I am just starting to get into building amps. I don't know much of the terminology, and how different components affect the sound, and I would like to understand more of the material I am reading. If anyone could recommend some resources to learn more about amps and how they work it would be greatly appreciated. Resources on how to get started designing amps would also be very useful. Thank you for reading!
Hi xtreme
read Bob Cordell s book + and here int the diyaudio forum.
https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/chip-amps/345511-bob-cordells-super-gain-clone-pcb-lm3886-stripped-version-compact3886.html#post5981277´
chris
read Bob Cordell s book + and here int the diyaudio forum.
https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/chip-amps/345511-bob-cordells-super-gain-clone-pcb-lm3886-stripped-version-compact3886.html#post5981277´
chris
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Need to look up chip amps, class AB amps, Class A amps and class D amps.
Breaking that down you need to understand CCS, CM, LTP, VAS, Vbe multiplier etc etc
You also need some basic circuit theory like ohms law and power laws.
You also need an understanding of how each component works.
I have been doing it 43 years and I am still learning.
Maybe start with a small amp kit build and then try other topologies and different powers of amps. Eventually you will be able to design your own.
Breaking that down you need to understand CCS, CM, LTP, VAS, Vbe multiplier etc etc
You also need some basic circuit theory like ohms law and power laws.
You also need an understanding of how each component works.
I have been doing it 43 years and I am still learning.
Maybe start with a small amp kit build and then try other topologies and different powers of amps. Eventually you will be able to design your own.
i have the book, and found as a beginner it was way beyond my current level of knowledge/skill.
what books would you suggest that cover the basics/foundation of audio circuits ??
regards
gaz
To start on a solid foundation, you must first learn Physics.
Electronics is but a branch of Physics.
I suggest you get an old (And I mean OLD, think WW2 era) Physics book.
Read the chapters dealing with Electricity and Magnetism.
Light on Math, little or no Calculus to begin with, heavy on basic concepts, "how things behave", often showing real experiments.
Those old High School Physics Labs, which look like Dr Frankenstein´s own, chock full of electrical switches, batteries, electric motors mounted on wooden bases, etc. were killer.
But ... bit ... but ... I want to learn Electronics, not old suff!!
Well, those chapters will teach you all about (in no particular order): electron, voltage, current, conductor, insulator, resistor, capacitor, battery, inductor, transformer, switch, power, meter, "circuit" (a combination of those elements), impedance, frequency .... etc.
Combination of these passive elements, plus some active ones acount for at least 90% of Electronics knowledge.
And even active elements can be explained based on these building blocks.
Such as transistor being called that by its inventors because they explained it as a TRANsference reSISTOR
A diode?: conductor one way, insulator the other way.
And so on.
THEN you read an Electronics book and most everything is an old friend. "Hey, I already know that"
Electronics is but a branch of Physics.
I suggest you get an old (And I mean OLD, think WW2 era) Physics book.
Read the chapters dealing with Electricity and Magnetism.
Light on Math, little or no Calculus to begin with, heavy on basic concepts, "how things behave", often showing real experiments.
Those old High School Physics Labs, which look like Dr Frankenstein´s own, chock full of electrical switches, batteries, electric motors mounted on wooden bases, etc. were killer.
But ... bit ... but ... I want to learn Electronics, not old suff!!
Well, those chapters will teach you all about (in no particular order): electron, voltage, current, conductor, insulator, resistor, capacitor, battery, inductor, transformer, switch, power, meter, "circuit" (a combination of those elements), impedance, frequency .... etc.
Combination of these passive elements, plus some active ones acount for at least 90% of Electronics knowledge.
And even active elements can be explained based on these building blocks.
Such as transistor being called that by its inventors because they explained it as a TRANsference reSISTOR
A diode?: conductor one way, insulator the other way.
And so on.
