UltraCap™ LPS-1 LISTENING IMPRESSIONS thread

[Superdad]

Has anyone tried the LPS-1 on a SBT ? Or plan to do ?

 

Superdad, can you confirm I can use the LPS-1 with SBT ?

 

Absolutely you can! John has a Squeezebox Touch--among other devices--in his system and says the UltraCap LPS-1 is great with it.

[asdf1000]

Absolutely you can! John has a Squeezebox Touch--among other devices--in his system and says the UltraCap LPS-1 is great with it.

 

Hi Alex, would my existing 7V @ 1.5A low noise linear PSU (Gieseler Audio - currently powering my microRendu) be ok with charging the LPS-1?

[Superdad]

Hi Alex, would my existing 7V @ 1.5A low noise linear PSU (Gieseler Audio - currently powering my microRendu) be ok with charging the LPS-1?

 

Sorry, but no.

 

Minimum requirements for the "energizing"/charging supply are:

7.5V/2.5A

9V/2.0A

12V/1.5A

[asdf1000]

Sorry, but no.

 

Minimum requirements for the "energizing"/charging supply are:

7.5V/2.5A

9V/2.0A

12V/1.5A

 

No problem Alex - those are very strict requirements I assume.

 

My current Gieseler linear PSU is adjustable up to 9V @ 1.5A but that still falls below the 2A required.

 

So it's close but you still wouldn't recommend trying it with the LPS-1 with 9V @ 1.5A?

 

I'm guessing the LPS-1 needs it's full 18 watts, as a minimum

[Superdad]

The Meanwell SMPS 7.5V plugpack will throw much more RF/EMI back into the A.C. mains than a well designed Linear PSU which MAY affect some DACs etc.

 

This is not the thread to rehash this discussion in, but as we have been saying, the evil of an SMPS is not the ultra high-frequency harmonics (spread over a very wide bandwidth to pass strict emissions requirements)--heck, all conventional LPS units kick a lot of low frequency harmonics into the line. No the evil of an SMPS is its passing of AC leakage currents (onto the DC) and the formation of "leakage-current-loops" with other power supplies (LPS or SMPS) in one's system.

 

Since the UltraCap™ LPS-1 100% blocks leakage currents from whatever supply is feeding it (LPS feeders have leakage too, just not as much as an SMPS with its required "Y" capacitor), the SMPS is rendered harmless. Does the wall wart on your telephone or answering machine do sonic detriment to your audio system? That's about the relationship that an LPS-1 feeder has to your system.

 

Further back-and-forth in this thread on this topic will prompt me to move it all over to some other thread. Thanks for understanding.

 

--Alex C.

[Superdad]

I'm guessing the LPS-1 needs it's full 18 watts, as a minimum

 

Yup.

 

 

(I happen to have one of the early iFi iPower 9V SMPS warts--from when they were rated 1.5A--and it does not handle the LPS-1. This caused a brief minor worry near launch as a lot of microRendu users bought the 9V iFi iPower from Sonore, but it turns out that by the time the were selling them with the mR, iFi had upgraded to a 2.0A rating. John has one of those and it works fine with it.)

[romaz]

My 12-inch 18g UP-OCC silver DC lead (99.9999% pure) with Oyaide gold plated 2.1mm barrel connectors came in today. I paid $166 to have this cable made. This is how it looks compared to the stock DC leads that came with my LPS-1:

 

 

In my system, there is a subtle but definite improvement, enough to have made the additional money spent worthwhile. The presentation remains as smooth as ever but fine details are cleaner and even crisper, the plucking of a guitar string, for example. Fine layers of detail are also better finessed, such as when a snare drum is struck with a brush. With the silver cable, I can hear more of the individual bristles striking the drum. I am more and more convinced that low impedance which yields better transient response and low-level detail is what is making the biggest difference in my system. My Paul Hynes supply with a similar silver DC lead is now en route from Scotland. If it cannot outperform my LPS-1, I will proceed to hardwire my microRendu to my LPS-1 with the idea that bypassing the barrel connectors should yield even lower impedance.

 

Here is Jesus' photo of the soon-to-be-released "black" microRendu on top of his LPS-1. They look like a match made in heaven. Uptone Audio or Sonore should consider selling a black microRendu hardwired to an LPS-1. It would be hard to beat and a real looker at the same time.

 

[gstew]

Well not exactly 9V as the available series combinations of two LPS-1 units would be: 6.6V (3.3+3.3), 8.3V (3.3+5), 10V (5+5), 12V (5+7), or 14V (7+7).

 

Though the truth is, virtually all components that one might power in the range of 9V are going to be just fine operating with anything near that (8.3, 10V, whatever). Unless one is directly powering an analog or digital circuit board that does not have any of its own local regulators, the externally supplied voltage is always stepped down internally to what the chips or circuits run on (5V, 3.3V, 1.2V, etc.).

 

An example: Although it calls for a 12V supply, I accidentally had a 7V wart powering my 10-port Cisco Gigabit Ethernet switch for about 2 months. Did not notice it until I was doing some wiring work under my desk.

