My (very) mini review of the Singxer SU-1 DDC

[roberto2]

4 hours ago, Padawan38 said:

Hello,

 

and thank you for your interest.

The changes are numerous, in a nutshell : EMI filter, more capacitance, better regulation.

The cost is 150 Euros.

 

Rgds

P

Ok but who is ROSE Audio???

Can you provide a link? 

[roberto2]

I have a question for those who have modified their Singxer SU-1. Which is the most relevant and audible change?

 

Changing the internal power supply?

Changing the 5 capacitors?

Changing the 3,3V regulator?

 

In case you have changed all theses things at the same time, how can you say what is the most important?

 

[roberto2]

17 hours ago, elan120 said:

I did the power supply change from stock to LPS-1 first and noticed a good degree of improvement.  Few days later, replaced the 3.3V regulator along with the 5 caps together, and noticed more improvement but not as much as the LPS-1 change.  Not sure which is more important since I didn't do the mod sequence the other way around, but based on the effort involved, changing power supplier from stock to LPS-1 would be an easy choice.

Thank you very much. Of course I believe that LPS-1 is a very good choice but it is 400$, the price of the Singxer SU-1. 

Changing the regulator is far cheaper...

[roberto2]

This is a great answer!

 

Just another question. I had a LPS-1 at home and I could test it with my Singxer SU-1 (5V), with my Recovery (7V) and with my Sotto SMS-200 (7V). (Recovery and Sotm are with HDPLex LPS actually, 9V and 12V))

I found the best result sonically with LPS-1 feeding the Recovery! In second place I would say on Singxer SU-1 and at last position with the Sotto SMS-200/

 

If we assume that the Recovery send the 5V to the USB input of the Singxer, may we think that the 5V feeding the USB input is very important too?

I see that every LPS tweak is about the internal 5V but what about the relevance of the 5V coming from the USB cable?

[roberto2]

Would this one be good to replace the LM2940CT-5 on SU-1 internal power supply?

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LT3045-Ultralow-noise-0-8-VRMS-LDO-linear-regulators-0V-15V-0-5A-78xx-Layout-/252880467320?hash=item3ae0d9b578:g:jSMAAOSwol5YyCO1

[roberto2]

1 hour ago, paulinus said:

IMHO, no, because PCB size of this LDO is 25x35mm. Replacement could be painful.

But I can read it is 15x25 mm

 

• PCB size: 15x25mm

[roberto2]

1 hour ago, elan120 said:

This may not be a good direct replacement unit without a good heat sinking method due to high Vin and Vout differential at ~7.3V (Vin 12.3V - Vout 5V), which will drive the calculated junction temperature Tjmax slightly above 145C assuming output current (Iout) at 150mA, and this is higher than the spec limit of 125C.  If this regulator is to be used as is, may need to consider using a lower output step down transformer.

 

I thought Vin was 7V on the Talema transformer...

[roberto2]

12 minutes ago, elan120 said:

They connect the transformer in series, which drove the voltage up to 14V output before the bridge rectifier.  The 12.3VDC reading is a measured voltage from the unit I pulled from my SU-1.

OK, so what regulator could replace the LM2940CT-5?

 

Belleson would be fine but shipping cost to Europe are just too expensive (33$!!)

 

[roberto2]

31 minutes ago, elan120 said:

Hi @[email protected],

 

Good to see you dropping by here.  I am currently using your regulator in my SU-1 to send 5VDC to the main board with outstanding result...

 

Hi elan120,

but you told me it was not good at this place...!

Ar you using this one? The seller is named Alexey. I don't understand...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LT3045-Ultralow-noise-0-8-VRMS-LDO-linear-regulators-0V-15V-0-5A-78xx-Layout-/252880467320?hash=item3ae0d9b578:g:jSMAAOSwol5YyCO1

[roberto2]

1 minute ago, elan120 said:

Hi @roberto2,  I use this regulator in different configuration.  In my case, I removed the stock power supply by using Uptone LPS-1 feeding 7VDC to SU-1, and then using Alexey's regulator to drop the voltage from 7V to 5V feeding the SU-1 main board..

 

In terms of regulator to use, by having more thermal transfer data from him directly, it can be a replacement part to consider, but make sure to follow his instruction in heat sink and application method.

 

My experience with this regulator is quite good, and will be replacing the Belleson 3.3V I currently using on the main board to make a comparison.

OK now I understand much better!

About the heat sink, does the stock Singxer SU-1 heat sink would be ok for that regulator?

[roberto2]

Received the Sparkos 3,3V today and installed! 

 

 

It works!! Very noticeable improvement...!

It reminds me when I had a LPS-1 to try at home. Similar effect.

Thank to all of you for the very clear instructions!

 

Next step a Sparks 5V for the power supply and capacitors...

[roberto2]

I have a Sotm SMS-200 and a W4S Recovery before the Singxer SU-1 and I have to say that the Recovery is a great upgrade for USB.

 

My dac is an Audio GD Master 7 and AES input trough the Singxer SU-1 is much better than USB 32 of my dac.

 

 

[roberto2]

After 3,3V regulator I made internal power supply upgrade with Sparkos 5V regulator and Panasonic FR capacitors.

It took more time for the 5V regulator because of the heatsink but finally it works fine!

On Singxer card all capacitors are 220uF 25V.

And there is a Sbooster ultra between 5V output and 3,3V regulator. Sbooster input is 5V and 4,5V output.

 

All I can say is that my system has never played music as now!

 

[roberto2]

22 hours ago, pkane2001 said:

 

Good job! So what does Sbooster do that the Sparkos regulators don't do already? Is the thought that two levels of regulation are more stable than one?

