iFi's AC iPurifier (official) - Mains Noise Buster - New videos!

[applesnowleo]

On 7/8/2018 at 12:48 PM, wanta911 said:

I've tried a few different power filtering options over the years and have discarded them all, usually because of a detrimental effect to the dynamics.

 

The iFi piqued my interest and I have been trying 2 of these in my system for the last week in every possible combination as far as location goes. I already use linear power supplies for every component including my NAS & router and  I can definitely hear a difference with the AC Purifiers but I'm not sure whether or not I like it overall. Yes the peripheral details and instrument separation are enhanced and the dynamics seem to be OK which is great, but it seems to come at a cost. The sound tends to have a bleached and less relaxed feel and the bass can get a little too hard and sterile. As a generalisation - it works OK on some music such as Orchestral and maybe Jazz but not so much on Rock/Pop/Electronic.

 

Here is the interesting thing.....I use DRC and have 4 filters saved that have varying amounts of bass. It is very easy to tell these apart when switching between them but with the AC Purifiers in place I really struggled to hear that difference. Now that makes me think that something is being added rather than just being taken away?

 

I might try it again next weekend with fresh ears but would be interested in other users long term thoughts.

 

Cleaning the noise on the system can bring beneficts like detail, control, speed of little elements, better view into the mix, better separation, but also come with trade off’s, cleaning too much could turn the sound more analytical and control too much the bass, can sharpen the voices and with it resulting in lower sense of musicality. The effect of cleaning the power could make the system more revealing and exigent on the quality of the recording but also remove the pleasure from the music.

 

I think every hardware that you connect not specifically the ones that clean the power have their own personality even a power cable can dramatically change a system sound.

 

When I first connected an audioquest nigara in my system the effect of the cleaning was really amazing, and I am referring to the effect of cleaning, I gained a lot of positive aspects and loose others that also are important. The nigara gave me the sensation of removing a big dirty curtain in front of my speakers, but it also removed a lot of body in the music, the sound was thin but clear as water, so I had to compensate with power cables to maintain that sense of cleaning and recover some body in the music and bass.

 

But that’s my specific case, every system has is pros and cons.

[applesnowleo]

3 hours ago, AMR/iFi audio said:

 

A puzzle to solve, ain't it?

 

Choosing the music we like is very simple, having it delivered with the quality we expected is another thing and many times a desapointing experience.

 

Yes is very complicated when we add hardware that changes completely the system sound that we invested before, if you build a system without control the noise and power first, all your hardware decisions made where based for shure on the sound you know before thinking in cleaning the noise on the power line.

 

That hardware combination has a lot of variables with different cables and  brands that we hope to result in the best synergy, at least is what we expect of it in the end, the best possible synergy of our investiment. But when cleaning the power this could disrupt the sound signature and synergy because your system was built around a sound signature without taking this into account.

 

For me cleaning was and it will be an interesting journey, some hardware make noticieble changes, other more subtitle ones, the beneficts in my case had to be bettered to some extent with better quality cables, and is still not perfect, but I also think it will never be, because if perfection is attainable  the price is for shure very out of my league and I will only have a glimpse of it in audio shows.

 

And the puzzle grows with every step...

[applesnowleo]

16 minutes ago, AMR/iFi audio said:

 

When it's getting solved bit by bit is the also enjoyable part 

 

I must say yes, there is a big pleasure of experiment, discovering, learning with it, also listening to music because music is the reason that we buy an audio system.