UltraCap™ LPS-1 launch thread!

[frederick184]

Shipped!

 

Colin

[hornytoad]

Shipped !

[rickca]

Shipping notice! What a nice surprise.

[EVOLVIST]

Woooop!!!

[Doak]

From: UpTone Audio LLC <[email protected]>

Subject: Your UpTone Audio order has been shipped!

 

Yea!

[Cyrus]

YAY! Anticipation!

[Superdad]

3-days ahead of schedule. My assistant is really earning her bonus!

 

Because of the shear volume, the paperwork, and a glitch in my ShipStation software, only USA-bound units are going out today. I am now going back and forth with their support department (great shipping system, but zero telephone support and that slows down the back and forth to issue resolution).

 

Should begin getting all the internationals out tomorrow.

 

Hope you first recipients enjoy it. Will be interesting to see what questions and comments arise.

 

Thanks and regards,

 

--Alex C.

[romaz]

3-days ahead of schedule. My assistant is really earning her bonus!

 

Because of the shear volume, the paperwork, and a glitch in my ShipStation software, only USA-bound units are going out today. I am now going back and forth with their support department (great shipping system, but zero telephone support and that slows down the back and forth to issue resolution).

 

Should begin getting all the internationals out tomorrow.

 

Hope you first recipients enjoy it. Will be interesting to see what questions and comments arise.

 

Thanks and regards,

 

--Alex C.

 

Kudos to you and your assistant, Alex! Because I am in California, hopefully, my unit will arrive tomorrow.

[romaz]

From the LPS-1 User Guide: "it is normal for the case of the LPS-1 to become very warm – perhaps even hot – under full load."

 

Inspired by this, i invested in a pair of heatsinks: 100 x 100 x 25 mm for the LPS-1 and 75 x 46 x 33 mm for the microrendu.

 

Just trying to maintain my cool.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]29705[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]29706[/ATTACH]

 

I have a custom solid aluminum heatsink now that fits my mR perfectly. You can have one crafted for you for only a few dollars by the following company to perfectly fit the mR (and LPS-1) and it does a nice job cooling the unit.

 

0.601" **NEW** - HeatsinkUSA

 

For those whose units run very hot, consider using a conductive thermal paste like Artic Silver 5 between the mR (or LPS-1) and the heat sink to improve heat dissipation even more effectively.

 

Arctic Silver Incorporated - Arctic Silver 5

[EVOLVIST]

I have a custom solid aluminum heatsink now that fits my mR perfectly. You can have one crafted for you for only a few dollars by the following company to perfectly fit the mR (and LPS-1) and it does a nice job cooling the unit.

 

0.601" **NEW** - HeatsinkUSA

 

For those whose units run very hot, consider using a conductive thermal paste like Artic Silver 5 between the mR (or LPS-1) and the heat sink to improve heat dissipation even more effectively.

 

Arctic Silver Incorporated - Arctic Silver 5

 

Hey there, pal. I knew you'd show up sooner or later.

[esmit]

Is heatsinkUSA your company, romaz? And what a shame you did not send the first unit to the first customer ;-)

[sandyk]

Does the LPS-1 have feet attached underneath ?

 

If not, perhaps you could fit 4 self adhesive rubber feet underneath it to improve the air flow around it if you are concerned about it getting too warm when it is used at full power.

John would not design a unit that gets overly warm, as that would decrease it's longevity.

[romaz]

Is heatsinkUSA your company, romaz? And what a shame you did not send the first unit to the first customer ;-)

 

No, it's not my company. I found other companies but this one was the least expensive and they do good work. They also have different models depending on which aesthetic you prefer. As the LPS-1 will be black, it would be nice to get one anodized in black but that will probably increase the price significantly.

[Superdad]

Does the LPS-1 have feet attached underneath ?

 

If not, perhaps you could fit 4 self adhesive rubber feet underneath it to improve the air flow around it if you are concerned about it getting too warm when it is used at full power.

John would not design a unit that gets overly warm, as that would decrease it's longevity.

 

You are correct, a heat sink is not needed!

 

And yes, there are four 16mm diameter x 6.5mm tall domed rubber feet. We pre-attach them here (I made a jig to get them pretty square) as I hate receiving a nice product with rubber feet in a bag and being expected to affix them myself.

[Superdad]

And what a shame you did not send the first unit to the first customer ;-)

 

Don't worry, yours will ship in the morning. Besides, as I recall, you sort of hacked my site and managed to order one hour earlier than the official start time. Of course I was glad as you caught for us a problem with shipping weight that would have caused major headaches. :)

 

Thanks,

ALEX

[romaz]

Does the LPS-1 have feet attached underneath ?

 

If not, perhaps you could fit 4 self adhesive rubber feet underneath it to improve the air flow around it if you are concerned about it getting too warm when it is used at full power.

