"of negative feedback switching power supply power amp."
It makes me suspicious of "negative placebo effect" when somebody has already opinion on switching in general.
Switching supplies are the same thing as class D amps. In addition to efficiency they have line and load regulation that linear power supplies are lacking. Latest $13k Rowland 625 - class A/B amp uses switching power supplies.
Noise from switching supplies is easier to clean because of higher frequency - that's why Rowland uses them in preamps where efficiency is of secondary importance.
Linear power supplies, if you thing about it, are really switchers operating at 120Hz poluting with 120Hz strong narrow current spikes of high harmonic content. This high harmonic content in addition to very high rms/average value ratio calls for oversized transformers. On the other hand ferrite transformer at 100kHz can carry 10x more power than toroidal 60Hz transformer of the same size. I would speculate that switching power supply, now days designed with zero voltage/zero current switching, got bad rap from extremely crude switching supplies in computers.
Why then linear supplies are still so popular? - for two reasons:
1. mistrust in new technologies (that was just expressed)creates demand for old technology (if it's heavy it has to be good).
2. any idiot can design linear supply - not so with the switcher (very complicated).
As for negative feedback - there is very little of it in class D since ouput is very linear by definition and output impedance is very low (inherent since output Mosfets always connect speaker to low impedances (GND and VCC). Iceamps have two feedbacks. One controls the timing of free running oscillator while the other is traditional analog one with perhaps only 20-30dB control.
So if anybody is objecting to class D technology or SMPS I'd like to add that delta-sigma converters, SACD and DSD operates on the same principle (Pulse Width Modulation)
It makes me suspicious of "negative placebo effect" when somebody has already opinion on switching in general.
Switching supplies are the same thing as class D amps. In addition to efficiency they have line and load regulation that linear power supplies are lacking. Latest $13k Rowland 625 - class A/B amp uses switching power supplies.
Noise from switching supplies is easier to clean because of higher frequency - that's why Rowland uses them in preamps where efficiency is of secondary importance.
Linear power supplies, if you thing about it, are really switchers operating at 120Hz poluting with 120Hz strong narrow current spikes of high harmonic content. This high harmonic content in addition to very high rms/average value ratio calls for oversized transformers. On the other hand ferrite transformer at 100kHz can carry 10x more power than toroidal 60Hz transformer of the same size. I would speculate that switching power supply, now days designed with zero voltage/zero current switching, got bad rap from extremely crude switching supplies in computers.
Why then linear supplies are still so popular? - for two reasons:
1. mistrust in new technologies (that was just expressed)creates demand for old technology (if it's heavy it has to be good).
2. any idiot can design linear supply - not so with the switcher (very complicated).
As for negative feedback - there is very little of it in class D since ouput is very linear by definition and output impedance is very low (inherent since output Mosfets always connect speaker to low impedances (GND and VCC). Iceamps have two feedbacks. One controls the timing of free running oscillator while the other is traditional analog one with perhaps only 20-30dB control.
So if anybody is objecting to class D technology or SMPS I'd like to add that delta-sigma converters, SACD and DSD operates on the same principle (Pulse Width Modulation)