Announcing the next generation: UltraCap LPS-1.2 (Now 5/7/9/12V! ; Now with parallel LT3045 regulators!)

[Superdad]

9 hours ago, R1200CL said:

Is that 90 degree DC cable part of the package ?

 

Yes.

 

9 hours ago, R1200CL said:

If yes, is it the Canare starquad as well ?

 

No, it is the same 70cm 16awg coaxial cable as has been included with the original LPS-1.

 

We have a limited supply of our Oyaide/Belden shielded star-quad (18awg x 4 = 15awg paired) cables in 50cm length with 5.5mm x 2.1mm plugs.   Not on the web site, but people can PayPal $70 for it to be added to their UltraCap orders.

[Superdad]

5 minutes ago, sojourn said:

Now if it could power more than one device at a time it certainly would be more cost effective and a better deal.

 

Many people do power more than one device from a single UltraCap unit--using 'Y' cables.  But it very much depends upon the current draw of the devices being powered.  Our UltraCap supplies are each certified to produce 1.1-amps--at any output voltage setting.

[Superdad]

A quick good news update:

(The below is excerpted from an e-mail just now sent to all those who ordered an LPS-1.2--up through today's order number 6876.)

While the circuit boards for this new model arrived a week later than expected, they are at last here and test perfectly!  

A few important tasks remain before we can ship your wonderful new power supplies: 
a) Load the software onto each board. Yes, this crazy-sophisticated power supply has an FPGA controlling everything, and custom software runs it all.

 

b) Hand-solder on one large resistor that had to be left off by our board house (it is a long story, but a last minute change we made would have resulted in a longer delay if we had the production firm wait for that one part).

 

[EDIT: Some people mis-understood this. The place for this part is already on the board as designed. It is just that we changed the value at the last minute and the board house could not wait for that one part to start production. So we had them leave the part off--and the pads already have solder on them, making it very easy to attach the part.] 

 

c) Test each board at full 1.1-amp load; re-flash with different firmware code any boards that run above or below limits; retest those to certify to 1.1A.

 

d) Slide the fully tested boards into the partially assembled cases and put the back panel on.
e) Wrap and package each unit with charger, cords--and ISO REGEN and accessories if part of a bundle.
f) Prepare all shipping labels, export documents and customs invoices--and then get them all out the door!

 

Does that sound like a lot to do and to orchestrate by just myself and my assistant?  Well it is a good thing we have a lot of experience doing this over the past few years!

Will we get all of that done for all 200+ units--in time to ship this coming Thursday, February 15th?  I wish we could, but such is not likely.

Yet you can bet that we will be working day and night on all this, and I am sure that at least 75 units will ship this week.  
Of course the earliest placed orders will ship first. But please don't e-mail to check--just watch for a shipping notice with tracking number.

Looking closely at the calendar, and assuming working through next weekend, I feel confident promising that all your orders will be shipped by February 21st. (Just please excuse me if non-urgent e-mail and forum questions go unanswered during this period.)

 

As always, your business, your enthusiasm, and your patience are all greatly appreciated. We promise this will be worth the wait.
 

Here is a pic of one tray of the new UltraCap LPS-1.2 circuit boards:

[Superdad]

9 hours ago, R1200CL said:

So next batch will have another revision on the board, including that resistor ? ?

 

No that is not correct.

Seems I was not completely clear, as I also received e-mails from a few people asking to wait for the next board.  The place for this part is already on the board as designed. It is just that we changed the value at the last minute and the board house could not wait for that one part to start production. So we had them leave the part off--and the pads already have solder on them, making it very easy to attach the part.

 

Here is a photo showing the part that I am attaching.  Soldered every bit as well as the machine-placed part right next to it!

 

[Superdad]

UPDATE:

 

Well it took several VERY late nights of flashing and testing circuit boards--to be ready for my assistant to assemble each morning--and a lot of time preparing shipping labels and export paperwork, but I am happy to report that today 80 UltraCap LPS-1.2 units shipped around the world.  About 1/5th of those were part of ISO REGEN/UltraCap LPS-1.2 bundles.

