PAM8610 mini stereo amplifier with volume control, test and review

[@raymondheath7668]

These little PAM modules of all different types are making it real convenient to get and audio output for your small projects. Thanks for the vid

[@CaribbeanGTR]

The sound quality through the speakers can be discerned quite well, so we do appreciate you playing the music. I can even hear the hiss.

[@audiotechlabs4650]

Great new post John. I use PE for parts(not a paid endorsement) and I found this review valuable because I have not ordered one of their amp modules and this gives me a good idea of the quality of them. I value your assessments of electronics, so this helps me make decisions. Thankz

[@HillsWorkbench]

Check out his older videos, he has reviewed a several items from them.

[@kevinlivingston9563]

Why play a music sample? Why does a TV chef taste the food in their videos? It's called presentation. Let the man do his thing y'all! Plus it would be like speaker porn without the money shot😕

[@JohnAudioTech]

The chef analogy is great!

[@KuntalGhosh]

Please also include efficiency numbers in your benchmark ! Its a tiny addition but good to know , some amplifiers are more efficient...!!

[@MrBrymstond]

To add a heatsink add 5mm copper shims or the exact dimensions of the amp chip then add a heatsink.

[@boonedockjourneyman7979]

You won’t believe this because it runs against the zeitgeist, but KZbin’s audio algorithm isn’t too bad. I used a TEK AA5001 with an SG505, opt. 1, and it came out WAY better than any of the cheap MP3 (JPEGish) algorithms I checked. Surprised me

[@iceberg789]

these class D o/p wires practically function as antenna and give out a lot of em radiation, with those high frequency sampling. some people i read, have suggested using ferrite bead or chokes at the outputs.

[@Sayan_here]

I'm making a Bluetooth speaker, my drivers are 4ohm (20w max), they produce really good bass if paired with passive radiator. What amplifier should i use? Power supply 12.6v battery pack. Thanks.

[@jonnyrocker7919]

Hahaha! Love the blooper at the end, it sounded genuine! Lol

[@ALE-wj8oi]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/fJPQkoyvlMt4oM0

[@sputnik4216]

Luv that Hack Shack calculator!

[@ALE-wj8oi]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/fJPQkoyvlMt4oM0

[@williamstaten8102]

Cool, I may get one. Had head phones on, seemed like it had a lot of bass.

[@rajpootyogendra]

please suggest a amplifier board for 4ohm 5W stereo speaker

[@ALE-wj8oi]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/fJPQkoyvlMt4oM0

[@jeffm2787]

I've got a few of these PAM8610 based boards, they are all RF nightmares. Much prefer the TPA31xxD2 based boards.

[@jakubfila5769]

Hi! I'm planning to buy one of these in not too distant future. I want to use 8ohm speakers and want to get something around 2x15 watt output. Can you recommend me the best amp board in terms of sound quality/price? I like your videos btw. Cool stuff :)

[@jainvibhore1997]

I had a cheap 4ohm speaker burnt by this amp at 12 volts!! The chip does get hot as hell without heat sink...

[@analogaudiorules1724]

A few things ive notced messing around with this amplifier over the past 3 years, is the louder you turn the volume regardless of the input volume even if the input volume is low and you crank the gain on the actual amplifier, the cleaner it sounds, if you have the amplifiers volume set to a min but still enough to hear alittle with the input volume from your source turned up it sounds grainy, but not as in it clipping the input grainy, but in a lower power state kind of sound even with the input source partially turnd up, its probably due it being a dc stepped controlled amplifier design. i usually run the amp with the volume up all the way and control the volume with my source which i feel gives me better sound quality, I used one heatsink like this www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-8-8-8-8-5mm-Heat-Sink-Top-Mount-Pack-of-10/301459243369?hash=item46305f0169:g:rYsAAOSwg3FUnlDq i also used this artic silver 2 part thermal epoxy to thermally bond the heat sink to the chip only a pea sized mixed drop of both parts in the center of the chip worked great, making sure not to get it on the ics pins or supporting parts. www.ebay.com/itm/Arctic-Silver-Arctic-Alumina-2-PartThermal-Adhesive-Heatsink-Glue-Epoxy-5-Gram/202604404865?hash=item2f2c29e081:g:gWUAAOSw0q1cbzqH after that i got one of these 4 amp 15v switch mode power supplies www.parts-express.com/15v-4a-dc-power-supply-ac-adapter-with-21-x-55mm-center-positive-(-)-plug--120-057 it handles 4 ohms per channel perfectly, even if you really beat on it, even with that little bit extra cost its well worth it. www.parts-express.com/pam8610-2-x-10w-class-d-audio-amplifier-board--320-604 it seems like they did come out with a version, that already has a heat sink and bigger storage capacitor, buy that and that 15v 4 amp power supply and you will be floored.

[@ALE-wj8oi]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/fJPQkoyvlMt4oM0

[@MrBrymstond]

I would use a thick copper shim that fits and raises it above the components so I could use a heatsink

[@2davydo]

He He He great vid. RU Now adding bluper reels at the end of each now. :-))

[@jonathanbelzley2877]

Thanks, buddy!

[@FonsecaNathan]

How do you think the performance would be if you used a solar panel that supplied 7.2 volts at 200mA for two 8 ohm speakers with this amp?

