If I have a class D amp and a class AB amp and both are delivering 150w.
And the psu is identical for both,will the current draw be the same for both?
And the psu is identical for both,will the current draw be the same for both?
Isn't the entire raison d'etre of class D to have about 30% better efficiency than class AB at full power?
Hello Ryssen,
I use a very cheap digital multimeter use it to measure the amperage input from your power supply to your amplifier, you might be in for a shock!
I checked my Class D 3116 and here is what I found, I use a 12V 8.5Amp SMPS;
With the amp at waking the dead volume and a full range wall of electronic music.
I connected an ammeter in series with the +V output it registered between 0.2 to 0.4 Amps.
At 12v = 4.8 Watts divided by 2 = 2.4 Watts less 10% for efficiency wastage = 2.16 Watts or 1/2 that at 0.2 Amps
I do hope that your amplifiers never deliver 150 Watts to your speakers it would fry them 🙂
Cheers - J
I use a very cheap digital multimeter use it to measure the amperage input from your power supply to your amplifier, you might be in for a shock!
I checked my Class D 3116 and here is what I found, I use a 12V 8.5Amp SMPS;
With the amp at waking the dead volume and a full range wall of electronic music.
I connected an ammeter in series with the +V output it registered between 0.2 to 0.4 Amps.
At 12v = 4.8 Watts divided by 2 = 2.4 Watts less 10% for efficiency wastage = 2.16 Watts or 1/2 that at 0.2 Amps
I do hope that your amplifiers never deliver 150 Watts to your speakers it would fry them 🙂
Cheers - J
Certainly true. But efficiency over that range is far superior compared to class AB. In reality a battery lasts much longer feeding class-D than class AB.
This article suggests class D at practical levels has about an order of magnitude lower power consumption than class B, and class A is more than an order of magnitude worse than class B.
Class D Audio Amplifiers: What, Why, and How | Analog Devices
Class B doesn't get any decent efficiency till near max signal, class A is never remotely efficient ever.
AB is notable worse than B at low volume (defining class B as Doug Self does).
Class D rules efficiency comparisons totally until you add classes G and H into the question. A typical class D dissipates less at its full rated power than a class B dissipates on no-signal.
Class D Audio Amplifiers: What, Why, and How | Analog Devices
Class B doesn't get any decent efficiency till near max signal, class A is never remotely efficient ever.
AB is notable worse than B at low volume (defining class B as Doug Self does).
Class D rules efficiency comparisons totally until you add classes G and H into the question. A typical class D dissipates less at its full rated power than a class B dissipates on no-signal.
As all seem to agree, at high power class D is the winner. Less need for a heatsink. At normal home-listening levels, the difference is less because also class D has important idle losses from the carrier.
Class D has an important advantage with varying speaker impedance because the supply voltage is converted to the energy needed at the speaker with Buck converter efficiency.
Class D or class AB will not save the planet with normal use. Less heatsink is important for the physical design.
Class D has an important advantage with varying speaker impedance because the supply voltage is converted to the energy needed at the speaker with Buck converter efficiency.
Class D or class AB will not save the planet with normal use. Less heatsink is important for the physical design.
A weakness of class-D is that the output devices are hard switched so energy stored in the Cds is lost. Some higher power amps (Powersoft) vary the rail voltages to reduce the energy loss at low output and some other amps have multiple rail voltages (TI boosted class-D, Infineon MERUS). First Look: Infineon MERUS MA12070
– QuantAsylum
R&D Stories: Future Shock. Powersoft Audio’s Amplifier Technologies | audioXpress
Plain class-D is no longer the most efficient available design.
– QuantAsylum
R&D Stories: Future Shock. Powersoft Audio’s Amplifier Technologies | audioXpress
Plain class-D is no longer the most efficient available design.