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Hypex Nilai500DIY Amplifier Review

Rate this amplifier:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 4 1.1%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 13 3.5%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 74 19.9%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 281 75.5%

  • Total voters
    372

theblackangus

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I have a question born of ignorance, so please dont laugh.
With so many of these devices (AMPS/DACS) with such low SNR, why do more people not focus in better multi-tone resolution?
Doesn't that represent how clearly instruments being played at the same time should sound?
 

AndreaT

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The Nilai Stereo Kit from Hypex has one power supply for the two amplifier modules: there is less current for each and power specs for 4 and 2 Ohm loads are lower. It would be interesting to see when Amir reviews it.
 

Killingbeans

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Doesn't that represent how clearly instruments being played at the same time should sound?

IMD (especially the amplitude modulated kind) is much more offensive than THD, but I haven't seen any products that excel at eliminating one, but fails at the other.
 

restorer-john

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But all are exported and it is impossible to source Hypex products locally....

How utterly ridiculous. Surely you could sweet talk someone at the factory or bribe them with beer.
 

theblackangus

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IMD (especially the amplitude modulated kind) is much more offensive than THD, but I haven't seen any products that excel at eliminating one, but fails at the other.
What is the floor for IMD that we can hear? Is 20 bits (for instance) beyond what we can discern?
 

Rewind

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Not really sure what you mean by "mediocre above 10kHz"? o_O



Higher SNR if the source is responsible for the pregain instead of the buffer and has lower noise.
From post #1: «There is a bit of noise around 10 kHz which gets amplified when gain is boosted:»
 

Killingbeans

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What is the floor for IMD that we can hear? Is 20 bits (for instance) beyond what we can discern?

That's 120dB below the multitone signal. I personally believe that's at the limit of where any kind of artifact can be expected to be discernable under any circumstances using any kind of test signals.

The ability of human hearing to notice IMD in actual music playback is undoubtedly much, much worse than that. You need the "horror" from a badly designed speaker driver to get there.


From post #1: «There is a bit of noise around 10 kHz which gets amplified when gain is boosted:»

The worst case at high gain sits around -105dB? Does that really put it in the subwoofer amp camp?
 

Rewind

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That's 120dB below the multitone signal. I personally believe that's at the limit of where any kind of artifact can be expected to be discernable under any circumstances using any kind of test signals.

The ability of human hearing to notice IMD in actual music playback is undoubtedly much, much worse than that. You need the "horror" from a badly designed speaker driver to get there.




The worst case at high gain sits around -105dB? Does that really put it in the subwoofer amp camp?
My horn speakers are 110dB sensitive down to 80Hz. Would this effect how much noise I can hear from the Nilai?
 

Mnyb

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Stupid q’s here .

There is this Nilai500 and there is the new NCx500 series ? Are these the same , but one are productised for DIY people ?

Are there any subtle differences in how they perform.

And what about the higher part quality in Niliai500 ?

Maybe @Hypexsales knows.

Anyway amazing product it’s now in my list if I ever need an amp :)
 

SDC

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The board is beautiful...
But AVPs are not gonna fulfill the sinad and voltage of low gain mode.
And even the best audio interfaces we don't get atmos... so sad
 

boXem

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Stupid q’s here .

There is this Nilai500 and there is the new NCx500 series ? Are these the same , but one are productised for DIY people ?

Are there any subtle differences in how they perform.

And what about the higher part quality in Niliai500 ?

Maybe @Hypexsales knows.

Anyway amazing product it’s now in my list if I ever need an amp :)
They are different animals. The NCx500 uses the "classical" NCore control loop while the Nilai uses a new control loop. Comparing the high frequencies distortion profile and the way their FR drops at high frequencies shows the different behaviors.
 

martijn86

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How exactly that amazing D-class SINAD is beinf stated at 112 dB if it turns into 80 dB pumpkin @10 kHz+?
Seems a bit tricky and yes, not this amp alone, not Hypex alone - almost all of them.
And yes again, 80 dB is okay too.
Question is if it's correct to mark such amp as a 110 dB+:rolleyes:
15Khz is a non-issue to me (36, M). I bet the importance of 10kHz varies a lot between 25 and 45 years since at 45 you should be roughly <30dB down in sensitivity at 10kHz regardless of hearing damage. The -80dB distortion will then be back at -110dB for a 45yo male listener.
 

Mnyb

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They are different animals. The NCx500 uses the "classical" NCore control loop while the Nilai uses a new control loop. Comparing the high frequencies distortion profile and the way their FR drops at high frequencies shows the different behaviors.
I see Nilia is even flatter inside 20-20kHz. And THD is different.

If get this rigth distortions at 10kHz means that 2nd harmonic is at 20kHz the 10kHz is no different.
For this to be a problem at all the music needs to have a lot of energy in the treble probably electronic music at very high volume and listener has to be very young , young teens probably . But even then is not the second harmonic -80dB ?

But for the future for peace of mind should not both hypex and purify move the “problems” another 10k up ?
I’m not convinced that MHz frequency response is necessary but maybe up to 30kHz before it cr*ps out :)

I’m thinking that in the old days they picked DC-100kHz just to make the THD numbers at 20k to look better in classical AB amps ? Or is it a consequence of the amp topology used feedback loop design for example you end up with wide bandwidth to be able to apply classical feedback ?
 

antcollinet

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What is the floor for IMD that we can hear? Is 20 bits (for instance) beyond what we can discern?
This post suggests the limit of audibility for IMD is around -66dB on the lenient limits - so about 11 bits.

EDITED TO ADD LINK:
 
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