Aiyima A07 PRO

[Holmz]

I think you meant to type my username, but I could be mistaken?

Well @AdamG247 maybe I am dyslexic.

Funny how you attempted to defend him and he stuck that right up your keester. Nice fella though

Hopefully we find a watch there…

He just earned his walking papers. So I would not hold out long for a return love note from him.

That is somewhat a shame as I liked what he was doing in general.
And anyone who comes out with “Ausbergers like” stuff, IMO, should be given a bit of leeway for having a rough communication style.

 

[Zeppelin]

Want to give my polite opinion about the behaviour of ScrufBoy.

He said in the begining wrong information about the device (the bluetooth vs RCA input), repetead it during some pages, and when discovered his fault, he said it, but don't edit those misinformating pages. He states that doing that would be stupid. I think he didn't understand what was ask for, and it was to add a 2 text lines at the end of each post saying it was an error. Not doing it is being non honest or lazy. Choose the one you prefer

His experiments on the amp are 1) changing the op amps for the Sparkos, 2) improving the cooling systems and 3) changing the caps.

The 1) is an absurd one, because the replacement op amps cost more than 3 times the amp cost. It is no surprising it would sound better

Number 2) improving/creating cooling system. Well.... it's ok. Nothing remarkable

And 3) changing caps. This is the only real good thing he did in all 15 pages.

Besides that he stated he is a SIGMA man (and surprisingly says it without smirring...), have been rude with some users, stated that his thread is on him, ....

Well, I am brand new to this forum, but I hope this guy give more to this forum than what he has given to this thread, because almost the only thing I see is misinformation and rudeness, althought the caps part.

And this guy have friends... and even family... Good Lord....

But hey, he is a SIGMA, so who I am to say?

 

[Zeppelin]

About the Neohipo DA300, I am very interested in this device.

The Aiyima A07 with bluetooth APTX HD and almost the same SNR seems pretty good. Just need some tone controls there and it would be perfect, for me.

By the way, want to say thanks to all the users here doing constructive stuff. Of course measurements would be good, but as guide lines are very usefull

 

[Holmz]

But is he a black belt SIGMA?

 

[Zeppelin]

Thats funny haha Like when he said the Sigma definition brougth by another user was biased, and then he brougth a Sigma-friendly-biased definition of Sigma haha.

But better let's focus on the thread topic now we all stated our opinions. Sure he is going to write 1000 lines about how stupids we are, but just don't pay attention to that part. I am going to receive the most important part, so if I can ignore it also all of you can

 

[BDWoody]

The 1) is an absurd one, because the replacement op amps cost more than 3 times the amp cost. It is no surprising it would sound better

I'd actually be surprised if it did.

 

[AdamG]

That is somewhat a shame as I liked what he was doing in general.

The last part is why we gave him lots of wiggle room and tried to accommodate him and modify his behavior. In the end he was unable or unwilling to contain himself and communicate with respect and dignity. Caustic behavior like this is unacceptable no matter what you bring to the table. Let’s move on shall we.

 

[Zeppelin]

I'd actually be surprised if it did.

Sorry, I am not sure if I understand it well. Maybe it's because I am not a English native speaker.

Are you saying you don't think the 5 Sparkos may have improved the sound?

 

[Holmz]

Sorry, I am not sure if I understand it well. Maybe it's because I am not a English native speaker.

Are you saying you don't think the 5 Sparkos may have improved the sound?

@Zeppelin - I think he is saying that the cheap OP-Amps and the expensive ones, may actually sound the same.

 

[Galliardist]

Sorry, I am not sure if I understand it well. Maybe it's because I am not a English native speaker.

Are you saying you don't think the 5 Sparkos may have improved the sound?

I can't answer for others, but was trying to say in effect was... we don't know. It needs someone who's made the change to give us objective data. Without that data, many of us here will ignore the usual subjective reports of improvement. It's the missing piece here.

This would make a good test case towards understanding if changing opamps can provide a reliable upgrade or not, but everyone who's doing it here and in other forums is only giving us a subjective opinion, and few are really clear about the recipe they are using and the precautions that appear to be needed when making some of the changes.

We are here to learn, as well as have fun: that involves some of us having to be demonstrators, if not teachers. You are making the claim that the sound is improved: you show us the numbers and/or the blind test results and we'll believe you.

For myself, I am interested in this, but not enough to spend money and time learning to test it myself, nor am I in need of an A07 either stock or upgraded.