 

All of the shipped units went to clients who ordered from end-of-November through to January 13th.  These were all the people who thought they were ordering the original LPS-1 (and paid the $40 lower price) and instead, as reward for their patience, are receiving the new generation product.

 

In addition, two of our finest overseas importers were shipped a dozen or so units via FedEx.  So folks in the UK and Singapore who would like to jump ahead and be among the first to get hands on an UltraCap LPS-1.2, just contact either Martin Smith at VortexBox UK/Audiostore  or Alvin at Vinshine Audio.

 

This weekend I will be testing another 100 units.  Monday is a holiday here and my assistant asked for the day off.  So Tuesday she will begin putting the tested boards into cases and kitting up the boxes.  On Wednesday and Thursday (February 21/22) we will begin shipping more orders.  These will be the first orders placed specifically for LPS-1.2 units (starting with @rickca's order #6726) , from the announcement date of January 14th.  All of these were originally promised shipment by February 15th--so in the end we will have been only one week behind. If you knew all the behind-the-scenes trials of making this happen (John decided to rewrite the entire codebase for the FPGA last week!) you would understand what a minor miracle this is.

 

John and I are very happy but quite tired.  One more big push through these next 5 days and then I'll take a few off.  

I am hoping to actually put an ear on an LPS-1.2 myself sometime this weekend.  Glad to see John's report above.  But what really matters is what everyone else hears once theirs arrives. 

 

I'll start a new thread for user experiences and questions shortly.

Have a great weekend all!

 

--Alex C.

 

 

[Superdad]

20 minutes ago, JohnSwenson said:

I know it seems like a long time ago, but it was just this week! I did in two days, Tuesday and Wednesday this week.

 

Yes, you definitely wore the hairshirt for that. And I have a few more grey hairs to show for it!    But you got it right my friend, and the boards are working beautifully. 

[Superdad]

People are beginning to receive their UltraCap LPS-1.2 units from last week's shipment, so I have started a User Impressions & Questions thread:

 

Let's begin to move the party over to there...

 

And don't worry, another, even larger batch will be shipping out this week, so the rest of you will have your's soon. Here's a pic of the next 180 boards, about half of them flashed and waiting for individual testing (how I have spent my entire weekend).

 

[Superdad]

Watching the Winter Olympics while testing LPS-1.2 boards last night.  One of our pets did not understand that I was testing ultracap supplies not UltraCats!  

[Superdad]

28 minutes ago, austinpop said:

 

I’m feeling left out! I think I’m later in the queue.

 

Don’t worry Rajiv, yours and a whole lot more will be packed in the morning (Wednesday) and shipped.  Today we had just enough time to pack most all the domestic singles and some internationals to countries that don’t need commercial invoices attached. About 60 units.

Tomorrow we tackle all the ISO REGEN/LPS-1.2 bundles, the internationals that need commercial invoices, and the surprising number our doubles and triples.  About 55 units.

We expect to be about all caught up by Thursday, though the couple dozen orders placed since we changed the promised date on the web page to the 28th will likely spill over to next week, but still will ship on time or a day ahead.

 

I have to count, but it sure looks like we are getting very close to being all sold out of the first 250 unit run.  Purchasing for the next run has begun, though I expect we’ll run ourt of boards and cases before the next batch arrives.

 

John and I are certainly pleased with how this is going.  THANKS EVERYONE! 

Goodnight,

—Alex C.

[Superdad]

2 hours ago, coot said:

Alex,

You made my day with the shot of "UltraCat" helping you out. Best pet I ever had was one just like him, (her?)

 

Glad you liked the shot of him.  There is a funny story behind this.  My wife wanted a new female cat--to balance out a bit the two males we had at the time.  A woman who did part-time bookkeeping for UpTone came in one day and said she found a tiny female kitten curled up in the engine compartment of her car.  She was a runt and the mother had abandoned her.  So we took her in and named her Ruby.  She was so small one of our sons could hide here inside his two hands.

 

A couple of months go by, and one of us notices that Ruby was sitting and licking some "things" at the rear.  Oops, our little "girl" kitten was a he!  Of course at the first trip to the veterinarian they informed us that there are virtually no female orange tabby cats in the world.  You would think, having owned cats for 50 years we would know this.  But I guess it is like trying to find a male Calico cat.

