The new generation UltraCap LPS-1.2: USER IMPRESSIONS and QUESTIONS thread

[lmitche]

14 hours ago, Geoff1954 said:

Apologies if this was covered above. I looked but did not see it.

 

The  Wyred 4 Sound PS 1 is a little more expensive than the LPS 1.2, but can power up to 4 devices. Could Alex, John or anyone else offer an explanation for why they believe the LPS 1.2 is a better purchase?

 

Many thanks.

The Wyred 4 Sound PS 1 is an AC(wall power) to DC linear power supply.  The Uptone lps-1.2 is a DC to DC power linear supply. The Wyred 4 Sound PS 1 could be used to energize a lps-1.2 and to isolate the device it powers from any leakage currents generated by the Wyred 4 Sound PS 1. The cleaner lps1.2 power most often substantially raises the SQ of the system. Lastly the lps-1.2 is frequently used to power an Uptone ISO Regen which extends the isolation to the data inputs of a USB DAC.

[lmitche]

2 hours ago, JohnSwenson said:

Whenever you have a single supply powering two loads you can have a situation where changes in load current from one device cause a small change in voltage on the supply output, and those voltage changes are seen by both devices powered by the supply. So yes it is always possible powering each device with its own supply might sound better than both off the same supply, but the LPS-1.2 has an extremely low output impedance, so any voltage change due to load current changes are going to be VERY small. Thus the LPS-1.2 is probably one of the best supplies out there for powering multiple loads (as long as the combination doesn't go over 1.1A)

 

There is a special issue with the ISO REGEN. It contains an isolation circuit whose purpose in life is to prevent leakage current from traveling through a USB cable. If you power the ISO REGEN and the upstream device from the same power supply you are bypassing this isolation. This may or may not be an issue depending on what is driving the ISO REGEN and how things in your system are connected. It is hard to make a determination without knowing the details of the system. Note: the isolation is not the ONLY reason for an ISO REGEN, even with the isolation bypassed it can still significantly improve your USB signal.

 

John S.

Hi John,

 

For the avoidance of doubt, in this context does upstream device mean the device connected to the female Usb B input side of the ISO Regen?

 

Thanks,

 

Larry

[lmitche]

51 minutes ago, look&listen said:

Welcome back.

Thanks

[lmitche]

Hi Alex,

 

My new, and second,  LPS1.2 is up and running since Saturday. It is used to power my ISO Regen. As expected, I hear a nice SQ increase vs. the LPS-1 that powered it before.

 

Thanks for the quick shipment as well.

 

Larry

 

 

[lmitche]

I like the adapter option best, but you can certainly afford to try both.

 

Watch out the USB C adapters are not as ambidextrous as expected. My samsung s9 phone likes the cable attached in one orientation and not the other with the adpaters I purchased on Amazon. Charging speed varies.

 

It is never easy.

[lmitche]

4 hours ago, jamesg11 said:

This was asked a while back, without reply ...? So, clarification on this RME dac - it’s wanting 9.5V to 15V ie 12V fine, but too high amps?

Yes. I tried powering the RME DAC with the LPS1.2 and it wouldn't play. It must take a fair bit of current to keep that display glowing. It didn't sound musical with the stock supply, so I returned it.

[lmitche]

6 hours ago, jamesg11 said:

Returned dac or just stock supply? Mine sounds good with a local Oz lpsu, using it in direct dsd to 256 mode - a step up on the idsd I had. Might go to the js-2 ... should be better again.

The DAC, with stock smps, was returned. I really wanted the RME to work, but the IFI microIDSD powered by the lps1.2 just sounded much more musical.

 

In the end the Soekris 1321 powered by two lps1.2s, one on the vbus, the second on the normal power input, beat everything else.

[lmitche]

6 hours ago, jamesg11 said:

Also, assuming you can turn display off? Manual info is a bit clunky ...

It seemed there is no way to keep the display powered off during the boot process. Once past the initial boot process the display can be set to turn off automatically.

[lmitche]

1 hour ago, jamesg11 said:

Right, yes, that’s the critical point, re the use of the lps1.2.

 

Interesting our different views on the idsd & rme - I run the rme in pure dsd mode, upsampling all to 256, a la Miska advice (will have to upgrade computer to go to new hqp ec modulators ...).

Just bitperfect playback here, no upsampling anymore, except in the DAC.

[lmitche]

6 hours ago, Superdad said:

The microRendu is the only device we have seen that does not like the few milliseconds of final voltage ramp time

Add the Soekris 1321 R2R DAC to this list. The solution is the same, go to full green then connect the load.