Which DAC/Amp ?

[Poster76]

Hi,

I have a Raspberry Pi 3 and some old (but never used) Q Acoustics 1010i speakers. I'd looking to buy a DAC/Amplifier but I'm not sure which of the two are compatible/better suited to my speakers.

IQAudio Pi-DigiAMP+ 2x35w

HifiBerry Amp+ 2x25W

The speakers I have are 86dB @6 ohhms. Does going for the the IQAudio amp mean a louder sound/the speakers wont struggle as much? With a more powerful amp, the sound at lower volumes is better too ?

Any advice appreciated. Thanks

[PeteB]

There is not going to be just one simple answer to this question.

For me, 6W/channel on a quiet day at a 5~6-ft listening distance is plenty. At a party with 20+ people in one large room, 40W/channel with another 40W headroom sounds anemic.

In most cases, in an average room, with the typical speaker like you posted, 20~25W is enough, 30~40 per channel is better. Not that you actually put that kind of continuous power through the speaker, but the speaker will sound a bit better if the amplifier has some dynamic range left, the bass will sound a little bit more controlled and less muddy with some extra power, the highs a bit more crisp. Note I said a "bit", not a "lot".

In general sound quality is a function of amplifier and speaker design, not power. I would check if one amplifier has better reviews.

[Lurk]

If you can wait a couple of weeks, I would be tempted to see what Polyvection comes up with for their updated PlainAmp (33.90 Euros)
I have one of their first gen models and am very impressed both with quality of sound and value for wattage (2x 40w)
You are also getting a DSP as well as a DAC +Amp so it is digital all the way if you want to tinker

Lx

[den_hr]

Unless you absolutely need to have the amp in the same enclosure with the RasPi, I don't see why you couldn't use any of the TPA3116D2-based amps. You get about 2x50W (rather optimistic, realistically it's more like 2x40W with 19V power supply).
However, it sure does get plenty loud
If you need an amp for throwing parties, then you'll need something more powerful, anyway (and rather expensive). However, there is still a cheap amp option - TDA7498 , which is 2x100W, and more powerful than the usual TPA3116 amps... It needs a bit more power, though (20V/5A as a minimum).

I've been using RaspI + Rune + TDA3116 amps for quite some time now, and I can honestly say that I haven't been able to find anything in that price range (and much more expensive) with equal sound quality.

For anything better (high-end audio territory) be prepared to pay at least 50 times more....


So, RasPi + Rune + cheap 24/192 DAC (Sabre ES9023 comes to mind) + external TPA3116D2 amp = hifi hi-res sound on a budget

Regards,
Denis

[rhodo]

I use a suptronics x400 which combines a TI PCM5122 dac with a TPA3118D2 amp. It only cost me 29 euros and a month waiting because it came from China. The TPA3118D2 amp is from the same series as the TPA3116D2 it only has less power compared to the TPA3116D2 (2x30 instead of 2x50W). (http://www.datasheetlib.com/datasheet/1 ... #datasheet)
I can't compare the TPA3118D2 to the TPA3116D2 and I also can't find any comparisons online but for a small bedroom with bookshelf speakers the TPA3118D2 has more than enough power. If anyone can find this comparison, please post a link.

[PeteB]

Higher amplifier power does not correspond to better quality. Sometimes the opposite. We tend to turn up the volume if we do not hear the detail we think we should, and to drown out any noise which may be at a constant volume, compared to the sound we are interested in.

So, at 35-watt or 50-watt amplifier will not necessarily sound better than a 20~25 watt amplifier, even if you compare apples and apples (meaning,compare amplifiers using the same technology).

I would have no reluctance to use a 20-watt per channel amplifier in an average room, with average shelf-type speakers.

For an example of when smaller may be better, see this link, it is the web site of Nelson Pass, one of the acknowledged gurus of simple, and low power amplifier design:

http://www.firstwatt.com/

(or do a search on diyaudio.com for small class D amplifiers)