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Review and Measurements of Hypex NC400 DIY Amp

Samoyed

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Well, I think he still offers revision C, but likely you have revision D. Sparkos or SI?

I started with SI, but went to Sparkos. I have chronic tinnitus and for some reason the SI ops aggravated it n
 
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New member, long time lurker/reader. This report made my day as I had built a couple of different Hypex OEM-based DIY amps in the past few years. In case it isn't clear, yes, I managed to get my hands on some OEM boards (NC500 & OEM buffer board as well as an NC502MP) and built two amps based on these components. Just today I had been reading about how MyTek allegedly crapped on Hypex in some other forum in the not too distant past and I then realized that I'd never seen any actual tests of Hypex products!

To my ears, and in my system, they're great. I think the NC500, plain ole factory Hypex buffer board and the SMPS3k700 (power for 3 channels, I'm only using 2) make for a very positive listening experience. Totally neutral in my system, which is exactly what I look for in an amp. Some of my friends don't appreciate it as I'm using with JBL Synthesis series and Tannoys - both of which can sound forward in the upper middle or high frequencies, depending on the source and source material.

Anyway, it's good to see that my amp's "little brother" measures so well and I encourage anyone reading to build one of their DIY kits based on the NC400s that you can get without any hassle, and without endangering anyone's reseller status (or buying from a shady Chinese dealer on eBay which was what I did for one set of mine).

Good to know my ears aren't lying.
 
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In case any one is looking for a Nord hypex amp without waiting, I have listed one here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/AVexchange/comments/b83opc
It’s an incredible amp but I decided to go with active speakers in the end (ATC SCM19A’s).

To some of the replies you got on your Reddit listing, I think there's some confusion as to who is what's little brother in the Hypex range. AFAIK, the NC502MP in your unit is not really in the same category as the NC400, NC500 or NC1200. The latter three are all just power amplifier modules, requiring a power supply and input buffer board to operate. The NC502MP is a standalone, two-channel board that one simply bolts to the chassis and wires the connections.

I have both an NC502MP and NC500 based amps, using all original Hypex boards (none of the fancy after-market custom buffers you can get out there, including from Nord) and I like both of them. To the point that the NC502MP and other "OEM N-core modules" measure worse than the NC400 DIY kit, I wonder where that person is getting their info. All I can see is they are quoting a few specs as published by Hypex, but not any actual test & measurement results. That said, it makes sense to me I guess given that the NC502 is the only Hypex product under discussion in your Reddit thread that contains the buffer/input, power supply, and power amplifier circuitry on the same board, it makes sense that the 502 might "measure worse." But until I see proof that ALL OEM modules actually measure worse than the DIY models, I will respectfully provide the correct information on how and what we're really comparing - again, until there's some measurements for the OEM stuff.

Is anyone aware of any tests on NC500 based amps?
 

DDF

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...NC400, NC500 or NC1200. The latter three are all just power amplifier modules, requiring a power supply and input buffer board to operate.

The NC400 just needs the power supply, no buffer. I love mine.
 
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The NC400 just needs the power supply, no buffer. I love mine.
Ah yes, you're right. Yeah I love my 500s too. I may give some NC400s a try in the future but I've heard that the power supplies (forget the model #) are prone to failure (?). I would also be curious to know if anyone's ever tried subbing a linear PS with one of the Hypex amp modules.
 
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Your remarks are a little disconnected here. Perhaps if you provided a link to what you are referring to.

Cheers
Alan

If you're responding to me, I would ask the same thing. To which of my posts does your question apply?

I provided a quote from the guy who's selling the Hypex amp (SOLD) on Reddit just up-thread. My comments were in reference to the comments on that Reddit listing which you can see by clicking on the Reddit link in my reply or in his OP.
 

