UpTone JS-2 Power Supply Listening Impressions

[BlueSkyy]

Just placed my order for the JS-2 to power my iFi PRO iDSD and PRO iCAN combo!  I am as excited as I was as a ten year old on Christmas Eve hoping that Santa would bring me the American Flyer electric train that I saw in my mom's Sears catalog!

[BlueSkyy]

I received my JS-2 as promised two days after it was shipped on Sept 7.  I really appreciated the way that Superdad communicated with me during my purchase experience and actually did ship as promised rather than a lot of my recent experiences where the vendor said the item was "shipped" but, rather, only finding out that the shipping label had been generated and the post office waited to receive the item a week or two later.  Thanks Alex and I appreciate they way you run your business!

 

Packing from the outer shipping box to the blue inner box and packing that actually cradles this bit of audio jewelry was exemplary.  As was mentioned above, it is beautiful piece of kit and, as such, it has been awarded a shelf of its own above my iFi PRO iCAN and iDSD and matches the color of those two units nicely.  Had I my druthers, I would have desired a JS-2 in black to match most of the other pieces in my rack but am still quite happy with the look of the JS-2 and the nice little LED that is the "p" in UpTone.  Again, I would have preferred a blue LED but amber is just fine as well.

 

My initial impressions are that this is money well spent and has made me a real believer in the benefits of a choke input filtered linear power supply over switching power supplies.  With the iFi stack, I've moved from the original iPower Plus to the iPower Elite to the JS-2.  The iPower Elite was quite a step up from the OEM provided power supplies particularly because it revealed much more low level micro detail due probably to the exceedingly low noise level of less than a microvolt.  The JS-2 was not only the iPower Elite's equal in revealing low level micro detail, it also opened up the soundstage of most of my recordings noticeably expanding the horizontal well outside the visual cues provided by the speaker locations but also in the vertical dimension as well.  Because I drive the inputs of my main mono amps directly from the balanced output of the PRO iDSD bypassing the pre/pro in my system and the subwoofer as well, I have been forced to use a bit of equalization as provided by JRiver MC.  Well, with the JS-2 providing the foundational power for the audio, I also found out that I actually had to reduce the level of bass that I was comfortable listening which is to say that the JS-2 provides more bass slam or impact particularly on pieces with double bass or very low organ notes in them.

 

I am not certain if there is an accepted or recommended break in period for the JS-2 but I will be listening over the coming weeks to see if there is.  I intend to keep it powered up 24/7/365 unless the manufacturer recommends against this for some reason but, because it runs relatively cool keeping the PRO iCAN headphone amp powered down with only the PRO iDSD running, I see no reason to have to power it down after every listening session.

 

Well done, Alex, and thanks for what you are doing for the audio/computer aficionados out here!

[BlueSkyy]

I, too, am enjoying the sound (or the lack of any coloration or sound at all) provided by my JS-2.  I have decided to move off into a different direction with regard to my DAC by replacing the iFi Pro iDSD with a Denafrips Terminator Plus R2R unit.  I will be driving it via USB from a fanless PC by Logic Supply/OnLogic.  The PC is currently powered by a ubiquitous wall wart sort of switch mode power supply and I hope to be able to power it from one of the JS-2 rails that will now be freed up when the Pro iDSD is out of the system.  The fanless PC requires +12VDC which the JS-2 can do and now my only hope is that the existing power cords that I purchased are correctly sized.

 

Happy holidays to all and a very good new year as well!

 

 

[BlueSkyy]

As luck would have it, the connector on the computer's power supply clocks in at a barrel diameter of 5.41mm and the connector on the JS-2 is a "fat" 5.51mm.  I suppose I'll either need another cable, modify this one or get an adapter if there is one.  Any thoughts on how best to proceed?

 

Thanks!

[BlueSkyy]

Please disregard my previous post because I apparently had my head up (my you-know-what) and locked.  The reason the connector on my JS-2 DC power cable didn't fit was not because of the barrel O.D. but because the barrel I.D. was 2.1mm instead of 2.5mm that is the pin size on the fan-less PC.

 

So I need to either 1) obtain another DC power cable with a 5.5mm x 2.5mm connector on both ends, or 2) obtain the correct connector and replace the one on one of my current cables or, 3) and as a last resort, attempting to enlarge the hole in the connector load end of one of the connectors using an appropriate methodology.

 

I was unable to find a link to purchasing a new cable or possibly a connector by itself from Superdad's website and maybe he can help me next week.

[BlueSkyy]

14 minutes ago, R1200CL said:

https://www.ghentaudio.com/part/dc-gac4.html

 

Just received one myself. 

Thanks for the link and the memory jogger because I have used these guys in the past and they have some very nice products!

[BlueSkyy]

4 minutes ago, Mihaylov said:

Exelent connector .

I found some and I agree they are excellent connectors and, probably, the same ones that UpTone uses from VH Audio here in the States:  https://www.vhaudio.com/oyaide-dc.html

[BlueSkyy]

11 minutes ago, R1200CL said:

Nope. Uptone is the only company in the world that have access to these special Oyaide plugs they use. 
 

UpTone and I are in very good company then.

