Power supplies affect on the sound. - Page 3

Thanks for your explanation!

IMO, you probably don't need an upgrade. But if you do want one, first find out what is the power supply requirement that your amplifier need (voltage/amp).
Then check out the instrument grade power supply. You can most likely find an instrument power supply at higher performance and much lower price. Typically an instrument power supply can regulate at < 0.5% under load. The power supply you quoted is 3%.
I don't know what kind of sonic difference it will make. But at least you're getting a much better power supply at roughly 1/3 the price.

I agree with the power conditioning... I dont know how or why but it works for its price it is the ONLY thing I recommend for people on a budget. When I audition gear in shops and its not connected to a filter its a complete waste of time as I am not actually hearing the gear but the dirty electricity. Upgarding source at triple the price also improved sound but not by the large margin of power filtration...understand how vital it is?

lol

The earthiest power is geothermal, but it is only warm in winter - it tends to be cold in the Summer.

I find that hydroelectric tends to have a very liquid quality, very smooth, but can be overpowering after heavy rains.

Undersea ocean current turbines have the best deep bass.

You forgot to mention wind turbines, which have an open, airy quality.

I find solar to be on the warm side.

There's actually a very inexpensive way to check and see if a different power supply will make a difference in a specific component (this only works, however, if you have a computer to do the testing on):

First run an RMAA loopback test. This establishes a baseline for comparison. For most soundcards, this involves a 1/8"-1/8" minijack cable. Google RMAA for the software needed to do the testing.

Next, run an RMAA with the amplifier in-line. Use a 1/8" to whatever input your amp takes, and then run a splitter such that the cable goes from the source to the amp, and back to the source again. This is the most complicated configuration, and can require two cables.

Finally, run an RMAA with the amplifier in-line, with the power supply swapped out. Compare results.

It's best if you can do the test 10 times and average the results to account for testing variation.

Chances are, if the power supply is appropriate for the amp in terms of specifications (it mostly is except for the cheapest of amps, excluding pro amps because from my experience they have good enough power supplies), you won't notice a difference.

If there is a difference, it will show up in testing. The idea is that you can use a layer of abstraction to compare the power supply differences: it's like putting an imaginary black box around the parts, and then only measuring the inputs and outputs to see if a difference exists. This methodology is a convenient way to do testing, and only costs a few bucks in cables. You can buy all of the cables at radioshack, and if your amp takes 1/4" you can find those at most instrument stores.

I'm trying to decide if this thread is a spoof or if there really are some people out there who believe changing the power cable or supply makes a difference.

For those of you new to this, upgrading your power cables or power supplies may make your system look prettier but will make no difference to the sound quality. If for some reason you do hear a difference then you need to buy a new DAC (or whatever) as it has obviously been unbelievably badly designed if it's own PSU can't handle standard fluctuations in mains power.

I notice that someone said surely they wouldn't make expensive upgrade power cables if they made no difference. The reality is of course that anyone will make anything if they can make money at it. The audiophile world is a great target for many manufacturers as they are easy to convince that a super expensive cable (of any sort) will improve their sound quality. Interestingly, none of these cable retailers advertise to the professional audio market because they are far less easy to fool.

G

gregorio, one day I'm going to take everything you've written and put it in a book and title it "The day the music died".

^What a stupid statement, haloxt.

Instead you should take his answers and learn. If you only read the things you like you will not learn anything. We are talking about money here. I remember there is a program in american TV where people are asked to eat or try disgusting stuff in front of a camera to win money. Kind of like eating bugs, or things like that. And people do it just to win some money.

So what is that different from other companies making power cables, saying they deliver excellent SQ when they do not? In the end they all do it for money. And the more they can take the better for them, even if they have to trick people...

You know guys, you can make a pretty decent PSU if you build it yourself. You learn, design it so it's not rubbish, and can make one for pretty cheap. Those unwilling, well, it's your loss. You'll have to contend with whatever the manufacturer put in there.

There will be relatively little difference between power supplies used at audio frequencies, it's only when supplying digital stuff that things become more of a problem. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if some manufacturers deliberately crippled or skimped out on parts for some PSUs and sold the better / adequately designed one for a premium. From the looks of it though, most manufacturers don't know how to design a power supply other than put "audiophile" components in the thing.

Lotta good a PPS capacitor the size of a D battery does at radio frequency bypassing. LM317 with a huge low ESL capacitor on the end? (makes a nice resonance, probably near audio frequencies). OSCONs for low noise? (check out their leakage current, which is essentially 1/f noise). Of all things, I expect some of these audiophile tweaks to make the thing sound worse. This truly is, an audiophool thing.

Moral to the story, don't buy into it. You have to look at the design itself to see if it's adequate, and if you haven't the faintest idea...guess you're SOL and basing your buying choice on their words. It's why I went DIY actually.

~Thomas

Fine, I'll do the same for you and call it "Music - A Moron's Guide"

G

^HAHAHA

Had to laugh about it.

BTW, Gregorio, you have a PM (about other stuff)

That is very intriguing I am new to the power conditioner. I have a Tripplite HDPOWERBAR10 and I have tried but cannot find if it is a power conditioner or just a good surge protector. It has colored leds for ground, signal, different voltages, etc but I still don't know. Any help would be great!

So did the AUDIO-GD power cable make any TRUE differences?

It filters EMI/RFI noise so yes it is doing a form of power conditioning. With the compass the cable just made a minor difference if I take out the power conditioner, once it's in and I start swapping the stock and the audio-gd power cable I'd say it was certainly worth it. I just emailed Kingwa a question yesterday and to my surprise he actually doesn't like power conditioners, except perhaps the noise filter aspect if I interpret it in a way. My question and his answer: