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

[Blackfiction]

5 minutes ago, Superdad said:

 

Five red flashes followed by one green flash followed by 5 red flashes repeating means that the UltraCap supply is being asked to deliver more than its 1.15A rated max.  The ultraRendu by itself generally does not draw more than about 0.5A, but whatever 5VBUS is being drawn from the ultraRendu gets added to that load.  But unless you are connecting a current-hungry, fully VBUS powered DAC or DAC/headphone amp, you ought not to be going over the LPS-1.2's load limit.

 

Can't imagine the Benchmark DAC2 HGC drawing that much VBUS (you can get a $10 DROK brand USB ammeter to easily check).

Couple of questions:

1) Do you have the UltraCap LPS-1.2 set to output 7V? 

2) Are you "energizing"/charging the LPS-1.2 with the UpTone-branded 36W brick it came with?

 

1) yes

2) yes

 

I plugged in my previous usb cable and everything works again...

Is it something with the curious usb regen cable? Maybe a faulty one?

[Superdad]

11 minutes ago, Blackfiction said:

1) yes

2) yes

 

I plugged in my previous usb cable and everything works again...

Is it something with the curious usb regen cable? Maybe a faulty one?

 

Wow.  Sounds like your USB cable is shorting 5VBUS to ground.  Be careful with that one!

[Superdad]

17 minutes ago, highstream said:

In addition to my question about using the UltraCap with an iFi SPDIF iPurifier - Purist Audio Neptune coax - which output cables others have found benefit the UltraCap? The Neptune is on the warm side and I’m trying to keep it that way. Thanks, 

 

I and a bunch of other people here enjoy this particular DC cable very much: http://ghentaudio.com/part/dc-gac4.html

[Blackfiction]

19 minutes ago, Superdad said:

 

Wow.  Sounds like your USB cable is shorting 5VBUS to ground.  Be careful with that one!

 

I'm a noob at electronics... Does it mean the cable is not working as it supposed to?

[Superdad]

20 minutes ago, Blackfiction said:

I'm a noob at electronics... Does it mean the cable is not working as it supposed to?

 

It would seem so.  I can not think of any other reason why just that one USB cable would cause the UltraCap LPS-1.2 to go immediately into over-current protection mode. If I had the cable in my hands I would check for continuity between Pin 1 (+5VBUS) and both Pin 4 and the ground shell of its plugs.  Continuity between Pin 1 and either of those would confirm that there is a short.

[highstream]

1 hour ago, Superdad said:

 

I and a bunch of other people here enjoy this particular DC cable very much: http://ghentaudio.com/part/dc-gac4.html

 

Thanks. Is the output port of the UltraCap  2.5 mm?

[Superdad]

Just now, highstream said:

Thanks. Is the output port of the UltraCap  2.5 mm? Looks like it takes a female connector.

 

No, it is a 5.5mm x 2.1mm jack.  The first number is the outer diameter of the barrel, the second number is the diameter of the male pin in the jack and the hole in the plug.

[highstream]

 

4 minutes ago, Superdad said:

 

No, it is a 5.5mm x 2.1mm jack.  The first number is the outer diameter of the barrel, the second number is the diameter of the male pin in the jack and the hole in the plug.

 

Thanks.

[Lotus67]

Alex, thank you for the excellent service for my Ultracap LPS 1.2 from Europe to US 🙂

 

In our audiophile world there are so few hifi brands kind, serious and fast like Uptone Audio...really!

 

Andy

[Browniesbane]

Just upgraded my server and now neither my ur or my mr work with my lps 1.2 .with the ur , after the lps goes green, the ur flashes green and amber, then red. The lps then goes red or goes dark. With the mr, the lps stays green but there is no activity from the mr.

 

both rendus work fine btw with the sonore 7 lps. 

 

Any idea— the 1.2 is set to 7.

[Superdad]

22 minutes ago, Browniesbane said:

Just upgraded my server and now neither my ur or my mr work with my lps 1.2 .with the ur , after the lps goes green, the ur flashes green and amber, then red. The lps then goes red or goes dark. With the mr, the lps stays green but there is no activity from the mr.

