The true experimental tweak thread

[Cornan]

7 hours ago, Cornan said:

However, one thing that I intend to do is to remove the DC- grounding of the Gophert supplying my ISO Regen. It just strucked me that that some of that high frequency noise from the ethernet devices might end up in the ISO Regen and might explain some of the issues in my A setup as well, where the ISO Regen seems very sensitive to changes in the setup. Perhaps I should for example ground that DC- output to the star-earth receptacle of my PSD instead to cut off that shared path?

 

As soon as I came home I removed the DC- output grounding to the Gophert cso-3205II powering my ISO Regen. Yeah baby! ? That was the magic trick. Now all sounds just great an awesome again. It completely transformed my setup to full bloom again. Probably the high frequency noises are finding its way to my ISO Regen via the common DC- ground path.

I will surely experiment a lot more with it now. The fact that the ISO Regen made the sound so dull makes me wonder how the Aqvox grounding will sound now?

I will also retry the LT3045s in series tonight. I suspect it will be a different story now! ?

Bottom line. Be careful which devices and how to run ground wires from the DC- outputs to minimize a shared noise path.

 

 

[Cornan]

I am over the moon right now! ?

I just re-tried the LT3045s in series pre my Aqvox and ISO Regen after removing the DC- output grounding of the Gophert powering my ISO Regen and it sounds truly FANTASTIC! ?

 

 

Everything sounds so much better!!!! Now I cannot wait to get the LM317 into place as well. I got the parts today.

 

 

It is crazy! I am just sitting with my Fostex headphones and laughing by myself how great it sounds. Joy! ?

 

 

 

[BigGuy]

1 hour ago, Cornan said:

I am over the moon right now! ?

I just re-tried the LT3045s in series pre my Aqvox and ISO Regen after removing the DC- output grounding of the Gophert powering my ISO Regen and it sounds truly FANTASTIC! ?

 

 

Everything sounds so much better!!!! Now I cannot wait to get the LM317 into place as well. I got the parts today.

 

 

It is crazy! I am just sitting with my Fostex headphones and laughing by myself how great it sounds. Joy! ?

 

 

 

For us less astute electronically, can you explain what may be going on here that might be applicable to those not using Gopherts?

 

Or is it Gophert specific?

[Cornan]

4 minutes ago, BigGuy said:

For us less astute electronically, can you explain what may be going on here that might be applicable to those not using Gopherts?

 

Or is it Gophert specific?

 

It is two LT3045 voltage regulators in series with 1v drop-down. This is a tip from @tapatrick based on RB2013/Tubelover2's posts. The LT3045 are ultra low noise voltage regulators that reduce the noise and probably also reduce leakage in the DC path.

They are very simple to make and will work great on most type of power supplies. Not only Gopherts at all.

 

Here is pictures where you can see the construction better.

 

 

 

I have made two versions with LT3045s with following output voltage:

 

1. For Aqvox switch. 6v & 5v. Powered with 7v.

2. For ISO Regen. 8v & 7v. Powered with 9v.

 

Cables used are from Canare 4S6 cables (just the double wires).

 

I hope that helps! ?

 

 

[marce]

Rather busy at the moment, Mums not well so I'm having to sort her affairs!

Been looking for this, an easy read and relevant to what Cornan is doing. If you can find the same guys EMC Rants on line they are worth a read. I have PDF's but I am not sure of the copyright so don't want to post them.

http://www.audioemc.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Pages-from-HFC_issue33-4-Waldron-EMC-short.pdf

[Cornan]

1 minute ago, marce said:

Rather busy at the moment, Mums not well so I'm having to sort her affairs!

Been looking for this, an easy read and relevant to what Cornan is doing. If you can find the same guys EMC Rants on line they are worth a read. I have PDF's but I am not sure of the copyright so don't want to post them.

http://www.audioemc.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Pages-from-HFC_issue33-4-Waldron-EMC-short.pdf

 

Thanks a lot marce! ? Very helpful! I will surely read it carefully.

 

I wish you all the best with your mum!

[lmitche]

19 minutes ago, Cornan said:

 

It is two LT3045 voltage regulators in series with 1v drop-down. This is a tip from @tapatrick based on RB2013/Tubelover2's posts. The LT3045 are ultra low noise voltage regulators that reduce the noise and probably also reduce leakage in the DC path.

They are very simple to make and will work great on most type of power supplies. Not only Gopherts at all.

 

Here is pictures where you can see the construction better.

 

 

 

I have made two versions with LT3045s with following output voltage:

 

1. For Aqvox switch. 6v & 5v. Powered with 7v.

2. For ISO Regen. 8v & 7v. Powered with 9v.

 

Cables used are from Canare 4S6 cables (just the double wires).

 

I hope that helps! ?

 

 

I've got three more lt3045s to use in series with the 3 already in use.  I hope to get the soldering done tomorrow. These little things really have a spectacular impact on SQ.  Glad to hear you were successful.

