DIN and RMS (1 Viewer)

[Gavin.F]

Ive seen an amps wattage rated in just a number, DIN and RMS. Whats the difference between these 3 options?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Steve::Weaver]

RMS stands for Root Mean Square, and is the best way of measuring amplifier power. It's basically the average amount of power an amplifier can put out over an extended period of time.

I've not seen the term DIN before, but you'll sometimes see ratings listed in PMPO ("Peak Momentary Performance Output") or simply maximum or peak wattage. These number are dubious at best, and more often simply misleading. This is a measure of the theoretical maximum amplifier output at a single moment in time. It varies, but is generally in the neighborhood of 10x the RMS wattage.

Another factor to consider in purchasing an amplifier is that many manufacturers of consumer-grade multi-channel equipment design their amplifiers in such a way that power is more of less shared between the channels. A single channel may be able to deliver 100w per channel, but only if all the other channels are quiet. Nicer pro-sumer and high-end equipment will be able to provide the rated wattage to all channels at the same time.

 

[PaulT]

DIN stands for Deutsches Institut für Normung and is a group of (German) European Standards.

You need to find the DIN number associated with the rating to find out what it refers to.

You may see DIN referenced to Frequency Response (of speakers) as well, which is referenced to DIN 45 500.
This indicates -3dB in a typical listening room.


The 'plain' number could mean anything - peak 1 channel driven, peak 2 channels driven, etc. Without any specifics it is fairly meaningless.