 

I recently got some TPLink FMCs and looked inside... they use a 34063 switching step-up/step-down regulator as the main regulator for 3.3v and it should work ok anywhere from 5v-9v (spec for the device is 3v-40v!). You might not get away with that on a linear reg, while some (like the TPS7A47xx and the ADM715x series) have a pretty wide input voltage range, many 3.3v LDOs max out at 5.5v input (like the Richtek units below).

 

That regulator feeds some of the chips directly, but also feeds a couple of RT9166A linear regulators, one producing 2.5v and the other 1.2v. A handy DIY'er COULD LIKELY bypass the 34063 and feed linearly-produced 3.3v directly into the device for some additional power supply noise reduction.

 

Of course, the best solution would be an LPS-1 configured for 3.3v bypassing the 34063 reg, for the well-heeled fanatic!

 

Greg in Mississippi

[hornytoad]

I've listened to the LPS-1 for about a week and I don't think there is any LPS at that price level that is better .

[JohnSwenson]

Has anyone tried the LPS-1 on a SBT ? Or plan to do ?

 

Superdad, can you confirm I can use the LPS-1 with SBT ?

 

The SBT works great powered by an LPS-1. It is a huge improvement in SQ. I'm listening to that combo right now with my Sennheisers plugged directly into the headphone jack on the SBT. If I turn it up LOUD I can hear the limitations of the internal headphone amp, but at lower levels it is way better than running off its own SMPS.

 

Just be sure NOT to use the SBT in server mode with a VBUS powered USB drive, the LPS-1 will NOT handle that!

 

John S.

[mikey8811]

Unfortunately, my 9V iPower is the 1.5A version so I guess that will not work.

 

I also have a 12V/1.8A iPower.

 

Will this work?

 

Yup.

 

 

(I happen to have one of the early iFi iPower 9V SMPS warts--from when they were rated 1.5A--and it does not handle the LPS-1. This caused a brief minor worry near launch as a lot of microRendu users bought the 9V iFi iPower from Sonore, but it turns out that by the time the were selling them with the mR, iFi had upgraded to a 2.0A rating. John has one of those and it works fine with it.)

[pl_svn]

LPS-1 delivered a few minutes ago and already at work

 

 

(will take care of those spaghetti later )

 

Since the very few instants: way quieter background and much wider sound stage (only grievance with this new 2Qute, compared to my beloved Metrum Hex, was a narrow soundstage): for the first time I'm hearing sounds coming from well beyond speakers position

 

waiting now for my Audiophilleo to be back (upgraded to 368KHz/DSD-128 ) as you might guess from the "empty" double BNC connector

 

great job indeed John and Alex

[JohnSwenson]

Unfortunately, my 9V iPower is the 1.5A version so I guess that will not work.

 

I also have a 12V/1.8A iPower.

 

Will this work?

 

Yes, 12V 1.8A should work.

 

John S.

[pl_svn]

Beautiful USB cable you've got there! Love that cable. Be sure to get a couple of screw terminal DC male & female for that GND wire as well someday...to see what lifting the ground is all about!

 

I knew you'd love that cable

 

not going to use it (there) anymore when the Audiophilleo comes back: will go instead for direct connection with the Regen

[mikey8811]

Yes, 12V 1.8A should work.

 

John S.

 

Thanks. Just out of curiosity, would 9V/ 2A or 12V/ 1.8A be better?

 

Or does it not make a difference?

[Superdad]

Thanks. Just out of curiosity, would 9V/ 2A or 12V/ 1.8A be better?

 

Or does it not make a difference?

 

Makes ZERO difference.

[Superdad]

Hi Gang:

 

While I appreciate the various side conversations about usage, tweaks, etc., there are going to be a LOT of new people coming here to read about the performance of the UltraCap LPS-1 in others' systems. Especially after the first formal editor review from another site hits next week.

 

I did make two threads--which are actively carrying on--for just the sort of topics you are chatting about. Please continue over at either the "LPS-1 Operations and Pre-purchase thread"

or at the aptly named "LPS-1 Thread that off-topic posts get tossed into..."

 

The latter is where I am judiciously moving a few recent ones from here into now.

 

Thanks for understanding.

 

Have a great weekend.

 

--Alex C.

 

P.S. We are 2/3rds moved into our new space, and we are still on track to ship most all of the end-of-October-promised orders on time by mid-week.

[Doak]

My LPS-1 is powered by a 7.5 output from an HDPlex 100w LPSU.

The LPS-1 powers a Wired4Sound Recovery which feeds my Lampizator G5L4 DAC.

An Auralic Aries (top model) serves up the music files.

 

I've had the LPS-1 for over a week now, but only today have taken the time to do a "with/without" comparison. I was in no hurry to do this because I really liked what I was hearing, but some other members with the W4S Recovery were waiting for "the word."

 

Didn't take long... I have a ton of things on a reference playlist, but there are a few songs/files that will tell me about all I need to know and about all there is to say. If I delineated every plus that I hear it would simply be a reiteration of nearly every other post here so I'll put it another way. What I hear sounds like the DAC used has been seriously/substantially upgraded however there is NO downside as there often is from DAC to DAC. This is an improvement that will transfer as you upgrade.

