UltraCap™ LPS-1 LISTENING IMPRESSIONS thread

[austinpop]

Sounds like I need to buy the mRendu/LPS-1 combo!!

 

Does the mRendu benefit from the Intona and RUR, or can I sell those to defray the cost? [emoji18]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile

[austinpop]

Folks - a plea!

 

When you describe the wonderful impressions with the LPS-1, could you outline your system chain as well, please?

1. What component did you power with the LPS-1?
   
2. What's the rest of your chain?
   
3. And - what is powering the rest of your chain?
   

 

Thanks!

[austinpop]

 

Originally I thought someone could get silly and series/parallel 4 LPS-1 units to get 12V at 2 amps, it would take my hand selecting boards (or pairs of boards in series) to have output voltages within 10mV (0.01V) to have even current load sharing between paralleled supplies. Not going to do that.

 

What - us get silly? On CA? Whatever gave you that idea?

[austinpop]

We made it up to about order #4380 today. The rest will be shipped on time next week. And that will bring us up to order #4440.

Yikes! I am 4432. Talk about making it under the wire.

[austinpop]

As the OP of the "Overall Isolation" thread, I've been discussing my evolving topology over there. Both @Superdad and @JohnSwenson had indicated that, based on my topology, the LPS-1 was the final piece of the puzzle which should give me another quantum jump in SQ.

 

So it was with great glee and anticipation that I unpacked my LPS-1 last Friday.

 

Here is a picture of my topology prior to the inclusion of the LPS-1:

 

 

Swapping in the LPS-1, the new topology looks like this:

 

Keep in mind that I was already amazed at how good the system was sounding, even before the LPS-1 arrived. If there was "noise," it was not at all apparent. Ever since I added my PS Audio P5 AC regenerator, I have been enjoying the proverbial "black" background.

 

My initial impression listening to the LPS-1 setup was one of bewilderment. Rather than hearing an improvement, the SQ was... different. There was a softening of the bass, and I could almost convince myself that there was a slight increase in resolution. But - I doubt I could reliably recognize this blind, and the magnitude of this change was very, very small. It was certainly not the the quantum leap that others on this thread have been reporting.

 

This experience was quite different from what I heard replacing the stock SMPS of the RUR with the el Cheapo Breeze LPS. That resulted in an unmistakable growth in weight, dimension, and image. The bass improvement was quite startling.

 

Before posting this LPS-1 (non-)finding, I reached out to Alex @Superdad) for any thoughts or ideas. He very graciously called me, and we had a long discussion. Clearly, in my system the effect of leakage loops was already very small, so the improvement due to the LPS-1's isolation was modest in effect.

 

After we hung up, I tried another configuration, where I used a Teradak USB power injection cable to inject 5V from the LPS-1 to my DAC.

 

Now THAT was better. The improvements were small but significant. Most important, they were in the right direction! Mostly, there seems to be more air between instruments, and a better sense of texture.

 

So in summary - my findings are somewhat less stark than many others, but keep in mind I have done a lot of isolation already, so in hindsight, it was probably unrealistic to expect a whole lot more.

 

For reference, here is the final configuration of my system. I just laugh at the number of tweaks and PSes I have, but then I marvel at the SQ I am enjoying.

 

Hopefully soon, the clever boys and gals at Sonore, Uptone, iFi, W4S, etc will invent the ultimate solution where you just plugin a Cat6 and/or a USB cable. Remember those days?!

 

[austinpop]

Rajiv, have you tried pulling the Intona and RUR? You could use the split lightspeed cable to power the codex from the lps1, with the data end in the Aries mini.

 

You may be surprised with the results.

 

Thanks Larry.

 

I have my hands full with guests this weekend, but this goes on the list for me to try, in addition to trying the LPS-1 to power the downstream FMC.

 

Sometime in the next few weeks, I intend to pull all my isolation tweaks out and reapply them methodically, to see which of them still make an impact.

[austinpop]

Very cool. Why don't you additionally try replacing the Meanwell by another LPS?

 

I know you "Meanwell" (hey, someone had to go there!), but isn't the whole point of the LPS-1 to be indifferent to the energizing supply?

[austinpop]

Hi @gstew - let's move this discussion over to the Overall Isolation thread, shall we?

[austinpop]

Is the conclusion that the lps-1 provides the vast majority of the isolation that the many parts and connections otherwise provide? Good to know since I've been planning many of those parts and connections. FYI I too just put the Lps-1 between my Hdplex and mR and have been astounded by the improvement. PSAudio DS to CJ ART amps to amphion 7L.

 

Can't say yet.

 

The only thing I am seeing from my own experience is that the effect of all tweaks (isolation, reclocking, better PS, etc) together is not equal to the sum of the effect of each tweak (at the time you added that tweak).

 

Some tweaks have more of an effect if another is absent, and less so if the other is present.

 

Don't assume you'll hear the same magnitude of improvement as anyone else. Someone may marvel how tweak X transformed their system, while you may hear only a modest gain, because you already have N other tweaks in place.

Consider it the price of entry into tweak-world.

[austinpop]

From the UltraCap LPS-1 website:

 

"As indicated above, the AC>DC charging supply must be in the range of 7.5V to 12V, it must be capable of the currents mentioned—even if the output load on the LPS-1 is going to be light—and it must be a regulated supply."

