[aos]

I was fooling around with my portable DAC and put two fresh alkaline batteries instead of two NiMH's. Listening on speakers, I could swear the sound is airier and soundstage has more depth, and it wasn't a small difference either. But the NiMH were fairly full, about 7.8 volts or so each. Tell me, was that the beer I was drinking or is this really possible? I remember hearing ppl talking about differences in batteries but I've never heard a difference before.

 

[kerelybonto]

Check the amp-hour ratings for each battery. That'd make the most difference, as it'll tell you how much juice you're actually getting. Other than that, there isn't a large difference -- voltages are similar, usually a bit lower for NiMH, but it stays more constant than alkalines, which drop voltage quickly. The main advantage of NiMH is that they can last about 40% longer than alkalines and are rechargeable.

kerelybonto

 

[Nezer]

hehe, maybe try using an audiophile-grade battery holder or upgrade the power cable.

 

[aos]

Actually, batteries have different internal resistances depending on their chemistry, and that can have impact on sound. Though I assume a large bank of good capacitors would reduce that resistance enough so that it doesn't matter. But I don't have much of that in the amp I listened to.

How much current can they supply and how much voltage drops when they do is another thing that could probably affect the sound significantly too. That's why rails should be regulated, but that too was not done in the amp.

 

[ppl]

I noticed a similar quality improvement between these two types of Batteries along time ago with The old Walk-Man type Tape/Radio Player's. The Difference i think is due to the internal resistences. This same quality difference was also noted on Portable CD players. Evean in my Origenel amp that used 45K per rail of Cornell 301 Series Low ESR, Low Z Capacitors. This was also noted with another version of this amp with Elna Cerafines. 20.4K per Rail.