Bang and Olufsen BeoCreate 4 Channel Amp

[March Audio]

This just popped onto the mail box. I have already done similar with RPis, but looks like this has the XO DSP built in.

https://www.hifiberry.com/beocreate?utm_campaign=website&utm_source=sendgrid&utm_medium=mail

 

[amirm]

It arrived in my inbox too but I did not bother to read it . What does it say???

 

[March Audio]

Wireless dsp amp to rejuvinate old speakers

Just watch the video

 

[pierre]

I just bought for 75 chf a pair of beovox rl 6000. My wife will kill me

 

[jhaider]

Thanks for posting this! A while back when I was getting my turntable serviced at a B&O specialist I impulse-bought a pair of C75 speakers (look just like the "CX100" in the video) with cracked woofer surrounds just because the cabinets looked so cool. My thoughts at the time were to update the drivers and crossover to make "baby's first speakers." But in practice they've just sat in the basement since I bought them.

 

[doug2761]

@jhaider - Wondering if you've done anything with the C75 speakers. I'm thinking of give the Beocreate 4 channel amp w/DSP a go and curious if you've had good results. I'm playing around with HiFiBerryOS and their DAC 2 HD with DSP module and like the Beocreate toolset.

 

[jhaider]

@jhaider - Wondering if you've done anything with the C75 speakers. I'm thinking of give the Beocreate 4 channel amp w/DSP a go and curious if you've had good results. I'm playing around with HiFiBerryOS and their DAC 2 HD with DSP module and like the Beocreate toolset.

Unfortunately, no. That's one of the projects that's been around for a while but is still in the "interesting" bucket as opposed to the "urgent" or "important" buckets.

Also, oddly, there's no case available for Beocreate. I don't really want to put the amp inside one of the speakers.

 

[doug2761]

Unfortunately, no. That's one of the projects that's been around for a while but is still in the "interesting" bucket as opposed to the "urgent" or "important" buckets.

Also, oddly, there's no case available for Beocreate. I don't really want to put the amp inside one of the speakers.

Thanks for getting back to me. I'm modifying an inexpensive case for the Amp 100. It's definitely taking some time. I also found a 3D printable case for the original Beocreate 2 project that was a masters thesis project. I think that the Beocreate 4 is the same size but if not then the plans can modified to add the extra space. The Amp100 is 10mm longer. If you have a CAD program or know someone that does then modifying is pretty easy. If the Beocreate 4 fits as is then there are a number of places online that can 3D print a chassis. You can find the 3D files at this link on Github.

The HiFiBerry OS is still a work in progress but they push out a new release every month. Not sure how it will measure. I've been impressed with the sound given the costs.

 

[sychan]

@jhaider - Wondering if you've done anything with the C75 speakers. I'm thinking of give the Beocreate 4 channel amp w/DSP a go and curious if you've had good results. I'm playing around with HiFiBerryOS and their DAC 2 HD with DSP module and like the Beocreate toolset.

You could look into the Zoudio, it uses a TI 4 channel class-D chip that includes DSP functions. With the right power supply it claims 45 wpc.
https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/ven...aio4ch-4-channel-amplifier-dsp-bluetooth.html

 

[doug2761]

@sychan Thanks for the tip. As mentioned in earlier post on this thread, I went with a HiFiBerry Amp100 to experiment with and see what system I want to use. The Amp 100 has very similar specs as the S.M.S.L. SA300 but with a bit more power. The software is an important part of all this. The HiFiBerry OS has a lot of features for parametric EQ, room correction, and other channel specific processing. It seems like a reasonable choice for building powered speakers with the Beocreate 4 amp or, in my case, assembling a second system with passives.

The OS continues to evolve and looks like it will have support for music storage soon if not already. It also supports Roon, Spotify Connect, blue tooth, DLNA, and airplay plus it has SPDIF input and output. I like that any room correction or EQ I set up will be applied to all inputs and not just what I set up in Roon.

If folks have built with Beocreate 4 then I'd be interested in hearing their experiences building software crossovers. I may do that in a future project.

 

[sychan]

@sychan Thanks for the tip. As mentioned in earlier post on this thread, I went with a HiFiBerry Amp100 to experiment with and see what system I want to use.

Ah, you are the Douglas Gardner on the beta support thread? Nobody ever replied to me what class D amp was used. HiFiBerry uses the TAS5756M chip for the Amp2, but that chip won't go to 100 wpc, so I was little curious if they had gone to the TAS3251. I don't suppose you can look on your board and see what chip they're using?

