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Do class D amps sound different?

#121
Al Kraft said:
I only had to get them fielded and operationally capable, you and your shipmates had the more difficult task of actually executing a mission with them.

As for drop tests, folks would be absolutely astounded if they watched an aircraft drop test - like this one for instance: www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6BsCvDgbsc
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ME meaning Mech Engineer, but you certainly did your share of AVWEPS work, probably more than my short tenure.

I second the wow, but then they have to handle hard landings, not to mention catching the wire. Drop check at "O" level meant setting her up on jacks and dropping the landing gear :D
 
#122
BadExample said:
ME meaning Mech Engineer, but you certainly did your share of AVWEPS work, probably more than my short tenure.

I second the wow, but then they have to handle hard landings, not to mention catching the wire. Drop check at "O" level meant setting her up on jacks and dropping the landing gear :D
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I was one of those lucky folks who got to work everything from weapons to aircraft and even aircraft carrier programs. While I started as an ME, I became a multidisciplinary "general engineer"early in my career through my OJT, additional education, and multiple certifications.

IIRC the F-35C was spec'ed for a max sink rate of just under 26 1/2 FPS. Even perfect carrier landings are hard on an aircraft. That's why Navy and Marine Corps air vehicles need a little more robustness in their landing gear and other structural components than similar planes designed to be operated only from land based sites.
 
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#127
agedhorse said:
26.6 FPS... that's not much different than a controlled fall, right?
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Many have described an aircraft carrier landing as controlled crash. IIRC operationally the max sink rate you can fly in that aircraft is around 21 FPS - the higher number is design. In commercial aircraft terms 21 FPS is significantly higher than even a robust plan could endure.

Actual g loading would depend on many factors and you have to recognize that the aft end of the ship could easily have its own vertical speed relative to pitch and roll. The arrested landing also places some serious stresses on air-frames that no commercial or land based only aircraft would ever see.
 
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#129
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So has anyone tried these two babies back to back? The 300 watt all tube Fender Super Bassman and the 800 watt Class D Fender Bassman 800. This would make for a great tone test right here.
 
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#132
Rodslinger said:
They also offer a 500 watt Class D version. Either way its about tone and feel. They have the same controls and preamps just different power sections.
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Even though the preamps "appear" identical, I believe there are some significant differences.

Assuming "identical" in comparisons can lead to inaccurate conclusions.
 
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#136
MultiScaleMale said:
They both take electricity from the wall and convert it to current for the speakers. One makes a ton of heat doing it, the other doesn’t. So when your brain looks at a four pound amp and thinks it can’t sound as loud as a thirty pound amp, remember, the wall is doing the work.
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I don't think it's the loudness of Class D amps that is the issue. They are unarguably more efficient than Class AB amps. It's the tone. It's hard to describe, but to me they always sound a bit "grainy", in the same way that a digital source sounds "grainy" compared to an analogue one. The place I notice it most though is not in bass amps, but in the powered speakers that are in most live venues nowadays.
 
#137
Zenbassie said:
I don't think it's the loudness of Class D amps that is the issue. They are unarguably more efficient than Class AB amps. It's the tone. It's hard to describe, but to me they always sound a bit "grainy", in the same way that a digital source sounds "grainy" compared to an analogue one. The place I notice it most though is not in bass amps, but in the powered speakers that are in most live venues nowadays.
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Then your ears are better than mine.
 
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#138
Interestingly, from a sound reproduction perspective at least, I find the "graininess" of digital is clearer through high quality equipment. I guess an analogy is that you can look at a surface with the naked eye, and say it is "flat", but if you look at it through a high powered microscope, you can see that it isn't really "flat" at all.
 

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