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

[scan80269]

Phase 2 mod is complete!  Now my SU-1 can be powered by UpTone LPS-1!

 

I haven't ripped out the stock LPS yet, as I plan to do a comparison between it and the LPS-1.

 

[tboooe]

3 hours ago, scan80269 said:

Phase 2 mod is complete!  Now my SU-1 can be powered by UpTone LPS-1!

 

I haven't ripped out the stock LPS yet, as I plan to do a comparison between it and the LPS-1.

 

VERY VERY cool.  I am dying to find out if the LPS-1 would sound better than using my Teknet battery to power the SU-1. 

[Superdad]

8 hours ago, tboooe said:

VERY VERY cool.  I am dying to find out if the LPS-1 would sound better than using my Teknet battery to power the SU-1. 

 

Terry "T-Bone" (all these trombone referencing nicknames!) over at Head-Fi is also converting his SU-1 this weekend to power with the LPS-1 he just got.

 

Guess I should do mine next. 

[tboooe]

9 hours ago, Superdad said:

 

Guess I should do mine next. 

Yeah I guess I should too.   Just placed an order for the LPS-1!!!!

[Miko]

Has anyone tested the stock power supply vs aftermarket? If the stock PS is switching, then I think it would be a great candidate for the Bybee Music Rails. You can get a pair for $150.. supposed to reduce noise up to 45db.

 

I have them installed in my DAC (Tascam DA-3000)  and here is the test results so you can see it for yourself. 

 

I had Chris from Busman Audio do the mods. Without before and after testing.. I'm not sure changing out supplies is worth doing if all you need is a couple Music Rails...

 

thoughts??

 

 

 

[Nsxturbo]

The stock power supply is linear.

[Miko]

So what are you gaining then? Without test results I fail to see a point other then just playing around hoping to improve something..

 

You throw a few few more hundred dollars into power supplies you could buy a DAC and not need this device. 

[tboooe]

1 minute ago, Miko said:

So what are you gaining then? Without test results I fail to see a point other then just playing around hoping to improve something..

Isn't that the definition of an audiophile?? I admit to enjoying just tweaking my system as I do listening to it.  

[Miko]

Guilty as charged! I do too... I just felt like since this a $400 unit.. the cost/benefit ratio might be out of whack. I'll throw $200 into mine and have the Rails installed. But I think that would be the limit on mods for it. 

 

Trust me.. I got $7K and counting invested in my pre amp mod... I love a good tweak.. I'm just trying to figure out what this power supply thing is about... 

[Superdad]

10 hours ago, Miko said:

I'm just trying to figure out what this power supply thing is about... 

 

Well the UltraCap LPS-1 is unique in being an extremely low impedance unit with cascaded ultra-low-noise (4uV rms from 10Hz to 100kHz) regulators.  

And most importantly, as a bank alternating supply whose active output is 100% isolated from the charging side, it completely blocks the path of AC leakage currents, a important part of removing whatever it is powering from the "leakage loop" in that part of one's system (ALL audio systems have leakage loops happening between components with power supplies).  The LPS-1 is a bit like a battery supply in this respect--without the several disadvantages of batteries.

[elan120]

On 4/1/2017 at 8:14 PM, Superdad said:

 

Well the UltraCap LPS-1 is unique in being an extremely low impedance unit with cascaded ultra-low-noise (4uV rms from 10Hz to 100kHz) regulators.  

And most importantly, as a bank alternating supply whose active output is 100% isolated from the charging side, it completely blocks the path of AC leakage currents, a important part of removing whatever it is powering from the "leakage loop" in that part of one's system (ALL audio systems have leakage loops happening between components with power supplies).  The LPS-1 is a bit like a battery supply in this respect--without the several disadvantages of batteries.

Another very happy UltraCap LPS-1 user.  Finally had a chance to power my SU-1 with LPS-1, and the result isn't subtle at all.  Should have done this when I first received the LPS-1 couple weeks ago, but still very happy that I finally tried.

[Padawan38]

Hello,

 

A few words about my SU1 that went for a tweak by ROSE Audio.

