Review on DROK Super Small 3W+3W DC 5V Audio Amplifier 🔊 Module Board Dual-Channel PAM8403 Stereo Amplifiers for DIY Portable with Potentiometer by Kendra Alexander

This is a great little board for experimenting with the PAM8403 amplifier IC. It gives you the most basic elements needed to make this chip work, plus a voltage attenuator for volume and a power supply coupling capacitor (the cylinder in the middle of the board). This cylinder helps reduce the clicking/popping when the board is turned on with the volume button. We strongly recommend searching for PAM8403 before purchasing. Of course you can connect it to a simple USB power supply by adding input and output ports, but you'll get the most out of it once you understand what else you can and can't do to take it even further do is. A few tips from the datasheet: ONLY CONNECT POWER WHEN SPEAKERS ARE CONNECTED. This can destroy the chip before you even hear it. Absolute maximum voltage is 6. Anything above 5.5 is most likely 10% DISTORTED - remember this is adjustable with volume. This chip works best with 4 ohm speakers. 8 ohms can work, but the amplification power is about 1/2 the rated output power. It is best to adjust the output power to the nominal requirements of your loudspeakers. If the speakers say 2 watts or less, you're probably fine. 3 watts is about the maximum per channel, at the highest operating and recommended volts (5.5) and watts (2.5), so your maximum amps (current) is around 500 milliamps. (You can get milliamps from the power supply you are using). That's not to say you can't use a higher MA, especially if you're using a regulated power supply like a cellphone, but the closer you get to those numbers, the more predictable your results will be. I bought it as a small hobby project. I wanted to use it for a white noise generator so I wouldn't have to hook up speakers in my bedroom. I am adding an image below. I added a couple of 4 ohm speakers (1 internal and one of those full range "portable" speakers attached with hot glue), used a USB power adapter for a mobile phone, connected the source and voila. There's a lot of good advice in the datasheet. If you have a ground wire you can connect the speaker outputs to ground with small capacitors, 220pf is recommended, do not use electrolytics for best results. This reduces hum and external interference. Not used for loud volume. I haven't thought about it and it's not a problem. Overall good performance for the tiny cheap speakers I've used. This is not hi fi. 1% distortion is considered terrible at reasonable volume. But for many applications that's fine. Hi-Fi status is currently at 0.0001%. Distortion was recorded at reasonable levels and even lower. But have fun, it's a good starting point. I certainly enjoyed it and now I have a home in my house doing something useful.