 

Not cheap, but once used/heard the LPS-1 becomes mandatory. I would not want to lose it. Nope, it's a keeper.

[motberg]

Not cheap, but once used/heard the LPS-1 becomes mandatory. I would not want to lose it. Nope, it's a keeper.

 

 

Thanks for the review...

order placed :-)

[lmitche]

Has anyone used the LPS-1 to power an SSD? If so, what was the SQ impact?

[feelingears]

My LPS-1 is powered by a 7.5 output from an HDPlex 100w LPSU.

The LPS-1 powers a Wired4Sound Recovery which feeds my Lampizator G5L4 DAC.

An Auralic Aries (top model) serves up the music files.

 

...What I hear sounds like the DAC used has been seriously/substantially upgraded however there is NO downside as there often is from DAC to DAC. This is an improvement that will transfer as you upgrade.

 

Not cheap, but once used/heard the LPS-1 becomes mandatory. I would not want to lose it. Nope, it's a keeper.

@Doak I misread your post as LPS-1 with the W4S Remedy, which was something I had been meaning to try for a week or so now. My LPS-1 was driving my microRendu, and an iFi iPower driving the Remedy. So I finally did it. Hmm... Hmm... 30 minutes later, I unplugged the microRendu and set it aside for sale!

 

In my system, the LPS-1 brings it all together that much more. The ease, the detail, all smiles here. My setup may not be ultimate, and it has practical compromises (Wi-Fi), but now it's 90% dialed in for me.

 

Airport Express –> Optical, Analysis Plus Cable –> W4S Remedy/LPS-1 –> Coax, Wireworld Starlight 7 –> Audio-GD DAC-19 10th Anniv.

 

Hope this helps!

[genjamon]

@Doak I misread your post as LPS-1 with the W4S Remedy, which was something I had been meaning to try for a week or so now. My LPS-1 was driving my microRendu, and an iFi iPower driving the Remedy. So I finally did it. Hmm... Hmm... 30 minutes later, I unplugged the microRendu and set it aside for sale!

 

In my system, the LPS-1 brings it all together that much more. The ease, the detail, all smiles here. My setup may not be ultimate, and it has practical compromises (Wi-Fi), but now it's 90% dialed in for me.

 

Airport Express –> Optical, Analysis Plus Cable –> W4S Remedy/LPS-1 –> Coax, Wireworld Starlight 7 –> Audio-GD DAC-19 10th Anniv.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Interesting. So how are you controlling playback?

[Qhwoeprktiyns]

@Doak I misread your post as LPS-1 with the W4S Remedy, which was something I had been meaning to try for a week or so now. My LPS-1 was driving my microRendu, and an iFi iPower driving the Remedy. So I finally did it. Hmm... Hmm... 30 minutes later, I unplugged the microRendu and set it aside for sale!

 

In my system, the LPS-1 brings it all together that much more. The ease, the detail, all smiles here. My setup may not be ultimate, and it has practical compromises (Wi-Fi), but now it's 90% dialed in for me.

 

Airport Express –> Optical, Analysis Plus Cable –> W4S Remedy/LPS-1 –> Coax, Wireworld Starlight 7 –> Audio-GD DAC-19 10th Anniv.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Interesting indeed. Would be interested in seing how the LPS-1 can work with a CCA in the chain as well.

[feelingears]

Interesting. So how are you controlling playback?

 

This is where I diverge from most users I guess.

 

I use...iTunes! (Amara is present but rarely gets used.) I will perhaps try HQPlayer next.

 

Networked computer audio even with iTunes is annoying enough from a usability pov that I ran my microRendu in parallel (Squeezebox on NAS, and that is what I was comparing the W4S/iTunes against).

 

And at this point in life I am less interested in streaming since I have more music files than I could listen to for the next 15 years, probably.

 

Probably more responsible to say that given the choice between the two chains, the LPS-1 put the winner ahead by, oh let's say a wheel-length if you're a cyclist.

 

It seems to me, given the choices we have now in CA, that power and reclocking and noise "management/elimination", apparently in that order, are what gets the best results out of converting a file to a sound wave. I'm just a pair of ears though. YMMV as usual.

[Guidof]

I've had the LPS-1 in my system for about a week and a half, powering my microRendu and energized from a Mean Well SMPS. Previously, the microRendu was powered by an SOtM "Intelligent" Battery PS. I keep the system on 24/7, though my amp is of course turned off when not listening. I use the microRendu in the Squeezelite mode.

 

I have to report pretty much the same enhancements in sound quality that have already been posted by a number of CA's denizens, but I also want to emphasize that the change from battery supply to UltraCap has resulted in a major, non subtle improvement.

 

if I had to summarize the effect that each of John Swenson's brilliant designs have had in my system, I'd have to say that the Regen's predominant effect was clarity, the micro Rendu is even greater clarity, and the LPS-1 are spaciousness and refinement.

 

In my system, microRendu and LPS-1 together give me a sound that is more lifelike and more engaging than I ever heard this side of the concert hall or the jazz club.

 

Kudos to John Swenson, Alex C., and Jesus!

 

Guido F.