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In Reply to: RE: Not really posted by Jotaro on September 30, 2024 at 14:43:30
I played around with this stuff 10+ years ago....I have an older Mac Mini that I tried with various outboard Linear Power Supplies and even a battery. No difference in sound quality but I have to admit it was fun experimenting. Similar results with my half-dozen DIY Raspberry Pi network streamers on outboard LPS.
I have to laugh when a couple inmates rag on cheapie wall wart switching power supplies on their network streamers and hear huge differences when they use one of those 5V battery powered USB phone chargers. Those typically use a 3.2V or 3.7V internal battery with a boost converter chip to step it up to 5V. The boost converter circuit is essentially a type of DC to DC switching power supply circuit that is powered by the battery. The load is not attached to the battery. It is attached to switching circuit at the output and it is NOT a linear power supply.
In my experience when it comes to digital gear the DAC makes the most noticeable difference in sound quality, not the network streamer or music server. Why? Because the DAC has an analog section. As such, power supply quality is significantly more important on a DAC.
Just my 2-cents worth. YMMV.
Experimenting with linear power supplies on the music server:
Old Mac Mini is very efficient when it comes to power consumption. Only 8-10 Watts playing music.
That black object on top of the Mac Mini is its internal switching power supply. It was removed and
replaced with a circuit board and connector that accepts 12-VDC on the back of the Mac providing
an input for running external linear power supplies.Here are better photos of the Mac Mini modifications.
Input connector accepts external 12-VDC on Mac Mini. I played around with this stuff 10 years ago.
Edits: 10/05/24 10/05/24Follow Ups:
I use a battery supply for my RPi and my DAC. It does make a difference. When I decided at some point to go back to an iFi iPower supply I thought maybe I wouldn't hear a difference after all, but my reaction was that it ruined the sound. I kept it that way for a few weeks and then went back to the battery. I believe I was using an Allo Boss at the time, so it was a single connection, now I have a Topping DAC instead and there are two connections from the battery. I've always thought it goes beyond the switching anyway, it passes along the noise from the mains, so a battery isolates that. My battery starts charging when I switch off the system automatically so there is always a full battery too, I've never run it completely down in one listening session.
For "5V" battery boxes, parts/battery quality, execution, whether batteries are in series and undergo bucking stepdown or in parallel and undergo boost conversion, battery protection circuit used, etc are so variable.
Which one do you have?
If at all possible, I run native batteries without any regulation.
Unless you break one open there's no way to tell exactly what you have in your 5V USB Battery / phone charger. Bucking step-up or step-down are both switching DC-DC converters.
Here we go! Some audiophile brand will come out with their 'audiophile approved' 5V USB Battery / Charger.
;-)
Agree. If your concern is for clean battery power one should run a bare battery not a USB Battery / Charger.
It is possible that the battery is isolating any noise from getting back into the AC mains but the USB battery itself is not much different than a switching power supply. Is it one of the USB Battery / Phone chargers?
what's relevant to me is that a mere $35 purchase improves sound quality in my system if not as a JND. The complexity of a DC-DC converter is not only considerably simpler but also isolated from the wall to eliminate interaction with other components.
Could it be further improved? Most certainly! What I enjoy is the value proposition delivered for the price of a pizza dinner. Many others agree. :)
It's easy to be fooled by expectations. But if it truly sounds better to you then that's what counts.
that generalization for ten years. The only *expectation* I have is folks like you will continue attempting to tell others what they hear and what they don't.
Yes, Abe now as then IT TRULY SOUNDS BETTER!
Capiche?
Many Inmates don't benefit from reading the archives.Capiche?
Edits: 10/11/24
you're not attempting to have a conversation with me.
Instead, you feel the compulsion to get in a plug for mediocrity just for the *benefit* of others.
I get it now. Truly sad.
...each of our posts have several viewers. If I wanted a private conversation with you I'd PM you.
what I first discovered a dozen years ago with an inexpensive linear.
It is an Anker USB charger. From the looks of it there are 4 18650 batteries in it and likely some circuitry that does the step up or down to 5v. I still have to believe 7.4v down to 5v even with some type of switching isn't going to create the same noise as 115vac down to 5vdc. And then the mains noise on top of that.
Even if this is the same mechanism it requires much less voltage reduction. And in any case it sounded better to my ears.
If it sounds better to your ears that's what counts. But there IS a switcher internally and that means the powered device doesn't "see" the battery directly and having the switcher means it's not a linear power supply.
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