Linear Power Supply for Brooklyn. Which one you've ever tried?

[mfin]

42 minutes ago, exdmd said:

I bought an Sbooster BOTW P&P ECO 12v-13.2v for my Brooklyn DAC+ from Amazon for $375 shipped. Arrived in four days. This was the very last improvement I made to my system. Kenzie tube amp with input transformer mod and excellent cables already in place. I considered a JS-2 but I just could not convince myself to buy a $1000 LPS for a $2200 DAC+. YMMV. I do all my listening over HD800S phones. I note similar improvements as mentioned by 57gold for the Keces and am using the stock power cable supplied with the Sbooster. I consider the $375 well spent and would buy again.

 

Have you tried it on the 13.2v setting as well?

 

I have the same one on it's way and also a Fidelizer Nikola, so will try both.

 

Anyone feeding their LPSU from a mains regenerator? I have one so will likely do so, or at least try it.

[mfin]

31 minutes ago, 57gold said:

Interesting that sBooster, with ability to deliver @2.5 amps, versus Mytek recommended 5+amps ( more the better) do a good job/improves sonics.  I must have something wrong on this front?

 

Started thinking about how these LPS for audio gear would enhance the response and tone of the digital reverb, delay, chorus and other guitar effects I use.  These effects do not draw much current, most 100mA to 400mA at 9V, 12V or 18V.  The folks who build the effects supplies have multiple outputs (6-12), each regulated, isolated and adjustable.  A good one makes a big difference in quality of the effect in question...guess these audio ones would be huge overkill, and they certainly aren't portable for onstage at the local bar!

 

If LPSUs could be used to give most pub guitarists some musical taste then I'd take one every time I went to see a band and offer to lend it to them for the night in return for them just promising not to play Brown Eyed Girl, or murder a Killers song.

[mfin]

After a month of running an sBooster 12/13.2 on the Brooklyn Dac+ (at 12v, tried 13.2v too) I have now put in place of it a Fidelizer Nikola.

 

It would not be fair to compare them yet as the sBooster had been in place powered up for a month, and that got better for sure, whereas the Nikola is cold.

 

I'll report back as the Nikola it breaks in, and I'll then we able to swap back and forth to comapre as my sBooster is being kept warm by permanently running something else.

[mfin]

In the UK the Nikola is £495 whereas the sBooster is £260

[mfin]

Ok, have been running the Nikola for 3 weeks, have also first run its supplied cable (I think this is over a metre, not measured it), then a 50cm Ghent one (Canare 4S6 and Oiyade jack). Have swapped back to sBooster tonight to verify impressions.

 

sBooster sounded great once broken in, big, warm, felt right. Moving to Nikola was leaner, colder, more detailed, a bit thinner and on poor recordings just a touch brash and it pretty much stayed that way. The Ghent cable changed things, enough to sound like you were listening to a third power supply really. The Ghent cable put meat back on the bones, warmed things up lower down, so moved it back towards the sBooster's sound but staying a little brash at times.

 

Interestingly the sBooster runs quite warm, whereas the Nikola does not.

 

The sBooster is a good bet I feel, but, watch this space, as now I know the difference that can be had with the power cable I will make a couple up for the Nikola with quality UP-OCC silver or copper and see what happens then. I think the chances are that the Nikola with the right cable will be very good.

 

So, to sum up in a different way. sBooster is giving a good scale of sound, very easy to live with on all material. The Nikola with current best cable (ghent) outshines the sBooster on good recordings but when recordings are poorer or thinner it brings in those doubts a little bit.

 

The one thing that is very clear at this point is that they sound different, and the Nikola which can take different DC cables sounded different again as soon as I changed the one that came with it.

 

I'll update in next few weeks when I have other DC cables.

[mfin]

 

I'm only trying what I have around by the way, and the cost of either of them with a dac+ comes in at half the price of a Manhattan II.

My sBooster runs warm too, not hot.

[mfin]

Oh, in the meantime (whilst waiting for new materials to build cables) I will assess the sBooster 12-13.2, in 12.5v mode then 13.2v mode too. It's clear that things sound more lively when upping the voltage.

 

I'll come back with my favourites of these variants for anyone who's interested. Nikola with various cables vs sBooster at 3 different voltages, that will be a minimum of 6 possibilities if I just make one new DC cable.

[mfin]

Ok, as mentioned above, trying different DC cables from a Fidelizer Nikola feeding a Brooklyn Dac+.

 

Cable-a) The supplied cable

Cable-b) Ghent Audio cable, canare 4s6 (oyaide dc jack)

Cable-c) VH-audio V-Quad CU21 (elecaudio dc jack)

Cable-d) Duelund DCA16GA lightly twisted pair (elecaudio dc jack)

 

...firstly, do they sound different. Yes, absolutely, varying from a more forward brighter sound, to more relaxed in comparison. I only have cable-a and cable-b properly compared so far. Cable-b is the more relaxed, giving a fuller low end and natural sound, it edges the Nikola back towards the sBooster in warmth. The sBooster is great, but the Nikola with cable-b has all the good qualities of the sBooster but everything is clearer and always crisp and controlled yet full. The sBooster is really really good for the money though and I will swap back to it for sanity checking at some point.

 

So, so far, the one conclusion I have is that if I had not heard the Nikola with the cable-b, I would have probably preferred the sBooster and returned the Nikola, but cable-b meant the Nikola stays.

 

First gut listens on the others are that cable-c is quite forward too, but maybe a touch better than cable-a, and that cable-d sounds full but also a bit muddled, everything becomes less hifi.

