Hypex Ncore NC252MP market overview

[vicenzo_del_paris]

Last but not least, I have a concern on how audio sense is behaving when listening to very low volume. Can it be triggered erroneously and put the amp in standby while listening in low volume? Any owners who experienced such an issue?

I own a Boxem 3409 and I am able to reduce the preamp volume down to a very quiet level (like barely noticeable at 3 meters) without having the amp getting in stand by.

 

[MCH]

Many thanks to @TheBatsEar for this thread!
I am trying to estimate the added value of the audio sense feature and I will need some help.
Stated standby power consumption of implementations with audio sense is below 0.5W. But what would be the standby power consumption of the exact same amp without the feature?
Ate there also any significant differences in terms of heat production?
Last but not least, I have a concern on how audio sense is behaving when listening to very low volume. Can it be triggered erroneously and put the amp in standby while listening in low volume? Any owners who experienced such an issue?

I have a Boxem too. It never happened to me hat it goes erroneously to stand by mode. I believe (but @boXem | audio can confirm) that it takes 10 minutes to go into stand by with no or very low signal.
As to what is the minimum signal you can have without triggering it, it must be very low in my esperience.
As for the power when not in stand by, i guess that is the iddle power? If you search the forum or the specs of the modules it should be possible to find. I remember discussions about hypex idle power consumption in the forum.
Regarding heat, my boxem runs cold all the time, but of course in standby at <0.5W there is no way to heat anything significantly with this power.
Hope it helps.

 

[boXem]

...But what would be the standby power consumption of the exact same amp without the feature?...

15.5 W
Edit: idling consumption

 

[Willem]

And that is 135 kW per year, or about 6% of the consumption of an average Dutch household. At current prices it would cost about 120 euros a year. It once again shows that anything that is on 24/7 consumes a lot on an annual basis.

 

[MCH]

And that is 135 kW per year, or about 6% of the consumption of an average Dutch household. At current prices it would cost about 120 euros a year. It once again shows that anything that is on 24/7 consumes a lot on an annual basis.

That's why we love our regulators that kicked industry ass a few years ago obligating them to add a low consumption standby mode

Btw, curious to see there are more and more threads these last days asking for auto-on/off features and power consumption. Maybe someone should open a thread on ways to save electricity in audio systems.

 

[kolestonin]

And that is 135 kW per year, or about 6% of the consumption of an average Dutch household. At current prices it would cost about 120 euros a year. It once again shows that anything that is on 24/7 consumes a lot on an annual basis.

Assuming the amp is idling 24h/365days I hope.
So the cost difference for the average usage scenario(idling 2-3h/day) when comparing the two amps is a fraction of the amount you mentioned.

 

[Willem]

The way I understood it, the question was how much electricity is consumed if the amp is left on 24/7. I know there are quite a few audiophiles who believe that leaving the amp on has sonic benefits. I think that is bonkers or involves a very bad design, but people do this.

 

[Willem]

Maybe someone should open a thread on ways to save electricity in audio systems.

I just did: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ty-consumption-of-audio-and-video-gear.37854/

 

[Kael]

Looks like I'm in the market for one of these now.
Prices seem to vary rather wildly with only a few differences between them. I'll be running it in balanced on a desktop, without a 12V trigger. But thinking about possible futures, an RCA/XLR switch and trigger is a nice to have, if I ever want to repurpose this for use with my AVR. Realistically, what is the likelihood of that happening, I don't know.

Any worries about bad soldering or wiring for any of these manufacturers? I'm leaning towards Audiophonics and Nord, if they aren't built like crap. Boxem and Apollon seem good but I can't see many reasons for the higher pricing.

 

[boXem]

...

Any worries about bad soldering or wiring for any of these manufacturers? I'm leaning towards Audiophonics and Nord, if they aren't built like crap. Boxem and Apollon seem good but I can't see many reasons for the higher pricing.

Build quality is a reason for price differences. Features too since boXem auto on-off and clipping indicator don't come for free .
Edit: tear down of the lower powered version here

 

[Buckeye Amps]

Looks like I'm in the market for one of these now.
Prices seem to vary rather wildly with only a few differences between them. I'll be running it in balanced on a desktop, without a 12V trigger. But thinking about possible futures, an RCA/XLR switch and trigger is a nice to have, if I ever want to repurpose this for use with my AVR. Realistically, what is the likelihood of that happening, I don't know.

Any worries about bad soldering or wiring for any of these manufacturers? I'm leaning towards Audiophonics and Nord, if they aren't built like crap. Boxem and Apollon seem good but I can't see many reasons for the higher pricing.

Only interested/looking at EU builders?

 

[Kael]

Build quality is a reason for price differences. Features too since boXem auto on-off and clipping indicator don't come for free .
Edit: tear down of the lower powered version here

Thanks.
How come you decided on using a tertiary board for the inputs? Is the chip bridging the two boards part of the sensing system?

 

[boXem]

Thanks.
How come you decided on using a tertiary board for the inputs? Is the chip bridging the two boards part of the sensing system?

Somebody (@DDF I believe) described it as a "glorified ribbon cable". That's exactly what it is. For 2 reasons,
- one irrational: there was a huge space with nothing but two ribbon cables and I was thinking it was looking cheap, so i replaced it by a PCB.
- one rational: there was a risk that the long ribbon cable would catch interference degrading the signal. The PCB has a nice ground place keeping everything clean.
The bridge is not an IC, it is a board to board connector.

 

[TheBatsEar]

Many thanks to @TheBatsEar for this thread!

Cheers

I am trying to estimate the added value of the audio sense feature and I will need some help.

I for one am fine with a power socket that switches everything on/off, since i also have some older gear.

 

[MCH]

Good to see you back @TheBatsEar

 

[TheBatsEar]

Cheers @MarcosCh

I'm incredibly busy recently ... with a great number of other hobbies.

 

[Fontie]

Hi all

Could anyone explain this (from Audiophonics) to a lay person?

"This amplifier does not have a decoupling capacitor, so it lets the DC component of the signal through. Make sure your source has no DC component present at the output. The DC protection of the module switches on at 12VDC which is very permissive."

 

[pma]

Hi all

Could anyone explain this (from Audiophonics) to a lay person?

"This amplifier does not have a decoupling capacitor, so it lets the DC component of the signal through. Make sure your source has no DC component present at the output. The DC protection of the module switches on at 12VDC which is very permissive."

There is no input coupling capacitor and the amplifier transfers input DC voltage as well. This should have been fixed with the DC servo, otherwise it is a design flaw (of the module itself).

 

[Sokel]

The DC protection of the module switches on at 12VDC which is very permissive."

Lets hope that this will never happen as 312V will be presented at the outputs.

 

[pma]

Lets hope that this will never happen as 312V will be presented at the outputs.

I think they refer to output voltage. Even then it is too much. Usually we allow about 2V max. with some averaging time interval.