DIY DC power cables

[Speedskater]

10 hours ago, Ralf11 said:

what is the inductance for a typical length of the StarQuad cable?

Mogami

Speaker cable 0.6 to 0.7 uH per meter

Microphone cable  0.4  uH per meter (0.12  uH per foot)

The mic cable has thinner insulation, so the conductors are closer together. The closer the conductors the less induction but more capacitance. Inductance and capacitance are opposite sides of the same coin. If one goes down, the other goes up. For a DC power cable, low inductance and high capacitance are good things.

[Cornan]

Just finished my starquad DC terminal which can power up to six devices from the same Gophert 0-32v/5A floating SMPS in my low budget setup. Still waiting for additional screw terminal DC plugs to finish it all off, but powering my Oehlbach DAC 40 Edition plus D-Link DSG-105 network switch is certainly better than powering DAC with Gophert and network switch by battery pack. In the end I want to power all the DC powered devices from the same DC terminal (all devices is 5v/1A). ?

 

 

Btw. The terminal is externally grounded as well.

 

 

[seeteeyou]

 

Holy Cow, we could actually pay 400 bucks/foot for Audioquest AG-4 @ 15 AWG (StarQuad)

 

http://www.audioquest.com/resource_tools/downloads/pricing/AQ_PB_US-Retail_16-05_r16_Web.pdf#page=38

http://www.pphifi.cz/images/ceniky/audioquest16SR.pdf#page=36

 

DBS Voltage Upgrade Kit
http://www.audioquest.com/audio-enhancements/dbs-voltage-upgrade-kit

http://www.audioquest.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/DBS.pdf

 

This plug should be good for anything up to 8mm OD

 

https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/30376-a-novel-way-to-massively-improve-the-sq-of-the-sms-200-and-microrendu/?page=62#comment-658885

 

[m5sime]

After reading this thread I decided I couldn't wait to buy some thicker starquad cable than the microphone spec I had. So I twisted my own QED silver Anniversary speaker cable into quad. This was the start of the madness and the beginning of the end given I would need to try and terminate it. 

 

I managed it eventually. A little stiff. Not sure how it sounds yet. I would really have liked to mod the PSU connector for a speakon. But decided to try and use the existing design. 

 

I was thinking of modifying an IFI Audio DC Purifier as the end point for my DC cable. Has anyone got a positive experience of this noise cancellation device? It's rated to 3.5A. 

[Middy]

I have

 

my chain is a little crazy but terminates with an Sbooster 13v  with the ifI at the end. I was thinking along your lines and hard wiring it while ripping out all the internal /external wires with quad. where possible....on the booster..

Not a huge boost but took the edge off AB ING the DC P.

Wish I had the Topaz in line but my Air Link balanced isolation transformer did improve my setup. If I under stand it.. better higher frequency filtering with lower interwinding capacitance.

I even tried MU metal shield around the Transformer of the S booster.

A little rewiring may benefit and a second hand DC purifier to play with may just improve things more being hard soldered with quad. Just 4 small Allen keys to get inside, so go for it.

Just need the time to do this and all the other little jobs.. 

Please post some pics with your custom quad if you go ahead. looking forward to see how you get along. 

Good luck

Sorry for the rambling

Dave

 

 

 

[m5sime]

Hi Dave! I would like to try the DC Purifier and have even partially justified it against the cost of the Oyaide DC connector that others want to use. 

 

I will see how this cable works and sounds and then decide. My linear PSU is being measured amnd first signs are some more noise than I like. Hence wondering about the addition of the DC Purifier 

[Middy]

Do a few WTB adds you may get a cheap one..

Always hard to say what benefit your setup could benefit....

[Ralf11]

2 hours ago, Middy said:

...

Always hard to say what benefit your setup could benefit....

 

I am also not clear on the benefit.  You want low inductance to reduce voltage in DC power supply cable to a DAC because the voltage might cause noise in the DAC, i.e change the output.  That would mean bits would need to be flipped, or jitter introduced.

 

But how much voltage change on the DC power supply is needed to cause either?  And how much Inductance results in what level of voltage?  

 

Also how strongly is the Inductance related to ripple in the DC power cord?  Why not just reduce ripple?

 

 

[Middy]

I wouldn't know Ralf, I live off the good graces of others knowledge and small items I can afford.  My take is rewire what I can and as I already have the DC purifier in line with the dual wire LPS. 

Apply John's star quad recommended tweak and remove the numerous connection's in the chain. Hacking the IFI included.

I am not sure of whats M5sime intent with his kit. 

I don't want to discuss too much of other products on a sponsored thread that's rude. But my Electroiliteracy  covers soldering only and annoying John Alex and CA. 

But for me Ralf any suggestions  always welcome. Ripple is a type of raspberry to me..

Quad mod idea.below to replace dual DC cable and just have one soldered chain.

Thanks

Dave

Anything out of order on this sponsored thread let me know or kill the post Alex

[JohnSwenson]

2 hours ago, Ralf11 said:

 

I am also not clear on the benefit.  You want low inductance to reduce voltage in DC power supply cable to a DAC because the voltage might cause noise in the DAC, i.e change the output.  That would mean bits would need to be flipped, or jitter introduced.

 

But how much voltage change on the DC power supply is needed to cause either?  And how much Inductance results in what level of voltage?  

 

Also how strongly is the Inductance related to ripple in the DC power cord?  Why not just reduce ripple?

