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Both: LPS and Switching Supplies

Posted by AbeCollins (A) on October 2, 2024 at 10:11:04

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 10/05/24

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