The true experimental tweak thread

[Solid-State]

13 minutes ago, Cornan said:

 

Have you tried LifePO4 and SLA as well? Impressions?

yes,

both

LifePO4 is best,

 

SLA sound a little "muddy" but soft and relaxed

 

 

[Cornan]

3 minutes ago, TubeMan said:

Yes i have

Have you tested to feed it with 12v,
i'm quite sure that it will work on that,

if its say 14-18v

 

Yes, it is a no go. Aries Mini require absolutely minimum 14v! ?

[Solid-State]

1 minute ago, Cornan said:

 

Yes, it is a no go. Aries Mini require absolutely minimum 14v! ?

ok

3x6v battery

[Cornan]

2 minutes ago, TubeMan said:

yes,

both

LifePO4 is best,

 

SLA sound a little "muddy" but soft and relaxed

 

 

 

Thanks, then I will forget about SLA and try to find suitable LifePO4s.

[Cornan]

1 minute ago, TubeMan said:

ok

3x6v battery

Sounds dangerously close to the upper limits of the Aries Mini. I do not want to end up above 18v when fully charged! ?

[Solid-State]

2 minutes ago, Cornan said:

Sounds dangerously close to the upper limits of the Aries Mini. I do not want to end up above 18v when fully charged! ?

You need a good regulator

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ultra-low-Noise-40-V-Adjustable-Voltage-Regulator-Module-Based-on-LT1963-/201209828911

 

I have used this one with good result

[Cornan]

Just now, TubeMan said:

You need a good regulator

Can you recommend a good one that can handle 14-18v drop-down?

[Solid-State]

7 minutes ago, Cornan said:

Can you recommend a good one that can handle 14-18v drop-down?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ultra-low-Noise-40-V-Adjustable-Voltage-Regulator-Module-Based-on-LT1963-/201209828911

stay away from all that are based on LT103xx series,

they sound no good

[Cornan]

Quote

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ultra-low-Noise-40-V-Adjustable-Voltage-Regulator-Module-Based-on-LT1963-/201209828911

 

I have used this one with good result

 

Thanks TubeMan! ? 

[Solid-State]

your welcome

[mozes]

1 hour ago, Cornan said:

 

I hope you'll get you're VR Mini soon. I hate waiting as well, so I understand your pain! ?

 

Injection gave the best sq jump overall, but both together made it shine! Mind you that Gophert floating SMPS powering both the injection plus Regen Amber sounded better than powering Regen Amber and injection by two TP-Link Vivid powerbanks. My next step will surely be to buy a LPS-1 and use the Gophert as a feeder supply. But that will not happen until my vinyl project is finished off. My SQ is pretty awesome right now as is. Without a doubt the best I have ever had. The final step putting the RE450 into the Peaktech 2240 and all the chargers plus Ariston RD 40 to the Naim Powerstrip directly into the wall outlet was amazing.

Thanks, I plan to use this EA cable with an LPS-1 to feed the 5V. but for lifting the ground, does it mean I have to cut the black wire to test?

[mozes]

1 hour ago, TubeMan said:

Uses these regulators for 5v devices

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-LT3042-precision-low-noise-power-supply-module-/132095876512?hash=item1ec1871da0:g:QdIAAOSwCU1YomOh

Thanks for sharing, something to learn about here

[Cornan]

1 minute ago, mozes said:

Thanks, I plan to use this EA cable with an LPS-1 to feed the 5V. but for lifting the ground, does it mean I have to cut the black wire to test?

 

You're welcome Moussa! ?

Yes, if you want to lift the GND you'll need to cut the black wire and add a screw terminal DC2.1 female and DC2.1 male inbetween just as I have done on my EA cables. 

[mozes]

1 minute ago, Cornan said:

 

You're welcome Moussa! ?

Yes, if you want to lift the GND you'll need to cut the black wire and add a screw terminal DC2.1 female and DC2.1 male inbetween just as I have done on my EA cables. 

Good idea, all for science

[Cornan]

Just now, mozes said:

Good idea, all for science

All for science! ?

Don't worry. They might not look as nice, but they'll be very practical. Mind that you'll need to do the same thing on all the USB cables if you are using more than one. Usually lifting the GND close to the DAC sounds best, but all makes a difference. Not a guarantee that lifting the GND will equal a sq jump in your setup, but if it does you will hear it instantly!

 

[mozes]

15 minutes ago, Cornan said:

All for science! ?

Don't worry. They might not look as nice, but they'll be very practical. Mind that you'll need to do the same thing on all the USB cables if you are using more than one. Usually lifting the GND close to the DAC sounds best, but all makes a difference. Not a guarantee that lifting the GND will equal a sq jump in your setup, but if it does you will hear it instantly!

