Build your own professional-grade audio amp on the sort-of cheap (2018)

Re:Build your own professional-grade audio amp on the sort-o... by xnyan on Sunday November 08, 2020 @03:08PM (#25028514)

Sound is weird and I agree it is a subjective experience.

I’ve done some unscientific blind tests with nice modern class Ds on people who avowedly think all digital amplification is trash. 9 times out of 10 the reaction has been something like “hmm, how lovely, now when are you going to show me the digital amp?” After I tell them what it is, it becomes “oh yeah, I can hear it now. It’s fine I guess for casual listeners but clearly lacks X.”

People consistently report higher levels of satisfaction with more expensive wine versus cheaper one, even if it’s just the same wine rebottled. They’re not lying, our perceptions and preconceived notions genuinely affect the we experience reality.

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Re:Build your own professional-grade audio amp on the sort-o... by SomeoneFromCA on Monday November 09, 2020 @02:53AM (#25032332)

I tried many Class-Ds - and all of them caused fatigue. The initially sound even better than AB, but in 15 minutes I get tired.

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Re:Build your own professional-grade audio amp on the sort-o... by tomxor on Tuesday November 10, 2020 @02:36PM (#25050616)

Fatigue is an interesting factor as there is no physiological bias involved AFAICT - when you can't listen any more you just know, it's almost physical.

I have noticed different headphones and using a class AB headphone amp vs builtin switching amps can significantly impact how long I can listen for... But that anecdotal correlation is not enough for me to assign blame to switching amps, it might just be crap switching amps... or switching amps with not enough headroom. The problem is class D is always used for cheap low power devices, so most bad experiences are inevitably going to strongly correlate with class-D - whether or not it's attributed to the fundamental property of switching vs just being a bit ... shit.

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Re:Build your own professional-grade audio amp on the sort-o... by pjc50 on Monday November 09, 2020 @05:23AM (#25033283)

Blinded or unblinded?

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Re:Build your own professional-grade audio amp on the sort-o... by SomeoneFromCA on Monday November 09, 2020 @09:46AM (#25035302)

Both. I do not believe that non-blind tests are worthless. When you are dealing with subtle effects, knowing what to listen for actually helps in detecting the difference. However, I tried both blind and non-blind. Did not like both times. I really wanted to like Class-D though, it is not like I was prejudiced.

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