I cannot tell you exactly. I purchased the Booster ultra first, before Sparkos Labs regulators upgrade and I keep it in place after the upgrade.

I"m too lazy to take the Sbooster ultra off to see if there is a difference! 

[roberto2]

I think that you need that:

 

https://kitsunehifi.com/product/singxer-su-1-dc-power-conversion-kit-kitsunehifi-2-1mmx5-5mm/

[roberto2]

Hello! I have tried what Stephan (Solidcore) suggested: to put Elna Silmic 2 instead of Panasonic capacitors.

 

I have purchased yesterday 4 x Elna Silmic 2 220uF 35V (did not find 25V in my reseller, but it is the same size) and 1 x Elna Silmic 2 100uF 50V for the output of Sparkos Labs 3,3 regulator.

 

I dont have the picture of this first mod. The sound at the beginning was clearly quit horrible! A lot of basses, no air, highs were disappeared ... 

I red that this kind of capacitors take a lot of time to break in (50 to 150 hours!)

In the evening things sounded better but still I had the impression to have "loudness" in my system.

 

Today I wanted to understand which was the role of every capacitors so I have decided to change one Elna with Panasonic FR.

 

Firstly I have changed the USB side capacitor:

High fréquences were back but there was something not coherent.

 

So I have decided to put the second in 5V input before the Sparkos Labs regulator:

Now the sound was better and transparency was back and could say it was more similar to 5 Panasonic FR configuration but with more weight on notes and with more meat around the bone.

 

Finally I decided to put again the Elna on USB side thinking I was going to loose transparency again but...no, finally it sounded very well!

 

So I don't know if the Elna are breaking in, if my ears are getting addicted to this sound or if it is very important to have at least a Panasonic FR in the 5V input before the 3,3 regulator to avoid to loose to much dynamics and life.

 

I will keep this last set up for a while to break in the Elna capacitors. It seems to me that there is more weight and meat then with all Panasonic FR capacitors.

 

 

[roberto2]

10 hours ago, Energy said:

I mean you shouldn't be using analog capacitors (Elna RFS) on a digital board to begin with. Their ESR is much higher to where it's not even specified and the material dampening doesn't help for digital domain thus why you hear removal of high frequency detail and or bloating of the bass.

 

For all Elna Silmic II that I use on analog domains such as amplifiers, the bass does increase and tighten itself over time. The overall sound smoothens and jarring treble softens up. Again, I would not use this within a DAC or Digital Transport.

 

I found that the sound was not good in the first hours but now I like it a lot!

 

Maybe I will try other options like Elna Cerafine or Nichichon Polymer that I'm waiting. But I think that the most important thing is to listen with your ears and not only see technical specifications.

 

I see that Kitsune use Nichicon FG 470uF 16V. If it was bad sounding why would they do it?

 

[roberto2]

And why Light Harmonic use Elna Silmic II in their DAC? :

 

https://www.audiostream.com/content/light-harmonic-da-vinci-dac-page-2

[roberto2]

One month ago I have killed my Singxer. A friend of mine had a problem with his W4S Recovery and we tried it in my system! Fatal error!! His Recovery, after measuring, sent 9V to the Singxer instead of 5V and that killed the internal board.

I have been obliged to purchase a new board from Magna Hifi in the Netherlands and it is not cheap at all...!

All the lights were on inside the board but even my iMac did not recognise the XMOS chip. 

So I don't understand what you have done to your Singxer but you should verify that your ISO Regen is feeding well 5V. 

The Singxer USB input can accept between 4,5V and 5,1V, not more...

[roberto2]

On 28/09/2017 at 11:25 PM, Energy said:

 

There are many different ones listed, which one be the one?

Also where did you get your carrier board?

 

 

I mean you shouldn't be using analog capacitors (Elna RFS) on a digital board to begin with. Their ESR is much higher to where it's not even specified and the material dampening doesn't help for digital domain thus why you hear removal of high frequency detail and or bloating of the bass.

 

For all Elna Silmic II that I use on analog domains such as amplifiers, the bass does increase and tighten itself over time. The overall sound smoothens and jarring treble softens up. Again, I would not use this within a DAC or Digital Transport.

 

Hi Energy,

can you explain to me why Sotm uses 5x Elna Silmic 2 in their DX-USB HD converter if they are not suitable in digital transports?

 

[roberto2]

14 hours ago, rafa said:

Neutrino installed.

Worth the change?

Why one only clock? And where did you take the 9V or 12V for power supply in your Singxer?

Last question: why so long wires to connect the 3,3 regulator?

[roberto2]

13 hours ago, rafa said:

Just finished to separate USB 5V from XMOS.

Currently has own independent source of power with LDVO VR. It is significant SQ improvement!

I don't understand your power supply. Do you use an external DC power supply to load the main board and the XMOS side of the Singxer?

 

[roberto2]

11 hours ago, rafa said:

Exactly;

External 9V -> Sparco VR 5V - > main board

External 9V -> LDVO VR 5V -> XMOS

External 9V -> Neutrino

I'm not an expert but I think that in this way you loose galvanic isolation and separation between the two sides of the Singxer. 

[roberto2]

I think you have to set all the switches off for PS DAC. But I don't have a PS DAC to confirm...

 

https://kitsunehifi.com/product/singxersu1black/

 

[roberto2]

Hi Energy, very interesting project.

I own a Sotm-sms-200 Ultra and asked to May from Sotm what was possible to do with the clock inside the Ultra and she told me that there are two slots that are free (the other two are used by the sms-200) on the clock and could be used for two devices like my Sotm usbhubex or a switch.

 

So I don't understand haw can you use the internal clock of your future Ultra for all these devices...Could you clarify?