true digital stereo audio amp

[mozikluv]

hi guys,

does anybody have any experience in using TAS5101 true digital stereo amp. w/PWM power output stage?

according to Texas Inst. its a 15w/channel amp. with a 0.4% THD.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

hi guys,

does anybody have any experience in using TAS5101 true digital stereo amp. w/PWM power output stage?

according to Texas Inst. its a 15w/channel amp. with a 0.4% THD.

I've never used one (or actually heard of one), but the spec looks pretty poor at 0.4% THD.

I don't know about anyone else, but these 'so called' digital amplifiers don't ever seem to approach the quality of an analogue one - and after all why should it, what you're looking for is an analogue output!.

Their main reason seems to be efficiency, using the output devices as switches reduces heat dissipation - as long as you're not too bothered about quality it can reduce the size of the amp considerably.

 

[Dean Huster]

Higher switching speeds should produce better distortion specification, but a digital amp will never produce an output down into the 0.001% THD area that some analog amps can. As it is, any digital amp will have to have a low-pass filter at the output to kill off the switching artifacts to help the distortion specs. As Nigel mentioned, the Class D switcher's main objective is efficiency. If what you need is 5KW of audio for a rock band concert, a digital system is the way to go.

Dean

 

[mozikluv]

digital power amp

hi Dean & Nigel,

thanx for the reply, this just confirms my notion about this kind of amp on the distortion factor.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO BOTH OF YOU!!!!!!

 

[yantronic]

I've never used one (or actually heard of one), but the spec looks pretty poor at 0.4% THD.

I don't know about anyone else, but these 'so called' digital amplifiers don't ever seem to approach the quality of an analogue one - and after all why should it, what you're looking for is an analogue output!.

Their main reason seems to be efficiency, using the output devices as switches reduces heat dissipation - as long as you're not too bothered about quality it can reduce the size of the amp considerably.[/quote]

The last time I heard a digital amp was a class T device housed in 19U chassis. Pretty good sounding to me, but since the technology is new, and more improvements may come.