 

While there is a chance that your UltraCap LPS-1.2 has failed, it is also possible that you are experiencing two separate but normal issues:

1) If you boot your UltraCap supply with nothing attached to its output, does it do its normal red>orange>green star-up cycle and then stay green?

if yes, then while the LPS-1.2 shows green, plug in the ultraRendu--but without any USB device plugged into the ultraRendu so that we can eliminate the possibility of your DAC's 5VBUS adding so much to the load that it goes past the LPS-1.2 limit.

With just the ultraRendu (with not USB device attached), if the UltraCap LPS-1.2 then shows any LED color other than green, then your unit needs to come back to us.

If the LPS-1.2 stays green with ultraRendu, then plug your USB cable into the ultraRendu and report results.

 

2) With regards the UltraCap LPS-1.2 and the  microRendu:

The microRendu is the only device we have seen that does not like the few milliseconds of final voltage ramp time of the LT3045 regulators now used in the LPS-1.2.  That is, when the LPS-1.2 is charged up and turns on the output regs, the voltage does not go from zero to 7 volts instantaneously.  It takes a few thousandths of a second to ramp up for the first time--and the microRendu does not respond to this for some reason.  The solution is simply to first boot the LPS-1.2--all the way to green--with the microRendu not plugged into it--and to then plug the microRendu.

 

Please contact us directly for prompt further (weekday) assistance.

Thanks and have a great weekend,

--Alex C.

 

 

[Bdht]

Any thoughts on using an Ultracap LPS on a Stax SRM-252s?  It comes with a 12v 500ma smps(at least i think its a smps) wall wart center pin negative, and in looking for a replacement supply I thought I'd consider an Ultracap, as I don't see myself buying an SRM-353X in the near future.  thanks!

[Superdad]

10 minutes ago, Bdht said:

Any thoughts on using an Ultracap LPS on a Stax SRM-252s?  It comes with a 12v 500ma smps(at least i think its a smps) wall wart center pin negative, and in looking for a replacement supply I thought I'd consider an Ultracap, as I don't see myself buying an SRM-353X in the near future.  thanks!

 

Thanks for your interest.  It looks like our UltraCap LPS-1.2 would be a great match for your Stax SRM-252S! 

 

However, as you noted, Stax for some dumb reason decided to wire it with center pin as zero-volt ("negative") and outer barrel as the +12V.  (Really don't know why anyone does that--other than to invite people to damage their gear as most every DC supply with barrel plug is center-positive.)

So you will need to reverse the wires at one end of whatever DC cable you use (the LPS-1.2 comes with a 27-inch 16awg coax cable, so you could cut one end off--the center of the coax was positive).  Pick up a bag of these CCTV screw-terminal DC barrel plugs to make the task super easy: https://www.amazon.com/Xenocam-2-1mm-5-5mm-Camera-Adapter/dp/B01AGQVYQQ/

 

Let us know if you need any assistance.

Cheers,

--Alex C.

[mikey8811]

On 3/24/2019 at 3:21 AM, Superdad said:

 

While there is a chance that your UltraCap LPS-1.2 has failed, it is also possible that you are experiencing two separate but normal issues:

1) If you boot your UltraCap supply with nothing attached to its output, does it do its normal red>orange>green star-up cycle and then stay green?

if yes, then while the LPS-1.2 shows green, plug in the ultraRendu--but without any USB device plugged into the ultraRendu so that we can eliminate the possibility of your DAC's 5VBUS adding so much to the load that it goes past the LPS-1.2 limit.

With just the ultraRendu (with not USB device attached), if the UltraCap LPS-1.2 then shows any LED color other than green, then your unit needs to come back to us. 

If the LPS-1.2 stays green with ultraRendu, then plug your USB cable into the ultraRendu and report results. 

 

Hi

 

I have a similar issue but with a ISO Regen and a LPS 1.

 

I was away for a spell and powered everything down. Upon returning the LPS 1 doesn't seem to output anything to the ISO Regen.

 

The powering on sequence seems to work ie. red, orange, green but just no output. I have changed DC cables and then tried an LPS 1.2. The LPS 1.2 worked as did all the DC cables.

 

I also tried the LPS 1 (switched to 5V) on an iFi SPDIF iPurifier and also no output. The LPS 1.2 worked so I guess again, it isn't the USB issue with the DAC's 5V BUS, nor the downstream devices.

