[xxx1313]

I am currently using a Sean Jacobs (Custom HiFi Cables) DC3 LPS 15v power supply to good effect with the Mscaler. I am also trialing a much cheaper medical grade 15v SMPS to quite good effect with the Mscaler.

Do not EVER use a supply with greater than 15v because you will blow the over voltage device in the Mscaler. I also suggest not trusting suppliers to tell the truth about the output voltage of their after market supplies, some are over voltage. Check them before use.

Better to use 12v (HMS works with 12v) rather than risk blowing your mscaler.

Many use a PowerAdd PilotPro2 battery on its 12v setting (its 16v would blow the Mscaler).

Nick, 16V out of the PP2 does not blow the M Scaler, but it does void warranty. So I would still not recommend using the 16V setting, of course. A 15V DXP-1A5S from ldovr.com, powered by the PP2 with 16V, was by far the best power supply which I came across for the MScaler. Very dynamic sound with quiet background and obviously very low noise. The biggest step forward in terms of sound quality after the Opto DX and the Wave Stream cable, imo.

 

[Triode User]

Nick, 16V out of the PP2 does not blow the M Scaler, but it does void warranty. So I would still not recommend using the 16V setting, of course. A 15V DXP-1A5S from ldovr.com, powered by the PP2 with 16V, was by far the best power supply which I came across for the MScaler. Very dynamic sound with quiet background and obviously very low noise. The biggest step forward in terms of sound after the Opto DX and the Wave Stream cable, imo.

Bernie, I should have perhaps clarified that the PP2 batteries that I have here put out just under 17v (16.8v) on the 16v battery setting and that is why I was urging caution and suggesting using the 12v setting instead. I was under the impression that the over voltage diode was set to blow at 16v.

 

[miketlse]

Bernie, I should have perhaps clarified that the PP2 batteries that I have here put out just under 17v (16.8v) on the 16v battery setting and that is why I was urging caution and suggesting using the 12v setting instead. I was under the impression that the over voltage diode was set to blow at 16v.

Well @Rob Watts advises against using 16V.
Rob has been clear in other posts that if the protection diode is blown, then the result is an out of warranty repair.
Inevitably some audiophile somewhere will insist on ignoring that advice, but they take the risk.

 

[Glossator]

Lol, just, you know...

No seriously, I don’t understand this power supply and why the reference to 5m cable. Maybe through a few pictures in and just describe the difference between battery powered and custom power source.
Also dan says not to create a bridge between receiver and transmitter but it sounds like you’ve done that by sharing 1 custom power source between them?

throw in a few photos too lol

The 5 m cable is an optical cable between the two parts of the Opto DX bridge - for pictures, I cannot better the guide on Dan's website. The optical cable runs down the back of a sofa, with the transmitter side/HMS/digital source at one end and the receiver and DAVE at the other end.

Very difficult to describe in words the difference the custom power source, albeit that it is not subtle (i.e. it is immediately obvious) - the music has greater coherence, depth, stability of focus and detail - and also rhythmic vitality and naturalness (if I can put it like that - without being bright).

Originally I shared a power source between receiver and transmitter - in the hope that as both lines off the DC3 were sufficiently regulated (Sean thought it should be okay - and it would have been considerably cheaper!). It didn't work well: Dan was right.

Now, a separate DC3 powers each side of the Opto bridge (and, the transmitter DX3 also powers the HMS).

Hope that makes more sense!

 

[STR-1]

Nick, 16V out of the PP2 does not blow the M Scaler, but it does void warranty. So I would still not recommend using the 16V setting, of course. A 15V DXP-1A5S from ldovr.com, powered by the PP2 with 16V, was by far the best power supply which I came across for the MScaler. Very dynamic sound with quiet background and obviously very low noise. The biggest step forward in terms of sound quality after the Opto DX and the Wave Stream cable, imo.