 

He is very affectionate and quite a character.  And like most orange tabby he eats too much. We still call him Ruby, but mostly Rube.  Frankly I think we are the rubes in this...

[Superdad]

1 hour ago, auricgoldfinger said:

I've also noticed that 2-day priority mail is now regularly being delivered in 3 days regardless of where it originates in the continental U.S.  People are paying for a (non-guaranteed) service that is no longer being provided.

 

Sorry, but as someone who ships a couple of thousand packages per year via USPS Priority Mail (both domestic and international), the statistics I look at for delivery do not match up with your smaller sample-size experience.  

There are certain places in the USA where 2-day service (from our tiny town of Mariposa--to some other small town) is not possible, but we know where those are because when we print the labels for those locales it says 3-day instead of 2-day.

Of course there are exceptions, delays, and weather at times. 

 

Considering the low cost ($9 with the private insurance I buy) and general reliability (have not had a single domestic package lost in the last 26 months), I'd say our postal system is something to cheer. (And were it not for its contract with Amazon it would be even more in the red than it is.)  UPS and FedEx are far more expensive and much slower (at least for "Ground" service).

 

For international, delivery times will vary a bit, but that is mostly due to the vagaries of both overseas customs offices and the local post services that carry and deliver the parcels in-country.  Even there I find door-to-door delivery times to be remarkable.  Here is a random sampling of number of business days (only Sundays not counted) for delivery (into the buyer's hands) to a few countries in the past month:

 

Netherlands: 7 days

Russia: 10 days

France: 6 days

Vietnam: 9 days

Germany: 12 days

Japan: 6 days

Hong Kong: 7 days

Canada: 6 days

Denmark: 11 days

Taiwan: 5 days

Mainland China: 9 days

 

$34 anywhere in the world ($25 to Canada), with insurance and tracking.  (Okay, it often costs us a buck or two more than what we charge, but we absorb it.  It's nothing compared to the 4.4% PayPal fee we absorb for overseas payments.)

 

 

Have a great weekend everyone,

--Alex C.

 

P.S.  I am happy to report that, other than the 42 orders placed from February 14 onward--and which were promised to ship by the 28th--every last LPS-1.2 and ISO REGEN/LPS-1.2 order has shipped (as of yesterday). 

We still have enough boards to cover the 42 orders--I'll be testing boards over the weekend again to be sure to ship by Wednesday the 28th.  But after those we will be down to just a few.  Today is really the first day I can sit down and start hunting down parts for the next run (there are always a few--usually John's favorite Murarta capacitors--that have to get chased from far-flung suppliers)

[Superdad]

26 minutes ago, auricgoldfinger said:

 

I am on the 3-day plan.  My units shipped on Wednesday with expected delivery today, but the package hasn't even arrived in Houston.

 

Is that you Brian?  Sorry to hear your package is a bit slow.  Who knows, it might show up today after all.  Certainly by tomorrow.  Thanks for your patience.

[Superdad]

1 hour ago, left channel said:

 

Aside from asexual reproduction of course. Hey, I've got an idea. Let's take over this thread with photos of single-celled organisms. Otherwise it's in danger of becoming all cats all the time, like the Schitt Happened thread over on head-fi. ?

 

Well fine then!    Last night we had the first low-elevation (2150 feet) snowstorm of the season here in the Sierra Foothills.  So this morning our less than 1-year old seal point siamese got to experience the wonders of snow for the very first time.  She did not stay out for long!

 

[Superdad]

8 minutes ago, Bamber said:

Alex, thanks for sending the 5 x LPS1.2s.

 

I can't believe the detail I'm hearing from my system which wasn't there before installing the LPS1.2s.  John and yourself have delivered another product which punches way above its price point.

 

Well heck, thanks for ordering five units! 

 

(Really helps with our kids' college tuitions. They are not going to fancy schools--just state colleges--but boy does it add up.  The dormitory room rents are more than the class tuition--but not having them here in the house anymore is priceless! )

[Superdad]

31 minutes ago, Len-ski said:

Update: USPS just came and went and no package today. Tracking said it was on the truck yesterday in my town and now just says alert with no further updates. Been on hold with customer service for over 30 minutes now but am feeling great knowing I’m the only one in last 26 months with lost order ?

