Electronics Overview

By examining the electronics used in the system we can ascertain the quality of the sound production to some extent. The Edifier sound engineers decided to use the ST 4558 chip amplifier. This is a generic amplifier chip produced by many IC companies and used in a wide variety of consumer A/V devices. They have been used in DVD players, HT receivers and are featured on the Creative made X-fi’s sound cards. You can find them on many soundcards as they are a low cost solution to amplification. These amps are not considered extremely high quality but they are not considered low quality either. They can produce a high frequency shimmer that some find pleasing but it is actually distortion.

The amplification circuitry was cleanly built with no defects in soldering visible. There is also red Loctite visible on the connector screws to prevent them from working loose. This is a professional touch to ensure the customer receives a solid product.

ST 4558C Opamp