John would not design a unit that gets overly warm, as that would decrease it's longevity.

 

I think heat is often the cause of premature death of many electronic components and so simple and inexpensive ways to dissipate heat from a component is never a bad thing. In my case, I also like the way they look.

[esmit]

Don't worry, yours will ship in the morning. Besides, as I recall, you sort of hacked my site and managed to order one hour earlier than the official start time. Of course I was glad as you caught for us a problem with shipping weight that would have caused major headaches. :)

 

Thanks,

ALEX

 

Sorry for that :-) and looking forward to the unit, still one day earlier than expected anyway :-)

[Superdad]

Stayed up late and got all the international shipping documents and labels ready. So ALL the folks worldwide who got into the first batch of 150 (promised for shipment by October 14th) will be shipped in the morning (the 12th). Tracking numbers are automatically e-mailed at 2:00 p.m. California time.

 

Goodnight,

--Alex C.

[jacquesr]

Great to hear (hello from Montréal.)

[EVOLVIST]

Stayed up late and got all the international shipping documents and labels ready. So ALL the folks worldwide who got into the first batch of 150 (promised for shipment by October 14th) will be shipped in the morning (the 12th). Tracking numbers are automatically e-mailed at 2:00 p.m. California time.

 

Goodnight,

--Alex C.

 

 

Thanks so much, Alex & John. I can't imagine all of the hard work it took to knock all of this out, with time to spare, even. Customers couldn't ask for better care. Seriously.

 

Mine says it should arrive tomorrow in Houston, Texas, if everything goes well with USPS. This should be quite an upgrade for my mRendu.

[tapatrick]

Congratulations Alex, John and team on a highly anticipated and well run product launch with exemplary customer care.

My order no. is #4212 (international). When is that likely to ship Alex?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[romaz]

My LPS-1 arrived earlier today. I'm possibly the first one. I've been listening for several hours straight.

 

First test was to compare the included Meanwell feeder against the iFi 9V/2A, HDPlex and a 9V battery supply as feeders. No difference that I can tell.

 

In my system, with my mR feeding my Chord DAVE which then directly powers both Omega ALNICO speakers and headphones (Abyss, HE-1000, TH-900), I have previously used the iFi 9V, HDPlex 9V and a 9V battery supply to power my mR. iFi and HDPlex sounded equally good. 9V battery supply sounded only slightly better. This suggested to me that leakage current from the iFi or HDPlex were not impacting my SQ as much as I expected.

 

Installing the LPS-1 was extremely easy. I set the output to 7V and it was basically plug and play from there. Even after several hours, it ran warm but never hot to the touch. My mR is now being powered by a 7V supply for the very first time and is running cooler than it ever has, slightly cooler than the LPS-1. Audio gear is plugged into a dedicated 20A line and my Meanwell is plugged into a separate circuit so no worries at all about backwash noise, even if it's minimal.

 

How did my mR sound with the LPS-1 compare against my 9V battery supply? The improvement was immediately apparent. Bass was immediately louder and so I had to turn down my subwoofer a couple of notches and so obviously, this difference was not subtle. Bass is also tighter and better defined. In fact, everything is better defined. Vocals are clearer. There is sparkle in the treble that I feared could be fatiguing but has not been. The presentation for sure is more dimensional. There is more air around voices and instruments. The perception of depth is improved. Perhaps the most impressive improvement is the enhanced dynamic contrasts, especially impressive with microdynamics, which Bob Katz defines as music's rhythmic expression, integrity or bounce. There is a more effortless agility to the sound. Loud to soft and soft to loud is just impressively good. Attack is more incisive which then can stop on a dime. Simply amazingly tight control. I suspect this is the benefit of a low output impedance. As these stark improvements are noted in contrast to a 9V battery supply, once again, at least in my system, leakage current seems to play less of a role and low output impedance is perhaps what is more important.

 

If low output impedance is the largest contributer to the improvement I am seeing, it leaves me to wonder how this could be improved further, if at all. I have on order a shorter 12-inch DC cable made of UP-OCC grade silver (6N purity) and terminated with Oyaide barrell connectors. If this makes a difference, I may consider ditching the barrell connectors at some point and hardwiring LPS-1 to mR using this cable since all connectors affect impedance.