[@rich1051414]

Seems to be reliant on the power supply to be able to provide enough power without sagging or rippling. I have a feeling this little amp would be really bad with a cheap power supply at higher volumes.

[@JohnAudioTech]

Yes, the power supply is quite important to amplifier performance.

[@xaenon]

I'm curious about how much current this little amp pulls from its power source when it's being driven hard. I'd expect at least 16W draw based on 8W/channel, it's bound to be higher due to overhead and heat dissipation. It looks like an ideal solution for a project I'm thinking about.

[@JohnAudioTech]

At the measured output of 8.5 w/ch, I'd estimate 19w given an efficiency of around 90%. With 14v supply, current would be 1.36amp. Of course that is with the continuous sine wave. Typical music would only require and average of a couple hundred milliamps or so. YMMV.

[@xaenon]

John, thank you for that information. It looks like this amp is perfect for what I have in mind. It'll be battery-powered, so high efficiency is a must.

[@BBXFX]

18650 3S 1P fully charged would provide 12.6 volts. do you see any problem with that as a supply? Can you please suggest a cheap Bluetooth receiver, instead of using the 3.5 mm input. I've seen them all over eBay but never tried one yet.

[@johncoops6897]

Buy a PAM8610 with Bluetooth receiver. They are easy to buy on ebay.

[@teohchiawei]

Great video... I learn a lot from all your video... just curious, how are we reduce the "hisss" sound?

[@michaelpimentel3002]

The data sheet recommends 2 ferrite chokes around the N-Output and P-Output wire of each channel and two 220pf in series with a center tap ground in parallel with the N and P Input of each speaker. So, 4 ferrite chokes EMI/RFI. range and 4 220pf caps.

[@teohchiawei]

I am so sorry, i don't understand the explanation about the capacitor placement. Is it the input from each channel of the source or the input to the speaker?

[@michaelpimentel3002]

At the speaker input, there is a + terminal and a - terminal. Take two 220pf capacitors and join them in series so there are now 3 points of connection, the two poles and a center. The center needs to go to ground on the Amplifier circuit. One of the two poles need to go to the t terminal, the other goes to the - terminal. Avoid electrolytic capacitors due to size but if you must solder negative to negative to make it a non-polarized electrolytic. Basically, it's a first order low pass filter to remove the hiss from EMI and RFI which would be about 100Mhz. And so in theory, the capacitors could be connected across the amplifier P Output and N Output. .

[@teohchiawei]

pm? [e-mail]?

[@michaelpimentel3002]

PM the datasheet check page 13. That will get rid of the RFI/EMI.

[@patrickd308]

Man, where did you get the transformer behind your tv? I have the same one, but ain't got any clue about the pinout. If you can help me that would be very helpful man. Thanks...

[@JohnAudioTech]

It came out of an old mini stereo. They can look identical but have different winding configurations. You may be able to see the wires where they connect to the pins. The thicker wires are for the main amplifier. The thinner wires are for the tuner, preamp and such. You have to put a volt meter on them to sort them out.

[@patrickd308]

JohnAudioTech Mine came from old Aiwa stereo. Mine got 17 pins. Unfortunately, mine were soldered right to the pcb (with large traces), and the pcb is lost somewhere. I'm just curious if i can trace the pin with the bulb load? (that bulb that go to the mains and to your circuit etc) Thanks man

[@williamstaten8102]

found some on ebay with a bigger cap and heat sink !

[@tonkav1539]

Link please

[@acpadhi]

You are doing a great Job at your videos. Love them actually. For this AMP, just adding my few cents here : This Damn Chip is probably the worst of the PAM series. It is a RF monster, and that is why your TV amp is playing the audio there. Its Switching frequency(at least in the boards I have checked with) hit severely the FM Radio's IF frequencies, rendering the FM reception almost useless. But it does not stay there, these chips leak RF into the power lines too very happily. I would actually hate to call them good design by any means. using this amplifier without Filters at output and Solid Bypassing at power lines is like polluting the RF environment.

[@MrBrymstond]

Is that a smoothing capacitor I see behind the power jack? I would bet it's a knock off clone, but I wouldn't hesitate to change that for the sake of the community viewership.

[@MrBrymstond]

I can see it has some ripple so I would replace that cap

[@nogheelucido9518]

hello??? how much does the module cost about peso???

[@mrcreagamer3738]

6:49 That has happened to me too

[@manojmehengiya734]

can i use 2*3 watt speaker in this amplifier board

[@JohnAudioTech]

I'd use 10 watt speakers minimum if you like to crank it up.

[@lee26carl]

I got two of those. IC are getting hot... and its a bit distorted...

[@HillsWorkbench]

I wonder if they have some kind of internal overheat protection?

[@lee26carl]

Hill's Workbench im not sure. but mine? I add heatsink just to make it sure...

[@JohnAudioTech]

While I didn't check this one, about every audio power IC made since the 70's has thermal and short circuit protection. Running the IC hot but short of tripping the thermal protection limiter can still shorten the life of the IC.

[@HillsWorkbench]

I guess I'm wondering about the nature of the protection method(S). Protect by shutting off until it cools? Or some kind of limp mode that might result in distortion. This could be a video or part of your test regime, attach an undersized heat sink, and run 50% power till they overheat.

[@JesemanuelRamirez]

a filter-less amp, is bad for audio quality?

[@JohnAudioTech]

No reason it would be.