The Truth about Modern Class D

I am quite new to the audiophile world but I am a professional musician so I have quite a bit of experience with music and how I think it should sound.  In my opinion, there will always be something artificial about electronic equipment trying to capture what the human ear (and brain) experiences in a live situation.  Let's not forget the pro audio side of the equation i.e. what kind of mics, pre-amps, mixing board were used, mic placement and then, what kind of limiting and compression.  And then on the hi-fi side, you go through a bunch of equipment again, trying at the very best, to reproduce what has been recorded.  I'm seeing some comments about the lack of naturalness of class D but too me, everything in audio reproduction is somewhat unnatural.  That's not to say it doesn't sound good, it's just not as sophisticated as what we experience when we listen to music live.  I recently was at a hi-fi store and listened to 2 comparably priced and well-regarded integrated amps.  One was class A/B and the other class D.  Both sounded really good but emphasized different elements of the musical experience.  The class D sounded more detailed and clearer but leaner and some would say clinical.  The class A/B sounded more liquid and richer but some would say less detailed and congested.  I think it just comes down to personal preference.  Recordings are never going to sound like the "real thing"so you might as well just go for the sound that is pleasing to you.  Maybe with my modest budget I have as yet to hear a system that captures everything that a live performance offers but I have a feeling that its a very very hard thing to do.  BTW I preferred the class D amp but I thought they were both very very nice

Adam,

Adam I agree with the "somewhat artificial" assessment in many cases.

If you ever get a chance to hear a pair of OHM Walsh speakers I wonder if they might shift your opinion somewhat. Especially off a good Class D amp and maybe a well-applied tube or two upstream if desired.

The Ohms are a radically different design that excels in coherence and reverberant field which effectively bridges the gap between sounding hifi versus more lifelike.

Not to steer this off topic, but no system can produce a convincing life-like sound, partly because the recording equipment cannot capture it. This is most evident in note decay. Musicians will know what I'm referring to. Anyone who thinks their system can recreate a live performance should go buy a cheap guitar, play a few chords and compare that to their very best acoustic recordings.  

I just wanted to weigh in here and say to all those who have low opinions of Class D amps and dismiss them outright, you may be overlooking their potential as a lower cost bi-amping solution for bass when looking for a solution for difficult to drive speakers. Even though you would never use them on the top end or as a single amp solution they do have cost effective applications on the low end, bi-amped.

I have never heard a hi-end Class D amp so won't offer an opinion on their musicality. I do have two Crown XLS 2500 amps (low end Class D amps price wise at $595) pushing the woofers on my Infinity Kappa 9's and even these really delivery on the low end. So much so I have considered upgrading to a better Class D amp just for bass. (Suggestions welcome.) I have mono class A tube amps on the top end that cost over 10x the Crowns and of course there is no comparison. But together they sound excellent and these inexpensive Crowns have helped me avoid having to spend a lot on a big Class A SS amp like a Krell or other high current amp that these speakers need.

1extreme

Excellent way of utilizing them as that’s where they shine at the moment, with their output impedance down in the milliohms region (damping factor massive), so long as the speakers load impedance doesn’t get real nasty, as most that I’ve seen don’t seem to like <3ohms too much.

Cheers George