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Compiling a list of Power DACs / full digital amplifiers

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kandamrgam

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In a typical system, you have a DAC and amp in the signal chain before feeding digital signal to transducer. But not always. This is a list of devices which claim to have pure digital signal path, all the way from source to final stage, right before the output stage.

Some of these are power DACs, where output stage is powerful enough to directly drive loads. Others are PWM based, where the digital signal is transformed into a high-frequency PWM signal and PWM then drives the switching transistors of a Class-D amplifier to produce amplified PWM signal, which a low pass filter picks up to reconstruct analog waveform. Kinda like DAC-less amp.

Whether it is amp-less DAC or DAC-less amp, the goal is to shorten the signal path and reduce analog stages. Here are a few I could find:

DAC/Amps for Speakers
  1. Aiyima D03 (uses TAS5548 and TAS5624A power stage chips)
  2. AVA Maestro-50
  3. Bluesound POWERNODE EDGE (uses NAD DirectDigital)
  4. Denon DRA-100 (Qualcomm DDFA)
  5. ECDesigns PowerDAC-SX (Power DAC)
  6. FX AUDIO D2160 (TAS5518 and TAS5614A power stage chips, not sure still in production)
  7. FX AUDIO D802C PRO (STA3xx series of chips)
  8. Harman Kardon Citation Amp
  9. Hifime UDP320
  10. HiFimeDIY UD20
  11. HiFimeDIY UD80
  12. HIRESFI AMPER202
  13. HIRESFI AMPER502
  14. IAMD V200
  15. Lyngdorf TDAI 1120
  16. Lyngdorf TDAI 3400
  17. Marantz M1
  18. Nubert nuConnect ampX
  19. Peachtree Carina GaN
  20. Peachtree GaN 1
  21. Sabaj A30a (uses AX5689 chip)
  22. Sabaj A4 (TAS5508C and TAS5342A power stage chips)
  23. SMSL AD18 (TAS5508C and TAS5342A power stage chips)
  24. SMSL VMV A2 (uses AX5689 chip)
  25. Sonos Amp (Qualcomm DDFA)
  26. Technics SU-G700M2
  27. Technics SU-GX70
  28. Technics SU-R1000
  29. VTV AMPLIFIER D400
DAC/Amps for Headphones
  1. Denon DA-310USB (Qualcomm DDFA)
  2. Denon DNP-2500NE (Qualcomm DDFA)
  3. E1DA PowerDac (the smallest of the bunch. The size of a matchbox. This might look like a portable DAC/amp but it's not, because of the power draw. It's proper desktop DAC/amp, just tiny. Uses TAS5558. Despite its name, it is PWM based)
  4. ECDesigns PowerDAC-RXV (Power DAC)
  5. Sony PHA-3 (S-Master HX)
  6. Sony TA-ZH1ES (S-Master HX)
Active speakers with built-in DAC/amp
Certain active speakers are also full digital with their built-in DAC/amp
  1. Vanatoo Transparent One Encore Plus, Zero Plus
  2. Nubert nuPro A-300 (discontinued now I think, but there are lots of similar models on their website)
  3. Technics SC-CX700
  4. Argon Forte A4, A5, A55
  5. Dyanaudio Focus/Xeo/Lyd series
  6. Genelec SAM series
Active headphones with built-in DAC/amp
  1. Audio Technica DSR7BT and DSR9BT (This one is different. It is Trigence based, where digital signal directly drives the headphone. I don't know what magic that is)
Discontinued
Some notable discontinued DAC/amp models, mostly for speakers unless mentioned:
  1. Denon PMA-150H
  2. NAD M32 (uses NAD DirectDigital)
  3. Optoma NuForce DDA120
  4. Panasonic SA-XR700 (multi-channel speaker support)
  5. Sharp SM-SX100 (1 bit)
  6. SMSL Q5 Pro (TAS5508 + TAS5342)
  7. TOPPING VX2 (uses STA326 chip)
  8. Wadia 151 PowerDAC mini

I have added some comments from what I had noted down, not everything is updated.

Note:
  1. Full digital doesn't mean necessarily better. I don't make that claim. In fact read what venerable Bruno Putzeys has to say about such DACs/amps here: https://www.audioholics.com/audio-amplifier/the-truth-about-digital-class-d-amplifiers
  2. Look for technologies like JENO engine, Zetex Direct Digital, NAD DirectDigital, CSR DDFA (CSR later acquired by Qualcomm), Sony S-Master HX etc. In fact almost all of these technologies are related and has some connection in their history. For e.g. Zetex Direct Digital, NAD DirectDigital and CSR DDFA share some history. Peter Lyngdorf used to own NAD, the Toccata Technology originally used by Lyngdorf is now sold to TI which makes similar chips now, etc. I am quoting from memory, so I could be wrong here.
  3. Class-D doesn't mean "full digital" necessarily. For e.g. technologies like Tripath, Purifi, Hypex etc. are class-D but they are not pure digital, as in there is a D/A stage. You could call them analog class-D.
 