 

I am so sorry to hear this Leonard.  Must be very frustrating for you.  Let's keep an eye on it, and if it does show by early in the week, let's get another shipped out to you.  Contact me privately and we will take care of you in that case.

Still crossing my fingers for Saturday for you. 

[Superdad]

6 hours ago, left channel said:

In her last life she lived in Themiscyra.

 

Whoa!  Are you speaking of the actual ancient city of Themiscyra, or the mythical island of Wonder Woman and the Amazons?  Dudes were not allowed to set foot there, so very few audiophiles visit.

[Superdad]

2 hours ago, pl_svn said:

for those planning to use their LPS-1.2 with a Chord Qutest:

 

- this adapter will not work (doesn't fit Qutest's "recessed slot" where USB micro is)

- this one instead does 

 

That's disappointing but good to know.  Thanks Paolo.

[Superdad]

12 hours ago, paulmckwan said:

Hi I'm from Hong Kong, just to share I received my tracking number notification mail on 23 Feb morning (HKT), for my ISO Regen / UltraCap bundle. And I just received the package at 27 Feb morning time here.

 

I'd say it is faster than expected.

 

Wow, 4 days.  That's crazy-fast for international Priority Mail!  

[Superdad]

On 2/28/2018 at 9:43 AM, pl_svn said:

Qutest's USB micro is inside a "recess" measuring 9.9x12.8mm (HxW)

 

hope this helps 

 

Ah, I was looking for that measurement!  I just got in a bag of 20 DC2.1 barrel to microB adapters with an oval molded housing.  My digital calipers have it measuring 9.9mm x 12.2mm.  So width is perfect and height will be a snug fit.

 

If anyone wants one, just put a note in the Special Instructions box of the YourCart checkout page when ordering an LPS-1.2 and I'll toss it in for free.  If you have a pending order and want one, just shoot me a message.

 

[Superdad]

1 minute ago, R1200CL said:

 

I suppose parallell is still impossible. 

Before you said a more powerfull version. Let’s say around 2A, would maybe be as muche 4 times the price. Or maybe even more ?

Is this still the case, or are you guys seeing a possible more powerful option without breaking the bank. Like below 1K maybe ?

 

I have no idea if there is a market for a more powerful version. 

I would probably used it on a HTPC, maybe a NUC, and for sure my SonicTransporter. 

 

2A would not be enough for an HTPC, a NUC, or a SonicTransporter.

[Superdad]

10 hours ago, Blake said:

Hi Alex, just a quick inquiry- are you still thinking the LPS 1.2 batch scheduled to ship this week is still generally on schedule?

 

Hi Blake:

 

You--and 114 other people--have just now been sent the below update via e-mail:

---------------------

 

Dear valued UpTone Audio customer:

 

You are among the 115 people who placed and order for an UltraCap LPS-1.2 or ISO REGEN/LPS-1.2 bundle between February 27th and April 11th. About half of you had your original shipment promise date extended from March 28th to today, April 12th. The rest of you were promised—at the time of order—shipment this next Tuesday, April 17th.

 

It is with a heavy heart that I bring you news of a short further delay. During testing we discovered an incorrect value of resistor (actually 2 of the same value) was installed on all the circuit boards of this second run of 250 units. This has prevented these LPS-1.2 boards from passing our rigorous quality control test process.

 

It took almost a week of day-and-night testing on the part of my engineer partner, John Swenson, to identify the cause of the issue. Now that we know what it is, it is a simple matter to install the correct value resistors and run the boards through the test-cycle again.

However, these are very small surface-mount parts—about the size of a grain of rice—so the work is best left to our circuit board assembly house. They have agreed to perform the changes very quickly for us. The boards have been FedEx’ed to them today, and assuming they also receive the resistors tomorrow, the work will be done over this weekend and the units sent quickly back to us.

