I saw in another video that it is not recommended to use the included BNC adapter board because of grounding issues - when not plugged in, there is no connection between the connectors, but once plugged in all four connect. They recommend building your own when using the audio analyser suite for differential grounding instead of the included adapter with common grounding.
Thanks for sweeping your 6P1! I did your mods on mine so I think it's safe to assume a sweep on mine would yield very similar if not identical results (I too rolled the Soviet 6P1's and added vintage 6SN7's). I run mine into Klipsch RP-600M's and also have a vintage 80's Velodyne ULD-15 sub that I recently refoamed the surround. This is more sub than i need, so I just keep it relatively low. For for the 1 watt I'm getting before distortion kicks in, it sounds really good. But my winter project is definitely going to be hand-building a new amp, probably the 6SQ7 amp. Keep up the good work Stephe!
Hi Stephe, I'm glad to see you are getting similar readings to what I'm seeing with a used Analog Discovery unit I picked up on Ebay. I'm seeing the same channel imbalance on the 2 DIY tube units I quickly measured. THD was higher than I would have guessed too. But now knowing that part of that might be inherent in the signal generator in the AD makes me hopeful the actual THD is a bit lower than the measurements show. I'll have to run a loop-back test to see what that shows. Keep up the good work! Tom
I look more at "Where does the THD take a hard turn" rather than being worried about if it's showing 0.5% or 1.5% Also the frequency response stuff + THD vs frequency is helpful.
Hey, thanks for this! This is hugely helpful. I just got a Analog discovery 2 and this software. Great little tool. I will be testing my amp on it tomorrow so I pull your video up on this. Miss your vids, hope all is good with you. cheers!
To paraphrase Nelson Pass, if the first watt doesn’t sound good, what makes you think 100 watts will. I personally love a amp with 3ed harmonics. I like solo artists sure, but put some harmony backup singers in the song singing in 3ed’s, ha now the sound is getting rich, thick, tubby, lol . Great Video, Love your Stuff
I just started using this to test my 6BM8 build I am finding that on the frequency response graph, it shows a negative gain instead of around 15db at 1k. The amp sounds fine so not sure why a negative gain reading. Volume was set at 12 o’clock.
Great video! I bought the discovery two because I want to learn more about this kind of stuff as oscilloscopes and harmonics have always seemed like black magic. Will you do a video that explains what you see and what significance it has on the amp, for example when you are trying to see if it is working or not? Also I have a nad 3020i with low volume on one channel, is the discovery 2 something I can use to "discover" what could be at fault?
Sure, you should be able to use the output from the signal gen, inject a sine wave into the input and the use the scope function to look for when the signal fades off. Compare one channel to the other!
@@hanzo52 You use the scope probe to look for the sine wave in various points of the signal path. You can compare how strong the signal is in both channels and this way when you see it is much weaker in one channel than the other, there is the point the problem starts. If you are talking about a tube amp (I have no idea what a Nad 3020i is) use a dummy load on the output, as the noise of a sine wave in a speaker is pretty annoying, especially at 1khz! Also understand where the high voltage is, how much DC is OK for the measuring instrument etc.
Very much enjoy your videos. I bought the analog discovery 3. I have tried to use it to measure the frequency response and distortion of a digital amplifier (Fosi audio ZA3). The distortion immediately registers too high and the sequence shuts down. Also - it seems the amplifier itself shuts down when the ground circuit between the amplifier and the analog discovery 3 is completed. Would appreciate your thoughts.
Are you trying to measure both channels at once? That could cause issues using the factory breakout board on some SS amps. I also have run into SS amps that reverse the positive and negative outputs the popular PASS ACA amp does this. Have you tried to measure any other amp successfully?
I tried both and only one. I didn’t try reversing the polarity. Will give that a shot. All I have is class D amplifiers here. Thank you for responding and will let you know what happens.
I'm thinking to buy AD PRO 3250, as a technician I got many instruments, but to be honest I'm considering it for it's almost infinite features. I'm really curious to try the audio tool, so ,maybe my xmas gift 'll be this, the 3250 or 3450 if I can afford. The only thing stopped me till now is the workflow, so I would try it some days before buying, I'm not a pc based stuff super fan, anyway it seems what I want/need.
I really love this audio analyzer suite freeware. I understand the Analog discovery 2 isn't "scientific grade" and likely the distortion numbers are a bit higher due to the signal generator introducing some noise, but it's so easy to use and works fine for comparing changes and different amps etc.
hi Stephe, i am having trouble installing the AudioAnalyzerSuite. i am using windows 11. i don't know if this is compatible with win 11. do you have a similar experience when installing this, if so, can you tell me what's the workaround please. thank you.