Last edited:
What is the purpose of this potentially infinite list?
 
MA12070P is not pure digital:
1741945895326.png
 
kandamrgam said:
where did you get the image from? There is MA12070P and MA12070, former is digital, latter is analog, is what I could glean from reading.
Click to expand...
It's a digital input class-D amplifier, but ultimately, as stated in the datasheet, it's a 2xBTL/4xSE amplifier chip.
They simply added I2S and internal DACs, but that doesn't make it a digital amplifier.
Bildschirmfoto 2025-03-14 um 11.38.07.png
 
kandamrgam said:
In a typical system, you have a DAC and amp in the signal chain before feeding digital signal to transducer. But not always. This is a list of devices which claim to have pure digital signal path, all the way from source to final stage, right before the output stage.

Some of these are power DACs, where output stage is powerful enough to directly drive loads. Others are PWM based, where the digital signal is transformed into a high-frequency PWM signal and PWM then drives the switching transistors of a Class-D amplifier to produce amplified PWM signal, which a low pass filter picks up to reconstruct analog waveform. Kinda like DAC-less amp.

Whether it is amp-less DAC or DAC-less amp, the goal is to shorten the signal path and reduce analog stages. Here are a few I could find:

DAC/Amps for Speakers
  1. Aiyima D03 (uses TAS5548 and TAS5624A power stage chips)
  2. AVA Maestro-50
  3. Bluesound POWERNODE EDGE (uses NAD DirectDigital)
  4. Denon DRA-100 (Qualcomm DDFA)
  5. ECDesigns PowerDAC-SX (Power DAC)
  6. FX AUDIO D2160 (TAS5518 and TAS5614A power stage chips, not sure still in production)
  7. FX AUDIO D802C PRO (STA3xx series of chips)
  8. Harman Kardon Citation Amp
  9. Hifime UDP320
  10. HiFimeDIY UD20
  11. HiFimeDIY UD80
  12. HIRESFI AMPER202
  13. HIRESFI AMPER502
  14. IAMD V200
  15. Lyngdorf TDAI 1120 (Power DAC)
  16. Lyngdorf TDAI 3400 (Power DAC)
  17. Marantz M1
  18. Nubert nuConnect ampX
  19. Peachtree Carina GaN
  20. Peachtree GaN 1
  21. Sabaj A30a (uses AX5689 chip)
  22. Sabaj A4 (TAS5508C and TAS5342A power stage chips)
  23. SMSL A50 Pro (uses MA12070P chip)
  24. SMSL AD18 (TAS5508C and TAS5342A power stage chips)
  25. SMSL VMV A2 (uses AX5689 chip)
  26. Sonos Amp (Qualcomm DDFA)
  27. Technics SU-G700M2
  28. Technics SU-GX70
  29. Technics SU-R1000
  30. VTV AMPLIFIER D400
DAC/Amps for Headphones
  1. Denon DA-310USB (Qualcomm DDFA)
  2. Denon DNP-2500NE (Qualcomm DDFA)
  3. E1DA PowerDac (the smallest of the bunch. The size of a matchbox. This might look like a portable DAC/amp but it's not, because of the power draw. It's proper desktop DAC/amp, just tiny)
  4. ECDesigns PowerDAC-RXV
  5. Sony PHA-3 (S-Master HX)
  6. Sony TA-ZH1ES (S-Master HX)
Active speakers with built-in DAC/amp
Certain active speakers are also full digital with their built-in DAC/amp
  1. Vanatoo Transparent One Encore Plus, Zero Plus (power DAC)
  2. Nubert nuPro A-300 (discontinued now I think, but there are lots of similar models on their website)
  3. Technics SC-CX700
  4. Argon Forte A4, A5, A55
  5. Dyanaudio Focus/Xeo/Lyd series
  6. Genelec SAM series
Active headphones with built-in DAC/amp
  1. Audio Technica DSR7BT and DSR9BT (This one is different. It is Trigence based, where digital signal directly drives the headphone. I don't know what magic that is)
Discontinued
Some notable discontinued DAC/amp models, mostly for speakers unless mentioned:
  1. Denon PMA-150H
  2. NAD M32 (uses NAD DirectDigital)
  3. Optoma NuForce DDA120
  4. Panasonic SA-XR700 (multi-channel speaker support)
  5. Sharp SM-SX100 (1 bit)
  6. SMSL Q5 Pro (TAS5508 + TAS5342)
  7. TOPPING VX2 (uses STA326 chip)
  8. Wadia 151 PowerDAC mini

I have added some comments from what I had noted down, not everything is updated.

