• Welcome to ASR. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

Any relatively affordable 4 Channel Amp+Dsp in one (little) Box?

D

DrSpan

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2024
Messages
302
Likes
95
Hi everyone.

I am planing on building a 2 way bookshelf speaker completely active so i can experiment and learn.

It falls under the „bookshelf“ category but is actually spherical and around 18cm in diameter. I want to eventually combine it with a mini sub at some point

That said,

I recently discovered this Acoustas Ac650 amplifier. However it has two „disadvantages" for my use case

1) I would like a bit more power per channel. Also the Acoustas has 6 powered channels and 2 or 4 extra outputs. 4 channels would be sufficient for now
2) It is also a bit too expensive for my current plans.

Are you aware of any 4 channel Class D amp with integrated Dsp with filters which can be used for activating a pair of 2ways?

Power wise, 60+ „real“ watts per channel at 8ohm would be sufficient

The only one i have found that i think is near is: the t.racks DSP 4x4 Mini Amp.

However this one on the other hand looks a bit cheapish and i doubt it has more power than the Acoustas.

Ps: Ready solutions (with ready i mean everything inside one box) only please. Not looking for modular pieces i have to put together
Also size wise, as small as possible. Hypex plate amps and similar are impractical to carry around

​



I would appreciate any input
 
Last edited:

WONDOM OFFICIAL SHOP - Bluetooth Amplifier Board - Sure Electronics - BCPB - 18650 charger - T-AMP - Volume Control

Sure Electronics is a professional audio amplifier supplier that provides electronics hobbyists and business partners the middleware which can help reduce customers' development difficulties and save their precious time-to-market by making the products directly released in the market.
store.sure-electronics.com store.sure-electronics.com

For Sigma Studio programming, I'd strongly advise against Sure's own ICP1 programmer as its horribly inconsistent and will refuse to connect.

@Weeb Labs has had much better success with the TinySine USBi JTAG programmer.

I have no experience with the ICP5 or Sigma's alternative PC UI Miumax GUI.

Sure specify 4x100W @6Ω (=75W @8Ω) and 6Ω is weirdly also the minimum load impedance.
 
Last edited:
staticV3 said:

WONDOM OFFICIAL SHOP - Bluetooth Amplifier Board - Sure Electronics - BCPB - 18650 charger - T-AMP - Volume Control

Sure Electronics is a professional audio amplifier supplier that provides electronics hobbyists and business partners the middleware which can help reduce customers' development difficulties and save their precious time-to-market by making the products directly released in the market.
store.sure-electronics.com store.sure-electronics.com

For Sigma Studio programming, I'd strongly advise against Sure's own ICP1 programmer as its horribly inconsistent and will refuse to connect.

@Weeb Labs has had much better success with the TinySine USBi JTAG programmer.

I have no experience with the ICP5 or Sigma's alternative PC UI Miumax GUI.
Click to expand...
Hi there.
Sorry through your answer i realized i did not specify. I ideally want a „all in one box“ such as the Acoustas. I don`t want to put it together myself
 
I too would love such a thing but I think it really only exists for car audio at a reasonable price, and comes with quite poor performance by domestic audio standards. It’s just such a niche thing outside of the car space.

It does seem like Fosi or someone could do an equivalent to the MiniDSP 2x4HD though, which would work well paired with cheap power amps.
 
mcdn said:
I too would love such a thing but I think it really only exists for car audio at a reasonable price, and comes with quite poor performance by domestic audio standards. It’s just such a niche thing outside of the car space.

It does seem like Fosi or someone could do an equivalent to the MiniDSP 2x4HD though, which would work well paired with cheap power amps.
Click to expand...
Thats what i am also concluding the more i search for it.
This As650 is great but it lacks a few things i wish for and is a bit too expensive for my project budget plus it is US from what i understand so its hard to get in Europe
 
The MiniDSP 2x4HD is down to USD225 these days but lacks a volume control. Anything cheaper is going to require programming via Sigma Studio and be of questionable fidelity/quality.

For active speakers which require a proper crossover etc, not just PEQ how about this? a WiiM Pro for $149, MiniDSP 2x4HD for $225, and a pair of Aiyima or Fosi stereo amps ($110 each). Total about $600.
 
Sorry if stating an obvious option that you have already discounted, but have you considered the Hypex Fusion plate amplifiers?

www.hypex.nl

Fusion Amplifier Family

Hypex FusionAmp plate amplifiers provide you with the perfect tool to create active speakers from low power 1ch to high power 3ch solutions.
www.hypex.nl www.hypex.nl

Would only need mounting on a box (or on the speakers) to make a complete solution.
 