I would post this question on their YT channel comment. I know you can do a special install process to tell windows 11 that this software worked on X version of windows. That might be needed. I'm using it on windows 10.
Hello, I would like to use it to measure THD of my tape deck. Do you think that it will be possible? Possibly, I could also write my own code for calculating Wow and Flutter.
I'm not sure what software to download from Digilent. They seem to have a number of different software packages. Which specific one did you download to use with the audio analog suite? Many thanks for this video.
@@SkunkieDesignsElectronics so im guessing then the 8 or 4 ohm setting is only used to calculate and show the power ratings so i can ignore that and just set my voltage input settings and that and check freq and thd without issues relying on the 8 or 4 ohm selection. Ill just use a 50 or 100k ohm hooked up to the output of the circuit but select the 8 ohm load then correct?
This is how a DIY video should be done. Informative, easy to understand, straight to the point. Thank you Stephe!
I saw in another video that it is not recommended to use the included BNC adapter board because of grounding issues - when not plugged in, there is no connection between the connectors, but once plugged in all four connect. They recommend building your own when using the audio analyser suite for differential grounding instead of the included adapter with common grounding.
In my amps, all of them are grounded too. The only issue is if you try to use the BNC board with bridged amps.
I've been looking to audio-specific videos for the Analog discovery units for ages and this was supremely helpful 💪😁😁
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks for sweeping your 6P1! I did your mods on mine so I think it's safe to assume a sweep on mine would yield very similar if not identical results (I too rolled the Soviet 6P1's and added vintage 6SN7's). I run mine into Klipsch RP-600M's and also have a vintage 80's Velodyne ULD-15 sub that I recently refoamed the surround. This is more sub than i need, so I just keep it relatively low. For for the 1 watt I'm getting before distortion kicks in, it sounds really good.
But my winter project is definitely going to be hand-building a new amp, probably the 6SQ7 amp. Keep up the good work Stephe!
Right, it is a REALLY good first watt of power. I promise to get the 6SQ7 build series done before winter :)
@@SkunkieDesignsElectronics Glad to hear that 6sq7 build is not dead!!! really looking forward to building it !!!
Brilliant! This will make me buy one of these Digilent kits! Many Thanks
Hi Stephe, I'm glad to see you are getting similar readings to what I'm seeing with a used Analog Discovery unit I picked up on Ebay. I'm seeing the same channel imbalance on the 2 DIY tube units I quickly measured. THD was higher than I would have guessed too. But now knowing that part of that might be inherent in the signal generator in the AD makes me hopeful the actual THD is a bit lower than the measurements show. I'll have to run a loop-back test to see what that shows.
Keep up the good work!
Tom
I look more at "Where does the THD take a hard turn" rather than being worried about if it's showing 0.5% or 1.5% Also the frequency response stuff + THD vs frequency is helpful.
Very nice ! And your 8 Ohms dummy loads are very nice too.
Hey, thanks for this! This is hugely helpful. I just got a Analog discovery 2 and this software. Great little tool. I will be testing my amp on it tomorrow so I pull your video up on this. Miss your vids, hope all is good with you. cheers!
To paraphrase Nelson Pass, if the first watt doesn’t sound good, what makes you think 100 watts will. I personally love a amp with 3ed harmonics. I like solo artists sure, but put some harmony backup singers in the song singing in 3ed’s, ha now the sound is getting rich, thick, tubby, lol . Great Video, Love your Stuff
Are you using the Digilent BNC adapter? @TheStuffMade recommends not to. Does the Digilant card work correctly? Or do I need to build a jig?
I'm using the Diligent BNC adapter, I think the problem is you can't test bridged amps, which I'm not testing.
This video is enough for me to subscribe and yesterday you were less than 1k subscribers but congrats on going over! Woo hoo!
🎉 YAY! lol
I read about the 'problem' with the bnc connector board, that ALL grounds are connected.
The only problem this causes is when testing a bridged amp
Great video. Explains everything
I just started using this to test my 6BM8 build I am finding that on the frequency response graph, it shows a negative gain instead of around 15db at 1k. The amp sounds fine so not sure why a negative gain reading. Volume was set at 12 o’clock.
You have to set the volume wide open for any testing.
Great video! I bought the discovery two because I want to learn more about this kind of stuff as oscilloscopes and harmonics have always seemed like black magic.
Will you do a video that explains what you see and what significance it has on the amp, for example when you are trying to see if it is working or not?