 

[doug2761]

I think it’s the TPA 3220. Same family as 3251 just a little lower power. I think it sounds great. It doesn’t sound as good as my Hypex NC400 at higher levels on my Dynaudio speakers but at more reserved volumes I really enjoy it. Would like to see it measured to get an objective baseline. It should be similar to the SMSL SA300 but with a bit more power.

 

[Robovox]

Ah, you are the Douglas Gardner on the beta support thread? Nobody ever replied to me what class D amp was used. HiFiBerry uses the TAS5756M chip for the Amp2, but that chip won't go to 100 wpc, so I was little curious if they had gone to the TAS3251. I don't suppose you can look on your board and see what chip they're using?

There are three TPA3128D2 chips used on the board - two are in single channel mode, each producing 60W into 4ohm, the other one in stereo mode, producing 30W/ch into 4ohm.

 

[andreasmaaan]

I have to check my old notes but I'm 99% sure it uses ADAU1452, which is a powerful DSP from Analog Devices that runs Sigma Studio (also an excellent piece of control software).

The let-down is the TPA3128D2, a mediocre, low-power, high-noise TI class D amp.

 

[Robovox]

Hi @andreasmaaan, is there a “getting started” guide (or full instruction manual) to Sigma Studio? I downloaded the software but didn’t really know where to start - and couldn’t easily find an instruction manual. I ended up just using the dsptoolkit shell command on the Pi to program the crossover.

 

[andreasmaaan]

Hi @andreasmaaan, is there a “getting started” guide (or full instruction manual) to Sigma Studio? I downloaded the software but didn’t really know where to start - and couldn’t easily find an instruction manual. I ended up just using the dsptoolkit shell command on the Pi to program the crossover.

If you can do that, I’m sure you can work out sigma studio I’m not super computer literate and I managed it, although tbh I don’t recall specifically how now.. I think mostly I read through these docs, especially the tutorials.

 

[sychan]

I have to check my old notes but I'm 99% sure it uses ADAU1452, which is a powerful DSP from Analog Devices that runs Sigma Studio (also an excellent piece of control software).

The let-down is the TPA3128D2, a mediocre, low-power, high-noise TI class D amp.

FWIW, I asked cdsgames on DIYA (I think his account is Johan here) about an Allo with digital input, and he said he's working on it. I was hoping he had a TAS3251 design in his Allo skunkworks, but it sounds like he thinks he can do better. Such a product is still far off, if it ever makes to market at all. Sadly it doesn't looks like there are any higher end, affordable amplifiers for a dedicated digital signal path.

 

[Robovox]

If you can do that, I’m sure you can work out sigma studio I’m not super computer literate and I managed it, although tbh I don’t recall specifically how now.. I think mostly I read through these docs, especially the tutorials.

Thanks, maybe I’ll give those documents a read if I feel motivated to dig the Beocreate board out again in the future.
I did find a introductory tutorial on YouTube but unfortunately I’m not a German speaker.

Actually, the graphical tool now available in Hifiberry OS is very easy to use.

 

[andreasmaaan]

FWIW, I asked cdsgames on DIYA (I think his account is Johan here) about an Allo with digital input, and he said he's working on it. I was hoping he had a TAS3251 design in his Allo skunkworks, but it sounds like he thinks he can do better. Such a product is still far off, if it ever makes to market at all. Sadly it doesn't looks like there are any higher end, affordable amplifiers for a dedicated digital signal path.

I think at this stage the best bet for this kind of thing would be the DSP plate amps offered by Hypex and MiniDSP, if you don't mind having it on a plate. No FIR support in their current models, though.

 

[sychan]

I think at this stage the best bet for this kind of thing would be the DSP plate amps offered by Hypex and MiniDSP, if you don't mind having it on a plate. No FIR support in their current models, though.

Yes, though the costs start to add up. A more affordable solution would be to pickup the 3e Audio 4 channel TPA3251 board and their ADAU1701 board that provides for I2S input. It would be handy if the boards in the @3eaudio finished amps exposed a header that gave you access to the I2S input for the onboard ADAU1701 DSP - only 3 of the 10 pins on the USBi header are used on that 3eaudio SY-DAPx002 board, you'd think something could be done with the rest.