And for four times the cost of a stock A07, we can go the sure way of buying another amp with improved measurements, such as SINAD over 85 and within the looser definition of transparent - and known output, that we don't have for the upgraded A07.

 

[Berlun]

And this guy have friends... and even family... Good Lord....

But hey, he is a SIGMA, so who I am to say?

They ask him for music at high volume, so they don't have to listen to him, the best solution. But with Sparkos, of course.

The truth is that at times this Scrufboy user has given me the feeling that he is simply advertising the Sparkos op-amps, since in his messages he constantly remarks that since he made that change in this amp, it seems to have the best sound in the world.

This in a way seems harmful, since for inexperienced users, maybe it only creates the feeling that by doing the same thing they would get a much better amp, only investing more money in op-amps than it would actually cost to buy a much better amp. 500€ op-amps in a 100€ amp... Of course you could also tell me that this would be the problem of whoever follows in their footsteps, but that doesn't mean you can let them advertise like that all the time I think. This forum is a great influence for a giant number of people in this world.

Anyway, he's the smart one and all the rest of us are just stupid, no doubt about it. Put a SIGMA in your life, and everything will be fantastic.

I have changed the op-amps on my Aiyima A07 Pro for some 1612's, the main reason actually was to go about trying to modify some components as practice, and also because I have been told that some components used by these brands are of really poor quality and/or imitation. The latter is something that really escapes my possibilities to check, but it doesn't seem to me such a big investment not to do it.

I would love to know if there is really a way to measure/check how effective these changes can be in this kind of devices in an objective way of course.

 

[Calleberg]

Some encouragement for all the SIGMA´s out there, Probably sounds extra amazing on one of those Frankensteined Chipamps

 

[Galliardist]

They ask him for music at high volume, so they don't have to listen to him, the best solution. But with Sparkos, of course.

The truth is that at times this Scrufboy user has given me the feeling that he is simply advertising the Sparkos op-amps, since in his messages he constantly remarks that since he made that change in this amp, it seems to have the best sound in the world.

This in a way seems harmful, since for inexperienced users, maybe it only creates the feeling that by doing the same thing they would get a much better amp, only investing more money in op-amps than it would actually cost to buy a much better amp. 500€ op-amps in a 100€ amp... Of course you could also tell me that this would be the problem of whoever follows in their footsteps, but that doesn't mean you can let them advertise like that all the time I think. This forum is a great influence for a giant number of people in this world.

Anyway, he's the smart one and all the rest of us are just stupid, no doubt about it. Put a SIGMA in your life, and everything will be fantastic.

I have changed the op-amps on my Aiyima A07 Pro for some 1612's, the main reason actually was to go about trying to modify some components as practice, and also because I have been told that some components used by these brands are of really poor quality and/or imitation. The latter is something that really escapes my possibilities to check, but it doesn't seem to me such a big investment not to do it.

I would love to know if there is really a way to measure/check how effective these changes can be in this kind of devices in an objective way of course.

The thing is, the vast majority of us are much nicer in real life than running asynchronous debates on contentious matters in online forums.

I've not measured anything like this, but plenty here have. See for example @GXAlan's reviews of amplifiers: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/3-generations-of-marantz-flagship-integrated-amps-measured.37688/ for example. Sorry, I can't get the link to display correctly for some reason but you can follow it.

He appears to be using a relatively inexpensive ADC for at least some of his measurements and I'm sure could help you repeat his method on the A07.

 

[Calleberg]

The 1) is an absurd one, because the replacement op amps cost more than 3 times the amp cost. It is no surprising it would sound better

Well it is absurd, yes. But maybe not in the way you suggest. In the Audiphool industry cost and performance does not always have correlation.

In this case the OP-amps are not the limiting factor. (The TPA-Chip/Output filter is) and swapping them out is more like painting a Toyota with 10 layers of Lamborghini Orange.
It is still going to be a Toyota, it will just look different.

Here are some actual measurements of the minimal improvements that can be expected when Rolling OP´s in an A07.

AIYIMA A07 TPA3255 Amplifier Measurements and Review - LM4562 (and OPA2134) option

AIYIMA A07 TPA3255 Amplifier Measurements LM4562 option I received my A07 yesterday, on January 6, 2021, shipped from Italy. Purchased at Amazon.de and as stated on their website, it arrived without a power supply. I am testing the A07 with 2 different power supplies. One of them is a linear...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Galliardist]

Well it is absurd, yes. But maybe not in the way you suggest. In the Audiphool industry cost and performance does not always have correlation.

