It's good to see manufacturers being up front about the technology they use, even if they do seem to be re-inventing the wheel here, and calling it an Infinitely Recycling Axial Support Sub-system.Its a Digital amplifier, not a Class-D. Whole different ballgame. Same tech as used in the reference class R1 system, but in a lighter and cheaper package.
It probably is class D, but it appears they haven't specified that. Class D is not inherently analogue or digital, I think is the point. Class D designs can be either.It's good to see manufacturers being up front about the technology they use, even if they do seem to be re-inventing the wheel here, and calling it an Infinitely Recycling Axial Support Sub-system.
So yes, they do call it a digital amplifier, but in what way is that not class D? The usual argument is that class D isn't digital, which always seemed very peculiar to me, but this is the other way round.
Nick
It is not just a case of semantics. I have never been a fan of the term digital ..it is basically meaningless, and much prefer the French numerical or numerique.. but the proper term for a device using on /off control is switching.... Or as you say Class D . A DAC is a numerical control device ,and a Class D device could be under full analogue control.. yes feedback??? Or numerical control or even zero control . I would have less difficulty if the letter D referred to Discrete .as opposed to continuousHow can class D be analogue? The output transistors are either ON or OFF!
Class A/B/C/D refers to the biasing configuration of the output transistors and the way the output waveform is generated, and the characteristics of the amplifier reflects the different bias configs.
Class D means that the output transistor is operated either fully on or fully off, just like a switch, so it's state can be represented as 0 or 1. That is what digital means, therefore class D is digital.
When marketing spin doctors describe class D as analogue, I think they mean the pulse width control is analogue. Therefore the transistors are opened and closed for a variable duration, rather than for a number of cycles.
Fair enough, but that's orthogonal to the bias configuration, and it's the bias configuration that determines the amplifier characteristics - efficiency, distortion, bandwidth, etc. A class D amp with linear PWM control is still a class D amp, and that's what primarily determines it's characteristics - square wave output, low pass filter, high efficiency, etc. Both linear and digital control of the pulse width still exhibit all of those characteristics.
Nick
How can class D be analogue? The output transistors are either ON or OFF!
Class A/B/C/D refers to the biasing configuration of the output transistors and the way the output waveform is generated, and the characteristics of the amplifier reflects the different bias configs.
Class D means that the output transistor is operated either fully on or fully off, just like a switch, so it's state can be represented as 0 or 1. That is what digital means, therefore class D is digital.
When marketing spin doctors describe class D as analogue, I think they mean the pulse width control is analogue. Therefore the transistors are opened and closed for a variable duration, rather than for a number of cycles.
Fair enough, but that's orthogonal to the bias configuration, and it's the bias configuration that determines the amplifier characteristics - efficiency, distortion, bandwidth, etc. A class D amp with linear PWM control is still a class D amp, and that's what primarily determines it's characteristics - square wave output, low pass filter, high efficiency, etc. Both linear and digital control of the pulse width still exhibit all of those characteristics.
Nick
It is not just a case of semantics. I have never been a fan of the term digital ..it is basically meaningless, and much prefer the French numerical or numerique.. but the proper term for a device using on /off control is switching.... Or as you say Class D . A DAC is a numerical control device ,and a Class D device could be under full analogue control.. yes feedback??? Or numerical control or even zero control . I would have less difficulty if the letter D referred to Discrete .as opposed to continuous
It's good to see manufacturers being up front about the technology they use, even if they do seem to be re-inventing the wheel here, and calling it an Infinitely Recycling Axial Support Sub-system.
So yes, they do call it a digital amplifier, but in what way is that not class D? The usual argument is that class D isn't digital, which always seemed very peculiar to me, but this is the other way round.
Nick
As a Lyngdorf owner it won’t surprise you to know that I’m in complete agreement with your views on digital amps. However I genuinely don’t believe that a class d amp should be regarded as inherently digital or analogue. Granted the output transistors are either on or off, but fed an analogue signal, the switching frequency is sufficiently high that the analogue waveform is maintained in all its resolution. If you call that digital, you have to question whether there is really any such thing as analogue at all.What gets me though, is how people take perfectly good digital technology and then try to disguise it as something else, trying to side-step some of the negative perceptions and connotations. Some people seem to think that digital audio gives you a signal comprised of staircases of digital steps, which is completely wrong.
The distinction is that a system is analogue if the measured parameter .. voltage or current has a value analogous or directly proportional to the instantaneous value of the signal.As a Lyngdorf owner it won’t surprise you to know that I’m in complete agreement with your views on digital amps. However I genuinely don’t believe that a class d amp should be regarded as inherently digital or analogue. Granted the output transistors are either on or off, but fed an analogue signal, the switching frequency is sufficiently high that the analogue waveform is maintained in all its resolution. If you call that digital, you have to question whether there is really any such thing as analogue at all.
What defines the maximum resolution of a vinyl front end? The size of the stylus versus the minimum size of fluctuation in the groove wall of the record. The stylus is either small enough to track it, or it isn’t, but the whole system is defined by that absolute binary factor.
Even the way sound moves through the air could be questioned. The air is either moving/pressurised (beyond ambient background factors) or it’s not.
I would say that for any component to be regarded as ‘digital’ it has to be acting upon a musical signal which is in a digitised form and not an analogue waveform.
Thanks, that’s what I was trying to get at, much less articulately.The distinction is that a system is analogue if the measured parameter .. voltage or current has a value analogous or directly proportional to the instantaneous value of the signal.
..if after 35 years teaching the subject ,I couldn't express myself, I would have been hopelessThanks, that’s what I was trying to get at, much less articulately.