[shard]

I have a question.

Will connecting my headphone amp and source to an Uninterruptible Power Supply/Power Conditioner designed for computers help in anyway to increase my listening pleasure?

Has anyone tried something like that? I know that a Hifi quality power conditioner/cable can do wonders for a setup, I was just wondering if a computer UPS will work the same way be it at a lesser level.

Thanks in advance,
Shyang

 

[lan]

There's no clear answer, it just depends on everything. Everybody's power situation and equipment and ears are different. If you have it already, just try it. There are 2 general things:

1) if you have bad power (voltage fluctuations or a lot of noise) such a device could help.

2) some of these devices don't react fast and limit current thus reducing dynamics of the amp.

I wouldn't use such a device with audio AND a computer since a computer's switching power supply may pump a lot of noise back into the line.

 

[Musicfan123]

Does a AA battery react fast enough to a portable CD player's power needs?


Quote:

Originally posted by lan 2) some of these devices don't react fast and limit current thus reducing dynamics of the amp.

 

[lan]

Quote:

Originally posted by Musicfan123 Does a AA battery react fast enough to a portable CD player's power needs?

Should be ok, there's no surge protection and filtering in it.

 

[Musicfan123]

AC -> battery -> CD player.

How would a battery not respond fast enough to power needs?

 

[lan]

Well it's all the components added up which could affect the sound. I think the more transparent ones are either designed to be that way or just luck in the case of some computer ones

I was thinking of trying that CyberPower UPS that I hear some people enjoyed on their setups. The cheapest AVR model is like <$60.

Your drawing of AC -> battery -> CD player depicts an online UPS I think. The cheaper stuff (line interactive and standby) doesn't work like that.

 

[shard]

Thanks for all the replies, the UPS I will be using is a AC -> Battery -> CD Player.

 

[Musicfan123]

I think by drawing power directly from the battery, the voltage, and any other sorts of AC power noise, are automatically filtered out.

The AVR could very well just be a marketing gimmick.

The AC constantly charges the battery.

 

[Daemoth]

So in a quest to figure what the heck AVR was, I think I might have found an explaination to Musicfan. According to Cyberpowers website it doesn't seem to draw power off the battery unless there are huge voltage swings (or a power outages, but no volts is a voltage swing too). This makes sense, recharging batteries takes hours and hours, where as you can draw almost all the energy out of a UPS in minutes. So you can't feasibly draw current out of a battery while charging it. You'll keep drawing all the power out of it and be back to using the wall outlet again. So that is where the AVR comes into play, it regulates the voltage without the need of the battery, so the battery can be left charging and the voltage drawn from the wall is also regulated to equipment.

 

[Daemoth]

Oh, and that also means it is probably cheaper to get an AVR without a UPS, since you aren't drawing off the battery anyways.

 

[Musicfan123]

That makes more sense. Thanks Daemoth. APC actually makes a standalone AVR unit. The APC website sells it for about $50.

I would have gone for that one, if I had purchased an APC UPS with AVR for about $80.

 

[Edwood]

AVR is no myth. I you've ever lived in a place where your lights dim from an appliance or something going on or off, you can hear the UPS kicking in to "buck or boost" for voltage irregularities. Sounds like a click, usually, depending on the model.

If the power really sags for an extended period of time, the battery will kick in. You can usually see it on the front panel of the UPS. You can hear the transformers buzzing too.

For an audiophile, I don't think a UPS would be enough, for say very high end equipment. UPS's don't really generate a very clean sine wave.

I don't think UPS's are fast enough and tight enough in voltage regulation for just plain Line Conditioning. But as many have stated, if you have very bad power, it is better than nothing. Especially if you have "light dimming" situations.

-Ed

 

[lindrone]

Old thread revival!!!...

So I have a similar question. My monitor tends to jitter a lot when it's set to a refresh rate higher than 60hz. I'm sure it's a problem with the power source, since the same monitor, before moving to my current residence, did not have any problem. My roommate had problem with his monitor as well. Testing a different monitor in the same house resulted in the same "jitter" effect.

Is power conditioner what I need to correct this problem? Are there any recommendations on which one to get?

 

[lini]

lindrone: Is the jitter constant or does it happen sporadically? In the latter case, you might be close to some high voltage lines for trams/subways/... - something one usually can't do much about (except for buying a tft display...).

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[lindrone]

I did some more reading upon it.. it's very constant.. but most likely it has to do with magnetic interference from the house's powerline...

I don't think a power conditioner will help.. seems like the only way is to get shielding for my monitor.. which cost twice the value of the monitor now.

Maybe I'll just deal with it.. grr..