I saw the DXP-1A5S and double-regulated DXP-1A5DSC mentioned by @austinpop in glowing terms over on Computer Audiphile a few days ago and have ordered one of each (15V and 12V respectively) to tryout with my collection of Pilot Pro 5, SR4 and Farad Super3 supplies. It will be interesting to find out what combo works best with my M Scaler, OPTO.DX and tX-USBultra.

 

[HumanMedia]

I went a bit up-hill-and-down-dale on this. I started off using a Sean Jacobs DC3 to power the HMS and both sides of the Opto DX bridge - not a good idea at all. Then I experimented using the DC3, stock HMS PSU, and Krisdonia battery in various combinations. As result of this experiments Sean very patiently split the DC3 into two separate DC3s (one for the Opto DX receiver and the other for the Opto DX transmitter and the HMS - with a 5m optical cable for the bridge) and swapped out the transformers to completely eliminate what had been an annoying hum. My ears had not the slightest hesitation sonically (i.e. battery hassle apart - and despite being cautious about not paying due regard to Dan's clear recommendations otherwise) preferring the DC3s (power at both end of the optical bridge matters). The end result is quite amazing (the only problem, which I think is now virtually sorted, is drop outs using the longer optical cable). Sean, by the way, merits an unqualified recommendation - he is great to deal with, incredibly responsive and constructive. I know that both ears and electrical environments vary so please take with a pinch of salt - but I hope helps a little ...

Good feedback. Yes I had to read a couple of times to understand the final outcome. Correct me if I am wrong. You started by powering both the RX and TX sides with the same power supply (defeating the purpose of the Opto) but then had the power supply maker created two separate supplies for you (not just two rails with common ground) and that was the final outcome?

 

[ZappaMan]

The 5 m cable is an optical cable between the two parts of the Opto DX bridge - for pictures, I cannot better the guide on Dan's website. The optical cable runs down the back of a sofa, with the transmitter side/HMS/digital source at one end and the receiver and DAVE at the other end.

Very difficult to describe in words the difference the custom power source, albeit that it is not subtle (i.e. it is immediately obvious) - the music has greater coherence, depth, stability of focus and detail - and also rhythmic vitality and naturalness (if I can put it like that - without being bright).

Originally I shared a power source between receiver and transmitter - in the hope that as both lines off the DC3 were sufficiently regulated (Sean thought it should be okay - and it would have been considerably cheaper!). It didn't work well: Dan was right.

Now, a separate DC3 powers each side of the Opto bridge (and, the transmitter DX3 also powers the HMS).

Hope that makes more sense!

So it was quite costly to add 2 power supplies, approx £1750,would you say the improvement was worth it? And your dac, it is using what power supply sorry if you already said.

 

[Glossator]

Good feedback. Yes I had to read a couple of times to understand the final outcome. Correct me if I am wrong. You started by powering both the RX and TX sides with the same power supply (defeating the purpose of the Opto) but then had the power supply maker created two separate supplies for you (not just two rails with common ground) and that was the final outcome?

Yes, correct that was the final outcome.

All I would add is that powering both RX and TX from the same PSU did not render the Opto bridge useless - there was still a noticeable improvement over stock BNC cables. What was disastrous was running the HMS from the same PSU as the RX. The HMS seems to kick out a very considerable amount of rfi through it power cable - and it was that which completely defeated the Opto bridge. I have subsequently seen reference to a post by RW (but not managed to track down the original post) where the message is that (apart from blowing the HMS’ diode/warranty) an aftermarket linear PSU should not out-perform the stock PSU because it will not have the rfi filtering built into the stock PSU. If that post does exist, it would make a lot of sense as an explanation of why my original single PSU driving the RX and HMS bombed so badly.

 

[Glossator]

So it was quite costly to add 2 power supplies, approx £1750,would you say the improvement was worth it? And your dac, it is using what power supply sorry if you already said.

Ah. That is very subjective! My DAVE is using its original PSU. I guess the question, in part is whether, anything as good can be achieved for much less. I am 100% confident it is a much better solution than batteries (Hopefully Dan will not strike me with a thunderbolt!). I did not have access to a SR4/Farad to cross compare, so I am afraid I cannot help (hopefully others can). Ultimately, I am very happy with the end result.