[BigGuy]

2 minutes ago, lmitche said:

I've got three more lt3045s to use in series with the 3 already in use.  I hope to get the soldering done tomorrow. These little things really have a spectacular impact on SQ.  Glad to hear you were successful.

Assuming you are daisy-chaining like Cornan shows in his photo, what is the value of having all these regulators in series?

 

Has an optimum number of chained regulators been determined?  Rather not have a bin full of extra parts that will likely never be used.

 

If my existing power supply is putting out 9v and voltage required by target device is 9v, what LT3045s would be required and is there some specific way they need to be hooked up...besides wire? 

 

Then, are we talking about using John's grounding umbilical on the last barrel connector going into target device?

[Cornan]

26 minutes ago, lmitche said:

I've got three more lt3045s to use in series with the 3 already in use.  I hope to get the soldering done tomorrow. These little things really have a spectacular impact on SQ.  Glad to hear you were successful.

 

Thanks Larry! ? Yeah, now with the leakage into the ISO Regen sorted out the LT3045's really makes the music shine! Also, I now hear just how great my 8 conductor USB cable with JSSG sounds. I am so happy I found the root to my issues! ?

[Monge]

Hi guys,

I just want to post this about magnetics modules In switches posted a little ago by JohnSwenson 

interesting I think.

Cheers 

[tapatrick]

So great to hear @Cornan Well done!

 

For condensed info on the LT3045 boards see this under appreciated (til now..:) thread below:

@BigGuy You could try up to 3 boards but I use 2 boards in series which I think is enough. This brings the noise levels down to something like 0.4uv. I don't think you can get cleaner DC than this and as far as I'm concerned ends the pursuit of clean power for me. Moving on to other explorations now...

 

You also don't need to spend £1000s on expensive LPSUs. I have one Teradak DC30W (£100) with modded caps that is outputting 8V and through 3 sets of dual in series boards is supplying my Aqvox switch, Iso Regen and Bluewave USB to Spdif board with Y cables.

Sweet sounds every night...:)

 

 

[Cornan]

22 minutes ago, BigGuy said:

Assuming you are daisy-chaining like Cornan shows in his photo, what is the value of having all these regulators in series?

 

Has an optimum number of chained regulators been determined?  Rather not have a bin full of extra parts that will likely never be used.

 

If my existing power supply is putting out 9v and voltage required by target device is 9v, what LT3045s would be required and is there some specific way they need to be hooked up...besides wire? 

 

Then, are we talking about using John's grounding umbilical on the last barrel connector going into target device?

 

So far two LT3045's in series seems to be the magic number to reduce noise. But who knows if 3 will be even better? ?

 

If you have a 9v PSU you can power anything in the <7v range with dual LT3045's. If you want to power a 9v device you'll need another PSU.

 

The DC- output grounding is the same one as JS grounding thing! ? Clearly it is best used with Ethernet devices. If used with other devices great care needs to be taken to avoid noice sharing via the ground wires.

[Cornan]

6 minutes ago, Monge said:

Hi guys,

I just want to post this about magnetics modules In switches posted a little ago by JohnSwenson 

interesting I think.

Cheers 

 

Thanks for sharing Monge! Interestingly I have found out that the Aqvox switch is best with input on port 1 and output on the last port a long time ago. I thought it was due to QoS, but it seems to be that it is actually due to different magnetic boxes. ?

[Cornan]

I thought I wanted to experiment a bit more with grounding now when all the kids are sleeping tight. I just started to listen to this great album with covers...and have'nt moved since.

 

Music sounds so great now that I just want to sit here until bedtime...and a bit longer still. Enjoying life! ?

 

Ane Brun - Leave Me Breathless

 

[ted_b]

53 minutes ago, tapatrick said:

You also don't need to spend £1000s on expensive LPSUs. I have one Teradak DC30W (£100) with modded caps that is outputting 8V and through 3 sets of dual in series boards is supplying my Aqvox switch, Iso Regen and Bluewave USB to Spdif board with Y cables.

Sweet sounds every night...:)

 

Thanks for these ideas.  So...I have two wonderful linear ps's that I'm not currently taking advantage of, but maybe they are too much power for what I need.  They are namely the Hynes SR3-12 (12V, 3A) and Hynes SR7EHD (can be dialed from 9.5V to 19V internally, something like 7a).   Can either or both of these be used, with y cables and dual series LT's to power any of my stuff like:

JCAT USB (5V)

Singxer SU-1 dc kit (5V?)

ISO Regen

Amber Regen

microRendu (currently not in signal path as I'm going direct for the time being)

 

I also have Uptone's JS-2 and the famous LPS-1.  I am having a tough time figuring out the best use of all this inventory with LT3045s.  I have one box coming from tubelover2 (thursday) that is 5V so thought I'd use it on the JCAT card with a rail from the JS-2 (5V?).  Any hep would be appreciated.  Larry has helped me get this far, which believe me, is far (for my brain).