 

 

It's not ripple or noise from the regulator that is being filtered, it is changes in load current causing a voltage drop across the inductance of the cable. This is particularly important for digital devices due to large load changes that can be very rapidly changing, thus causing significant voltage change across the cable, even if the regulator is perfect.

 

Many devices have power circuits that are not very good at rejecting rapidly changing supply voltages, so such changes developed across DC cables can easily wind up on parts inside the device such as clocks, analog circuits, DAC chips etc.

 

Non of this is big enough to cause bit flips, that's not what any of this is about, it IS about letting those bits do their thing with the least amount of disturbance as possible.

 

John S.

[Ralf11]

Thx for clarifying that John.

[Michael-Elijah Audio]

DIY one into two - courtesy of WAGO 221 connectors - easy as to use and rock solid connection

Certainly not elegant or pretty - but if you absolutely must have a dual 2.1mm DC cable - and it will probably be hidden from view anyway

The Wago's are 18mm square and the star quad I used is 18g (twisted pair -15g)

 

 

 

[pl_svn]

speaking of not elegant or pretty... finally the Canare 4S6 I ordered three weeks ago was delivered yesterday and while waiting for the Oyaide/Canare cables made by Ghent...

 

 

 

[m5sime]

44 minutes ago, pl_svn said:

speaking of not elegant or pretty... finally the Canare 4S6 I ordered three weeks ago was delivered yesterday and while waiting for the Oyaide/Canare cables made by Ghent...

 

 

I doubt you will hear any benefit from the Ghent one.. Your cable looks great. Nice and simple.. Maybe a spot of heat shrink to tidy it up :-)

[pl_svn]

37 minutes ago, m5sime said:

I doubt you will hear any benefit from the Ghent one..

 

it is all, as usual, just about audiophilia nervosa 

[Jud]

1 hour ago, m5sime said:

I doubt you will hear any benefit from the Ghent one.. Your cable looks great. Nice and simple.. Maybe a spot of heat shrink to tidy it up :-)

 

Was going to say the same thing - a little bit o' black stuff in the right place and it will look downright sleek. 

 

By the way, do you feel as if you can tell any difference at all in the sound?

[pl_svn]

11 minutes ago, Jud said:

By the way, do you feel as if you can tell any difference at all in the sound?

 

not the slightest!

probably because I was already using a great cable (solid, 16AWG, 4N OFC, cotton insulated, copper. twisted in the wrong direction, though) 

 

 

 

[tboooe]

Just for the heck of it I tried to make a DC cable for my NAA pc using Canara 4S8 cable and the new Oyaide 2.5mm dc plug.  As others mentioned its a tight fit especially with the thicker wire but its doable.  I completely expect this 4S8 cable to sound no different than if i used a 4S6 but what the heck, bigger is better right?

 

Here are some pics of my terrible soldering skillz:

[Middy]

2 hours ago, tboooe said:

 

 

Here are some pics of my terrible soldering skillz:

 

 

 

Lovely Job ? 

[tboooe]

2 hours ago, Middy said:

 

Lovely Job ? 

Thank you sir...that was just a warm up before I try to do a Y cable!  That endeavor may not end up successful.  Wish me luck

[Middy]

Sir. . i wish you luck..

More for your next lottery ticket...

This Y cable..no problem...

[jaaptina]

 

I've got my canare star in place. Very short cable between LPS-1 and upright microRendu. Made the upright angled usb a-b adapter myself too ?. 

[T-Bone]

My ISO Regen arrived last night and I finished my first attempt at a Y-cable.
 

I've never used "techflex" before, so I thought I'd give it a shot.  No, there's no reason for it - I just wanted to try it out.  I found techflex is cool, but kind of a pain in the arse to work with.   I used a pair of "cable pants" to split the Canare 4-conductor to 2-conductors.  The "Y" leads need at least 3.5" inches which is longer than the legs of the cable pants, so I covered them with heat shrink.  (I'll confess, I love heat shrink!)

You can see that I successfully got the heat shrink up into barrel on just one cable, but not the other.

 

Here's what it looks like when implemented.

 

I'm going to rate my build as a 6 on a scale of 10.  Good ideas, not the best execution.

When I rebuild this cable, I think I will go about 8" on the unshielded leads coming out of the cable pants.  I have a right angle barrel connector, but it would force the DC cable right into the USB cable - so I won't be using it.

 

[tboooe]

Good work @T-Bone.  I really like Techflex too though admittingly I was too lazy to actually use it for these DC cables.

 

A couple of questions:

1. Where did you source the cable pants?
2. Instead of splitting 1 cable did you consider using 2 separate star quad cables?  that is what I am going to do though I firmly believe it wont result in better sound.
3. Did you consider using the Oyaide connector on the source end?  The 4S6 cable fits really nicely in it.  In fact, I was even used a 4S8 cable with that connector.  PITA but I got it to work.

[T-Bone]

Just now, tboooe said:

1. Where did you source the cable pants?

WireCare.com - 6mm, 2-conductor.  Part #ET20.24BK

 

4 minutes ago, tboooe said:

2. Instead of splitting 1 cable did you consider using 2 separate star quad cables?  

That's too much like work!  I just stuck with the 4 conductor wire and split it.  I really didn't want to try and stuff 4x wires into an adapter.

 

7 minutes ago, tboooe said:

3. Did you consider using the Oyaide connector on the source end?  

I have an Oyaide connector but its on another cable at the moment.  I will "scavenge" it when I build version 2.0 of this Y cable.   It was a nice effort, but I need to take what I've learned and up my game for the next one.