Ampapa D1 Stereo Amplifier Review

[GGroch]

I may be missing something but I do not think this amp deserve so much praise.
The WiiM Amp was launch exactly 2 years ago, has ......

The ASR preference poll agrees with you, giving the WiiM Amp a sold Great and the Ampapa Fine.
If you do not already own a WiiM, or DAC, or want one with different features, then the WiiM Amp is them better choice for many.

Here, it costs $100 more than the D1. As I already have a WiiM Ultra, the D1's cool lights and meters without duplicating functions was a better choice for me.
Ampapa sounds ridiculous in English too. Schiit Audio sounds equally dumb, perhaps that is the point.

Just an observation: This amp tests and looks almost exactly the same as the Aiyima A80.

Very similar, even the sizes are the same. There are enough feature differences, and the board layouts are quite different so they are not direct clones. But I agree, the D1 was probably released to go after the A80 market and is likely made in the same factory sharing some engineering DNA.

Both Douk and Aiyima are real companies, but within each product line models vary a lot in appearance, control and features. I expect the design teams and manufacturing plants differ from model to model within each brand.

 

[avl2]

... If Better Choice means performing better on Amir's tests then the A5 wins as it beats the D1 on most all but the power output test. ...

why do you say that ? SINAD higher for Ampapa D1, distortion in intermodulation tests better etc. Question to Amir and others: are those differences meaningfull, could be heared ? (I have a Douk A5 for 9 months now, and I am happy with its performance)

 

[3eaudio]

The ASR preference poll agrees with you, giving the WiiM Amp a sold Great and the Ampapa Fine.
If you do not already own a WiiM, or DAC, or want one with different features, then the WiiM Amp is them better choice for many.

Here, it costs $100 more than the D1. As I already have a WiiM Ultra, the D1's cool lights and meters without duplicating functions was a better choice for me.
Ampapa sounds ridiculous in English too. Schiit Audio sounds equally dumb, perhaps that is the point.


Very similar, even the sizes are the same. There are enough feature differences, and the board layouts are quite different so they are not direct clones. But I agree, the D1 was probably released to go after the A80 market and is likely made in the same factory sharing some engineering DNA.

Both Douk and Aiyima are real companies, but within each product line models vary a lot in appearance, control and features. I expect the design teams and manufacturing plants differ from model to model within each brand.

actually both are from the same ODM company.

 

[avl2]

The highpass filter is such a smart feature for a product that will most likely only drive bookshelf speakers, even if it would do fine with full range tower.
It is the first I have seen, hopefully it will catch up with others.

on one side I agree, and I looked at lot of speaker measurements seeing different distortion rise at low frequencies, like
bad: KEF LS50 better: MA Gold 100 Revel M12

so from measurement side I fully see the reason not letting too low frequencies to a smaller speaker. Having small speakers and a Douk A5, I tried, but I would say: could not detect clearly any sound quality improvement with different highpass filter settings.

Resulting question: does anyone know measurement of small speaker (distortion etc.) with full signal and with different highpassed signal ?
does anyone hear in his setup any improved sound giving highpassed signal to his/her loudspeakers ?

thanks.

 

[Bleib]

The ASR preference poll agrees with you, giving the WiiM Amp a sold Great and the Ampapa Fine.
If you do not already own a WiiM, or DAC, or want one with different features, then the WiiM Amp is them better choice for many.

Here, it costs $100 more than the D1. As I already have a WiiM Ultra, the D1's cool lights and meters without duplicating functions was a better choice for me.
Ampapa sounds ridiculous in English too. Schiit Audio sounds equally dumb, perhaps that is the point.


Very similar, even the sizes are the same. There are enough feature differences, and the board layouts are quite different so they are not direct clones. But I agree, the D1 was probably released to go after the A80 market and is likely made in the same factory sharing some engineering DNA.

Both Douk and Aiyima are real companies, but within each product line models vary a lot in appearance, control and features. I expect the design teams and manufacturing plants differ from model to model within each brand.

The main difference as I see it is that A80 is much more powerful at 20hz?

 

[JSmith]

Lol

JSmith

 

[delta76]

Lol

Well,

I may be missing something but I do not think this amp deserve so much praise.

The WiiM Amp was launch exactly 2 years ago, has similar power, similar measurements and similar load dependency BUT it has an integrated power supply, much better connectivity (including HDMI Arc and streaming sources), much better subwoofer integration, really good software EQ, room correction and great support and community behind. I can buy it today for 75 euros more than the D1 so I honestly think it's a no brainier.

PS: As a fun note, PAPA means potato in many Spanish speaking countries. I would not be happy with my marketing team if in 2026 they could not do a quick search with Gemini to double-check whether a commercial name may sound ridiculous in other language.

it is cheaper 199$ vs 299$ is not insignificant, slightly better SINAD, only slightly load dependency. WiiM amp pro is better but even more expensive. This has a nice screen with VU meter that appeals to many people.
We are not exactly praising this, many people voted this as Fine. It's a good amp but only to people with limited budget, or people who think it could be fun to have some VU display (I'm in the latter group, and yet I have my reservation)

 

[Bipolarbear]

I bought a second D1 for another room and just noticed that it's a different revision. The first one is V1 dated 2025/08/26 and the second is V1-1 dated 2025/11/12. The V1-1 unit runs a couple degrees cooler, the HPF knob is a bit scratchier, and it auto standbys after 5 minutes (which I wish was adjustable). I first noticed because the V1 unit doesn't do auto standby.

