TPA 3116 vs the tripaths

Another random project to add to the mix... Bought a pair of M-Audio Studiophile AV 30 speakers at my local thrift store for $5. The internal amp was fried ,as expected, so I popped in a TPA3116 Bluetooth amp I had sitting around. Sounds great! Since the speakers are non-metallic the Bluetooth connects fine to the board hidden inside.
Link to the board I used.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/TPA3116-Blu...-Amp-Board-Class-D-DC18V-to-24v-/281672412275

Were you able to use the M-Audio's power supply?
 
My latest TPA3116 iteration. Dual chip amp, in a wine box purchased for a charitable donation, with source included. At the bottom is the source, a Raspberry Pi with an I2S DAC. I stream FLAC from my router to various Pi's around the house. Nothing less than 44.1khz/16bit CD quality, and all lossless format (no mp3). DAC is capable of 192khz/24bit.
Set up so that I can use any of the 3 tube pre's purchased over the past year, thanks to this thread. This pre is mounted on an ATX computer power supply box, with the transformer in the box. Front panel is just a bit of whimsy.

This thread and these little amps brings so much pleasure and joy to (most of) us. I love the dichotomy of this thread - some homespun, some technical, some empirical, some scientific. I do not understand it all, but I try and it all makes me better in my personal quest for enjoyment of the music.

Enjoyment of the music is, after all, the point isn't it?:)
 

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My latest TPA3116 iteration. Dual chip amp, in a wine box purchased for a charitable donation, with source included. At the bottom is the source, a Raspberry Pi with an I2S DAC. I stream FLAC from my router to various Pi's around the house. Nothing less than 44.1khz/16bit CD quality, and all lossless format (no mp3). DAC is capable of 192khz/24bit.

Which I2S DAC have you gone for? Is it WM8804G based?

Did you have any preference between the WM8804G, PCM5102 and ES9023?

I'm looking to get one or two for my Raspberry Pi audio systems to replace the dirt cheap USB CM108 DACs I'm using.
 
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Is it just that simple?
Amplifier Voltage Gain Explained – Matching Amp to Preamp
That's very interesting read for everyone who would like to know a bit more. :thmbsp:

Well... It opened today? Interesting read - thanks!

It does open more questions for my system though. In some recent posts, others have mentioned they set the computer volume control to less than 100%. I have always understood the digital volume control should be maxed, and volume duty be done at the power amp. This is how I have been doing it.

Now - having said that, how does a USB DAC enter into this equation as far as what to do with the PC's volume control?


Here is another configuration question: My set-up is PC streaming Pandora with PC volume set to 100%, USB DAC to a 3 tube preamp to my modded YJ Blue amp with Pany volume pot. Gain of the amp is set to 20db

The pot on the tube preamp is on the OUTPUT, and the pot on the amp is on the INPUT. I know normal thinking would max the volume on the amp, and let the volume on the preamp attenuate the signal to the amp. However, I get the best sound when I max the pot on the preamp, and use the pot on the amp for volume?

In conclusion: Should the PC volume be set at 100%, and which pot should be used, the preamp's, or the amps?
 
I decided to go small with my Audiobah 3116.

This will probably be my last build for a while... until a better board comes along or I get inspired to delve into amplifiers as art.

 
Which I2S DAC have you gone for? Is it WM8804G based?

Did you have any preference between the WM8804G, PCM5102 and ES9023?

I'm looking to get one or two for my Raspberry Pi audio systems to replace the dirt cheap USD CM108 DACs I'm using.

First off, I have no equipment or knowledge to electronically test the differences between the DACs, just my ears.
The one in the picture is a PCM5122, and I also have a PCM5102 and an ES9023.
When I got the ES9023 I definitely preferred that over the PCM5102. I think it sounded clearer and more detailed, and this impression has not changed. I found the PCM5102 warmer, and I prefer precision.
This is not to say one is better than the other, they are just different.
I did consider the Wolfson WM8804 based DAC, as they had good reviews. The takeover of Wolfson by Cirrus Logic seems to have created some business issues, which have resulted in poor support, implementation and compatibility issues - the Wolfson board does not appear to be widely supported - so I gave it a miss.

The PCM5122 and the PCM5102 - no difference in sound to me. The PCM5122 does, however use more GPIO pins, and uses I2C to communicate with the Raspberry. If you intent to use something else (eg a small LCD screen) which uses I2C this is an issue.

As with the TPA3116 chip boards, the DACs are cheap enough to buy one of each and I suggest you try that - more fun trying to decide which you prefer.:D
 
I decided to go small with my Audiobah 3116.

