DIY PSU for V-Dac
Jun 18, 2011 at 11:55 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 5

jaaptina

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I build a power supply based on a 7Ah Lead battery and used an Arduino microcontroller and two relays to switch between regular power supply and battery. The Arduino is programmed to detect music flowing through the Dac and than switches to battery power immediately. Between songs the Arduino waits 2 minutes before switching back to regular supply to save battery power. When the battery is almost drained while music is playing it also switches back. To compare the battery powered sound with regular powered sound I added a infrared eye to the setup so I can switch between battery and regular supply from my listening position. 
To my big disappointment I don't hear any differences. So for me it was a lot of fun building but not the promissed results. 
 
 

 
In front the main power switch, a USB connector to program the Arduino and a LCD display that shows the battery voltage, the dacs' current usage and the psu-switch status (OFF, Music or Charging).
 

 
Inside is the 12V battery, a 12V psu, an Arduino powersupply, the Arduino, two relays and a battery charger. 
 

 
Jun 18, 2011 at 12:37 PM Post #2 of 5
Interesting. I don't know enough about electronics to correlate power supply changes directly to audible differences, but the measurements I have seen of batteries imply that actually the best power supplies are generally tightly regulated linear ones that plug into the mains. If you want to improve your sound, they would probably be the things to look into, although I'm sceptical as to how much of a difference the power supply makes past a certain point.
 
Jun 18, 2011 at 1:23 PM Post #3 of 5
The type of battery is much important, i tried my m2tech evo with a SLA battery and i don't like the results but with a lifepo4 battery everythings changes.
 
Jun 18, 2011 at 1:50 PM Post #4 of 5
Nice project!
 
I too am skeptical regarding power supply quality beyond a certain point. Unless the DAC power supply is very poor, which is a rarity with any half decent DAC. I think good grounding and shielding are more problematic.
 
Sep 19, 2011 at 4:16 PM Post #5 of 5
It looks awesome!
 

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