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Did you audition nc500 vs nc500mp or nc502"

ehabheikal

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Did anyone have the privalage to be able to compare the different nc500 modules, the 500mp and 502nc have worse measurements and they seems to have matching issues. I think that like CPU these chips may be binned so that those that are closest to measurements go to 500oem and the lesser ones to the mp and 502.

Does the change in price bring anything we can actually hear for a 50 year old person.
 

March Audio

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Hi

Just to clarify the 2 different Hypex products.

The NC500 module is a mono single channel power amplifier only. It requires the addition of an audio input buffer amplifier and power supply by the manufacturer. Performance can vary dependant on the quality of these two additional items.

The NC502MP module is an integrated 2 channel unit that has built in power supply and input buffers. There are no 500mp or 500nc modules, they are the same thing, the NC502MP. Im afraid your CPU analogy is not the case :) The NC500 and NC502MP are simply different products aimed at different markets.

Both the NC500 and NC502MP are based on the same fundamental ncore technology. The NC500, if implemented properly, should technically outperform the NC502MP. What difference you will hear, if any, is impossible to say. Too many variables involved.
 
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Matias

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I think he also meant NC500MP, the single channel module that includes buffer and power supply.

Answering the initial question, I don't know as I have not heard them side by side yet. But NC500OEM may be the most different one as it may use different buffer opamps and regulators from various manufacturers. Also NC500OEM is more powerful with 700W in 4 ohms.

NC500MP datasheet shows similar power levels as the stereo version NC502MP module, but the latter power x THD looks cleaner, so I would not bother with the monos.

Having said that, I have an NC500OEM based amp in my first system and have an NC502MP based amp in my second system. :D
 
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ehabheikal

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I think he also meant NC500MP, the single channel module that includes buffer and power supply.

Answering the initial question, I don't know as I have not yet heard them side by side. But NC500OEM may be the most different on as it may use different buffer opamps and regulators from various manufacturers. Also NC500OEM is more powerful with 700W in 4 ohms.

NC500MP datasheet shows similar power leveled as the stereo version NC502MP module, but the latter power x THD looks cleaner, so I would not bother with the monos.

Having said that, I own an NC500OEM based amp in my first system and ordered an NC502MP amp for the second system. :D


Yes i did mean the NC500MP
 
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ehabheikal

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I am in Egypt, we have limited selection of high end audio and even what is here sometimes
does not have demo units, so i have to order most stuff without hearing it.
I have an emotiva A-300 driving paradigm signature v1 s6 ( both bought second hand )
I just want to know should i shell out to get the best amps or can a save a bit and still get an audible upgrade.
Yes too hard to give advice but this is the best i can do here ask people that heard this stuff.
 
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ehabheikal

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Hi

Just to clarify the 2 different Hypex products.

The NC500 module is a mono single channel power amplifier only. It requires the addition of an audio input buffer amplifier and power supply by the manufacturer. Performance can vary dependant on the quality of these two additional items.

The NC502MP module is an integrated 2 channel unit that has built in power supply and input buffers. There are no 500mp or 500nc modules, they are the same thing, the NC502MP. Im afraid your CPU analogy is not the case :) The NC500 and NC502MP are simply different products aimed at different markets.

Both the NC500 and NC502MP are based on the same fundamental ncore technology. The NC500, if implemented properly, should technically outperform the NC502MP. What difference you will hear, if any, is impossible to say. Too many variables involved.


I think all these chips 502 500oem and 500mp are based on same chip silicon, that is binned. The difference is in the module, which will give the differentiation in addition to the probable binning of the chips.
 

March Audio

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I think all these chips 502 500oem and 500mp are based on same chip silicon, that is binned. The difference is in the module, which will give the differentiation in addition to the probable binning of the chips.
With respect, you are wrong. The designs are not "chip" based.

NC502MP on right,, PSU, buffer amp and NC500 on left.

502.jpg


The NC500MP is a single channel version of the NC502MP. Again integrated buffer and PSU. As you can see its just a truncated version of the NC502MP

1596593396261.png
 
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boXem

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I think all these chips 502 500oem and 500mp are based on same chip silicon, that is binned. The difference is in the module, which will give the differentiation in addition to the probable binning of the chips.
These are discrete designs. No chip (for audio at least). From my understanding, the performance of the MP versions is a bit lower because the PCB is shared between the amplifier and the power supply, as you can see on the pictures shown by @March Audio .
 

