DROK 5W+5W Mini Audio Amplifier Board PAM8406 DC 5V Digital Stereo Power Amp 2.0 Dual Channel Class D Amplify Module for Speaker Sound System DIY

This little guy is just what you'd expect: an inexpensive device that does exactly what it is promised to do, and does it well. I've used two of these devices in two different applications, and in both cases it worked simply and perfectly. It's so good that there's not much to say other than to say that it's good.

These are awesome.

I’ve bought several of these tiny class D amps for tinkering and faffing purposes, starting with the pam8610, which also has quite a nice sound to it, but the lower power 8406 contained in this board has really made made quite an impression. I wanted something to drive really sensitive open baffle speakers, and being terminally short of cash a tube amp was out of the question. With this wee feller, my zenith cz49s come alive and fill my world with beautiful music. The documentation says that this is capable of being used as a class AB amp, but doesn’t say how. The 5v rating is good because you can plug it into a usb cube phone charger and not have to worry about a power brick. I will try it out with more demanding speakers, but for now this is superb!

I bought the 5W+5W version of this amplifier for use with a 32" LCD TV and a pair of unpowered 8 ohm bookshelf speakers. It is being powered by the USB port on the TV. The input is connected to the TV's headphone output. The resulting sound is much better than the TV's internal speakers. I was surprised at how loud the speakers could get with this set up. Normal viewing is with the volume at about 1/4 but even at full volume the sound isn't significantly distorted. I took away one star because there is no EMI shielding. When the amp is close to the TV you can hear a little buzzing and hiss. You'll want to keep it away from EMI sources or use a shielded project box. I rated it "easy to install" because of the standard 3.5mm stereo connector and the screw terminals for the power and speakers. Check out the companies web site.

I had a pair of powered 5w PC speakers whose internal amp had developed a bad, sporadic buzz. (A known issue for these now discontinued speakers). They were used for a homemade Bluetooth alarm clock/music player. I pulled the old amp and dropped this in, using a USB test lead and phone charger for power. It fit neatly inside the speaker. With *proper shielding* this is a quiet, efficient, and good sounding amp. Speakers sound better than they did before. The thing with any amp (but particularly this type) is that you need proper shielding or it will pick up EMI and 60-cycle hum. I simply lined the speaker enclosure housing with foil tape and added ferrite clamps to the wires going in and out of it. Sorted. With this proper (if low-tech) shielding, I have to max out the volume to get a barely noticeable hiss. We shall see how it holds up over time, but at present I am very pleased with the results.

Edit: Although I tested the input line with a meter between the input end of the 1/8" stereo wire and the circuit board, it appears that the "stereo vs mono" issue I described below was an issue with the jack connection on board. I think the input jack is slightly too far back from the outside edge of the amp board, preventing a true stereo input connection. I am going to de-solder the input jack and wire my input directly to the pads- I will report back with another "Edit" if the amp board ends up being mono after all. This amplifier sounds nice for its size and is nicely built for the money, but the output signal is not stereo. There is no left and right channel output imaging; when listening to more "nuanced" music some of the elements of the music are simply missing. Therefore it doesn't even "sum" the input signal through the outputs either(that would still be mono, but better than this situation). It is either using the right or left channel and amplifying that side of the input through both channels of the output. I checked the 1/8" input jack with a meter and a connected 1/8" to 1/8" TRS wire and found the jack is standard, therefore it must lie within the way the circuit is wired internally on the board. If you go to the company's website, there is a customer question relating to whether this amplifier is stereo or mono which is unanswered by the company.

Works great powered off a USB. Very low profile, love the lack of required soldering for speakers and power. If running off a battery bank, it doesn't seem to draw *enough* power to keep some of mine on on its own, but if anything, that's a testament to its efficiency.

Very good product very good volume control

Todo bien buen sonido dentro de lo que cabe. No es sonido pro pero esta bien

This audio board looked interesting because I wanted a small test speaker system that would be powered by my Raspberry Pi's 5 volt GPIO pins and, receive output through the existing headphone jack. This board looked like I could easily connect it to my Rpi B4 by cantilevering it out one end of the R pi. See photo: Used a few in stock pin connectors for power lines. Purchased some 2 inch speakers and connected them up for bench testing: See photo. Had a 12 inch audio cable in stock and used it for bench testing. I later purchased a 6 in audio cables, pkg of two straight male ends and, a pkg of two: 6 in: each having one straight male and one right angle male. I chose to use the 6 in straight and right angle ends: the other three went into stock. The right angle end of the audio cable went into the R pi and the straight went into the audio board. Note: the R pi audio alsa chip is factory set low volume: you need to enter the terminal to change it : See photos: Open the terminal: enter: sudo alsamixer this brings up the main screen: you will see the word master under the column: use the keyboard up arrow to raise the column to 100: next press f6 and a window will open: use the keyboard down arrow:choose the headphone option a column will appear with the word headphone under it: raise the column to 100 and press exit. Check your screen speaker control slider which can be used to control the output volume to your audio board. Your new board volume control now has output control of what you set on your on your screen speaker slider. If you set your slider at 50% your small board will take that 50% as it’s 100%. Play around with it. I built a wood speaker case: sat my R pi on top: sandwiched with high density black foam

It sounds really nice and hides the frequency generated from the supplied power really will! the output of the speaker is independent of the power source which means that neither audio source nor power source need to be grounded with the same wire. would definitely recommend it!

Lo usé para un proyecto escolar con arduino y funcionó a la perfección

Great little amp that can run on Raspberry pi projects. I made a power supply out of a USB cord for use in an Rpi. Works perfectly. Sounds great - clear and loud.