The thread that off-topic posts get tossed into; Feel free to continue whatever discussions here.

[sandyk]

Jud

Please check your PMs

 

Regards

Alex

[lmitche]

Jud...

 

Is there much in the way of audible hum emanating from that B & K isolation transformer?

FWIW, there is no hum from the three B&Ks run here.

[sig8]

I bought one of these, used on eBay for about 1/3 the price new: Baaske Medical Ethernet Network Isolator 5kV MI 1005, 2005674

 

Edit: P.S. Thanks, Alex.

 

One on order. Let's see how it goes.

 

I use fiber network (FMc's, fiber switch, etc.), I do not think the network isolator will do anything for me. Copper RJ45 connects to an FMC and that connects to a fiber switch, then it is all fiber on the audio side.

 

Thanks.

[sandyk]

FWIW, there is no hum from the three B&Ks run here.

 

Some of you guys must have pretty crappy power to need to go to those extreme lengths ?

[sandyk]

FWIW, there is no hum from the three B&Ks run here.

 

Some of you guys must have pretty crappy A.C. mains power to need to go to those extreme lengths ?

[lmitche]

Part of the benefit comes from crappy power here in the part of the country with the oldest electrical power infrastructure. But also, the cost to cover all digital components is relatively inexpensive given the benefits.

[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:

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]29971[/ATTACH]

 

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.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]29972[/ATTACH]

[Stijngv]

Hi,

 

May I ask where you purchased the dc cable?

Thanks!

[audiocrazy]

Hi,

 

May I ask where you purchased the dc cable?

Thanks!

I'm interested in that as well. BTW the black mR looks really cool with LPS-1.

[Jud]

So my El Cheapo has begun doing something strange and alarming (to me): The digital voltage readout is now continually fluctuating between 8.9x and 9.28. It'll sit at 9.28 for a couple of seconds, then roll down to 8.9 something and back up again. The LPS-1 it powers and the Regen powered by the LPS-1 also felt warmer after I observed this last night than the last time I checked them a few days ago.

 

I've taken the El Cheapo out of service and will look around in various boxes for the MeanWell; failing that I'll use the iFi.

 

I assume the fluctuation can't be good, at the very least for whatever it might do to system noise and/or the long term health of the LPS-1. Is this correct, or should I not be particularly concerned? If I should, does anyone feel like providing a remote diagnosis, and does it seem like something that could be cheaply repaired?

[Jud]

Jud...

 

Is there much in the way of audible hum emanating from that B & K isolation transformer?

 

When I stuck it on a bare floor that acted as a sounding board, yes. As soon as I put it on a cork-and-rubber foot, no. (There are inexpensive automotive pads that would do just as well, see for example https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B008HQ2AF2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 .)

[romaz]

Hi,

 

May I ask where you purchased the dc cable?

Thanks!

 

I got mine from Zenwave Audio based in Colorado. Dave (the owner) is great to deal with and can probably make you just about any cable you want.

[JohnSwenson]

So my El Cheapo has begun doing something strange and alarming (to me): The digital voltage readout is now continually fluctuating between 8.9x and 9.28. It'll sit at 9.28 for a couple of seconds, then roll down to 8.9 something and back up again. The LPS-1 it powers and the Regen powered by the LPS-1 also felt warmer after I observed this last night than the last time I checked them a few days ago.

 

I've taken the El Cheapo out of service and will look around in various boxes for the MeanWell; failing that I'll use the iFi.

 

I assume the fluctuation can't be good, at the very least for whatever it might do to system noise and/or the long term health of the LPS-1. Is this correct, or should I not be particularly concerned? If I should, does anyone feel like providing a remote diagnosis, and does it seem like something that could be cheaply repaired?

 

Actually that could be fairly normal, the LPS-1 does not draw current continuously, it goes to full current for several seconds to charge a string, then goes to low current for some time, than back up to full current for several seconds etc. The amount of time at low current depends on the load current, the lower the load current the longer it pulls a low current from the feeder supply. For example if running at 1A load current the time spent at low low current draw will be a fraction of a second. Say if you are at 0.6A load current the time spend at low current draw will be around 3 seconds. If the load current is 50mA the time pulling the low current will be up to a minute.

 

So what you are seeing is the regulation of the feeder supply when going from 0.2A to 2A. The range you are seeing won't cause a problem. So it is probably not a sign that something is horribly wrong, just that the regulator in the feeder supply is not particularly great.

 

I measured a 7.5V Mean Well and it was much lower difference. The 9V iPower was actually worse at 0.5 V difference.

 

To understand what is happening in the LPS-1, remember the architecture: two banks of supercaps, ping-ponging between them. At any given time one string is connected to the charging circuit and the other string is connected to the output. So lets go through a "cycle".

