This is a review and detailed measurements of the Audison Forza AF C8.14 8-channel amplifier and 14 channel DSP processor. I purchased this for US $1,100.
I was pleasantly surprised how compact this amplifier is! In pictures it looks like the typical car audio amplifier. But as you see relative to the panther, it is quite small so should be easy to hide it away in the cabin. Fortunately small doesn't mean cheap. The enclosure seems built out of some kind of cast metal and is quite solid and dense. Rear connections are typical of better amplifiers including the nice power terminals:
One key aspect I was looking for is digital Toslink input. That not only eliminates the need to run multiple RCA cables, but has the potential to reduce noise and eliminate ground loops. This being a DSP, it makes sense to send it digital audio anyway, assuming your head units sports such.
The target for this amplifier is potential installers although with a bit of knowledge, you should be able to figure things out yourself with their "bit drive" software:
There is extensive support for de-equalizing the stock OEM audio system to get it to produce a flat, full range stereo input. I believe it actually has a wizard that walks you through it.
The first thing you have to do with these DSP amplifiers, is to find the input mixer to turn on and assign inputs to channels. Without it, you won't get any sound which likely frustrates some users. Usually this is an obvious option in the menu but I had to do some searching and read the manual to find that little gray button with sliders (next to blue Zone slider). Another unusual aspect is that fact you can't type the EQ frequency and Q (how wide the filter is) in the sliders. You have to use the two rotary dials/text under them to do that. A bit odd but not a big deal. Note that I have cut off the right side of the app as it will list all the channels if you have room for it.
I was pleased that the USB interface is a proper one and not the kludge serial over USB that some other companies use. At least it looks that way in the way it instantly worked on my system unlike others. Modifying single parameters take a second to be updated. Pushing all the settings takes about 10 seconds which is fine.
I can't remotely talk about all the features here. But there is filter import from REW and every type of filter is supported including all pass (for delay). There is also automated EQ using proper external headphones (whatever your PC supports). The few videos I have seen don't tell me how well it works but it is good to have it as a starting point.
I like the unit temperature display bottom right (captured after all the testing/stressing the amplifier). Turns out that is internal temp as the case is actually colder than that:
Mind you, the unit still gets warm but nothing as hot as the JBL DSP4086 I recently tested. As you will see below, idle current consumption is lower as well.
Audison AF C8.14 DSP Amplifier Measurements
As usual we start with our 5 watt dashboard of 1 kHz into 4 ohm:
One channel has more distortion but that was a wiring issue. The unit comes with captive snap push connectors and I had trouble getting one channel to mate better with my locking banana measurement harness. I forgot to recapture the dashboard after I mostly fixed this (see the power sweep below). Going with that, the performance is slightly above average for all car audio amplifiers tested:
Switching to Toslink input doesn't increase SINAD since we are (amplifier) distortion bound:
We can see this reflected in SNR measurements:
These are average home audio noise figures which is nice for the category and provides close to transparency for 16 bit audio.
Internal architecture is 24 bit/96 kHz which provides wideband response even if you use analog inputs:
The ADC filter actually tames the peaking a bit at higher impedances. No matter, we have a DSP with EQ here so we can filter this out (with in situ measurements). Still, would be nice to have post filter feedback given the premium price of this amplifier.
Multitone shows broad intermodulation products as expected:
Digital input helps here:
Same situation as far as intermodulation with 19 and 20 kHz tones:
Crosstalk is good and doesn't vary with input type (so a function of the amp):
Power sweep shows good performance for the class:
Toslink improves things a bit (don't mind the clipping point):
We get good bit of power relative to small size of the unit:
Company testing is at 14.4 volt so they show more power. My Lithium BMS shuts down charging at 13.8 volt so I can't measure that high (nor do I think you will have that kind of voltage at the terminals in a real car).
Next, I used my Audiograph loadbox to test with simulated reactive loads down to 2 ohm:
If you have the option of using 2 ohm speakers, you should. Boldened by that, I went down to 1 ohm and poor amp shut down.
Finally, the amplifier is stable on power up:
Conclusions
The AF C8.14 bit is a powerful premium DSP amplifier, packing a ton of functionality in a very small package. It measures and feels like it is well designed. It surely leaves some performance on the table considering the cost but until we find better options, this is good enough. I will be using this in my own campervan retrofit.
I am going to recommend the Audison AF C8.14 Bit Forza DSP Amplifier.
