Personal computing discussed

Moderators: renee, Captain Ned

 
qmacpoint
Gerbil Team Leader
Posts: 270
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2018 12:56 pm

Re: So what are you using for computer audio?

Mon Apr 22, 2019 11:29 am

Right now, I have Kanto YU2s speakers with a SUB8 subwoofer that does the trick both for my laptop and desktop at the same time (DAC and Aux cable respectively). For gaming, I have a Corsair ST100 stand/DAC combo powering my B&W P5 S2 headphones. Not the best sound quality, but it's decent!
 
dextro
Gerbil
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2011 10:26 am
Location: New York, NY

Re: So what are you using for computer audio?

Mon Apr 22, 2019 6:07 pm

Tripath is old news peeps, its trash. A few years ago I moved on to TI TPA3118 (aka TPA3116) chipset for power amp...a huge improvement. Since then I've moved on to the newer and even better sounding TPA3250 chip family, which is also higher power. It's really an incredible leap over the TA2020 and TK2050, and I'd put it up against any stereo amp 500$-1000$ or moer. You can find the TPA3250 for cheap (~80usd) in the FXaudio FX-502Spro amp in a decent implementation, just make sure to swap out the fake opamps in the sockets for something decent (LM4562 etc). A little bird told me that Allo is coming out with a TPA3255 amp in the next few month also, which I will be picking up. IMO there has been some stagnation in the audio amplifier world, there is very few entities actually producing up to date designs featuring up to date chips. I've seen companies still producing new amps based on LM3886 which while well known is a decades old design by now.

Right now my setup JDSlabs OL DAC -> FX502Spro (opamp swapped, powered by lab bench linear PS 24V) -> Philharmonic BMR. It sounds absolutely incredible and real with anything I throw at it., and the only really expensive part is the speakers, which (while well worth it) you can easily get good sound with something cheaper.

You can find lots of info about TPA3250 around if you look, unfortunately only 1 quality finished design (soon to be 2) I've found, but there are lots of class-D haters about, and just others who arent caught up. so please just try the amp instead of wasting money on old tripath stuff, you will not be disappointed ;)
 
cynan
Graphmaster Gerbil
Posts: 1160
Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2004 2:30 pm

Re: So what are you using for computer audio?

Wed Apr 24, 2019 1:16 pm

dextro wrote:
Tripath is old news peeps, its trash. A few years ago I moved on to TI TPA3118 (aka TPA3116) chipset for power amp...a huge improvement. Since then I've moved on to the newer and even better sounding TPA3250 chip family, which is also higher power. It's really an incredible leap over the TA2020 and TK2050, and I'd put it up against any stereo amp 500$-1000$ or moer. You can find the TPA3250 for cheap (~80usd) in the FXaudio FX-502Spro amp in a decent implementation, just make sure to swap out the fake opamps in the sockets for something decent (LM4562 etc). A little bird told me that Allo is coming out with a TPA3255 amp in the next few month also, which I will be picking up. IMO there has been some stagnation in the audio amplifier world, there is very few entities actually producing up to date designs featuring up to date chips. I've seen companies still producing new amps based on LM3886 which while well known is a decades old design by now.

Right now my setup JDSlabs OL DAC -> FX502Spro (opamp swapped, powered by lab bench linear PS 24V) -> Philharmonic BMR. It sounds absolutely incredible and real with anything I throw at it., and the only really expensive part is the speakers, which (while well worth it) you can easily get good sound with something cheaper.

You can find lots of info about TPA3250 around if you look, unfortunately only 1 quality finished design (soon to be 2) I've found, but there are lots of class-D haters about, and just others who are'nt caught up. so please just try the amp instead of wasting money on old tripath stuff, you will not be disappointed ;)


Yes. Tripath is old news. And yes, there are more technologically proficient designs (i.e., higher efficiency, more power handling) on a chip by chip or board by board basis. And as I stated in a previous post here, about the only Tripath amps I can find new in 2019 are cheap Chinese-looking implementations that may very well be trash (in all but bang/buck at least).

I would love to give the new TI modules a try. But for now, my old Tripath "trash" sounds so good for moderate-power stereo performance (up to about 80W/C) that I could care less. I might be in the market for an efficient AVR in the next year or two. So maybe if someone actually implements a competitively priced class D multi-channel receiver using these TI chips by then...

BTW, here is a link to a description of my least trashy (higher-end of 2) Tripath Amp (Virtue Audio Sensation M901). I would be pretty surprised if these newer Class D chips were really miles ahead to what I'm hearing (but I'd be willing to be pleasantly surprised)
 
dextro
Gerbil
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2011 10:26 am
Location: New York, NY

Re: So what are you using for computer audio?

Sat Apr 27, 2019 4:56 pm

the TPA3116 or 3118 (same chip) was miles ahead of tripath...the TPA3250 series developed a couple years later is light years ahead. Sound is just more natural, not digital at all, but just transparent is the only way I can describe it. This was true of the 3116, but the 3250 about doubles the power, and fills out some of the missing gaps. Yes, a great implementation like in that amp you have can make a great difference, but at the end of the day the chip is doing the work. For the price I do recommend picking up either a FX502Spro or a TI EVM board and you will hear.

I am also curious to see what other designs make use of these chips, I am still looking for a more higher quality finished amp (or board even) that addresses some of the concerns about cheaper parts and circuit design
 
Mikael33
Gerbil First Class
Posts: 107
Joined: Tue Mar 18, 2008 5:13 pm

Re: So what are you using for computer audio?

Sat Sep 21, 2019 2:40 pm

A pair of JBL LSR308's driven by either a Line 6 HXstomp or a Focusrite 1st gen 2i2 (I record music) and some Sennheiser HD485 headphones as well as some Beyerdynamic DT990s. I bought the DT990s to replace the 485s and the first few weeks the treble made me go :o but I got used them them, recently though I started occasionally using the 485s, they mask bad productions a lot better than my DT990s and some albums just sound better with a more relaxed treble response. I also need to replace the cable in my DT990s, it's not broken but the bit on the end of the cable that holds it to the headphones is loose (from abuse) so I put a bit of double sided tape on there to keep the cable snug :lol:
 
JustAnEngineer
Gerbil God
Posts: 19673
Joined: Sat Jan 26, 2002 7:00 pm
Location: The Heart of Dixie

Re: So what are you using for computer audio?

Sat Apr 04, 2020 12:48 pm

After my old Logitech Z-640 speaker set drowned, I splurged on a pair of Audioengine HD3s with DS1 stands and an S8 sub as replacements. This combination rocks.
· R7-5800X, Liquid Freezer II 280, RoG Strix X570-E, 64GiB PC4-28800, Suprim Liquid RTX4090, 2TB SX8200Pro +4TB S860 +NAS, Define 7 Compact, Super Flower SF-1000F14TP, S3220DGF +32UD99, FC900R OE, DeathAdder2
 
Captain Ned
Global Moderator
Posts: 28704
Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2002 7:00 pm
Location: Vermont, USA

Re: So what are you using for computer audio?

Sat Apr 04, 2020 1:40 pm

Exact same before and after and fully agree. Never used 5.1 all that much anyways.
What we have today is way too much pluribus and not enough unum.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest
GZIP: On