 

I already have the screw-in connectors so it is worth trying it, will keep you posted

[Cornan]

Listening to The White Birch extremely well recorded and awesome album "Come up for air"

 

 

It feels like I have unlocked another level of depth into music with my latest changes. I really really like it! ?

[mozes]

The latest tweak for network audio http://jplay.eu/ml_post_slider/jcat-net-card-femto/

[mozes]

Hi @Cornan can you pls share a link to where you ordered your ATL DC blocker. I want to see if this makes a difference to transformer hum in my Isolation transformer and LPSs.

[Cornan]

4 hours ago, mozes said:

Hi @Cornan can you pls share a link to where you ordered your ATL DC blocker. I want to see if this makes a difference to transformer hum in my Isolation transformer and LPSs.

 

Here you go http://www.atlhifi.com/shop/fully-assembled-devices/dc-blocker-trap-filter-assembled-in-case/

Note that I ordered a inline version with my own ac mains cables and plugs. You'll need to ask Alex at ALT Hi-Fi if he can provide your ac mains voltage for it. I'll guess he could, but are not 100% sure about it.

[mozes]

6 hours ago, Cornan said:

 

Here you go http://www.atlhifi.com/shop/fully-assembled-devices/dc-blocker-trap-filter-assembled-in-case/

Note that I ordered a inline version with my own ac mains cables and plugs. You'll need to ask Alex at ALT Hi-Fi if he can provide your ac mains voltage for it. I'll guess he could, but are not 100% sure about it.

Great thank you, will email him

[mozes]

I managed to get a new LPS-1 from a guy who lives next to me. He bought it and then changed his mind so I got a nice discount and no waiting time on a brand new unit, so I jumped on it  

 

I used it to inject 5v to the Brooklyn via a custom EA usb cable. It made a slight improvement, not worth the price of LPS-1.

Next I followed the advice of @Cornan and cut the ground wire of the usb cable and WAW! A big and unexpected improvment especially with the increased dynamics. In my system lifting the ground generated a significant  SQ boost vs. 5v.

I attribute that to the clean 5v that was already provided by the tX to the Brooklyn.

I tried to lift the ground betwwen the Iso Regen and the tX but it didn't work.

Any way am happy with this new audio lesson and the higher level of my system.

 

A Big Thank You! to the Yoda of tweaks @Cornan

 

[ElviaCaprice]

10 minutes ago, mozes said:

I managed to get a new LPS-1 from a guy who lives next to me. He bought it and then changed his mind so I got a nice discount and no waiting time on a brand new unit, so I jumped on it  

 

I used it to inject 5v to the Brooklyn via a custom EA usb cable. It made a slight improvement, not worth the price of LPS-1.

Next I followed the advice of @Cornan and cut the ground wire of the usb cable and WAW! A big and unexpected improvment especially with the increased dynamics. In my system lifting the ground generated a significant  SQ boost vs. 5v.

I attribute that to the clean 5v that was already provided by the tX to the Brooklyn.

I tried to lift the ground betwwen the Iso Regen and the tX but it didn't work.

Any way am happy with this new audio lesson and the higher level of my system.

 

A Big Thank You! to the Yoda of tweaks @Cornan

 

Interesting, so the big question is why?  Where do you have a ground loop being created?  Could it by your amplifier and/or server or monitor?

I've tried the ground lift before with no change noticed, which is a good thing.

[mozes]

1 minute ago, ElviaCaprice said:

Interesting, so the big question is why?  Where do you have a ground loop being created?  Could it by your amplifier and/or server?

I've tried the ground lift before with no change noticed, which is a good thing.

Yes that's the question that I don't have an answer for. My Brooklyn and Nimitra server are both on VR Mini and I have the IR in the chain sonI wasn't expecting anything. Only my tX is on a conventional LPS (Custom Nikola from Fidelizer) and strangely it performed better than the JS-2 and VR Mini but only on the tX.

I am going with my ears as a guidance. 

 

[austinpop]

1 minute ago, mozes said:

Yes that's the question that I don't have an answer for. My Brooklyn and Nimitra server are both on VR Mini and I have the IR in the chain sonI wasn't expecting anything. Only my tX is on a conventional LPS (Custom Nikola from Fidelizer) and strangely it performed better than the JS-2 and VR Mini but only on the tX.

I am going with my ears as a guidance. 

 

Moussa, 

 

Very interesting! But yeah, it's puzzling why you would even need ground lift. Let me propose one more experiment, now that you have an additional LPS-1. Try this chain:

• Nimitra (VR Mini) > IR (LPS-1) > tX (LPS-1) > Brooklyn (VR Mini)

For this case, you would forego 5V injection and just use a regular USB cable from tX to Brooklyn. 

 

How does this sound relative to your ground lift case?