nonintrusive approach?
 
Older post, I know.
I'm using mine with a good stepper pre-input pot and have none of the symptoms mentioned. Possibly a good simple nonintrusive approach?

Would you tell me more about what you mean? I am not that much of an electronics person, so I would need a lot more details to understand, thank you.
 
Would you tell me more about what you mean? I am not that much of an electronics person, so I would need a lot more details to understand, thank you.
I have the Nobsound dual plugged into my passive controller, which has a 10k stepper pot. I can preset input level for the amp with the controller.
 
So, let's simplify this with a fixed voltage divider network consisting of just a pair of resistors in series at the input for each channel across the input end, with the output from the joint between the resistors and a common signal ground to the other 'lower' end of the series resistor network. The total resistance would be whatever the line drive could tolerate along with the amp input, say ca 10-50k total, f.i. The ratio of the two resistors determines the i/o signal ratio, so 25k/25k gives half of input, 10k/40k either 1/5 or 4/5, depending on which end high or low, and so on.
 
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One of the DACs i wish i had tried.
Did yours have the correct regulator fitted to it in stock form ?
Is there a mod summary for that DAC ?
I recall there being another one by a French guy.

I know that it should be modded to make it a really high quality DAC, mine is still standard and I do not use it that much. Modding it via a acquaintance would cost me 75 euro's. I don't know how that relates to buying an new JDSLabs ODAC for example.

One thing I like about using a linear regulated ps ( besides their improved sound ) is they have an on/off switch. The Astrons unlike some others have the switch on the front while the connections are on the back.

View attachment 1080726

That sounds interesting. I'm very curious about other power supplies that are being used by owners. I have paid 19 euro for a class 2 crappy power supply...

And if people know about better looking cases, I'm also thankfully interested :)
 
And if people know about better looking cases, I'm also thankfully interested

Have a look on ebay for "aluminum project enclosure" or "aluminum project box". If you are into saving money, avoid the words "amplifier, audio and hifi" as the prices don't seem to favour that type of language.
One enclosure that i ordered arrived damaged with bent sidewalls. I got some money back for it. After abit of muscle, filing and refreshment, the aluminium housing for my music streamer cost me $9 (delivered).
Just the way i like it. :D
 
I've used this craft store wooden box for several projects. It's non conductive and cheap. Although the wood is a bit soft it's easy to stain and looks pretty decent.

10357778_1.jpg
 
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