I do not think I have seen it referred to (which is puzzling, because with all the focus on rfi, it seems only logical to wonder about the final journey on the other side of a DAVE) but if you are interested in what I strongly suspect is end game (at least as things stand) and you listen via headphones, try to hear those headphones attached to a Dancable Nirvana headphone cable via a DAVE.

 

[paulchiu]

Can't find this anywhere, can Chord M Scaler passthrough DSD128 to DSD512 signals natively through to the DAVE?

 

[hmartin]

Can't find this anywhere, can Chord M Scaler passthrough DSD128 to DSD512 signals natively through to the DAVE?

No, dsd is converted to 705.6 kHz

But imho this sounds better than dsd+ mode directly to dave so it is not a problem.

 

[wswbd]

I Initially used a 33 Ah gel battery. I used to charge this about once a week. After doing a lot of research, I decided to purchase the Farad Super3. It is a definite improvement over the gel battery. Note that mains power should only be used with separate electrical circuits for the Dave and Blu 2. I installed separate circuits for the analog and digital parts of my system. The Heisenberg amps and Dave, are on one circuit, the Blu 2 and intel NUC running Roon are on a separate circuit. Separate MCBs were installed in the consumer unit. The circuits were also physically separated in the attic. I also took the opportunity to separate the digital and analogue parts of my system. The digital components are at the side of the listening room the Dave is between the Heisenberg amps and the speakers at the front. The greatest advantage of the Opto-DX for me as well as the sound quality improvements is that it allowed moving the digital source components to the side of the room.

Replacing the supplied BNC cables on the Opto-DX TX with 2 x 1.2 metre Oyaide DB-510 BNC digital cables was a greater upgrade than the Farad Super3. I will still probably upgrade the ifi iPower on the TX side also with Farad Super3.

The Opto-DX removed all traces of fatigue inducing brightness from my system. If anything the sound is too smooth.

How can one create two separate AC circuits in a house/flat? They are all connected eventually, aren't they? A lot of this was mentioned in this thread, really like to know how to do this.

 

[dmance]

How do you know what RFI comes from the phone? Do you mean through the air, or down a cable? If through the air, does distancing the phone from the rest of your hi-fi help? If through the cable does something like an AQ Jitterbug help, as Rob has advocated? I thought RFI down cables was only an issue if both end of the cable had a path to earth.

Any metal appendage is an antenna. Signal or power. Shielding helps but rfi is insidious & incredulous ...but it travels meters in open air to impinge on a dac and show up at the output jacks. Yes, rfi is well outside the audio band but its mere presence in the conductor/dielectric path affects the audio via harmonics and channel interactions. i cant measure it (-150dB test equipment limit) but i hear it. you need to go to extreme lengths to get rid of it all.

 

[AndrewOld]

Any metal appendage is an antenna. Signal or power. Shielding helps but rfi is insidious & incredulous ...but it travels meters in open air to impinge on a dac and show up at the output jacks. Yes, rfi is well outside the audio band but its mere presence in the conductor/dielectric path affects the audio via harmonics and channel interactions. i cant measure it (-150dB test equipment limit) but i hear it. you need to go to extreme lengths to get rid of it all.

I too am incredulous.

 

[audio_1]

How can one create two separate AC circuits in a house/flat? They are all connected eventually, aren't they? A lot of this was mentioned in this thread, really like to know how to do this.

All that can be done is to physically separate the circuits as far as possible. Separate power cables can be run from separate MCBs in the consumer or fuse unit to sockets mounted as far apart as possible in the listening room. Screened power cable can also be used. Only optical connections between the source and DAC allow this or ground loops could be a problem. The Opto-DX allows separating the analogue and digital parts of a system. In my case, I ran the power cable for the DAC and amps along the front of the attic and the power cable for the digital source components along the rear. Don't bundle the 2 cables together.