Matias

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NC500OEM
NC500OEM.jpg


NC502MP
NC502MP.jpg


Both in 4 ohms.

NC500OEM starts on the left with a lower noise floor, and even when the distortion peaks at 20W, it is still at 0.001%, lower than the NC502MP at 20W. The "knee" before clipping is at about 500W for NC500OEM and 400W for NC502MP, both around 0.002-0.003%.

So overall NC500OEM has lower noise floor, lower distortion and higher power.

Edit in 2023: NCx500 OEM is a lot better yet.
 
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John1959

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NC500OEM
View attachment 76781

NC502MP
View attachment 76782

Both in 4 ohms.

NC500OEM starts on the left with a lower noise floor, and even when the distortion peaks at 20W, it is still at 0.001%, lower than the NC502MP at 20W. The "knee" before clipping is at about 500W for NC500OEM and 400W for NC502MP, both around 0.002-0.003%.

So overall NC500OEM has lower noise floor, lower distortion and higher power.
Maybe I am wrong but the NC500OEM distortion results are without a buffer and the NC502MP with a (integrated) buffer. Add a buffer amp to the NC500OEM - which is typically a necessary thing - I guess distortion will become a little bit worse because of the distortion of that buffer. The question remains if the NC500OEM + buffer will still be better in that respect. Not that the difference is large to start with.

With a good power supply I expect the NC500OEM can deliver more amps, especially at the bottom end of the spectrum. That can be important in some applications.

John
 
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Matias

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John1959

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Hi

(..)
Both the NC500 and NC502MP are based on the same fundamental ncore technology. The NC500, if implemented properly, should technically outperform the NC502MP. What difference you will hear, if any, is impossible to say. Too many variables involved.
Yes, audible differences between amps are quite small so differences between amps with the same fundamental ncore technlogy should be even smaller. As you said the NC500OEM, combined with the right buffer and power supply has the highest potential but I guess in most cases that NC502MP will not be audible distinguishable. But you never know ....:)

Edit: I own a multichannel amp with a NC502MP, among other NCxxxMP modules. They all sound the same to my ears. And, what's more important, it's hard to see if anyone needs more in pure audio quality combined with running cool and silent.
 
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John1959

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Hi Matias,

I did not realize before that you have a NC500 based amp in your first (I guess main) system and a NC502MP based amp in your second one. So, that NC500 amp sound better? Can you tell us about the audible differences, if any? I know the comparison is somewhat complicated because of implementation (buffer, PS etc.) but I am still interested in your comments.
 

Matias

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Hi John, yes, I intend to do so later. The newer brother came last week so I did not have much time yet to set them up side by side and give my complete sighted non-scientific opinion for what it's worth. :) But will do so and report back here.
 
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ehabheikal

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What worries me with the nc500 sieries is that the distortion rises with frequency so starting at about 3k your distortion is much higher than the distortion measured at 1000hz
 

John1959

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What worries me with the nc500 sieries is that the distortion rises with frequency so starting at about 3k your distortion is much higher than the distortion measured at 1000hz
Can you show me a graph or order data which shows this? Typical of nCore technology is that distortion is very low and also highly load and frequency independent. The unit has a THD+Noise of typical 0.001% over the full audio range (20-20kHz) at half of power rating and at a 4 ohm load (factory specs which are known as fairly accurate).

So I don't fully understand your worrying ;).

THD tends to rise slightly with higher power though. This behavior, I would not call it a real problem, is almost solved in the latest nCore technology in the Purifi products but not in the Hypex products (yet).
 
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March Audio

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What worries me with the nc500 sieries is that the distortion rises with frequency so starting at about 3k your distortion is much higher than the distortion measured at 1000hz

Here is the data. The THD + N does not rise with frequency.

NC500
1597217004213.png

1597217395902.png




NC502MP
1597217241510.png

1597217300202.png
 
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polmuaddib

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Would doing a REW sweep show any difference when using different amps? Or would similar amps (same gain but slightly different power and sinad) just have a same REW sweep with speakers? Or any slight difference in amps would show some difference in REW (phase or FR)?
 
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