Certain kinds of harmonic distortion, and noise associated with tubes, FETs, etc. That's the reason why some sub-$100 chip amp with vastly superior THD and SNR will sound like trash next to some 20kg tube amp.
Certain kinds of harmonic distortion, and noise associated with tubes, FETs, etc. That's the reason why some sub-$100 chip amp with vastly superior THD and SNR will sound like trash next to some 20kg tube amp.
So noise and distortion will make the much cleaner chip amps sound less good than the dirty amps? In the right situation, this I actually agree with.
Now does it make more sense to make expensive heavy tube amps for this sound, or to use some chip amp that is clean where you can add a little DSP to simulate the tube or FET sound you crave? Once you get clean precisely dirtying up the sound is not a huge chore.
The M32 uses the Hypex module which is one of three known high quality Class-D designs, the other two being the ICEPower and the new THX design found in the Benchmark amp. The future is off to a very slow start it seems.
The reason why virtually every audiophile headphone amp and DAC is Class-A is because the power output problem isn't such a large factor so designers can get the most analog, pleasing sound possible that Class-A is uniquely suited to due to its immunity to ugly switching and other electronic artifacts that effect D and to a lesser extent AB designs.
So just to clarify, your question was what class D amp competes with the Mjolnir 2 and my answer was the NAD M32. You concede that it does compete and that it is Class-D, but yet you are still arguing against it?
I think the fact that you list 3 different "High Quality" Class-D designs is proof of where we are headed. 5 years ago there wasn't one design that would compete at the top echelons. I don't see this as slow progress, I see it as very definite progress.
The fact that solid state amplifiers really didn't become practical until sometime in the late 1970s or early 1980s means they only have between 30 and 40 years of total development time. Plenty of other technologies we now take for granted took a lot longer to really get going.
Do people who buy hybrid or electric cars and replace all their lights with LEDs want an energy pig of a power amp that weighs 100 pounds and screams 'waste'?
What do you guys think of the devialet class A/D design? They have the tech patented, getting rave reviews (doesn't mean anything though) and more importantly, a large number of audiophiles are ditching their separate boxes for their integrated which is the size of a large laptop. I'm very intrigued.
What do you guys think of the devialet class A/D design? They have the tech patented, getting rave reviews (doesn't mean anything though) and more importantly, a large number of audiophiles are ditching their separate boxes for their integrated which is the size of a large laptop. I'm very intrigued.
It's the opposite, they used their amp tech in the phantom, they have been releasing integrated amps since 2010. Their marketing is super shiny clearly targetting the ultra rich, but seems like the product has a lot of tech in it too.
http://en.devialet.com/expertpro/discover
It's the opposite, they used their amp tech in the phantom, they have been releasing integrated amps since 2010. Their marketing is super shiny clearly targetting the ultra rich, but seems like the product has a lot of tech in it too.
http://en.devialet.com/expertpro/discover
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