As you can see, the PSU is completely new and the tweak is quite huge.

 

Most important is the sound … and it rocks !

Black background is better, more refinement with better details, more “meat” and re-enforced organic character.

It’s really a step up.

 

Have a nice day !

 

Rgds

P

 

 

[Energy]

Good going with the phase 2 modification. Without a doubt the most logical upgrade yet.

 

I am planning to do the same to my unit by the coming week, but using slightly different specifications than you are.

[BigAlMc]

On 21/04/2017 at 6:57 AM, Padawan38 said:

Hello,

 

A few words about my SU1 that went for a tweak by ROSE Audio.

As you can see, the PSU is completely new and the tweak is quite huge.

 

Most important is the sound … and it rocks !

Black background is better, more refinement with better details, more “meat” and re-enforced organic character.

It’s really a step up.

 

Have a nice day !

 

Rgds

P

 

 

 

Hi Padawan38, 

 

Thanks for sharing. 

 

I just received my SU-1 and am playing around with it. So far it's looking very promising! 

 

Can you provide more details on what your PSU mod entails and what it cost? 

 

Many Thanks, 

Alan 

[Padawan38]

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

[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? 

[scan80269]

On the SU-1 circuit board, there is an LD1086 3-terminal regulator receiving +5V from the internal power supply and generating +3.3V to power the downstream side electronics.  Only one tiny chip related to one of the outputs is fed +5V directly.  All other ICs on that side of the moat run off the +3.3V from the regulator.  Ditto for the two Crystek CCHD-575 oscillators.

 

Modding or replacing the internal LPS is a good move, but leaving that LD1086 regulator untouched on the circuit board means that this regulator can become the limiting factor in overall power supply performance of the SU-1.  This is why I replaced that LD1086 with a discrete super regulator.

 

I will be experimenting with another brand of super regulator as well as even better capacitors than the ones I used in my phase 1 mod.

 

[Energy]

Thank you for your insight.

 

I have just purchased the ISO REGEN today along with the LPS-1 to complement it.

Will be using the LPS- 1 on the ISO REGEN as well as the Singxer SU-1 (via voltage drop).

 

This is exciting. Both devices feature the world class Crystek CCHD-575!

 

I agree with your assessments fully and have gone ahead and ordered the Sparkos Labs SS78XX +3.3V in replacement of the DPAK/SOT packaged LD1086 voltage regulator.

 

Changes:

• 3μV vs 100μV (RMS output noise)
• 125dB vs 79dB (input rejection)

Here is a photo in case anyone has any means of replacing their own: (credits to @scan80269)

[tboooe]

Guys, how hard is it to replace the voltage regulator?  Does anything else need to be done or is literally plug and play?  Also can someone please post a pic showing exactly what component needs to be replaced?

[elan120]

46 minutes ago, Energy said:

Thank you for your insight.

 

I have just purchased the ISO REGEN today along with the LPS-1 to complement it.

Will be using the LPS- 1 on the ISO REGEN as well as the Singxer SU-1 (via voltage drop).

 

This is exciting. Both devices feature the world class Crystek CCHD-575!

 

I agree with your assessments fully and have gone ahead and ordered the Sparkos Labs SS78XX +3.3V in replacement of the DPAK/SOT packaged LD1086 voltage regulator.

 

Changes:

• 3μV vs 100μV (RMS output noise)
• 125dB vs 79dB (input rejection)

Here is a photo in case anyone has any means of replacing their own: (credits to @scan80269)

I also like the improvement after replacing LD1086, but I used Belleson SPM17 and placed the regulator the same orientation as the original LD1086 (parallel with the two caps).  The first step I did was change over to LPS-1, that was a great step up, and later replaced the LD1086, and that improved the SQ even more, so concur with finding from @scan80269.  

 

I am now curious if other regulators such as Sparko will provide further improvement.

[scan80269]

1 hour ago, tboooe said:

Guys, how hard is it to replace the voltage regulator?  Does anything else need to be done or is literally plug and play?  Also can someone please post a pic showing exactly what component needs to be replaced?

