I have another A07 arriving tomorrow for mod experimentation, and then I had a thought. Why don't folks buy the TI eval board for this amp chip - with presumably guaranteed all authentic and high quality components rather than the Chinese boards with probably counterfeit components?
In TI's spec sheet for the eval board, they specifically tout the sound quality. And by the time one upgrades the Chinese board to authentic components the cost is almost the same if not greater. Plus the TI board skips the cheap, low quality preamp section.
What am I missing?
I’ve always been a bit perplexed by TI’s pricing for the eval boards. If I were a TI product manager (and I have some peripheral experience in that area), I’d price these eval boards at or below cost and subsidize the price with my marketing budget, particularly when the chips are early in their life cycle.
Though a serious manufacturer wouldn’t blink at spending a couple of hundred dollars on development boards, getting folks like ASR types excited about the next greatest chip amp (as we see in this thread) has the potential to create viral talk about my product and buzz = BU$$. Look at all the interest in the new Hypex Nilai.
There’s no question that a number of audio manufacturers - at least the smaller ones - monitor ASR.
Though I’ve never worked for a semiconductor company, I guess they would prefer to court a handful of traditional OEMs and not bother with enthusiasts like us (and deal with all the questions, etc.) which I can also appreciate. If I can spend my finite time with a JBL sound bar product manager or the GM audio engineer to sell my amp on thousands of next years car model, that’s time better spent.