-Matt- said:
Sorry if stating an obvious option that you have already discounted, but have you considered the Hypex Fusion plate amplifiers?

www.hypex.nl

Fusion Amplifier Family

Hypex FusionAmp plate amplifiers provide you with the perfect tool to create active speakers from low power 1ch to high power 3ch solutions.
www.hypex.nl www.hypex.nl

Would only need mounting on a box (or on the speakers) to make a complete solution.
Click to expand...
I have considered it .
However they Hypex plate amps are „huge“ for my plans. I am aiming at a semi portable travel setup. The smallest hypex is around 30cm long without an enclosure.

My speakers are spherical around 18cm diameter. The amp size i am looking+hoping for is like the smsl mini amplifiers A50 and similar.
I think i will fail in my search. This Acoustas Ac650 is the only thing that comes near but its too expensive for my wished budget.
 
mcdn said:
The MiniDSP 2x4HD is down to USD225 these days but lacks a volume control. Anything cheaper is going to require programming via Sigma Studio and be of questionable fidelity/quality.

For active speakers which require a proper crossover etc, not just PEQ how about this? a WiiM Pro for $149, MiniDSP 2x4HD for $225, and a pair of Aiyima or Fosi stereo amps ($110 each). Total about $600.
Click to expand...
Thank you.
I forgot to mention, i wanted to keep it small as i plan to take it with me when traveling. So the setup you mention is simply too many devices.
The acoustas device i mentioned has all of this inside one relatively compact enclosure. But also not cheap.
 
DrSpan said:
Hi everyone.

I am planing on building a 2 way bookshelf speaker completely active so i can experiment and learn.

It falls under the „bookshelf“ category but is actually spherical and around 18cm in diameter. I want to eventually combine it with a mini sub at some point

That said,

I recently discovered this Acoustas Ac650 amplifier. However it has two „disadvantages" for my use case

1) I would like a bit more power per channel. Also the Acoustas has 6 powered channels and 2 or 4 extra outputs. 4 channels would be sufficient for now
2) It is also a bit too expensive for my current plans.

Are you aware of any 4 channel Class D amp with integrated Dsp with filters which can be used for activating a pair of 2ways?

Power wise, 60+ „real“ watts per channel at 8ohm would be sufficient

The only one i have found that i think is near is: the t.racks DSP 4x4 Mini Amp.

However this one on the other hand looks a bit cheapish and i doubt it has more power than the Acoustas.

Ps: Ready solutions (with ready i mean everything inside one box) only please. Not looking for modular pieces i have to put together
Also size wise, as small as possible. Hypex plate amps and similar are impractical to carry around

​



I would appreciate any input
Click to expand...
the t.racks DSP 4x4 Mini Amp
 
DrSpan said:
Thank you.

Hmm i know this one. Two things i find lacking information for me.
1) i cant find any reliable source on actual measurements
2) works only with windows and i am on mac. It is solvable but an extra inconvenience as i am not that fit with windows on mac solutions
Click to expand...
thomann t.racks DSP 4x4 Mini Review

Then this small market will be suddenly and extremely reduced again.
For such cases, I have an old used HP business notebook.
 
A left field answer is to check the market for old AVRs. Lots of older units that don’t do Atmos all the way to not even any sort of digital video, often at very low prices. Sometimes quite high end units. Annoyingly you get an odd number of channels, which is almost always the wrong number. But leaving an amp unused is no big deal; it is common for the power supply to be the weakest part anyway.
Sadly it is usually impossible to convince the internal digital train to do anything that you would want. It would be fabulous if you could feed the internal DACs directly. But they are usually buried deep in the mess. So it all gets stripped out. That leaves space for your new DSP and DACs. Some finagling of power switching is likely needed as you lose all the soft power control logic. You obviously don’t get the polished integrated result achieved with something like a Hypex plate amplifier. But depending upon your use case this may not matter, or even be a benefit.

You can even find dead units whose digital chain has died, and have otherwise perfectly usable amplifiers for very cheap. Obviously this is a bit risky, but dead units can go for silly cheap. (I have managed to do ridiculously well on this.)

Clearly one needs to research the exact model, and not be in a hurry. Most service manuals are available online, and at least some reviews might be useful. Owners forums often have discussions of common failures, which can be very valuable.

As a background activity to find cost effective amplifiers to feed the hobby, it has a lot to recommend it.
 
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

J
Dual Dayton Audio RSS315HF-4 wiring question
2
Replies
20
Views
2K
JohnnyNG
J
C
4 channel dsp choice help
Replies
7
Views
585
Ciobi69
C
TomSR
Advice on DSP + Amp Upgrade for 2-Way Build (RSS210HF-4 & SEAS DXT)
2 3
Replies
46
Views
6K
Digital_Thor
D
montyliam
4-Way Active Cardioid Speaker Build
Replies
12
Views
2K
Ktacos
K
amirm
  • Poll Poll
Ashly FX125.4 Multichannel Amp Review
2 3 4
Replies
79
Views
16K
Scrivs
Scrivs
Back
Top Bottom