This will probably be my last build for a while... until a better board comes along or I get inspired to delve into amplifiers as art.


Looks great! I need to get some banana plugs like that....should make speaker hook-up easier...these closely spaced terminals are tough when trying to use bear wire.
 
First off, I have no equipment or knowledge to electronically test the differences between the DACs, just my ears.
The one in the picture is a PCM5122, and I also have a PCM5102 and an ES9023.
When I got the ES9023 I definitely preferred that over the PCM5102. I think it sounded clearer and more detailed, and this impression has not changed. I found the PCM5102 warmer, and I prefer precision.
This is not to say one is better than the other, they are just different.
I did consider the Wolfson WM8804 based DAC, as they had good reviews. The takeover of Wolfson by Cirrus Logic seems to have created some business issues, which have resulted in poor support, implementation and compatibility issues - the Wolfson board does not appear to be widely supported - so I gave it a miss.

The PCM5122 and the PCM5102 - no difference in sound to me. The PCM5122 does, however use more GPIO pins, and uses I2C to communicate with the Raspberry. If you intent to use something else (eg a small LCD screen) which uses I2C this is an issue.

As with the TPA3116 chip boards, the DACs are cheap enough to buy one of each and I suggest you try that - more fun trying to decide which you prefer.:D

I was initially going towards the PCM based boards purely due to numbers. But when it comes down to it I don't think I'd actually be able to hear the difference with the speakers I've got.

And you're right, they are cheap enough to buy one of each, and they will get used on other setups anyway!
 
I ordered a 2nd dual chip board yesterday... What the hay!

I have a backup


I put the 2nd one in a pasteboard box about the size of a Cracker Jack box but shorter :yes: I really did... Although I put some nice RCAs & Speaker posts on it

Playing it right now with a Yamaha T2 tuner --> Yaqin CD3 tube buffer (recapped & nice tubes) --> Dual Chip --> DIY single full range speakers

Wonderful


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that's the amp to show off to your snobby friends when they come over. Put a Mcintosh badge on the front..or maybe move it into a Velveeta box..your cheesy amp
 
I like the Velveeta idea ;)

I put this one in that box on a lark and knowing it would only take 3-5 minutes to break it down... However, the little brown pasteboard box 'look' is growing on me

BTW- going into the 3rd hr of playing... everything has settled and mellowed out. Not sure the reason: tubes or the new board or both but it's better
 
I decided to see if I had enough stuff lying around to get my dual chip board going without any soldering. A bit of digging, a few minutes cutting, stripping, crimping and tightening down screws: voilà!

This is just to test it out before doing something more permanent once I have found a nice box. I will probably use an old DVD player as CD source and my PSB 800 from my HT set up. Fairly efficient, 90db 8 Ohm speakers.

Anyone see any reason not to proceed?
 

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I'm a Believer

Wife and baby had a play date with another mom and her kiddos this afternoon. This gave me some time to finish up my audiobah board. Not exactly special looking but I'm happy with it. Used some lamp cord I had on hand for all the wiring. I had pulled it apart for some reason I can't remember which was fine for the internals but weird looking for the portion going from the board to the ps. So I twisted the two wires back together for the "power cord" part. Below are a few pics of the finished amp and a shot of it in action this evening; connected to a pyramid ps and sharing space with my tube amp.

Have listened to Ryan Adams (Gold) and Dave Brubeck (Time Out). I'm really impressed. Very clear and crisp. Great soundstage. Dynamic. Initial impression is that I would put it in the same league as my two amps - an RH Universal variant (6L6GC-based SEP) and Pass F5 clone (Class A SS). I've had the RH Universal rotated in for the last little while. I can say that the presentation is different but the overall quality of sound and level of satisfaction provided is very, very similar.

My two amps have kind of been killing me this summer with a couple of heatwaves and us having no AC. The audiobah solves that problem. Alot smaller footprint too and that's with an oversized box and separate PS.

One thing I'll say about the pyramid is that it stunk coming out of the box. Like, literally. Maybe it's the paint they used to powder coat the thing. Not sure but I do know it smelled pretty toxic. Aired it out on our balcony till this evening and will air it out again overnight.

Great experience overall, though. Just DIY enough to satisfy the urge and still allow me to feel like a responsible parent. Plus the amp sounds great. And the price!!! Looking forward to spending more time with it. Have a Dared SL-2000a tube pre that I'll be hooking it up to eventually. Right now just using a Schiit Sys volume control.

Thanks to you all for turning me onto this. What a great find. :D
 

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