 

He meant the FMC works at 5V.

[austinpop]

I wrote up my impressions of this configuration on another thread, due to the ongoing discussion context, but wanted to mention it here, so anyone interested could link to it below:

 

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f22-networking-networked-audio-and-streaming/overall-isolation-network-universal-serial-bus-industry-standard-cables-connectors-and-communications-protocols-between-computers-and-electronic-devices-and-power-29916/index33.html#post618874

[austinpop]

OK so my outrageously expensive $6.50 DC to DC adapter plug arrived from Amazon last Friday. This replaced my homemade one inch cable.

 

After elevating my little USB box to the LPS1 height level the holes lined up and the little adapter plugged right into both devices.

 

Yet another significant improvement in SQ is gained. Clarity and presence is off the charts with much richer tone and timber.

 

This little device, and an adjustment to ASIO buffers(8192) and latency settings(low, not minimum) for dsd512 on the microIDSD has taken things to a crazy good level. Indeed it's one of those you've got to listen to every album you own again type tweaks.

 

Thanks for the advice Alex!

 

Very cool! Ordered. [emoji16]

[austinpop]

OK so my outrageously expensive $6.50 DC to DC adapter plug arrived from Amazon last Friday. This replaced my homemade one inch cable.

 

After elevating my little USB box to the LPS1 height level the holes lined up and the little adapter plugged right into both devices.

 

Yet another significant improvement in SQ is gained. Clarity and presence is off the charts with much richer tone and timber.

 

This little device, and an adjustment to ASIO buffers(8192) and latency settings(low, not minimum) for dsd512 on the microIDSD has taken things to a crazy good level. Indeed it's one of those you've got to listen to every album you own again type tweaks.

 

Thanks for the advice Alex!

 

Mine came today. I see an SQ bump too. What a nice little tweak!

 

Thanks, Alex and Larry!

[austinpop]

Hi,

I'm using Herbie's Baby Booties on both pieces plus a Herbie's Supersonic Stabilizer for each. It keeps them put where I want them. A great combo at a great price.

 

Interesting products.

 

Do you have to take the stock feet off for best effect?

[austinpop]

I'm sure @Superdad is cracking his moderator's knuckles in preparation to declare this isolation accessory discussion off-topic for LPS-1 listening impressions. Why don't we take it to this thread?

 

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f22-networking-networked-audio-and-streaming/overall-isolation-network-universal-serial-bus-industry-standard-cables-connectors-and-communications-protocols-between-computers-and-electronic-devices-and-power-29916/

[austinpop]

 

I have a second question now:

 

On the website, it is mentioned that "the adventurous could even purchase two units and hook their outputs up in series, perhaps with one set to 7V and the other to 5V to obtain 12V"

 

Since I have an exasound e12 need a 12V linear power supply, at the moment I'm using Sbooster 12V, how am I going to hook two units of LPS-1 and output 12V? Any connector I should purchase in order to do that?

 

Any help would be appreciated,

Wei

 

Hi Wei,

 

I went down down this path recently.

 

No, Uptone does not sell a series cable. It's DIY at this point.

 

Here is Alex's original comment about that:

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f27-uptone-audio-sponsored/ultracap%99-linear-power-supply-1-launch-thread-29974/index10.html#post594141

 

Later, he provided these instructions for a simple DIY project.

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f27-uptone-audio-sponsored/ultracap%99-linear-power-supply-1-operation-and-pre-purchase-thread-30173/index8.html#post615780

 

Finally, here are my experiences with 2 LPS-1 in series:

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f22-networking-networked-audio-and-streaming/overall-isolation-network-universal-serial-bus-industry-standard-cables-connectors-and-communications-protocols-between-computers-and-electronic-devices-and-power-29916/index33.html#post618874

[austinpop]

Perhaps ask them to swap it out with another one?

 

Like many others, I've used the LPS-1 set at 7v with an RUR, with great results, so your experience is just puzzling. What do you have powering the microRendu? 

 

you shouldn't need a second one in series for sure.

[austinpop]

5 minutes ago, Bamber said:

 

The microRendu is not in use right now, there are issues with Native DSD.  It is a well known issue, W4S and Sonore are currently working on.

 

So in the short term I'm using a passive NUC as a NAA.  The LPS-1 was purchased as a clean supply for the Recovery at this stage.  It is good to know it will power both with a Y cable when needed.

 

Im puzzled like everyone that has replied so far.  Without hearing the difference first hand it is hard to believe a simple power supply could change the sound this way.

 

 

 

 

Let's make sure we're puzzled at the same things!

1. I'm NOT puzzled that power supplies make a sonic difference. 
2. I would even NOT be puzzled if you'd found the LPS-1 did not improve the sonics. The level of improvement with the LPS-1 is variable, depending on the extent of leakage loops it breaks. If you put it in a location where leakage currents are miniscule already, then its effect will be more modest, in line with a normal PS upgrade. The aha experience people report with the LPS-1 appears to be when the 2 improvements coincide.
3. Finally - I AM puzzled at the finding that the LPS-1 sounds WORSE than a cheapo SMPS supply. THAT does not make sense, based on my, and many others' experience.