 

As soon as the circuit boards arrive back, we will fully test, assemble and begin shipping orders. The 60 people with the earliest orders (#7043 and below, originally promised March 28th, then April 12th) can expect to receive notice of shipment this coming week—by April 19th.

 

We do feel confident enough to promise that the rest of your orders (#7044 and above, originally promised for shipment April 17th) will ship to you not later than April 26th.

 

Timely delivery of products to our clients is very important to us. Please accept my sincere apology for this unforeseen delay.

 

What is most important is that you receive from us perfect functioning products that exceed your expectations. That is something we will NEVER compromise on.

 

As always, your business, your enthusiasm, and your patience are all greatly appreciated. We promise this will be worth the wait.

 

If any of you have questions please contact us at any time.

 

Sincerely,

Alex Crespi

 

P.S. Many people have requested a microUSB version of our popular USPCB A>B Adapter. (For use with DACs such as Chord and other brands with microB USB input jacks.)  We are pleased to announce that these are now in stock. (If you have an ISO REGEN/LPS-1.2 bundle on order and wish to change your USPCB selection to the new microUSB, just e-mail us soon.)
 

[Superdad]

45 minutes ago, Blake said:

Thanks for the update Alex.  No worries on the delay, these things happen, and as you say, glad you caught the issue before they shipped to customers.  Cheers, Blake

 

P.S. I am one of the sorry sods still waiting for my LH Labs Vi Dac. Frankly, I've lost track of how many years of delay its been.  So a 1 or 2 week delay is a walk in the park.

 

Thanks Blake.  Holding other people's money for much more than 2-3 weeks always gives me a pit in my stomach, and I HATE missing promised ship dates.  It is just part of my personal/professional ethics. 

 

This was a truly stressful week for John and I--at least until we solved the mystery of the wrong resistors!  Will still be a brutal couple of weeks getting the corrected boards through flashing/testing/assembly/shipping.  But I'm happy to put that work in so we can get caught up quickly.  Now if I can just shake this nasty cold/cough picked up from my son...

 

Oh, here is a snapshot of one of John's test setups this week during the hunt for what the heck was wrong:

 

Four differential scope probes going on at once!

[Superdad]

20 minutes ago, kennyb123 said:

I’m order 7044, so I just missed out on the earlier batch.

 

We will try to get as many our as possible this coming week.  Maybe you will be surprised...

[Superdad]

11 hours ago, malarz said:

Just a quick (probably silly) question, is there a way to use the LPS as symmetrical PSU (+5V/-5V) ?

 

Not a silly question at all!  Since our UltraCap supplies are fully floating (not AC mains connected), they can indeed be wired together--battery-like--in series. +/-/+/-  either for combining voltages (pick up the sum of their settings at each end of string), or center-tapped to obtain a perfectly symmetrical bi-polar (positive and negative) supply.  Here is a diagram showing how to wire them for bi-polar (+/-) operation:

 

[Superdad]

47 minutes ago, auricgoldfinger said:

 

If the Farad power supply does not use an SMPS, then are leakage currents really a concern?

 

Yes, very much so.  First off, all AC-connected power supplies have leakage—that includes every LPS, external or in a DAC, preamp, poweramp, etc.  If it has a power transformer connected to the AC mains then there will be some amount of AC leakage—over a broad range of frequencies—due to coupling from natural interwinding capacitance.

 

Equioment whose “grounds” are connected together via analog or digital cables, and which are powered by AC-connected supplies, will form “leakage loops,” (John wrote about this at length elsewhere on CA, but I am traveling and don’t have time to cite the posts.)

 

The purpose of using a non-AC-connected power supply—such as a battery or our isolated, bank alternating UltraCap unit—is to interrupt the leakage loops.  So if you power a component, such as a streamer or DAC (or an isolator such as our ISO REGEN) with a floated/isolated, not-AC-attached supply, then you are eliminating the leakage loop interaction of the components on either side of that analog or digital chain.

 

Hope that makes sense.  I’m super-pressed for time as my wife is waiting on me to go ice skating on Lake Louise here in Banff, Alberta, Canada.

 

At a later time I’ll address the misstatements and misunderstandings related to forthcoming the Farad supply from Netherlands.