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Several Insights In Order To Help Understand The Signal-To-Noise Ratio Of Modern Music Amps

By Sherry Lambert


To help you choose an audio amp, I am going to describe the term "signal-to-noise ratio" that is regularly utilized to depict the performance of audio amps.

Comparing the noise level of several amplifiers can be accomplished rather easily. Just gather a couple of models that you wish to compare and short circuit the inputs. After that put the amplifier gain to maximum and verify the amount of noise by listening to the loudspeaker. You will hear some amount of hissing and/or hum coming from the speaker. This noise is generated by the amplifier itself. Make sure that the gain of the amps is set to the same amount. Otherwise you will not be able to objectively evaluate the amount of hiss between several amplifiers. The general rule is: the smaller the amount of static which you hear the higher the noise performance.

One technique to accomplish a simple assessment of the noise performance of an amplifier is to short circuit the amplifier input and then to crank up the amplifier to its utmost. After that listen to the speaker which you have attached. You will hear some amount of hissing and/or hum coming from the speaker. This hiss is produced by the amp itself. Next compare different amplifiers according to the next rule: the smaller the amount of static, the better the noise performance of the amplifier. Yet, keep in mind that you should put all amps to amplify by the same amount to evaluate different amps.

Most of latest amps are based on a digital switching topology. They are known as "class-D" or "class-T" amps. Switching amps include a power stage which is continuously switched at a frequency of around 400 kHz. This switching frequency is also hiss that is part of the amplified signal. On the other hand, latest amplifier specs typically only consider the noise between 20 Hz and 20 kHz.

The most common method for measuring the signal-to-noise ratio is to set the amplifier to a gain that allows the maximum output swing. After that a test signal is fed to the amplifier. The frequency of this tone is usually 1 kHz. The amplitude of this tone is 60 dB below the full scale signal. Then, the noise floor between 20 Hz and 20 kHz is measured and the ratio to the full-scale signal calculated. The noise signal at different frequencies is eliminated via a bandpass filter during this measurement.

Frequently the signal-to-noise ratio is expressed in a more subjective method as "dbA" or "A weighted". In other words, this method attempts to state how the noise is perceived by a human being. Human hearing is most perceptive to signals around 1 kHz while signals under 50 Hz and above 14 kHz are barely noticed. The A-weighted signal-to-noise ratio is frequently higher than the unweighted ratio and is published in the majority of amp spec sheets.



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