[gradoist]

I thought you r only searching for ideas. The prize you list means nothing at all if you want to find a real designer. How about 50% of your total profit?

 

[audio technica]

I've got some questions about this before participating...
 
1. What qualifies as an entry?
2. What DOESN'T qualify as an entry?
3. What do we need to participate?
4. What are the design requirements?

 

[roamling]

Not very clear what you want. From your first post it looks like a very high level audio engineer contest; not for the average headfier Joe..like me

 

[TeamHiFiMAN]

  I thought you r only searching for ideas. The prize you list means nothing at all if you want to find a real designer. How about 50% of your total profit?

we wanna people build a real amp card to join the competition, because ideas cannot be tested. right?

 

[TeamHiFiMAN]

Not very clear what you want. From your first post it looks like a very high level audio engineer contest; not for the average headfier Joe..like me

that is the reason why we set the top prize is HE560

 

[GrindingThud]

Can you post a link to your ICD?

 

[Sapientiam]

  Although I'm not qualified to participate, I think it would be a good idea to give measurement specifications (i.e. maximum thickness).

+1 - as a potential designer here I'd want to know what supply rails are available at what currents. Also maximum thickness (i.e. height above PCB) as I reckon the best sounding amp will have trafos in it.....

 

[shigzeo]

This doesn't seem fair.

 

[Armaegis]

 
+1 - as a potential designer here I'd want to know what supply rails are available at what currents. Also maximum thickness (i.e. height above PCB) as I reckon the best sounding amp will have trafos in it.....

Don't even bother with a board; they just take up valuable space. Stick a pair of the biggest baddest bestest transformers you can fit on the dac outputs and call it a day. You can market it specifically for iem users, since most will actually want a gain below unity and the transformers will do that simply and cleanly. Done. Easy peasy

 

[MrTom]

This is an interesting competition - I'm sure there will be some great designs put forward!
 
I would love to put something together but unfortunately there's not much to go on in the way of technical specifications expected from the amplifier board or any details on the layout of the board.
 
If Hifiman can answer a few questions a lot of people can have a really good go at this - we just need some more information!
 
I see on the website that the amplifier expects +/- 8.2 V
 
- What's the maximum current the amplifier board can draw?
- Is there a maximum current draw that Hifiman wants to stay under?
- Is there any noise we can expect on the power supply rails? (there must be a boost converter or similar in there?)
 
 
For the physical layout:
 
- A technical drawing of a blank board would be great
- Functions of the contact pads?
- How much clearance do we get on each side on the board?
- Thickness of the PCB?
 
 
Thanks,
 
Tom

 

[Francisk]

And after giving you our designed amp card, are you going to copy the design for your own upcoming amp card???

 

[shigzeo]

This is the the most perplexing part about this 'contest'. The more entries that come in the more options hifiman have to copy or improve upon- for whose benefit?

 

[ClieOS]

This is the the most perplexing part about this 'contest'. The more entries that come in the more options hifiman have to copy or improve upon- for whose benefit?

 
But how is that different from just about any contest that involve invention or design? Just about everyone of them is hosted more or less the same way, where an organization is exchanging your right of the design for a prize. The contestants are of course expected to give up some, if not all, of the rights. Unless it is a contest hosted by a charity organization for some great good, I think one should not expect the hosting party to benefit nothing from the event. That should be a given. Like any of such contest, if you really think your work is worth more than what you can win, then you have the option of not participating. If you are participating, then of course you have believed that the price is at least worth as much as your work is, or maybe you just don't really care about the prize at all - but saying a person who is willingly joining a contest and knowing well what the prize is, is being treated unfairly, is making too much of a claim.
 
However, I do agree that the lack of fine print is problematic and should be corrected ASAP.

 

[shigzeo]

   
But how is that different from just about any contest that involve invention or design? Just about everyone of them is hosted more or less the same way, where an organization is exchanging your right of the design for a prize. The contestants are of course expected to give up some, if not all, of the rights. Unless it is a contest hosted by a charity organization for some great good, I think one should not expect the hosting party to benefit nothing from the event. That should be a given. Like any of such contest, if you really think your work is worth more than what you can win, then you have the option of not participating. If you are participating, then of course you have believed that the price is at least worth as much as your work is, or maybe you just don't really care about the prize at all - but saying a person who is willingly joining a contest and knowing well what the prize is, is being treated unfairly, is making too much of a claim.
 
However, I do agree that the lack of fine print is problematic and should be corrected ASAP.

As explained earlier, this isn't someone taking a photograph and editing for hours, or an artist drawing for twenty hours on a piece of paper, or a chef making a bloody brilliant dish that you make for a contest. It's a manufacturer begging for your education, for your massive infusion of funds, for something no one every has asked in the industry for a completely lop-sided prize. Usually, the company puts up a contest, asks for great tries, and then give out prizes commensurate with the effort.
 
Here, we have a company that wants you to give away your technology. It's not a fecking souffle; it's hundreds if not thousands of hours that Hifman want from some dupe. They get free R&D. That does NOT happen anywhere. This is ridiculous.

 

[KT66]

HM650?