Buckeye Amps: Hypex NCx500 Official Thread

[Buckeye Amps]

Our 2ch Hypex NCx500 amplifier will be on display at the Audio Envy booth (Room 1407) during the Southwest Audio Fest in Dallas, TX (March 15-17). We will be offering a $25 discount towards the purchase of a 2ch NCx500 amplifier to anyone who takes a picture at the booth and emails us at the time of their order.

 

[Heyu]

I just made reservations just now to attend with my family and works out because it's spring break week, my birthday on March 11 and checking in on Thursday and out on Saturday. Everything happens in one place.

 

[gby]

Dylan,

I got my 3 channel amp a couple of days ago thank you very much.

With no input signals and no speakers or loads connected I plugged it into an ac line Watt measurement device to see what the various off/idle power levels were. I measured the following results:

On............................38 W
12V trigger Off........21 W
Auto/Idle...................21 W

21 W while "off"/not doing anything seems a bit high. Is this normal for the NCx500 modules and/or the 2000 W power supply?

If you never play music the above comes to 21*24*365 = 184 kW-hour which at $0.25/kW-hour cost of electricity in the Boston area comes to $46 per year just to have this device plugged in.

 

[amper42]

Dylan,

I got my 3 channel amp a couple of days ago thank you very much.

With no input signals and no speakers or loads connected I plugged it into an ac line Watt measurement device to see what the various off/idle power levels were. I measured the following results:

On............................38 W
12V trigger Off........21 W
Auto/Idle...................21 W

21 W while "off"/not doing anything seems a bit high. Is this normal for the NCx500 modules and/or the 2000 W power supply?

If you never play music the above comes to 21*24*365 = 184 kW-hour which at $0.25/kW-hour cost of electricity in the Boston area comes to $46 per year just to have this device plugged in.

1. Yes, 21W for two NCx500 doing nothing and the PS while idle is not energy efficient...
2. If you want slightly better energy efficiency get the Purifi amp. It will take you down to 14.5W while idle and use less while active as well.
3. And if you don't turn the amp off when not in use I would consider the Boxem amps, which lower energy usage to approx. 0.5W after 10 minutes idle.

 

[Buckeye Amps]

The power draw is not due to the NCx500 modules but the the power supply. With our input buffer board, originally designed using the Hypex SMPS1200 series for Purifi builds, we did not have a proper design/pinout in place to handle the Micro Audio SMPS Standby feature.

As some of our 2024 overall product improvements, we are going to be trialing a simple change to enable Standby control.

 

[goryu]

The power draw is not due to the NCx500 modules but the the power supply. With our input buffer board, originally designed using the Hypex SMPS1200 series for Purifi builds, we did not have a proper design/pinout in place to handle the Micro Audio SMPS Standby feature.

As some of our 2024 overall product improvements, we are going to be trialing a simple change to enable Standby control.

That is really a disappointment. Part of the draw was the auto on feature, now not so much. Is your "simple change" going to be something that can be retrofit?

 

[Buckeye Amps]

It will be, yes. But no timeframe/ETA. It is part of something that will be tested and implemented as we slowly work on incorporating Micro Audio SMPS' to more of our products in place of many of the Hypex SMPS' options.

 

[goryu]

It will be, yes. But no timeframe/ETA. It is part of something that will be tested and implemented as we slowly work on incorporating Micro Audio SMPS' to more of our products in place of many of the Hypex SMPS' options.

Please keep us posted. Thanks.

 

[RickS]

Dylan,

I got my 3 channel amp a couple of days ago thank you very much.

With no input signals and no speakers or loads connected I plugged it into an ac line Watt measurement device to see what the various off/idle power levels were. I measured the following results:

On............................38 W
12V trigger Off........21 W
Auto/Idle...................21 W

21 W while "off"/not doing anything seems a bit high. Is this normal for the NCx500 modules and/or the 2000 W power supply?

If you never play music the above comes to 21*24*365 = 184 kW-hour which at $0.25/kW-hour cost of electricity in the Boston area comes to $46 per year just to have this device plugged in.

Dylan already answered the amp power aspect but was pretty shocked by your rates. Am paying about $0.11 here.

Is that just the generation cost or something more?

 

[amper42]

Dylan already answered the amp power aspect but was pretty shocked by your rates. Am paying about $0.11 here.

Is that just the generation cost or something more?

Rick,
Electric rates are going up in the USA. With Time of Use plans "Peak" Times (40% of each day) can reach as high as 25.85 to 36.2 cents per kWh during summer months. And those that have solar panels end up paying a rather large grid connection monthly fee. If you're only paying 11 cents per kWh all year that's a bargain. I would not expect that to last.

 

[grobalt]

Dylan already answered the amp power aspect but was pretty shocked by your rates. Am paying about $0.11 here.

Is that just the generation cost or something more?

Europe we had already above 50cent/kWh .. it settled a bit, but in average we are above 35cent/kWh in Germany

 

[RickS]

Europe we had already above 50cent/kWh .. it settled a bit, but in average we are above 35cent/kWh in Germany

Thanks for sharing. Cost of living tends to be lower in my region of US. Actually, am currently at 10 cents but remembered 5.

Just to check, went back to 2022 and it was 5 cents/kWh. That is just a generation rate btw, we get charged for distribution separately.

 

[gby]

Rick, I live in the Boston, US area and my monthly electric bill cost divided by the kW-hour used all up/all included is right around $0.25 to $0.26 per kW-hour. For residential our area is flat rate/no time of day variation. So, not as bad as some folks but certainly more expensive that some areas in the US.

 

[goryu]

No reason people should need to worry about electricity costs when these amps are on standby. This should be fixed sooner rather than later.

 

[vicenzo_del_paris]

Thanks for sharing. Cost of living tends to be lower in my region of US. Actually, am currently at 10 cents but remembered 5.

Just to check, went back to 2022 and it was 5 cents/kWh. That is just a generation rate btw, we get charged for distribution separately.

For me, (located in France) it is 25 cents/kWh (generation, distribution and all taxes included).

 

[thegeton]

My Feb 2024 bill from Port Orchard WA, USA (just across the Puget Sound from Seattle)

You get nailed with that Tier 2 usage.

 

[RickS]

Rick, I live in the Boston, US area and my monthly electric bill cost divided by the kW-hour used all up/all included is right around $0.25 to $0.26 per kW-hour. For residential our area is flat rate/no time of day variation. So, not as bad as some folks but certainly more expensive that some areas in the US.

if I do that math for my March bill, am at $0.13/kWh.

p.s. did same math for last June and rate was same as my March bill

 

[Heyu]

I think I read somewhere Buckeye will implement Dirac. Is this true?

 

[Buckeye Amps]

I think I read somewhere Buckeye will implement Dirac. Is this true?

That is a feature we are considering offering with our upcoming 2ch integrated, yes.

 

[3rdrockblue]

Will the standby feature be available as a retrofit for 2ch Hypex NCx500?