THEN you read an Electronics book and most everything is an old friend. "Hey, I already know that"
Take a look at the LM3886 data sheet. It is a chip amp that you can put together with kits on Ebay for very cheap, very low parts count, very high success rate for a beginner. If you want to go in depth Douglas Self Audio Amplifier Design Handbook is excellent and go through amplifier performance stage by stage with trade offs between different design elements. You can have some fun with the free LTSpice program simulating amplifier designs. You can just enter the schematic for a simple amp and look at what changing part values does to the performance. I think they have an audio amplifier in the library of example circuits.
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In with both feet!!
As an electrical engineer and an educator (in a previous career). I would actually recommend against too much "research" up front - just do it. Go read around the forums, find a good (simple) amplifier kit and go for it. Some points to consider:
1. You need to learn how to make a good solder joint, and some basic construction/fabrication ability.
2. Since I don't know your background, I would recommend you look around locally for local audio groups or a "makers space" (name varies - basically a group of folks who form a club, have some local shop space and like building things).
3. Keep it simple at first (I recommend a chip amp kit). Later, once you've gotten more experience and knowledge, you can dive into the more complex stuff.
4. Don't sweat it if you don't know all the details at first - that's what diyAudio is for. You will build up knowledge over time - that's part of the learning process. Gaining experience will give you the context you need to understand more advanced concepts. Ask "dumb" questions - you might discover that they are not so dumb after all.
5. Realize that there are a lot of different opinions here on what sounds/feels/is "best". Take your time, build your knowledge and form your own conclusions based upon your experiences. If you look at things with a critical eye, it's pretty easy to spot the trolls.
6. Finally, if in 6-months I find you hawking $5000 "hyper resolution audiophile power cables" I will hunt you down and beat you with a 6-foot piece of lamp cord. 😀
Good luck,
-bill
ps. just kidding about the lamp cord.
pps. Noticed you are from the Chicago burbs - I spent part of my childhood growing up in Crystal Lake.
As an electrical engineer and an educator (in a previous career). I would actually recommend against too much "research" up front - just do it. Go read around the forums, find a good (simple) amplifier kit and go for it. Some points to consider:
1. You need to learn how to make a good solder joint, and some basic construction/fabrication ability.
2. Since I don't know your background, I would recommend you look around locally for local audio groups or a "makers space" (name varies - basically a group of folks who form a club, have some local shop space and like building things).
3. Keep it simple at first (I recommend a chip amp kit). Later, once you've gotten more experience and knowledge, you can dive into the more complex stuff.
4. Don't sweat it if you don't know all the details at first - that's what diyAudio is for. You will build up knowledge over time - that's part of the learning process. Gaining experience will give you the context you need to understand more advanced concepts. Ask "dumb" questions - you might discover that they are not so dumb after all.
5. Realize that there are a lot of different opinions here on what sounds/feels/is "best". Take your time, build your knowledge and form your own conclusions based upon your experiences. If you look at things with a critical eye, it's pretty easy to spot the trolls.
6. Finally, if in 6-months I find you hawking $5000 "hyper resolution audiophile power cables" I will hunt you down and beat you with a 6-foot piece of lamp cord. 😀
Good luck,
-bill
ps. just kidding about the lamp cord.
pps. Noticed you are from the Chicago burbs - I spent part of my childhood growing up in Crystal Lake.
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It might be wise to look for projects which don't require you to mess around with the mains to begin with.
Perhaps have a look at this headphone amp tutorial, it's designed for complete beginners, cost is negligible, has a very thorough walk-through and lots of background material to read up on too.
Perhaps have a look at this headphone amp tutorial, it's designed for complete beginners, cost is negligible, has a very thorough walk-through and lots of background material to read up on too.
NealJ, I tried building that, but I did not do sufficient research on the opamp I used (TL082). It didn't like the low impedance headphones I used. It started distorting after a few seconds, unless it was a separate problem.
I think a lot of it depends on your background and your natural way of learning.
I'm taking my first steps in soldering my own amplifier, based on the MyRef_fremen chip amplifier. I did a lot of reading upfront, but honestly that doesn't really "stick" until you start applying your knowledge. In the beginning I started to design my own LM3886 PCB, but with zero practical electronics knowledge that was too ambitious. I'm not sure that I would start again with the MyRef_Fremen, since it one of the more complex chipamp design out there. I think the best starting point is a readymade PCB around the LM3886. That way you can get to a first success experience in the short term.