Matias

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Bruno has left Hypex a while ago and is now one of the owners of Purifi Audio. He is finishing a next generation of class D amplifiers which are superior to nCore: the Eigentakt. More info here:

https://6moons.com/audioreview_articles/purifi/

1ET400A module specs below. Looks like an NC400 successor.
https://6moons.com/wp-content/uploads/audioreviews/purifi/1.pdf

1ET400A THD.JPG
 
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decoRyder

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oivavoi

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Bruno has left Hypex a while ago and is now one of the owners of Purify Audio. He is finishing a next generation of class D amplifiers which are superior to nCore: the Eigentakt. More info here:

https://6moons.com/audioreview_articles/purifi/

1ET400A module specs below. Looks like an NC400 successor.
https://6moons.com/wp-content/uploads/audioreviews/purifi/1.pdf

View attachment 24998

This looks cool. It seems that this new design might eliminate the possibility that the high-frequency noise of class D might modulate into the audible band. What I find a bit astonishing though is that Putzeys in this interview for the first time seems to acknowledge that this indeed may happen with even the Ncore amps. Or is that just a marketing claim for the new amps? He also claims that these new amps are "sonically superior". I thought the Ncore already was already sonically transparent? How can you improve sonically on an amplifier that supposedly neither adds or removes anything from the signal?
 

decoRyder

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This looks cool. It seems that this new design might eliminate the possibility that the high-frequency noise of class D might modulate into the audible band. What I find a bit astonishing though is that Putzeys in this interview for the first time seems to acknowledge that this indeed may happen with even the Ncore amps. Or is that just a marketing claim for the new amps? He also claims that these new amps are "sonically superior". I thought the Ncore already was already sonically transparent? How can you improve sonically on an amplifier that supposedly neither adds or removes anything from the signal?

Putzey's a very, very intelligent individual. I think it makes sense that he would keep some of his recent designs, specifically the Eigentakt, which seems to improve on the NCORE, reserved for his own post-Hypex commercial use.

This is a very good interview, which reveals some of his thinking; color me very impressed:

https://www.soundandvision.com/content/bruno-putzeys-head-class-d
 

Feyire

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I will not eat, drink or lay with women until I have two of those! : )
Anyone have an idea on availability and pricing of these upcoming ones? I'm also curious to see if they will do DIY modules like Hypex.
 

oivavoi

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Putzey's a very, very intelligent individual. I think it makes sense that he would keep some of his recent designs, specifically the Eigentakt, which seems to improve on the NCORE, reserved for his own post-Hypex commercial use.

This is a very good interview, which reveals some of his thinking; color me very impressed:

https://www.soundandvision.com/content/bruno-putzeys-head-class-d

Nobody doubts that he's smart. But what he says now contradicts what he said earlier when he was at hypex. That's what gets me wondering.
 

jtwrace

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I've been using Hypex amps for years now. I was so impressed with the NC400 that I setup tours and ultimately led to being a mod of the Hypex Owners Circle at AC since it went nuts. All these amps have been tested. I currently use (4) NC502MP for 8 channels. There's still nothing like them IMO.

Tour 1
Tour 2
Listening Impressions
 

decoRyder

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Nobody doubts that he's smart. But what he says now contradicts what he said earlier when he was at hypex. That's what gets me wondering.

Not sure why you think he's contradicting himself; from what I've seen the difference between Eigentakt and Ncore is higher loop gain, 75db vs 50db, and even lower THD. I don't think he ever claimed that this wasn't possible, so I'm not sure where the contradiction lies here.
 

Feyire

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I've been using Hypex amps for years now. I was so impressed with the NC400 that I setup tours and ultimately led to being a mod of the Hypex Owners Circle at AC since it went nuts. All these amps have been tested. I currently use (4) NC502MP for 8 channels. There's still nothing like them IMO.

Tour 1
Tour 2
Listening Impressions

1555689203070.png


Indeed, no other power amplification technology reviewed here at ASR has measured like the NC400 in mono - it's audibly transparent.

Nice to see that Bruno still wants to push the engineering limits further though.
 

decoRyder

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Anyone have an idea on availability and pricing of these upcoming ones? I'm also curious to see if they will do DIY modules like Hypex.

From what I've seen on the DYI Audio forum, PuriFi is waiting for some patent applications to reach a certain stage before they will begin production. It could be a while until the Eigentakt becomes available.
 

Samoyed

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Meanwhile Nord sells a 1200 at a great price. My MK II sounds wonderful.
 
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