Guys,
Dont forget that we're talking of pc psu, whatever quality you buy,
soundcard or gpu will take juice from pci and so upgrading psu would be limited somehow on the quality of motherboard.
Guys,
Dont forget that we're talking of pc psu, whatever quality you buy,
soundcard or gpu will take juice from pci and so upgrading psu would be limited somehow on the quality of motherboard.
I think its funny that the pundits who wish to argue have turned this into a thread about computer PSUs, as the poster above said, the thread title and the first post is more audio related and that is what I was replying to. power supply quality in computers will create continuous errors that need to be addressed, but most systems in a computer have a buffer and error correction ie. VERY good PSRR
There were a lot of voodo on vintage high end equipment, like covering the DAC section with heavy cooper, but that doesn`t mean that they were important in SQ,
There really shouldn't be any real improvement between power supplies on your PC. Particularly for video......That is unless your prior unit was not suitable for your system. The advantage of getting a higher end power supply though means cleaner, stable power to your high watt components(Like your GPU) which could help it perform better. At the same time a PSU that can't afford the power will severely degrade performance. A good power supply has better limits and is less likely to pop on you as well. I upgraded from a $100 Coolermaster PSU (700w) it was loud as heck, to a corsair ax850(gold)(A re-branded seasonic) and its definitely a more quiet, and better unit but it didn't improve video quality. I cant seem to tab atm so incoming wall of text!. Also has the proper output voltage for my video card which it did make it perform to its full spec which my previous PSU did not allow. I won't open up a can of worms for audio, not so much a firm believer especially with ADUM adapters available to separate USB power lines. At the same time if you do take stock, looking for an good motherboard is crucial as that contains all the paths data flows though. DAC's require a good PSU so if your using a sound card take more stock in it.
Woo editing lets me do what I need to do. Anyway whether you take stock in it affecting video or audio quality(granted your current PSU is outputting properly to your devices) investing in a good power supply will definitely make your life easier. In fact investing in a good case will as well. A good PSU can last you years(the one I was using gave me ~5 years of service and might of been able to give me more)
Taking into consideration different cooling options if you have a decent video card you can minimize your system into 2-3 10-19db fans with a proper water cooling setup.. Currently doing research on this right now since my mini nettop server failed in functionality outside of a music server. If your really worried about huge PSU's a few Pico PSU's should be able to handle an entire system. Given your not throwing a high end video card at it.
Annotated version:
The most important decision these days you make in building up your PC is, Case, Cooling, and PSU
Everything else will just fit in. Granted you over compensate on the PSU or plan out your parts as you make a quality PSU decision.
the adum units are hardly a good solution for high end audio. they are simply a transformer isolation device in a chip and the ones available to the public are low bandwidth. they will not allow full usb 2.0 native
I have one of the cleanest computer power supply, if not the one. While I have a different source before the swap, but it have affected my overclock and the voltage needed to keep it stable. Resulting in a faster and more efficient system (higher clock speed at lower voltage). Yes there is difference even not going into sound and my past PSU wasn't bad (Corsair VX550), its just that the Antec Signature is better.
I followed in the OP's footsteps and changed out the generic 300W power supply with a Seasonic X-750. Massive improvement in sound. More detail, and the bass has especially improved. It's stronger, tighter and much more defined. Awesome upgrade for only $170.
from a "pure digital" perspective, i would imagine that an upgraded PSU has little impact (one and zeros are ones and zeroes, if they loose ones and zeroes , they fail checksum). I am curious, does your computer handle the D/A conversion, or do you run optical out to a separate DAC? I wonder if the better sound is a by-product of having more power to motherboard, and thus more power to the audio out signal strength. However, i would imagine if you were using optical to a separate DAC, they difference would go unoticed
I can't speak for other points you have noted (though I am inclined to think there is a plenty room for placebo effect to kick in), but the 3-5s delay thing definitely does not sound right. Not sure what exactly you have going in that rig, but be mindful that xxxWatt rating isn't to be taken literally or universally across different manufacturers and/or lineups. In a word, you went from absolute rock bottom of filthy crap to the very cream of the crop. What do crap PSU makers do? They overrate their PSUs; many peripheral makers (GPUs, etc) overrate the minimum PSU requirement precisely for this reason. Seasonic, being one of the if not the most respected brands, has a long history of underrating their units.
There is a good chance that the PSU was either underwhelming or just plain faulty. No matter which way you slice it, that access delay you thingy you speak of is simply not what you would expect from a properly functioning system (or PSU, or whatever other subsystem). Maybe it was the excessive fan noise from your old raidmax playing tricks with your ears, who knows? I would hate to generalize with a single anecdote, but my very first and last experience with raidmax was not a pleasant one (burnt my mobo, with a nasty smell and all), and there are plenty other reviews/forum discussion out there to make you wanna stay clear of anything raidmax.
Shouldn't a properly designed and QCd PSU have decent to excellent ripple control / voltage regulation anyway? I wouldn't have bought a raidmax for other reasons anyway (overrating the capacity, ripple control, voltage regulation, efficiency, noise, general quality concerns). I guess what I am trying to say is PSU is unquestionably important in any quality system build, except the "night and day difference in audio" probably only happens when you have a severely underperforming PSU for whatever reason. I would wager any of the comparable models from reputable brands (corsair, antec, BFG, etc) would be very comparable if not indistinguishable from the rather expensive seasonic.
And people ask why some of us are willing to spend money on battery-powered audio.
Whatever the psychology or science may be, I dont like my wallwart PSU - its just butt ugly. Almost as ugly as the E9 its hooked up to. The Fiio design department appears to be from the Yugo Design School.
In the United States the rule of thumb is to only plug your CPU into a single wall socket. You may have bypassed this need with your power supply unit as well as a power cleanup for audio. The issue is that if a CPU is sharing an Office Depo power strip with other stuff the current is always changing and that effects the performance as well as the life of the CPU power supply. Here all my laptops and CPUs must be on one of these voltage regulators or they will last one week! LOL
I think that voltage ratings are severely overrated. I was running two high-end video cards for a while (Radeon 5870s), and when I hooked up a device to measure power usage, I never saw it go over 450 watts. By comparison, my HTPC uses around 50.
I do use a fairly high-end power supply, but mostly because it's quiet... Now that's a tangible increase in sound quality.
I think that voltage ratings are severely overrated. I was running two high-end video cards for a while (Radeon 5870s), and when I hooked up a device to measure power usage, I never saw it go over 450 watts. By comparison, my HTPC uses around 50.
I do use a fairly high-end power supply, but mostly because it's quiet... Now that's a tangible increase in sound quality.
Ugh...signed. What I wouldn't give now not to have this noisy perforated HAF 932 "gamer" case, with 5 fans inside. Oughta rockwool the damn thing shut, raises the noise floor by 60 dB probably.
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