A disadvantage imo about working with IC's is that they are a "black box". So you miss out on really understanding amplifier typology, VAS, Current pump, DC offset ... but you can’t learn everything at once.
The steps I took so far
1) Learned how to solder with the cheapest soldering kit out there. Soldering is a lot of fun! First we a cheapo soldering iron without temperature control. Now, I bought a temperature controlled soldering iron from AOYUE for around 50 EUR, gets the job done and is a lot more enjoyable to work with.
2) Two books I can recommend are "Practical Electronics for Inventors" by Paul Scherz and Simon Monk and "High Power Audio Amplifier Construction Manual" by G. Randy Slone. I have seen the classic books from Douglas Self, Cordell and others. They are very comprehensive but overwhelming if you have no background in analogue electronics.
3) A lot of online reading. See the attached file for all bookmarks regarding audio engineer that I saved. Defenitly have a look in the “fundamentals” folder, those sites help me a lot.
4) Ordered the MyRef_Fremen board, ordered the BOM from Mousser and started soldering and really learning.
Have a lot of fun!
I'm taking my first steps in soldering my own amplifier, based on the MyRef_fremen chip amplifier. I did a lot of reading upfront, but honestly that doesn't really "stick" until you start applying your knowledge. In the beginning I started to design my own LM3886 PCB, but with zero practical electronics knowledge that was too ambitious. I'm not sure that I would start again with the MyRef_Fremen, since it one of the more complex chipamp design out there. I think the best starting point is a readymade PCB around the LM3886. That way you can get to a first success experience in the short term.
A disadvantage imo about working with IC's is that they are a "black box". So you miss out on really understanding amplifier typology, VAS, Current pump, DC offset ... but you can’t learn everything at once.
The steps I took so far
1) Learned how to solder with the cheapest soldering kit out there. Soldering is a lot of fun! First we a cheapo soldering iron without temperature control. Now, I bought a temperature controlled soldering iron from AOYUE for around 50 EUR, gets the job done and is a lot more enjoyable to work with.
2) Two books I can recommend are "Practical Electronics for Inventors" by Paul Scherz and Simon Monk and "High Power Audio Amplifier Construction Manual" by G. Randy Slone. I have seen the classic books from Douglas Self, Cordell and others. They are very comprehensive but overwhelming if you have no background in analogue electronics.
3) A lot of online reading. See the attached file for all bookmarks regarding audio engineer that I saved. Defenitly have a look in the “fundamentals” folder, those sites help me a lot.
4) Ordered the MyRef_Fremen board, ordered the BOM from Mousser and started soldering and really learning.
Have a lot of fun!
Too funny
I'm class of 1991 CL Central
Just yesterday found a newspaper article about how I was one of a group of "most improved students" my junior year. I texted an image of that article to a girl that was in the photo as well. I've lived all over, but she made it as far as Marengo
As far as the beginning amp building, I've never made a chip-amp, but I would also +1 for that route. I recommend doing something easy that maybe you construct a linear power supply, and add a chip-amp with a big slab heatsink to keep it reliable and cool. I imagine that even I would like the sound of a chip-amp and enjoy pushing it. The reasons I like the simple and easy route is because you will naturally delve deeper and use everything that you learn along the way. You will have something that you have successfully built to enjoy listening to while you build something else in the future, and always be able to tell the story of that first completed project. You will learn what you need to along the way.
S
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For online learning check out Learn about Electronics website. Learn About Electronics - Home Page
MM
MM
Forgot to add to the above post. I have 4 of the MyRef FE v1.05 pcbs They are earlier pcbs, but will accept the basic EVO Mod. Check out the MyRef FE thread, it is huge. I can ship you the pcbs for $5 usd each ($20 total) + shipping. PM me if interested.
MM
MM
You should go to thrift stores and buy an old ARRL (American radio relay league) book
I know there's a lot of material you can use online to learn but these books really got me to understand amplifiers down to the component level quickly and a lot more comprehensibly then what i could find online.