 

String A is charging, it takes about 3 seconds to charge. String B is connected to the load, If supplying 1A, it takes about 3.5 seconds to get down to its lower voltage, at which point the system does a "ping pong" and switches the banks around. Thus the charging circuit is on for 3 seconds and off for 1/2 second before it starts charging string B.

 

If the output is supplying 0.6A the string charge still takes 3 seconds, but the discharge on the other string takes about 6 seconds, so after string A takes its 3 seconds to charge, string B takes an additional 3 seconds to reach the end of its discharge, thus the charging circuit will be off for three seconds before the next Ping-Pong and it starts over again.

 

The current the LPS-1 draws from the feeder supply is a combination of the charger circuit and the control circuit. The control circuit and is always on, for a 9V feeder that is about 0.2A. The current while charging is slightly less than 2A for a 9V feeder, so the current draw from the feeder switches from 0.2A to slightly over 2A, a pretty big current swing.

 

Does this make any sense?

 

John S.

[YashN]

Probably the best Thread Title ever.

 

[YashN]

Rather than deleting posts from those threads, at my discretion I will simply move them into this thread. You are welcome to continue whatever discussions here. And if the dialog picks up a solid theme, we can make a new thread with that as the subject line and move all those posts to it.

 

Please let me know if you object to any of this in general or in specific.

 

Great idea, Superbad.

[Jud]

 

[snippage]

 

The range you are seeing won't cause a problem. So it is probably not a sign that something is horribly wrong, just that the regulator in the feeder supply is not particularly great.

 

[snippage]

 

Does this make any sense?

 

John S.

 

Thanks John, absolutely perfect sense, since it matches so completely with what I observed.

 

Anyone have suggestions as to a better regulator that I might have my local electronics guy substitute in the supply? (Edit: Not that I think I would absolutely need to, but I'm kind of curious and might want to.)

[sandyk]

Thanks John, absolutely perfect sense, since it matches so completely with what I observed.

 

Anyone have suggestions as to a better regulator that I might have my local electronics guy substitute in the supply? (Edit: Not that I think I would absolutely need to, but I'm kind of curious and might want to.)

 

Jud

Other than just the suitably rated voltage regulator,I would also suspect the current delivery abilities of the transformer under it's maximum loading and perhaps the input filter capacitor value used.

Are you able to measure the A.C. voltage from the secondary side of the transformer under these conditions ?

Perhaps the output voltage of the transformer is drooping substantially under load, which won't help with regulation ?

Regards

Alex

[Don Hills]

Great idea, Superbad.

 

 

I see what you did there. :-)

[YashN]

I see what you did there. :-)

 

Wasn't me: somebody else made that typo once, and it stuck

[R1200CL]

Hi,

 

May I ask where you purchased the dc cable?

Thanks!

 

Maybe possible to do a "group-buy" ?

Ask price 10, 50, 100 ?

[romaz]

Maybe possible to do a "group-buy" ?

Ask price 10, 50, 100 ?

 

UP-OCC silver is not cheap and neither are those Oyaide gold-plated barrel connectors (the best I could find) but I'm sure if the volume is there, I suspect Dave at Zenwave would be willing to consider a group buy rate.

[audiocrazy]

Maybe possible to do a "group-buy" ?

Ask price 10, 50, 100 ?

I'm in for a group-buy. May be we can start a separate thread on this.

[camel]

I'm in for a group-buy too.

[R1200CL]

UP-OCC silver is not cheap and neither are those Oyaide gold-plated barrel connectors (the best I could find) but I'm sure if the volume is there, I suspect Dave at Zenwave would be willing to consider a group buy rate.

 

How long is that wire ? Maybe half the length would lower the price ?

As long they can be placed side by side, the length ought to be accordingly.

 

Maybe be you can add a pic when connected ?

[romaz]

How long is that wire ? Maybe half the length would lower the price ?

As long they can be placed side by side, the length ought to be accordingly.

 

Maybe be you can add a pic when connected ?

 

The stock DC lead that comes with the LPS-1 is about 28 inches long. The one I specified is 12 inches long. In theory, the shorter the better. I am out today and so I can provide a photo tomorrow. Yes, cost is absolutely based on length of wire although I'm not sure how much you'll save if you asked for a shorter 6-inch wire, for example. There will be fixed labor costs but included in the labor will be an attractive black TechFlex jacket. The Oyaide barrel connectors are about $20 a pair. If you are good with a solder gun, you can create your own cable but Dave at Zenwave certainly does a great job and with quick turnaround. If someone wants to start a thread and organize a group buy, I'm sure Dave would have interest in working something out.