 

I used hot tweezers (Metcal Talon) to remove the surface mount LD1086 regulator from the SU-1 board, then soldered a Belleson SPZ-78 (+3.3V) super regulator onto the LD1086 footprint, after bending the 3 leads of the Belleson a bit to align.  See pic posted by Energy above.  No other related component needed to be touched, though since the circuit now has several capacitor types and values wired in parallel at the regulator output side (including a cap on the super regulator itself), I may experiment with removing the electrolytic and the SMD ceramic caps from the board.

 

[scan80269]

1 hour ago, Energy said:

Thank you for your insight.

 

I have just purchased the ISO REGEN today along with the LPS-1 to complement it.

Will be using the LPS- 1 on the ISO REGEN as well as the Singxer SU-1 (via voltage drop).

 

This is exciting. Both devices feature the world class Crystek CCHD-575!

 

I agree with your assessments fully and have gone ahead and ordered the Sparkos Labs SS78XX +3.3V in replacement of the DPAK/SOT packaged LD1086 voltage regulator.

 

Changes:

• 3μV vs 100μV (RMS output noise)
• 125dB vs 79dB (input rejection)

Here is a photo in case anyone has any means of replacing their own: (credits to @scan80269)

 

I have a separate exercise looking into replacing the two Crystek CCHD-575 oscillators of the SU-1 with sorted NDK NZ2520SD oscillators that have potentially even lower phase noise.  Since the NDK cans are much smaller than the Crystek, I need a "carrier" circuit board to complete the connectivity.  I won't know how much of a soldering challenge this mod represents until the carrier parts arrive in a few days.

 

[ted_b]

I am SOOOOOO upset!  After trying for several weeks to get various USB attachments (microRendu with hard adapter, hard adapter twisted 90 degrees, Intona, etc) into the SU-1 all the while with my fat HDMI cable installed, today I went and pulled my go-to USB cable (TotalDAC D1) that I use for the Windows ASIo driver (JCAT card).  And voila, the internals of the USB input from the SU-1 came out with the cable!!!!  Broke!  The black rectangular center post of the female USB connection broke off and temporarily stuck into my cable's end.  It was rather easy to pry out of there, but the damage was done.  Net/net, I had put too much stress on the SU-1's USB input and now it is broken.

 

Does anyone have a clue how difficult it would be to install a new USB input into the SU-1?  I would send it out for a price, really!  I suck at these kin=ds of things, especially when they include soldering. 

[jtwrace]

Probably soldered on the board, yes?  Not that big of a deal really.  

[scan80269]

13 minutes ago, ted_b said:

I am SOOOOOO upset!  After trying for several weeks to get various USB attachments (microRendu with hard adapter, hard adapter twisted 90 degrees, Intona, etc) into the SU-1 all the while with my fat HDMI cable installed, today I went and pulled my go-to USB cable (TotalDAC D1) that I use for the Windows ASIo driver (JCAT card).  And voila, the internals of the USB input from the SU-1 came out with the cable!!!!  Broke!  The black rectangular center post of the female USB connection broke off and temporarily stuck into my cable's end.  It was rather easy to pry out of there, but the damage was done.  Net/net, I had put too much stress on the SU-1's USB input and now it is broken.

 

Does anyone have a clue how difficult it would be to install a new USB input into the SU-1?  I would send it out for a price, really!  I suck at these kin=ds of things, especially when they include soldering. 

That USB 2.0 Type B connector is quite common, but finding an exact replacement with the same footprint (for soldering back on the PCB) may be tricky.  I'll try to do a bit of homework here after I get home.

 

Then there's the challenge of non-destructively unsoldering the damaged connector from the circuit board.  These USB receptacles usually have a few tabs that go through the PCB (along with the signal pins) for increased mechanical rigidity, and unsoldering a connector off the board is often harder than soldering in the replacement connector afterwards.  I need to take a close look at the bottom side of the SU-1 board to properly assess the technical difficulty of unsoldering that receptacle.

 

If I'm successful in locating an exact USB receptacle replacement part, I am willing to attempt the connector replacement for your unit.