 

How will LPS-1 compare against the best linear power supplies that plug into the wall? John already indicated that the LPS-1 improves upon the JS-2. Next week, my Paul Hynes custom SR7 finally arrives. This unit was ordered 6 months ago (Paul Hynes works slow) and is the finest LPSU Paul knows how to build. Ripple noise is <5uV and output impedance from DC to 100kHz is <3 milliohms. Since John has not yet been able to measure output impedance of the LPS-1, this should give me some reference of just how good it is. This unit incorporates Furutech's newest NCF IEC inlet, annealed silver DC wiring from the transformer onward and including the umbilical. Paul is also using his ultra low impedance SL connector (<1 milliohm) to connect the umbilical to the PSU chassis. This umbilical will also incorporate an Oyaide barrell connector on the mR end. Fuse has been upgraded to the new Audio Magic Beeswax SHD. If the LPS-1 can outperform this PSU, I will be suitably convinced that I cannot do better than the LPS-1 and will happily repurpose my Paul Hynes unit. Based on what I am hearing with the LPS-1, this wil be tough to beat. Nice job, John and Alex!

 

As a second test, I tried the LPS-1 on my TP-Link FMC (receiving module). This module was already being powered by a 5V battery supply so ground noise from leakage current was not a concern. With an Aurender N10, these FMCs made a significant difference. With the mR, it was subtle at best but I kept them in the chain since I already owened them and since they didn't appear to be doing any harm. I didn't expect the LPS-1 to make a difference here but somehow, there is an improvement although no where as large as with the mR. Once again, this can't be a leakage current issue since I had been already using a battery supply. Input impedance should have no bearing here. It could be the LPS-1's ultra low ripple noise compared to the noise generated by my battery supply's internal switching regulator. I have to convince myself that this improvement is real as it is definitely more subtle. If it is real, it's probably not enough of a difference to justify buying another LPS-1 but if the Paul Hynes is somehow better with the mR, then I may repurpose the LPS-1 to FMC duty. Interesting times ahead. All I can say is "finally!"

 

If mR in NAA mode using Roon/HQPlayer improved upon the Aurender N10 by about 20% with my Chord DAVE, I would estimate improvement with LPS-1 to be at least equivalent if not more compared to what mR brings by itself. Just amazing. The mR has taken on new life.

[rickca]

Wow! Excellent feedback, thank you romaz.

[Superdad]

My LPS-1 arrived earlier today. I'm possibly the first one. I've been listening for several hours straight.

 

...snip, snip..

 

How did my mR sound with the LPS-1 compare against my 9V battery supply? The improvement was immediately apparent. Bass was immediately louder and so I had to turn down my subwoofer a couple of notches and so obviously, this difference was not subtle. Bass is also tighter and better defined. In fact, everything is better defined. Vocals are clearer. There is sparkle in the treble that I feared could be fatiguing but has not been. The presentation for sure is more dimensional. There is more air around voices and instruments. The perception of depth is improved. Perhaps the most impressive improvement is the enhanced dynamic contrasts, especially impressive with microdynamics, which Bob Katz defines as music's rhythmic expression, integrity or bounce. There is a more effortless agility to the sound. Loud to soft and soft to loud is just impressively good. Attack is more incisive which then can stop on a dime. Simply amazingly tight control. I suspect this is the benefit of a low output impedance. As these stark improvements are noted in contrast to a 9V battery supply, once again, at least in my system, leakage current seems to play less of a role and low output impedance is perhaps what is more important.

 

...snip, snip...

 

If mR in NAA mode using Roon/HQPlayer improved upon the Aurender N10 by about 20% with my Chord DAVE, I would estimate improvement with LPS-1 to be at least equivalent if not more compared to what mR brings by itself. Just amazing. The mR has taken on new life.

 

 

Thanks for posting the VERY FIRST (and presumably not last) great review of our new baby! All your observations and comparisons are much appreciated.

I'm having a funny mix of emotions now: I can't say that I'm surprised--we knew the concept and design is good and I've been listening to a unit in my own system for a few weeks--but I am relieved. As with the launch of the USB REGEN, we had no idea what the reaction would be. Would people "get" what it does in their own systems? Would they like it--a little or a lot? Well we all know how THAT turned out.

 

 

I have taken the liberty of duplicating your entire review over on the new "LPS-1 Listening Impressions" thread.

 

I also started an "LPS-1 Operation and Pre-purchase" thread for questions and comments of that type to continue over there.

 

Now that folks are beginning to receive their UltraCap LPS-1 units, this Launch thread should wind down. I won't lock it, and I'll leave it as a "sticky" for a while as there is certainly good information in here. But it would seem that most future posts about the LPS1 should land in one of the other two new threads.

 

Onward we go! Thanks everyone!

--Alex C.

[pgbcincy]

3-days ahead of schedule. My assistant is really earning her bonus!

 

 

Just great! Because of your order filling efficiency... now I have an audiophile delivery on my wife’s birthday! I wasn’t planning on giving any presents this year and I’m getting deliveries! This is a disaster! I thought you cared about your customers!

 

Mail Retrieval Plan in operation… I assume package will be fine in cool, dry, dark hiding place in garage till its safe to be retrieved…. or just buy a gift before I get home... this added cost is on you!

 

:-)