TPA3118 60W Power Amp Module
- Thread starter falzhobel
- Start date
Locrian99
Well-known member
I’m currently using an ehx howlitzer as a pedalboard amp into a 1x12 or this thing I wired up to allow headphones for both right and left.
Im wanting to do a bit of experimenting with some stereo effects and using these powered at 9v seperate power amp for each side of the headphone. Mainly just wanting to try some things and see what I like in the end.
I am trying to figure out wiring for my power supply. It will be hardwired inside the amp chassis. It is a 19v power supply center positive. I stripped back the wires after cutting off the plug and there are 3 wires. 2 larger wires one black= ground and one white = assuming positive? and a really tiny blue wire which is connected to a pin in the center? Not sure what this wire is for or if I need it?
KindCanuck
Well-known member
I would verify with a multimeter
Absolutely, assuming I have 19v between the 2 larger wires I am going to assume the little blue one doesn't matter. I found a bit about these Dell power supply. The little wire allows the computer to communicate with the charger. I am curious if there is any benefit to keeping the ferrite bead? I am planning on snipping this wire down as short as possible.
Locrian99
Well-known member
So I’ve got a 3118 board and as soon as I hit the strings audio goes away (can hear a thump thump thump) but audio comes back and I can hear the chord sustaining. Once in awhile it’ll play the audio while I’m playing. I was using a 12v 1.5a supply and a 9V 2a supply when I tried it. Any ideas on what would be causing this
I just played my new amp for about an hour and it sounds wonderful! Honestly I feel it sounds just as good as my Tweed Deluxe or Princeton. I can't really believe how good this thing sounds. Works amazingly well with the Fetzer Valve type preamp I put in front of it. The dying battery simulator "presence" control is a nice addition and adds some very interesting saggy squishy compression? to the circuit. I couldn't possibly distinguish this from a tube amp. I love this amp! The buffer I used is just the Electro Harmonix IPB-1. There is a bit of background light fuzz not really hum, but less than my tube amps, and I am using single coils, so not a big deal. 19v is plenty loud, surely comparable to a 30 or 40 watt tube amp.
I saw on a response in this YouTube video clip he mentions putting a very small capacitor in 100pf in series with the DC jack to quiet the amp a bit. I don't feel this is necessary, but I guess quieter would be better, but its not really loud at all. This was such a fun build. I am relieved it works. Thank you to everyone who posted all the useful info on this thread!!
I saw on a response in this YouTube video clip he mentions putting a very small capacitor in 100pf in series with the DC jack to quiet the amp a bit. I don't feel this is necessary, but I guess quieter would be better, but its not really loud at all. This was such a fun build. I am relieved it works. Thank you to everyone who posted all the useful info on this thread!!
Last edited:
Are you using a preamp and buffer?
Locrian99
Well-known member
I tried it with and without my Doxie pedal infront if it. Ive now tried it with this power supply thinking it was the issue (I had some under 2.5A before.) Same issue I am not grounding out the bridges output (glad I learned that was a thing though)
Locrian99
Well-known member
Well I have it working correctly now. I was planning on sending the output to a trs jack for a headphone so I had it wired where the + out was going to the tip and ring. Removed the ring wire and it works fine. Wonder if that was because I was using a ts cable. I’ll have to do some playing around.
Locrian99
Well-known member
Reading through all this I’m debating how I want to set up this little thing. So I currently have an exh howitzer 15w, it works well but I have a few issues with it.
It lacks a headphone out, which I have fixed by making my own in a seperate box but now it takes up more room on my board and an extra cord.
Lacks an aux input, same situation as above for the fix etc.
So those two things really made me want to build a little pedal board amp of my own.
Curious if anyone has any input on these thoughts.
It’s going to be used in a pedal board. I have a few different pre amp pedals and a 6 band eq, I don’t see it really being in a situation where I don’t have a preamp pedal before it. But I was thinking of putting a boxandall eq in for a preamp, and just kind of debating. Actually have a strip board version of it hanging around I could fit in a 1590bb with the power amp and necessary jacks. Just debating if it’s worth it and since it’s a clean preamp do you think preamp out and power in after would be necessary for pre amp pedals etc. other option I thought about doing was just setting the boxandall up as true bypass and it’s there if I want to use it or I can just bypass it and use either my Doxie, sheriff or cobbler as the pre amp.
Mainly wondering if there’s any real downside to the bypass setup, seems most logical.
It lacks a headphone out, which I have fixed by making my own in a seperate box but now it takes up more room on my board and an extra cord.
Lacks an aux input, same situation as above for the fix etc.
So those two things really made me want to build a little pedal board amp of my own.
Curious if anyone has any input on these thoughts.
It’s going to be used in a pedal board. I have a few different pre amp pedals and a 6 band eq, I don’t see it really being in a situation where I don’t have a preamp pedal before it. But I was thinking of putting a boxandall eq in for a preamp, and just kind of debating. Actually have a strip board version of it hanging around I could fit in a 1590bb with the power amp and necessary jacks. Just debating if it’s worth it and since it’s a clean preamp do you think preamp out and power in after would be necessary for pre amp pedals etc. other option I thought about doing was just setting the boxandall up as true bypass and it’s there if I want to use it or I can just bypass it and use either my Doxie, sheriff or cobbler as the pre amp.
Mainly wondering if there’s any real downside to the bypass setup, seems most logical.