 

Cable-d was just an off the cuff experiment, cable-c was on the recommendation of @auricgoldfinger

 

I will continue to give cable-c and cable-d more time, time to settle and have a really fair shot, as they haven't really had this yet. So these have only been initial hearings from quick tests over an evening for these two cables, not yet letting them settle and running them for a good while.

 

These differences are very clear by the way, like introducing a different cable or even separate, changing the presentation, the tone and the forwardness. I had read about expensive dc cables from the likes of SOtM for their SPS-500 so these experiments were also to initially confirm that there were differences or improvements to be had.

[mfin]

Update on the above.

 

Cable b (the Ghent) was preferred. Nothing much changed on Cables c and d.

 

The Nikola stays at the moment, awaiting the release of the Sbooster Ultra2 filter.

 

The best results I have got from the Brooklyn Dac+ since last posting are when running it off a cheap battery, it beats the Nikola and the Sbooster quite clearly, more detailed, more control, blacker (I didn't realise how "noisy" things sounded until I heard something better, it sounds cleaner).

 

I am using a QC3.0/2.0 compliant USB Power Bank with qc test adapter to make it output 12v, and a Lindy USB to 5.5x2.5 power lead, that's all. 

 

The 24000mah power bank I am using has a percentage charge remaining display which for paranoia's sake I like as I know when it's about to run out (not sure of the effect of when power runs out and what the dac might send to the power amp and speakers, so it's nice to avoid). The display also gives me double confirmation that it's outputting 12v before I connect it.

 

It's probably £50 worth of stuff, or £35 if you don't want the display, so not a lot to hear how good the dac can be beyond an Sbooster or Nikola.

 

I will soon be trying a couple of Stammheim's 5A LT3045 boards connected in series to an HDPlex 200w LPSU to see how good that is. That's €400 cost of boards on top of the HDplex cost.

 

I will also try a 50,000mah USB power bank that has a female DC jack to negate needing the qc test adapter too, although that won't have a charge remaining display. I expect that to sound about the same but last twice as long (maybe it would get through a busy listening day).

 

I'd love to try a JS-2 and/or an LPS1.2 fed from something like the Nikola, but I can't buy everything just to try!

 

(Oh, I should add I am running from a Roon Rock Nuc, which is set to upscale to DSD256, into SOtM trifecta, most music from Tidal. I don't miss MQA from doing this upscaling, and it also allows me to turn the MQA off in the dac so I can pick a better sounding filter for my other sources which are mostly AV).

 

[mfin]

12v/2.5a is fine for the brooklyn. With a mix of mainly 48/24 PCM and DSD256 the 24,000mah will work for about 7 hours. (I am not running headphones, just out to my poweramp).

 

You need a test adapter, because if you just plug in a lead it's just going to output 5v. The adapter lets you select other voltages. Most powerbanks that are QC are 3.0/2.0. The adapter lets you use either, 2.0 lets you choose 5/9/12v and 3.0 lets you step up in 0.2v increments from 5v upwards (multimeter needed to tell).

 

The adapter (from ebay) looks like this:

 

...three buttons on it, first one selects between 2.0 and 3.0 (it powers up as 2.0), second two buttons are up and down on voltage. Leds show what you're on for 2.0 or a ballpark when using 3.0. Of course it's only 2.0 mode you need to get 12v, all very simple, and the adapter starts in 2.0 mode so you just step up to 12v with a couple of button presses.

 

You can plug it into a power bank and do all the voltage selection before putting the dc jack into the Brooklyn (do you don't have to cycle through wrong voltages whilst connected).

 

If you are running a switch in a streaming setup that takes 5v like an AQvox, Linksys or older TPLink you can run from a power bank and just any old one will do, no need for QC2.0/3.0. Jackery ones are nicely made with good cells in them. (For running a Dac, I used a Mr Cool one that has a display, which tells me it is outputting 12v, double confirming what I see on the adapter). Running one on a switch is great, as is running the Brooklyn on one. 

 

Oh, my AQvox runs happily for about 3 days on a 20,000mah, so I just rotate between two of them. My brooklyn I run on battery if I'm really listening and if not I plug the Nikola back in.

 

I've got other items in my chain, SOtM and a Roon Rock NUC, but these I have not run on batteries, because of the current required (I am going to try other power related things on those even though they are already on good power supplies).

 

If anyone is running something like an Sbooster or Nikola on their Brooklyn and is happy trying the above then I would. Saying that if you are running a Brooklyn without any LPSU as you think one costs too much then I think you'll be seriously impressed.

[mfin]

I have an Sbooster too, have tried in 12v and 13.2v over a good few months, comparing it with a Fidelizer Nikola I have. Both are good.

 

If you can hear the difference clearly between Sbooster on 12v and 13.2v (which I agree is easy to hear) then you'll hear the difference running by battery, and it's better.

 

The Sbooster Ultra2 comes out soon apparently, so that will likely be worth buying, the Ultra"1" had a max of 1A if I remember rightly, so maybe they'll not have that restriction with the new one as well as it being even better. That will be worth trying too.

 

The problem with the battery is how long it lasts as I mentioned above. For me, it's worth the hassle as once I've heard the dac sounding better I don't want to hear it worse, and that's me talking about it compared to a £500 Nikola.

 

As I also mentioned, having a powerbank is handy anyway, you never know what you might try it on, if you use a network switch before a streamer then it's well worth using one there I have found.

[mfin]

I think you've answered all points on that one yourself. I also think it's not worth it for the capacity.