Also I have a nad 3020i with low volume on one channel, is the discovery 2 something I can use to "discover" what could be at fault?
Sure, you should be able to use the output from the signal gen, inject a sine wave into the input and the use the scope function to look for when the signal fades off. Compare one channel to the other!
@@SkunkieDesignsElectronics and the load can be speakers? And by signal fades off you mean? Thanks for reply
@@hanzo52 You use the scope probe to look for the sine wave in various points of the signal path. You can compare how strong the signal is in both channels and this way when you see it is much weaker in one channel than the other, there is the point the problem starts. If you are talking about a tube amp (I have no idea what a Nad 3020i is) use a dummy load on the output, as the noise of a sine wave in a speaker is pretty annoying, especially at 1khz! Also understand where the high voltage is, how much DC is OK for the measuring instrument etc.
Hi Stephe, it seems the BNC to RCA adaptors are not part of the kit, You need to pick those elsewere, right?
Yeah. I got a BNC to male RCA, then a female RCA Y cable to two males RCA. Use the 1 side of the output to drive the device for testing.
Very much enjoy your videos. I bought the analog discovery 3. I have tried to use it to measure the frequency response and distortion of a digital amplifier (Fosi audio ZA3). The distortion immediately registers too high and the sequence shuts down. Also - it seems the amplifier itself shuts down when the ground circuit between the amplifier and the analog discovery 3 is completed. Would appreciate your thoughts.
Are you trying to measure both channels at once? That could cause issues using the factory breakout board on some SS amps. I also have run into SS amps that reverse the positive and negative outputs the popular PASS ACA amp does this. Have you tried to measure any other amp successfully?
I tried both and only one. I didn’t try reversing the polarity. Will give that a shot. All I have is class D amplifiers here. Thank you for responding and will let you know what happens.
Perfect explanation, thank you 🙏
I'm thinking to buy AD PRO 3250, as a technician I got many instruments, but to be honest I'm considering it for it's almost infinite features.
I'm really curious to try the audio tool, so ,maybe my xmas gift 'll be this, the 3250 or 3450 if I can afford.
The only thing stopped me till now is the workflow, so I would try it some days before buying, I'm not a pc based stuff super fan, anyway it seems what I want/need.
I really love this audio analyzer suite freeware. I understand the Analog discovery 2 isn't "scientific grade" and likely the distortion numbers are a bit higher due to the signal generator introducing some noise, but it's so easy to use and works fine for comparing changes and different amps etc.
hi Stephe, i am having trouble installing the AudioAnalyzerSuite. i am using windows 11. i don't know if this is compatible with win 11.
do you have a similar experience when installing this, if so, can you tell me what's the workaround please.
thank you.
I would post this question on their YT channel comment. I know you can do a special install process to tell windows 11 that this software worked on X version of windows. That might be needed. I'm using it on windows 10.
Trying to find out if this will work the same way as AD 2 with the software you are using.
A viewer bought AD 3 and said the software still works with the newest unit.
@@SkunkieDesignsElectronics Thankyou. Well I have to build the interface rack. also there is some kind of subscription for something.
Hi, where do you set the volume pot on amplifier testing? I get very different results at zero, 1/2 and full. Thanks.
Always test at 100%
TY!
Hello, I would like to use it to measure THD of my tape deck. Do you think that it will be possible? Possibly, I could also write my own code for calculating Wow and Flutter.
Hmm haven't attempted that but I don't think this would do that, sorry I can't be more help.
I'm not sure what software to download from Digilent. They seem to have a number of different software packages. Which specific one did you download to use with the audio analog suite? Many thanks for this video.
It's freeware made by this guy: th-cam.com/video/7yXUbU5bSGw/w-d-xo.html
How would i check a preamps distortion with this, since it makes u choose 4 or 8 ohm?
That only is if you set the input RMS voltage based on output power (like auto ranging). You can set a specific range as well.
@@SkunkieDesignsElectronics so im guessing then the 8 or 4 ohm setting is only used to calculate and show the power ratings so i can ignore that and just set my voltage input settings and that and check freq and thd without issues relying on the 8 or 4 ohm selection. Ill just use a 50 or 100k ohm hooked up to the output of the circuit but select the 8 ohm load then correct?
check the box below that:100m to 1V and it will ignore the one with the ohms. I test with a 50K load.
@@SkunkieDesignsElectronics I see, I have an older version so will have to update from ver 1.0
Is this a windows only device or will it work with a Mac?
Not sure, this freeware may be windows only :(
What amplifier is that ?thanks 🙏
Nobsound 6P1