------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
I was pleasantly surprised how compact this amplifier is! In pictures it looks like the typical car audio amplifier. But as you see relative to the panther, it is quite small so should be easy to hide it away in the cabin. Fortunately small doesn't mean cheap. The enclosure seems built out of some kind of cast metal and is quite solid and dense. Rear connections are typical of better amplifiers including the nice power terminals:
One key aspect I was looking for is digital Toslink input. That not only eliminates the need to run multiple RCA cables, but has the potential to reduce noise and eliminate ground loops. This being a DSP, it makes sense to send it digital audio anyway, assuming your head units sports such.
The target for this amplifier is potential installers although with a bit of knowledge, you should be able to figure things out yourself with their "bit drive" software:
There is extensive support for de-equalizing the stock OEM audio system to get it to produce a flat, full range stereo input. I believe it actually has a wizard that walks you through it.
The first thing you have to do with these DSP amplifiers, is to find the input mixer to turn on and assign inputs to channels. Without it, you won't get any sound which likely frustrates some users. Usually this is an obvious option in the menu but I had to do some searching and read the manual to find that little gray button with sliders (next to blue Zone slider). Another unusual aspect is that fact you can't type the EQ frequency and Q (how wide the filter is) in the sliders. You have to use the two rotary dials/text under them to do that. A bit odd but not a big deal. Note that I have cut off the right side of the app as it will list all the channels if you have room for it.
I was pleased that the USB interface is a proper one and not the kludge serial over USB that some other companies use. At least it looks that way in the way it instantly worked on my system unlike others. Modifying single parameters take a second to be updated. Pushing all the settings takes about 10 seconds which is fine.
I can't remotely talk about all the features here. But there is filter import from REW and every type of filter is supported including all pass (for delay). There is also automated EQ using proper external headphones (whatever your PC supports). The few videos I have seen don't tell me how well it works but it is good to have it as a starting point.
I like the unit temperature display bottom right (captured after all the testing/stressing the amplifier). Turns out that is internal temp as the case is actually colder than that:
Mind you, the unit still gets warm but nothing as hot as the JBL DSP4086 I recently tested. As you will see below, idle current consumption is lower as well.
Audison AF C8.14 DSP Amplifier Measurements
As usual we start with our 5 watt dashboard of 1 kHz into 4 ohm:
One channel has more distortion but that was a wiring issue. The unit comes with captive snap push connectors and I had trouble getting one channel to mate better with my locking banana measurement harness. I forgot to recapture the dashboard after I mostly fixed this (see the power sweep below). Going with that, the performance is slightly above average for all car audio amplifiers tested:
Switching to Toslink input doesn't increase SINAD since we are (amplifier) distortion bound:
We can see this reflected in SNR measurements:
These are average home audio noise figures which is nice for the category and provides close to transparency for 16 bit audio.
Internal architecture is 24 bit/96 kHz which provides wideband response even if you use analog inputs:
The ADC filter actually tames the peaking a bit at higher impedances. No matter, we have a DSP with EQ here so we can filter this out (with in situ measurements). Still, would be nice to have post filter feedback given the premium price of this amplifier.
Multitone shows broad intermodulation products as expected:
Digital input helps here:
Same situation as far as intermodulation with 19 and 20 kHz tones:
Crosstalk is good and doesn't vary with input type (so a function of the amp):
Power sweep shows good performance for the class:
Toslink improves things a bit (don't mind the clipping point):
We get good bit of power relative to small size of the unit:
Company testing is at 14.4 volt so they show more power. My Lithium BMS shuts down charging at 13.8 volt so I can't measure that high (nor do I think you will have that kind of voltage at the terminals in a real car).
Next, I used my Audiograph loadbox to test with simulated reactive loads down to 2 ohm:
If you have the option of using 2 ohm speakers, you should. Boldened by that, I went down to 1 ohm and poor amp shut down.
Finally, the amplifier is stable on power up:
Conclusions
The AF C8.14 bit is a powerful premium DSP amplifier, packing a ton of functionality in a very small package. It measures and feels like it is well designed. It surely leaves some performance on the table considering the cost but until we find better options, this is good enough. I will be using this in my own campervan retrofit.
I am going to recommend the Audison AF C8.14 Bit Forza DSP Amplifier.
------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
Last edited:
kidding. Enjoy the install and fun times tuning