 

[BlueSkyy]

I was able to temporarily adapt one of my UpTone 2.1m cables to 2.5mm using a standard run of the mill one inch long straight adapter that I had lying around in my junk box and both the iDSD and the computer are now running from one each of the JS-2 rails both set at 12VDC.... Well sort of.

 

Previously to having put the computer on the JS-2 power supply, I had a diminishingly low amount of computer "hash" that could be heard over the loud speakers in my home theater system if and only if I had my ear within an inch or two of the B&W N-801's tweeter.  Now, unfortunately, the level of that computer "hash" has become objectionable in that I can discern it from my listening position which is eight (8) feet away.  I know that the noise is being distributed via the DC power connection between the computer, the JS-2 and the iDSD because it still exists with all connections other than the DC power cord to the computer removed included the USB 3.0 cable between the two.  In addition, this computer "hash" is not, apparently, on the audio signal itself because the amplitude of the sound does not vary with changing the volume control on the iDSD that is feeding the main amps directly.

 

Not being truly versed on the ins and outs of computer audio, short of abandoning the idea of running the computer off the JS-2, does anyone have any suggestions about how this noise can be mitigated or eliminated?

 

Thanks for your thoughts!

[BlueSkyy]

42 minutes ago, Superdad said:

You are forming a ground loop. You must have some connection path—other than the one computer-to-DAC digital—in common leading from your computer and DAC (HDMI video ground maybe), probably involving your A/V receiver.

I am traveling now, but if you can post a diagram of your system (showing ALL connections to and from both your computer and DAC) I can try to point out how the loop is forming.

Hi and thanks for reaching out to help.  So a ground loop can not only cause AC hum but also result in computer (hash), switching noise as well?   

 

The test I conducted had the PC completely isolated from the rest of the system by having only the power cable from the JS-2 and the USB cable to the DAC connected.  The DAC had only three connections to it including the USB from the computer, the power cable from the JS-2 and the two XLR cables from the DAC to the main power amps which are McIntosh 1201s.  Note that there is no receiver hooked up whatsoever, as I am going directly into the balance inputs of the power amps, nor do I have the HDMI cable connected that was feeding the monitor.  No mouse or keyboard either.  I also disconnected the ethernet cable to the computer just in case.  I tried to isolate the JS-2, the computer and the power amps as best I could.

 

Because the noise is constant regardless of the position of the DAC's volume control, as an interim solution, I simply added 10db of attenuation via balanced Rothwell attenuators between the output of the DAC and the inputs of the two mono amps and can no longer hear the "hash" at the listening position so there's no real rush to troubleshoot this further.

 

Enjoy your travels and the upcoming holiday season!

 

Joe

[BlueSkyy]

As far as I can determine, the 2012 Mac Mini only accepts alternating (AC) current for input power due to the internal powersupply so, if this is correct, the JS-2 will not work for you.

[BlueSkyy]

5 minutes ago, Superdad said:

 

 

Years ago we developed this unique Mac mini DC-conversion/Linear Fan Controller Kit (MMK):

https://uptoneaudio.com/products/mac-mini-dc-conversion-linear-fan-controller-kit-mmk

It is fully compatible only with Mac mini model years 2010/2011/2012/2014. We have sold hundreds of them.

If we can find the time we might do a new version to be compatible with the 2018 (“Space Gray”) and 2020 (M1) minis.

 

Yes Google was my friend and I learned of your very cool update!

[BlueSkyy]

Are you speaking of the AC or the DC cables.  If speaking of the DC cables, when transmitting pure DC I can't fathom what benefit silver plating could do but I stand ready to be educated by those that do.

[BlueSkyy]

Thanks for the link and I wasn't aware that there was a cable upgrade available.  Uptone's build quality and choice of raw materials is excellent IMHO.  I wanted a shorter run and got a custom cable from Ghentaudio and it performs as it should.

[BlueSkyy]

With the 2.5mm on both ends you can swap the direction of the cable if you desire.  With a 2.1mm on one end you can’t.  Begs the question can anybody say if cable direction, I.e. direction of current flow, is important or audible when direct current is involved?

[BlueSkyy]

Did the replacement fuse blow a second time?  If you disconnect the load(s) does the power supply still not work?  As there are "no user serviceable parts inside" it will probably have to go back.

[BlueSkyy]

Sometimes they fail.  It’s as simple as that.

[BlueSkyy]

Wow.  Those "jack of all trade" fuse holders are not simple to work with are they?  I guess that's what globalization does.  Being an old timer, I long for the days of simplicity such as is the Bussmann fuse holder pictured attached.

 

[BlueSkyy]

Any setting within the range will work.  If it were mine I’d set it as close to midrange (9v) as I could.

[BlueSkyy]

35 minutes ago, Mercman said:

 

I was very pleased moving from the original cables to the new Sapphire silver cables.  I have 1 JS-2 driving a Wavelength Audio USB Spacelator and a Sonore Optical Module Deluxe.  Another JS-2 is driving a Roon Nucleus Plus. 

 

In terms of what to expect sonically is a tough one to answer. Overall, I believe you will hear increased clarity; other sonic benefits will depend on the device driven, 

Agreed.  A dram of 30 year old Macallan Sherry Oak improves everything immensely.