Rabu, 26 Februari 2014

Several Insights In Order To Help Comprehend The Signal-To-Noise Ratio Of Latest Music Amplifiers

By Sherry Lambert


To help you choose an audio amp, I am going to clarify the term "signal-to-noise ratio" that is commonly used to express the performance of audio amps.

Whilst searching for an amp, you first are going to check the cost, power among additional basic criteria. However, after this initial selection, you will still have numerous models to choose from. Next you are going to concentrate more on some of the technical specifications, like signal-to-noise ratio in addition to harmonic distortion. Every amplifier is going to produce a certain amount of hiss and hum. The signal-to-noise ratio is going to help quantify the amount of hiss created by the amplifier.

To help you compare the noise performance, amplifier suppliers publish the signal-to-noise ratio in their amplifier spec sheets. Simply put, the higher the signal-to-noise ratio, the smaller the level of noise the amplifier generates. Noise is created due to a number of reasons. One reason is that modern amps all make use of components such as transistors in addition to resistors. These components are going to create some amount of noise. As the amplifier overall noise performance is mostly determined by the performance of elements situated at the amp input, producers will try to select low-noise parts while designing the amplifier input stage.

Most of recent power amplifiers are digital amps, also known as "class-d amps". Class-D amps make use of a switching stage which oscillates at a frequency between 300 kHz to 1 MHz. This switching frequency is also hiss that is part of the amplified signal. On the other hand, latest amp specifications typically only consider the hiss between 20 Hz and 20 kHz.

Makers measure the signal-to-noise ratio by setting the amplifier such that the full output swing can be achieved and by inputting a test signal to the amp that is generally 60 dB below the full scale of the amplifier. Then the noise-floor energy is calculated in the frequency range between 20 Hz and 20 kHz and compared with the full scale signal energy.

Frequently you will discover the term "dBA" or "a-weighted" in your amp specification sheet. A weighting is a technique of showing the noise floor in a more subjective fashion. In other words, this technique tries to express how the noise is perceived by a person. Human hearing is most sensitive to signals around 1 kHz whereas signals below 50 Hz and higher than 14 kHz are barely noticed. The A-weighted signal-to-noise ratio is generally higher than the unweighted ratio and is shown in most amplifier specification sheets.




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