 

[elan120]

10 minutes ago, ted_b said:

Thanks for these ideas.  So...I have two wonderful linear ps's that I'm not currently taking advantage of, but maybe they are too much power for what I need.  They are namely the Hynes SR3-12 (12V, 3A) and Hynes SR7EHD (can be dialed from 9.5V to 19V internally, something like 7a).   Can either or both of these be used, with y cables and dual series LT's to power any of my stuff like:

JCAT USB (5V)

Singxer SU-1 dc kit (5V?)

ISO Regen

Amber Regen

microRendu (currently not in signal path as I'm going direct for the time being)

 

I also have Uptone's JS-2 and the famous LPS-1.  I am having a tough time figuring out the best use of all this inventory with LT3045s.  I have one box coming from tubelover2 (thursday) that is 5V so thought I'd use it on the JCAT card with a rail from the JS-2 (5V?).  Any hep would be appreciated.  Larry has helped me get this far, which believe me, is far (for my brain).

 

Ted,

 

With these power supplies, I don't think using the LT3045 regulator would be a good idea.

 

On a different note, from your list, I currently use LPS-1 on JCAT USB card, SU-1, and ISO-REGEN with very good result.

[ted_b]

2 minutes ago, elan120 said:

On a different note, from your list, I currently use LPS-1 on JCAT USB card, SU-1, and ISO-REGEN with very good result.

Three LPS-1s you mean, right?

[elan120]

1 minute ago, ted_b said:

Three LPS-1s you mean, right?

Yes, that is correct.  Each LPS-1 is capable to supply up to 1.1A of current, which is not enough to use just one, although I have tried using one LPS-1 with Y-cable to power both SU-1 and ISO-REGEN in the past with no issues, so it can be done with just two.

[lmitche]

17 minutes ago, elan120 said:

 

With these power supplies, I don't think using the LT3045 regulator would be a good idea.

Why would you say that?

[sandyk]

1 hour ago, BigGuy said:

If my existing power supply is putting out 9v and voltage required by target device is 9v, what LT3045s would be required and is there some specific way they need to be hooked up...besides wire? 

 

Voltage regulators can't regulate unless there is a higher voltage at their  input than at their output.

 The dropout of regulation voltage can be seen in their Data sheets, and as will be seen ,also depends on the current draw and the ambient temperature.

[elan120]

 

1 minute ago, lmitche said:

Why would you say that?

That will limit the current output down to just 1A, and in addition, these are great quality power suppliers Ted has with very low output noise already, plus stepping down from 9.5~12VDC down to 5VDC is rather steep.

[lmitche]

43 minutes ago, elan120 said:

 

That will limit the current output down to just 1A, and in addition, these are great quality power suppliers Ted has with very low output noise already, plus stepping down from 9.5~12VDC down to 5VDC is rather steep.

7 to 5 volts is working well here from an lps-1 feeding an USB card internal power  connector. There is a definite SQ benefit. @tapatrickwhat's the biggest voltage drop you've successfully used? I agree 9 to 5 is likely too far but then 9.5 to 7 to 5 should work fine, so it's a good use of serial lt3045s.

 

The lps-1 and Iso Regen both use linear technology LDOs internally.

 

I haven't tried grounding these LDOs and see no need to do so here as everything is lps powered except the PC motherboard which is galvanically isolated via all connections.

 

 

[elan120]

1 minute ago, lmitche said:

7 to 5 volts is working well here from an lps-1 feeding an USB card internal power  connector. There is a definite SQ benefit. @tapatrickwhat's the biggest voltage drop you've successfully used? I agree 9 to 5 is likely too far but then 9.5 to 7 to 5 should work fine, so it's a good use of serial lt3045s.

 

The lps-1 and Iso Regen both use linear technology LDOs internally.

 

I haven't tried grounding these LDOs and see no need to do so here as everything is lps powered.

 

 

I should have more details from my earlier post.  The power supplies from Ted's list I don't think would be a good idea using the LT3045 are the two Hynes and the JS-2.  On the other hand, I have been using single LT3045 (not the parallel LT3045) to step LPS-1 down from 7VDC to 5VDC to 3.3VDC for my SU-1 with very good result.

[Speed Racer]

Here is a real tweak that actually works:

 

http://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/atomicbobs-smps-noise-nuke-for-hp-amps-with-external-smps.5142/

[lmitche]

41 minutes ago, elan120 said:

I should have more details from my earlier post.  The power supplies from Ted's list I don't think would be a good idea using the LT3045 are the two Hynes and the JS-2.  On the other hand, I have been using single LT3045 (not the parallel LT3045) to step LPS-1 down from 7VDC to 5VDC to 3.3VDC for my SU-1 with very good result.

I'd be very surprised if the lt3045s didn't improve the SQ of the devices powered by the JS-2 and PHynes supplies.