In this case the OP-amps are not the limiting factor. (The TPA-Chip/Output filter is) and swapping them out is more like painting a Toyota with 10 layers of Lamborghini Orange.
It is still going to be a Toyota, it will just look different.

Here are some actual measurements of the minimal improvements that can be expected when Rolling OP´s in an A07.

AIYIMA A07 TPA3255 Amplifier Measurements and Review - LM4562 (and OPA2134) option

AIYIMA A07 TPA3255 Amplifier Measurements LM4562 option I received my A07 yesterday, on January 6, 2021, shipped from Italy. Purchased at Amazon.de and as stated on their website, it arrived without a power supply. I am testing the A07 with 2 different power supplies. One of them is a linear...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Thanks. I somehow missed this one among all the other A07 threads. It seems we have pretty much all we need to know in that thread.

 

[JayGilb]

We watched someone who has no actual knowledge of electronics piss away 100's of dollars on discrete opamps and "fancy caps". Due to these mods the dc regulation devices were being pushed beyond their designed specs. The OP then complained about how it was designed and attempted to fix problems that he created using hacks that had no real benefit.

This is great "what not to do" thread and when combined with the OP's sparkling personality, it made for an interesting read.

 

[Galliardist]

Since the A07 Pro is different to the A07, it's still potentially worth measuring for anyone who has been changing the opamps, as the A07 Pro is a different enough design to check and more components are effectively being changed?

 

[conradj]

I was able to literally snap this stuff off with a little bit of effort. It chips off of the board easily and off the cap.

Just remember... And be safe. If you have used this operationally. You need to drain that cap. It won't cook you or the Amp if it shorts... But you are way better off being safe. Drain that cap!

Ha! ok. i just went and gave the 3300uF cap a bit of upwards pressure and the adhesive release.

 

[conradj]

Just finished to read all 15 pages of this thread!! You are having fun guys...

To Conradj: I have read the different op amps combinations you tried and wanted to do a couple of questions to you, although you almost kind of answered to one of them in one of your post.

It would be enough to replace just two of the op amps (now I don't remember which you said were the most importants) for the opa 2605 and don't touch the other 3 STOCK op amps? Would that be enough to make the sound warmer, as you described?

Also would like to ask if there was a heat increase with these op amps, and... can you remind me which voltage and amperage were you using? A lot of things on this post to remember all...

You subjective experience would be good for me if you can't provide a thermometer measurement. (Maybe there are things that doesn't need a measuring tool, but don't expect me to trust your "feelings" about SNR of the device )

Subjectively, just switching the op-amps for other integrated ones make tiny to no difference to the amount of heat generated by the amp. They don't draw hardly any power.

The ones described here in this thread that draw a lot of power and make heat, are discrete op-amps that're little circuit boards populated with a lot of tiny components, that plug into the op-amp socket.

The discussions in this thread reveals that indeed the 2 op-amps closest to the heatsink are the ones to change if all you want is to alter the amp's output sound. The one on the side that affects the Line Out, it's also in the signal path and you might want to change that as well, particularly if you're using the Line Out.

Changing the op-amps don't make a night and day difference to the way the amp sounds, leastways not in ways that most people would care. If the rest of your audio equipment is either good or else picky abt what they're fed, if your hearing is attuned to those small to minute changes, and you're someone whose ways of enjoying music takes the equipment to the parts of their operational envelopes where these changes stand out, then yeah, it's worth trying.

Otherwise it's kinda like chasing one's own tail.

i'm back to using Aiyima's 36V 6A power brick. It's a perfectly nice power supply, just lacks a little headroom compared to bigger PSUs. It will produce transient power outputs that exceed its rated one by quite a bit, without frying itself, so that's good.

The A07 Pro was just getting too warm for my liking with the 48V 8.3A SMPS. It's why i'm looking at changing some of the capacitors for ones rated for higher voltages. Am also figuring out what i want to do to increase case cooling.

Prolly shoulda gotten either a variable voltage one or a 42V one.

 

[conradj]

... And geez, you guys. It's like i'm reading a YouTube vid commentary rather than an ASR thread. Stop ragging on each other, willya?

Endless love, that's what we all need. Life's too short.