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AIYIMA A07 TPA3255 Review (Amplifier)
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somebodyelse
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The thread @DuncanTodd linked to covers several board and PSU options over a range of prices. A few are cheaper than the TI EVM while apparently meeting datasheet performance. Some include instructions for adding post-filter feedback to improve performance, something the more expensive board options already include.
Amir's Panther score also does not 100% match the speaker preference rating. But when it doesn't, fireballs start coming.
Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
Ralferator
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Why? I hope for more test of similar amps. The TPA3255 obviously has potential so why should we not want to know which of these amps are good value and which are garbage?
renaudrenaud
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I suggest Ti EVM and 3eAudio mono board.
I’d love to see the results of this blind tested against a suite of $5,000 tube amps.
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Or even solid-state.
I’d be hoping in that case that the competitive SS amp with 5x the power and without current limitations into 3 ohm (minimum) speakers would be audibly better than this unit. Otherwise the hobby would be just about finished except for speakers. But hey, that’s progress, I suppose.
With dual Tpa 3255 in PBTL mode and post filter feedback with a good power supply, it should be possible to get a SINAD better than 100 ?
ALLO where are you ?
https://www.ti.com/lit/an/slaa788a/...=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ti.com%2Fproduct%2FTPA3255
ALLO where are you ?
https://www.ti.com/lit/an/slaa788a/...=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ti.com%2Fproduct%2FTPA3255
I for one would welcome more reviews like this
I think reviews like this are great, small cheap amps bring it on! We also need to start measuring Chinese PA amps and see how their price to quality ratio stacks up. They're cheap and built good, curious about sound quality.
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I bought several Chinese TPA3255 boards 2 years ago. They sound great, but 2 died, most probably they can't take 48V. I read somewhere to drive them below 40V.Thank you for another great review and all the fantastic year (yes 2020 was fantastic at ASR
Some thoughs:
Amazon listing says recommended power adapter DC48V 5A, while manufacturer's product page recommends even higher (48V 7,5A). So question arises if we reached max. potential here..
I'd be curious about the thermal design as well. Maybe it wouldn't cost much time (with these cheap "easy to remove cover" bricks) to measure the heatsink temperature near max. output (with infrared thermometer). Say not every amp review, from time to time..
That said, I wonder if these passive chip-amp designs are more limited with overall hw design or with internal temperature. (and if it will go higher in output, had it be active cooled)
PS: listening tests shouldn't be omitted, mfg claims at product page "dual 300W shocking bass output"
For the money I buy now Behringer A800's. 150 euro, great sounding, much more powerful and power supply included.
RealityCheck18
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Great review!
Very interesting, the main faults tend to be with the power supply so the end user has options. I tend to expand out what the chip does and ponder how well it would work as surround channels on AVRs and so on. Since my AVR system is done AND my garage 2.2 channel system is complete now I need a reason to purchase audio gear don't need.
The above is a 2.1 chip amp that runs on 12 to 24V, has full DSP, crossovers, PEQ, streaming, Blutooth and optional daughter boards to configure the thing. The board will run on 12V automotive, 18V from my 18V 4Ah Makita power drill batteries or a 24V 8 amp power supply. The ultimate boom box? I'd say so, I can even cover the 1/2 inch ply construction with silver vinyl wrap so it matches the epic move "Breakin' 2 Electric Boogaloo" I designed the boom box about a year ago with dual 5" Neo woofers, 3" Faital Pro line array Neo full ranges and a 6.5" TangBand Neo sub with dual 8" passive radiators so no ports for bugs to crawl into. Alas, I needed the 2.1 board to have high pass/low pass filters and some EQ would be nice and now it happened.
How many people globally are messing around with chip amp boards? Quite a few from what I gather so that helps improve the breed. Realistically, it hits a great price point for teenagers, 20 somethings to screw around with audio without breaking the bank. Hell, they might actually learn something! I think of them as a Heathkit for the modern era, all sorts of uses for the things and being so small and energy efficient, it opens up stuffing audio equipment into the smallest areas.
Competition improves the breed--not hard to imagine AVRs with chip amps running in parallel operation (2 channels into one channel parallel) to improve efficiency, lower thermal load and cut distortion if done right. Figure my next AVR should have paralleled chip amps for surrounds, it would take the load off the power supply and heat sinks to allow the LCR channels more room and power to deal with the hard driven main channels. Fully aware that Sony/Yamaha/Sound United won't do that unless forced by the market--that is fine by me, since most of the AVR companies are gone it is not unreasonable to believe a Chinese company will jump in with chip amp AVRs done right. After all, the market in China/India/Asia is far, far larger than the Euro/US zone and they demand smaller and more electrically efficient gear in their higher population density areas.