 

[Bleib]

I bought a second D1 for another room and just noticed that it's a different revision. The first one is V1 dated 2025/08/26 and the second is V1-1 dated 2025/11/12. The V1-1 unit runs a couple degrees cooler, the HPF knob is a bit scratchier, and it auto standbys after 5 minutes (which I wish was adjustable). I first noticed because the V1 unit doesn't do auto standby.

Ah, that's good info because I also have the auto-stand by. But it seems to start up very quickly from it at least

 

[GGroch]

actually both are from the same ODM company.

I had to look up ODM:
ODM = Original Design Manufacturer. An ODM is a 3rd party that designed the internals, engineered the PFFB (Post-Filter Feedback) implementation, and manufactured the units.
The seller (Aiyima and Ampapa) then branded and sold these designs. They may request tweaks to the faceplate, the screen interface, or specific components (like the A80's DAC chip), but the "DNA" of the two amplifiers is the same. Aiyima/Ampapa markets, decides warranties etc., and may request changes (like the 5 second signal sensing shut-off in the v2 D1).
In most cases, an ODM owns the intellectual property for the design. They show a catalog of "reference designs" to brands like Aiyima, who then choose one to bring to market. So, "White label" is probably right. In this case, the designs are close but not clones.

In looking at the Aiyima and Douk/Ampapa, it does seem they frequently used ODMs in their product lines. SMSL, Fosi, 3e Audio probably use their own engineering and design teams and may or may not be manufactured in their own factories.

 

[teched58]

• Engineered for True 2.1 Systems: The adjustable 30–200Hz high-pass filter removes low frequencies from the main output, letting your stereo speakers focus on mids and highs with better clarity, while PRE-OUT offers full-range signal to active subwoofers, amplifiers, or active speakers.

At last, a way to protect my 60 year old EMI SPEAKERS and my baby linkwitz without spending 2000 on a denon with decent sinad. Come on , balanced inputs , meters, tone controls...next thing you gonna tell me is that tariffs have been lifted and prices are falling....do u have any bridges for sale??

DOUK RAIDER....May the force be with you.

So there's no clean subwoofer/LFE output with which to feed your subwoofer. Only the full-range output from the pre out.

 

[jareinertson]

Well, not bad for the price, for sure (winking an eye to our President), but definitely not the equal of other cheap amps from Topping, 3E Audio, Smsl.

I don't give a damn about the large digital vu meters but I would prefer a well implemented PFFB (clearly, this amp is not load immune. From 5Khz, the FR isn't linear) and also no "plop" at power On and power Off.

I'd much rather go for a small well done classic class AB amp like the Yamaha S201 (about same price, same power, but linear FR until past 20khz and much more connections In and out, and a classy/classic design). And believe me (because i have a vintage Yam amp for years), they don't draw that much power and they don't get warm.

Cheap class D amps are small and Ok, but they're not all equal.

You can get as well SOTA little jewels like some Topping or 3E, as just average good (not more) like the two Douk Audio reviewed these last days by Amir.
And by the way, who in France is going to be proud of owning an amp named Ampapa (what a silly/funny name) ?

Interesting that Yamaha lists power output as 40hz-20Khz, avoiding the 20-40hz range.

 

[RoA]

I do worry about the longevity if an always on OLED display on a device like this. The display on my SMSL M8 is a total mess because it didn’t have an auto-off option in the firmware when I purchased it. Sometimes LCD is the superior choice even if it doesn’t sound as fancy on paper.

Luckily, most of these cheap chinese chip amp sections probably fail before the display does. Landfill stuff.

 

[Bleib]

In this case it's not an OLED, it's clearly an LCD. So the light will get weaker with time before it dies at least... no burn ins

 

[Mort]

Luckily, most of these cheap chinese chip amp sections probably fail before the display does. Landfill stuff.

In the end, we are all landfill stuff. It's just a matter of degree.

 

[Billy Budapest]

Thanks, just saw the review.

@amirm, cheers for the testing, fairly welcome results yet also room for improvement.

Pics (stock, no silly opamp replacing );

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JSmith

What are the dip switches for?

 

[Bleib]

What are the dip switches for?

Led lights inside the amp. Different variations or turning off

 

[Joe Smith]

I still have several class D amps - cheap ones - that are going on 18 years old, so I no longer worry about the longevity issue. Apart from initial failure issues due to poor QC (e.g., Topping amp issues), which seem to get called out very quickly by initial users.

 

[Olivastro]

D1 vs Wiim?

I wouldn't dare compare devices with different prices, mainly because of the different markets. On the European market, for example, I bought the D1 for €147, while the Wiim Amp would have cost me €369! That's more than double the price, even when comparing it to the basic Wiim model! The Ultra model costs €599!!!

 

[delta76]

Wiim amp can be had for 299,€ quite frequently. You get better built product and actual warranty, which also plays an important role should you want to resell.
Of course this amp is very appealing if you have a limited budget. But if you can afford Wiim...