ECdesigns

[Perri]

On 4/17/2022 at 2:50 AM, hopkins said:

Concerning the open baffles, they really require careful placement to optimize the sound. 

 

My living room is long, but the ceiling is not very high (2.5 meters, standard for new constructions). I felt like I was experiencing too much reverberations, and it was muddiyng the sound (when not listening very close to the speakers). 

 

I had the idea, of testing acoustic panels on the ceiling.

 

 

The sound quality improvement is significant. Everything is more defined. Now, my main problem is to stop listening and not remain glued to my chair all the time :)

 

I have decided to invest in proper ceiling panels to cover my listening area in the living room (roughly 1/3 of the ceiling). 

 

The open baffle speakers are définitely hear to stay!

These look of decent quality where did you acquire them ?

[Perri]

Are there any firmware updates to the power DAC ? or has anyone modified it ?

[Perri]

1 hour ago, hopkins said:

 

I doubt they will release another DAC, but I could be wrong (I am a only à spectator).  After listening to the powerDAC-S and open baffles, provided the room doesn't kill the sound, you really "get" what they are doing.

 

When I first completed the open baffles, I had recently moved in to a flat and it was still largely unfurnished. Now with improved room acoustics (more diffraction behind the speakers due to more furnishing), better speaker positioning (closer to the wall, with more room behind me) and a better "build" (speaker rigidity has improved), the unique aspects of the system are even more striking.

 

I don't see how the same results could ever be achieved by using separate components with "traditional" amplification and speakers. You can't take a conventional system and hope to get the same results by applying DSP and room correction either, because the purity of the signal is simply never going to be there in the first place.

 

Perhaps they will come up with further improvements. The speakers have their limitations, due to the line array design. Maybe they can be tweaked and improved upon. An ideal setup would be a single full range driver, but there is none available today that offers a sufficiently linear frequency response. 

 

Some people will be happier with a conventional system offering unlimited power and a ruler flat frequency response, multiple inputs, DSD, Atmos, etc... and that's great. I'm just trying to give a sense of what makes the ECD system different. Because it is so unique on some aspects, it is hard to communicate. It is very hard to compare with other systems (whether analog or digital). It is always better to simply listen (if possible) and make your own opinion. 

 

 

 

What is the bass like as I need my 17hz or so I think 🙄

[Perri]

41 minutes ago, hopkins said:

 

In other words, to my ears there are other limitations in conventional  digital and analog (DAC analog output stage/preamp/amp/interconnects..) equipment that seem more significant than some of the things many audiophiles  fixate on (nowadays). 

 

The best clocks, the most sophisticated upsampling algorithms, the lowest THD amps don't fix some of the basic problems with digital and analog equipment.  A perfectly linear speaker frequency response is great but comes at the expense of other aspects which are probably (at least to me) more important. I wish we could have it all... 

 

My subjective point of view, of course 😎

Yes the best audio is a piece of wire approach .

[Perri]

On 10/7/2022 at 4:39 AM, Huubster said:

I'm still very happy with my PowerDAC-R by the way. Went further with some small mods, also in the John's Power supply, with really worthwile results.

 

I rust replaced all the cheap caps by now and used Elna Silmic II and Blackgate n-types. Not cheap at all, but with so much more musicallity as a result, really great. The PowerDAC keeps suprising me, it's so crazy good! These small changes have such a profound effect on sound quality for the better.

 

I want to really encourage you to try this, very easy mods most of you can do yourself I think.

Where did you get your Elna Silmic II from . I used Audio Note Kasei in replacing the court filter caps and there was a little improvement but nothing spectacular . What did you use the Blackgate for ? Also how did you fit them in the case I had a terrible time finding ones that would fit .

 

[Perri]

On 10/12/2022 at 1:32 AM, Huubster said:

Oh, and one thing to add, a 'mod' anyone can do as long as you don't use the DAC as pre-amplifier.

 

I use the DAC as DAC only and it's always on the fixed volume setting of 9. This is a result of using both jumpers in the back of the DAC.

 

What you should try is removing the right jumper (as seen from the back side) áfter you started the DAC in this fixed volume setting.  

 

Please let me know what you think 

I spoke to John about the fixed volume and it makes no difference in sound quality going between fixed and volume using the jumpers .

[Perri]

As I already did listen and there is no difference he mentioned it in passing while I was testing for bit perferct as you have to put the DACR in pre mode and he said that the signal is as direct with the output in both modes with the volume set to max so there is no mystery here 🙂

[Perri]

On 10/25/2022 at 3:43 AM, Huubster said:

I only tried it with the UPL, I used a Y-USB cable, split in 2 separate cables, 1 for power, 1 for signal.  But I couldn't get it working because the PC didn't recognize the UPL anymore. It's not the cable, because that one I'm still using, and it's working :) Maybe I missed something back then, but that's my personal experience.

Seperate grounds .

[Perri]

So I threw in some Sanyo Oscon SEPC and an Elna Starget in my U192ETL and it improved the sound considerably in regards to the Power DAC R so it seems the internal reclocker and the Toslink connection is not the solve all solution as John suggests . Well at least in my opinion as there is clearly considerable improvements to be had by better quality filtering capacitors . IanCanadas FifoPi seems of interest after this even though I still think he is over charging for his product . Would be interesting if the reclocker within the Power DAC could be improved upon as it seems John builds to a price and this also makes me wonder if he uses shunt regulated power supplies which are from my knowledge the bees knees of PSU design for a DAC .