Note:
  1. Full digital doesn't mean necessarily better. I don't make that claim. In fact read what venerable Bruno Putzeys has to say about such DACs/amps here: https://www.audioholics.com/audio-amplifier/the-truth-about-digital-class-d-amplifiers
  2. Look for technologies like JENO engine, Zetex Direct Digital, NAD DirectDigital, CSR DDFA (CSR later acquired by Qualcomm), Sony S-Master HX etc. In fact almost all of these technologies are related and has some connection in their history. For e.g. Zetex Direct Digital, NAD DirectDigital and CSR DDFA share some history. Peter Lyngdorf used to own NAD, the Toccata Technology originally used by Lyngdorf is now sold to TI which makes similar chips now, etc. I am quoting from memory, so I could be wrong here.
  3. Full digital doesn't mean class-D necessarily. For e.g. Technologies like Tripath, Purifi, Hypex etc. are class-D but they are not pure digital, as in there is a D/A stage. You could call them analog class-D.
Click to expand...
As this thematic about FDA understood as "Fully Digital Amplifier" (an expression which reuses a well established acronym in the IC industry meaning Fully Differential Amplifier) is put forward in the OP, I think it is worth reading this enlightening paper in which the authors tackle the issue of defining what is actually analogue and what is actually digital in a switching amplifier:

 
Last edited:
my old SVS SB-1000 (non pro) subwoofers were all digital inside, but didn't have digital inputs :D
 
kandamrgam said:
In case anyone is looking for full digital route, for the experience or academic interest. Putting it all in one place helps, no? Like a wiki.
Click to expand...
This forum is not a place for such unstructured and poorly-maintained lists.

Also, for instance, we need a strong evidence that the Genelec SAM monitors that you have listed here do not use any kind of D/A conversion before the power amp's output stage.

Besides, the SMSL AD18 is for some unknown reason absent from your list.
 
unpluggged said:
Also, for instance, we need a strong evidence that the Genelec SAM monitors that you have listed here do not use any kind of D/A conversion before the power amp's output stage.
Click to expand...
They do, we have evidence:

www.audiosciencereview.com

I disassembled my Genelec 8351B

I just wonder what ADC/DAC chip is in there. On the online, There is no answer about it So I opened my 8351B. After all the processes, I realized that the chip is just in back panel..But I'm satisfied to see what's in there. Anyway, the chip is AKM AK4621EF. Not so high end chip but fairly...
www.audiosciencereview.com www.audiosciencereview.com
 
kandamrgam said:
Like a wiki.
Click to expand...
At the risk of stating the obvious- this isnt a wiki and doesnt function like one.

After a period you wont be able to update your original list and the thread just becomes a dump ground for new releases and random queries.
 
unpluggged said:
This forum is not a place for such unstructured and poorly-maintained lists.

Also, for instance, we need a strong evidence that the Genelec SAM monitors that you have listed here do not use any kind of D/A conversion before the power amp's output stage.

Besides, the SMSL AD18 is for some unknown reason absent from your list.
Click to expand...
I will leave it for Amir to decide on it. AD18 is there, look at spot #23 in speaker amps.
 
Jimbob54 said:
At the risk of stating the obvious- this isnt a wiki and doesnt function like one.

After a period you wont be able to update your original list and the thread just becomes a dump ground for new releases and random queries.
Click to expand...
what's wrong with all that? All discussions are good no?

And what's preventing me from updating the post? There is an edit limit?
 
kandamrgam said:
what's wrong with all that? All discussions are good no?

And what's preventing me from updating the post? There is an edit limit?
Click to expand...
Correct unless you are a donor.

And the point is you no longer have "A list" - you have a thread which is near impossible to digest and use as a list for selection. But you do you.

And as for all discussions being good- stick around this and any forum and you'll see plenty of examples of discussions that are far from "good".
 
unpluggged said:
It's a bad taste to expect Amir or the mods to babysit your activities here.


It wasn't originally there. You see, this proves my point that such lists are hard to maintain and to navigate.


So my suspicion is confirmed: they don't use FDAs :cool:
Click to expand...
AD18 was there, hey but whatever pleases you ;)
 
ECDesigns' powerDAC works differently from any other in the list:

No Amplifiers here. – ECdesigns

ecdesigns.nl ecdesigns.nl

There's no amplification - it is in fact an "attenuator". The audio signal is not produced from the digital signal itself, so in some ways it is not really a DAC like any other either.

The signal path is as simple as can be: regulated power supply - resistor - speaker.
 
Scytales said:
Click to expand...
I think this can be summarized as "the best performance is making the DAC great and followed by a very clean power amp"???

As for "what is actually analogue and what is actually digital" to ME a "truly digital" amp would not have any separate D/A conversion inside. It would itself be a DAC capable of high power.

I was going to start a thread like this, mostly out of wondering if anyone had made a PCM (not PWM!) power DAC, volume adjusted I suppose by changing the full-scale voltage rails. That would seem the "purest" way to convert, which is not necessarily contradicting what Putzeys said about real-world design performance.

What are the problems/limitations of PCM-to-PWM conversions? I'm sure that has been written about...
 
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