Paul.Ruby
Active member
I've posted various options for preamps and posted the alterations to the schematics in this thread to increase the output level. But, I like the volume-only circuit in post #146 the best. It includes traditional "bright caps" for treble boost. Second best is the marshall style EQ post #161. But, these require making a PCB yourself. It's hard to beat the simplicity of the tone tweq board, post #155. And for simple power-on delay to avoid a pop on power up, add a 22uf cap between the mute pins on the tpa3118 board (post #160).
Locrian99
Well-known member
So I’ve currently been playing around with an untweaked box and all. I can make a vero etc as opposed to a pcb if I want to try the others. Might be a good project as I’m interested in getting familiar wit dip trace. but I do feel like the vero might add some noise. I like the tone controls of the box and all I may do some more experimenting with the component changes you recommend.
Paul.Ruby
Active member
The component changes are important. Signal level is not high enough otherwise.
Paul.Ruby
Active member
FYI, I've tried out a few other amplifiers from Amazon. TLDR: The TPA3118 boards are still king of the hill and readily available. Just get those.
The lower wattage boards are just not powerful enough for a pedal board amp. Should only be considered for bed-room amp projects. Even then are not worth using because there is nothing saved or gained by using them. These all have one thing in common: if the signal sent in is too hot, they will cut out abruptly to protect themselves. These are low wattage and will not allow themselves to be pushed. This happens at bedroom volume levels. Examples...
This one is very small size but lacks low-end as it has no power supply filter caps. It works on it's own but really needs some caps on the supply to add low end. It also has no LC filtering at the output. The only thing gained from this is that it's really tiny, so might be good for an all-in-one tiny amp for bed-room levels.
This one has plenty (too much?) low and and gets decent volume before cutting out. But, I would need to rework the EQ of the preamps I'm using to get the high end sounding right. But, it's about the same size as the TPA3118 and more expensive (?!) so is not worth the effort.
This last one sounded pretty good at lower volume without needing to tweak the EQ. It even looks a lot like the TPA3118. Seems to be same basic design and layout but using TPA3110 instead. IT's slightly smaller and cheaper than the TPA3118. But, only bedroom levels and will cut out if pushed too hard. This is the only one I would even suggest as an alternative if you just plain want a quiet amp in a pedal.
I made 3 identical amps with my volume-only preamp as test beds to compare to the one on my pedal board with TPA3118. Since these are tiny, the point was to squeeze them into 1590B cases. I'm going to replace all three with TPA3118 before buttoning up...
The lower wattage boards are just not powerful enough for a pedal board amp. Should only be considered for bed-room amp projects. Even then are not worth using because there is nothing saved or gained by using them. These all have one thing in common: if the signal sent in is too hot, they will cut out abruptly to protect themselves. These are low wattage and will not allow themselves to be pushed. This happens at bedroom volume levels. Examples...
This one is very small size but lacks low-end as it has no power supply filter caps. It works on it's own but really needs some caps on the supply to add low end. It also has no LC filtering at the output. The only thing gained from this is that it's really tiny, so might be good for an all-in-one tiny amp for bed-room levels.
This one has plenty (too much?) low and and gets decent volume before cutting out. But, I would need to rework the EQ of the preamps I'm using to get the high end sounding right. But, it's about the same size as the TPA3118 and more expensive (?!) so is not worth the effort.
This last one sounded pretty good at lower volume without needing to tweak the EQ. It even looks a lot like the TPA3118. Seems to be same basic design and layout but using TPA3110 instead. IT's slightly smaller and cheaper than the TPA3118. But, only bedroom levels and will cut out if pushed too hard. This is the only one I would even suggest as an alternative if you just plain want a quiet amp in a pedal.
I made 3 identical amps with my volume-only preamp as test beds to compare to the one on my pedal board with TPA3118. Since these are tiny, the point was to squeeze them into 1590B cases. I'm going to replace all three with TPA3118 before buttoning up...
Paul.Ruby
Active member
I spoke too soon that the TPA3118 were readily available. Not true. Seems that fakes are what is available. Just bought these:
Absolutely fake. That said... They sound good but HISS with no signal. The extra hiss is apparent when compared to the real thing. But, it's not any worse compared to a 50W tube amp. So, these are still better than anything else I've tested and seem to have the same sound and volume as the real thing. But with some hiss. Still, I'm returning these and leaving reviews that they are fake. If you get fakes on Amazon, I strongly suggest doing the same. I'm going to buy various versions from different sellers and review. Then return if fake.
Does anyone know where to get REAL ones?
Absolutely fake. That said... They sound good but HISS with no signal. The extra hiss is apparent when compared to the real thing. But, it's not any worse compared to a 50W tube amp. So, these are still better than anything else I've tested and seem to have the same sound and volume as the real thing. But with some hiss. Still, I'm returning these and leaving reviews that they are fake. If you get fakes on Amazon, I strongly suggest doing the same. I'm going to buy various versions from different sellers and review. Then return if fake.
Does anyone know where to get REAL ones?
Last edited:
Paul.Ruby
Active member
Yep, they work well, too.... If you get a real one. Most of those are fakes, too. The real ones I've seen have a bolted heatsink. The fakes are glued. Yours looks glued but I don't recognize it. Yours has a different layout than my real and fake ones. Have you pulled a heatsink off of any to see if they are real?
Paul.Ruby
Active member
Your board looks to be this one with rebranding added and these are fake...