[Perri]

On 11/19/2022 at 3:46 AM, murphythecat87 said:

 the fact that John Brown does NOT use Elna silmic 2 strike me as very odd

I would not say it is odd as more of building to a price which should be expected for what John charges . It's odd that he implies that getting better sound quality with better quality parts is not possible when clearly it is and noticeable substantial improvements are to be had . And this unit is still source dependant in my opinion as in regards to higher a quality source inputs more information it's just getting to that at a decent price as John's Power DAC R .

[Perri]

11 hours ago, mhhd said:

Hi Perri,

Did you choose the mix of Oscon SEPC and Elna Starget on purpose or did you use what was on hand?

I am just in the phase of modding and every help is highly appreciated :-)

Thanks a lot.

I chose the Starget for fit as I think they are good at price per value/sound point and chose the SEPC as they are meant to be good on digital circuits though sometimes they can be harsh oscillations supposedly . I have Blackgates Nichicon Muse and Audionote Kasei etc etc but chose these for some reason and so far they do not irritate me and I like the sound a lot lol .

 

It does seem that ECDesigns U192 and variants do limit the sound quality and good back the DAC but finding out what will improve upon it at a price per value spot is hard to do .

 

Spending over 600 on such a unit I think is not sensible .

[Perri]

1 hour ago, Michael L said:

Not sure I understand this sentence.

Nor do I lol never respond late at night when you should be sleeping .

[Perri]

6 hours ago, Michael L said:

Power Dac B is looking increasingly desirable but I'm wondering if I need to spend extra on peripherals. I have a combined headphone/optical output on my MacBook but I still have the ATOS usb to toslink from my MOS16.

The limitation is I believe playing >96Khz files without splashing £££ on a usb convertor with Electrotos. I'm wondering if I would miss out at all and doubt I would hear any difference between files of 96 khz and 192 Khz with the same bit depth.

 

https://www.videoproc.com/resource/why-24-bit-192-khz-music-downloads-make-no-sense.htm

Stock with what you have and see if you like it .

[Perri]

5 minutes ago, yogibear said:

Power B arrived and playing ! 
 

Awesome !!!! 
 

6L6 SE with Re084 DHT Preamp…. 

I own the R and the B looks so much more practical as you can put it in your HiFi shelf without grief of any fitment issues .

[Perri]

Using RPi3 with hat as per image with PiCorePlayer OS a JLH shunt regulated PSU with Daphile server and FMC with a Teradak FMC on RPi3 side preliminary results in my opion it really sounds considerably better than UTL 192 .

 

XMOS USB seems to be really

crap .

[Perri]

12 hours ago, matthias said:

 

Which USB solution does your set-up use?

Thx

 

Matt

I do not use USB anymore as I think it is too noisy .

 

My setup as previously mentioned is Daphile server to RPi3 and out through the top hat in the image .

 

Though I used to use the Allo USB Bridge Signature .

[Perri]

Interesting anyone seen this before ?

 

http://www.sonicillusions.co.uk/power_dac.html

[Perri]

The toslink hat and RPi combination I am using really makes a huge difference to the sound compared to the U192 it is a night and day difference .

 

It really does seem that this unit is not as it claims and is extremely source dependant .

 

Getting in a clean and complete signal from my source PC to my Teradak FMC to the RPi it seems is of great importance and makes a huge difference to this PowerDAC .

 

I do not understand how John never seems to get this part right , it's as if it's his Achilles heal in his designs .

[Perri]

I recommend reading prior posts before answering .

[Perri]

Put one of these
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mP7O5vm in fornt of your U192UTL and your Power DAC-R and be amazed .

 

Looks to be this super capacitor stuff so far seems to actually work .

 

 

[Perri]

On 6/5/2023 at 4:18 PM, matthias said:

Does this device need a permanent connection to a power supply or can it work without one when the supercaps are fully charged?

Thx

 

Matt

 

I have mine hooked up to a JLH ripple eater .

 

It does stay on though not for very long it seems .

[Perri]

6 hours ago, kelvinwsy said:

See my post 

 

These Supercap filter/PSUs are just marvellous

I use 5 of these

1. a 12v unit between my 1.5 amp LT3045 psu and my AfterDark Queen Master Clock

2. 1 unit 5v unit powered by a 2x4amp 5v lpsu to power my Clones Audio SHAAR PCIE usb card

3. My 2 music SSD's are then powered off the 2nd 5v 4amp and another 3.5 amp LT3045 lpsu to each 5v suoercap unit !

 

The impact of these supercap filter/psu 's cannot be underestimated!

 

Richer punchier lower mids.

Subterranean bass .. v punchy n tactile n had body

Sweeter cleaner sound all round

 

Use the MAC as a server with Daphile buy a RPi3 with a the top hat as per the one I placed a link to previously and see how you can improve your sound even more of course with one of your 5 volt super capacitors filters hooked up to it .

 

I think I will eventually invest in IanCanadas FifoPi and top hat with his super capacitor filters .

 

 

 

[Perri]

These things look impressive .

 

[Perri]

4 hours ago, kelvinwsy said:

These 5v supercap units serve as power filters for my PC 5v power circuit of the motherboard! 

Just plug it in ! i had the ethernet adapter and 1 unit plugged into the USB 3.2 bank 

1 unit on the USB3.0 bank ( this unit had nothing connected to the output )

Together they clean up the 5v power of the PC

i hv mutiple filter units on the 12v /5v power of my 1000watt Corsair ATX psu

4 mounted directly on the PCIe slots and NVME slots(using adapters)

Swear it works better than a 850watt Teradek ATX lpsu( could not power a high TDP intel cpu)

Still too noisy a RPi3 will perform a lot better .

[Perri]

11 minutes ago, kelvinwsy said:

Well if u jv not heard the superior SQ of s high powered mobo with 83 smp pesk current delivery 🤔

N it is v v quiet

I have and it does not perform like a RPi3 .

 

All that current is not necessary .