I applaud Amir testing chip amp boards--nothing wrong with looking at what the future will provide. It does throw the gauntlet that a $70 chip amp board with the ultra-cheap power bricks can be above average performance. I'd like to see a retest with a 48V bench type adjustable power supply to test the limits of the chip to see how far the rabbit hole goes. Not saying he should replace the heat sink with a much larger one, install giant capacitors and push the voltage higher to see how far it can go before it smokes--that is the job for teenagers so don't steal their thunder?
Hats off to Aiyama for pushing chip amps further...now I can waste more money on portable audio gear.
Very interesting, the main faults tend to be with the power supply so the end user has options. I tend to expand out what the chip does and ponder how well it would work as surround channels on AVRs and so on. Since my AVR system is done AND my garage 2.2 channel system is complete now I need a reason to purchase audio gear don't need.
The above is a 2.1 chip amp that runs on 12 to 24V, has full DSP, crossovers, PEQ, streaming, Blutooth and optional daughter boards to configure the thing. The board will run on 12V automotive, 18V from my 18V 4Ah Makita power drill batteries or a 24V 8 amp power supply. The ultimate boom box? I'd say so, I can even cover the 1/2 inch ply construction with silver vinyl wrap so it matches the epic move "Breakin' 2 Electric Boogaloo" I designed the boom box about a year ago with dual 5" Neo woofers, 3" Faital Pro line array Neo full ranges and a 6.5" TangBand Neo sub with dual 8" passive radiators so no ports for bugs to crawl into. Alas, I needed the 2.1 board to have high pass/low pass filters and some EQ would be nice and now it happened.
How many people globally are messing around with chip amp boards? Quite a few from what I gather so that helps improve the breed. Realistically, it hits a great price point for teenagers, 20 somethings to screw around with audio without breaking the bank. Hell, they might actually learn something! I think of them as a Heathkit for the modern era, all sorts of uses for the things and being so small and energy efficient, it opens up stuffing audio equipment into the smallest areas.
Competition improves the breed--not hard to imagine AVRs with chip amps running in parallel operation (2 channels into one channel parallel) to improve efficiency, lower thermal load and cut distortion if done right. Figure my next AVR should have paralleled chip amps for surrounds, it would take the load off the power supply and heat sinks to allow the LCR channels more room and power to deal with the hard driven main channels. Fully aware that Sony/Yamaha/Sound United won't do that unless forced by the market--that is fine by me, since most of the AVR companies are gone it is not unreasonable to believe a Chinese company will jump in with chip amp AVRs done right. After all, the market in China/India/Asia is far, far larger than the Euro/US zone and they demand smaller and more electrically efficient gear in their higher population density areas.
I applaud Amir testing chip amp boards--nothing wrong with looking at what the future will provide. It does throw the gauntlet that a $70 chip amp board with the ultra-cheap power bricks can be above average performance. I'd like to see a retest with a 48V bench type adjustable power supply to test the limits of the chip to see how far the rabbit hole goes. Not saying he should replace the heat sink with a much larger one, install giant capacitors and push the voltage higher to see how far it can go before it smokes--that is the job for teenagers so don't steal their thunder?
Hats off to Aiyama for pushing chip amps further...now I can waste more money on portable audio gear.
DuncanTodd
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Aliexpress has a lot of sellers selling the same products. Which is the "official" one is hard to tell. Sometimes you can find different variations on the same name. UGreen has at least 4 different stores there.
This is the official website:
https://www.aiyima.com/
Aiyima offers these A04/A07 models with a different op amp like in the listing you found. The more expensive one is said to be better than the stock one.
I don't really understand a lot of the stuff measured here tbh, would measurements using a different op amp show different results?
Inside pic.
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In comparison to the lousy performance of most amps in this price range, I’ll take “average.” I am sure in the next few years the performance of chip amps and their implementing circuitry will improve, perhaps as much as headphone amp and DAC performance has greatly improved during the past few years.
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I still like the NE5532 ( used in the module) because of its well balanced parameters. I prefer it to LME49720, because, according to my measurements, it is more resistent to EMI, even if it has slightly higher distortion - which remains below audibility threshold.
I suppose your pedantry is appropriate, however with common sense applied at $150 a pop with no PSU one should be looking at Hypex NC/MP modules instead.
DuncanTodd
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Is this specifically the one Amir measured? As I mentioned there are a few variations (later ones with a green board and some other changes).
I don't know, just googled the product name and found the pic.
DuncanTodd
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OK.
Over at the TPA3255 thread, there have been pics of a few different ones. daniboun buys almost any board that is produced around this chip.
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