 

I also made sure the LPS 1 was green and left it green before connecting anything but again, no dice.

 

So what do I do?

 

I have sent an email and am awaiting a reply.

 

Thanks

[Superdad]

4 hours ago, mikey8811 said:

I have a similar issue but with a ISO Regen and a LPS 1.

...

I have sent an email and am awaiting a reply.

 

Hi:

I think you have initials Y A.  We received your e-mail Friday morning. It was a very busy Friday, so I have just now replied to you.  

From what I can tell you purchased your original UltraCap LPS-1 second-hand.  So to confirm your warranty status you will need to provide us with the name of the original buyer so that we can look up the date of delivery.

 

Looking forward to assisting you.

Have a nice weekend,

--Alex C.

[HeeBroG]

Hi Alex,

 

I am currently using the new 36W SMPS "energizing" supply for both my LPS1 and LPS1.2.

I have been advised by an audiophile friend/dealer to use a good quality  LPS like the JS-2 as the "energizer" instead for better performance.

I imagine you have a resolving system and wondered if you have tried this configuration yourself.

Is there any merit, theoretical or otherwise, to this suggestion even if the gain is only marginal?

 

Regards,

 

Geoff

 

 

 

[Ultrarunner]

2 hours ago, HeeBroG said:

Hi Alex,

 

I am currently using the new 36W SMPS "energizing" supply for both my LPS1 and LPS1.2.

I have been advised by an audiophile friend/dealer to use a good quality  LPS like the JS-2 as the "energizer" instead for better performance.

I imagine you have a resolving system and wondered if you have tried this configuration yourself.

Is there any merit, theoretical or otherwise, to this suggestion even if the gain is only marginal?

 

Regards,

 

Geoff

 

 

 

 

I compared both ways and switched to a JS-2 to power my LPS 1.2. I thought the improvement over the supplied SMPS was perhaps not major but significant enough. It was made easier by the fact that I had an unused extra output on one of my JS-2’s. I suspect the SMPS adds some noise back onto the AC line or radiates RFI that finds it’s way into the other components of the system. 

[Superdad]

11 hours ago, HeeBroG said:

I am currently using the new 36W SMPS "energizing" supply for both my LPS1 and LPS1.2.

 

That's great Geoff.  We think you ought to stay with those. 

 

11 hours ago, HeeBroG said:

I have been advised by an audiophile friend/dealer to use a good quality  LPS like the JS-2 as the "energizer" instead for better performance.

I imagine you have a resolving system and wondered if you have tried this configuration yourself.

Is there any merit, theoretical or otherwise, to this suggestion even if the gain is only marginal?

 

With the isolated, bank alternating, never-connected architecture of our UltraCap supplies, cleaner charging power does not result in ANY change to the quality of the final output of our unit.   Feed it the noisiest crap power, and as long as it is in the required wattage range, you will get the same ultra-low-noise out of it.

So "cleaner" charger power for the UltraCap supplies is meaningless.  

 

Leakage (and lousy DC output noise levels) are the real evils of an SMPS, but neither are a factor when used as a charger for our UltraCap supplies.  The high-frequency switching harmonics put back into the wall by a modern SMPS are negligible.

Modern SMPS units--having to meet stringent emissions standards--kick only very low amplitude, very high frequency, spread-spectrum harmonics back into the wall.

(And traditional linear power supples put low frequency harmonics back into the wall; That's why people hear differences with AC power cords on their amps--the cord acts as a filter for the harmonics going from the amp to the wall.)

The lighting circuits (dimmers, etc.) and general wall quality in most people's homes is more detrimental than what a decent SMPS kicks in.  The real evil of SMPS is the large amount of AC leakage (mostly low-impedance leakage) that they put out--but that is completely ignored by our UltraCap supplies.

 

If you do decide to experiment, please keep in mind that the UltraCap LPS-1.2 requires a charger truly capable of 36 watts.  While we include a 7.5V/4.8A unit, 9V/4A, 12V/3A, 18V/2A, 24V/1.5A are all acceptable charger ratings (see how the V*A=36W).  But I caution that many of the inexpensive Chinese LPS units (sold on eBay and elsewhere) are incapable of producing their rated output current.  Elsewhere I have published photographic evidence of my tests showing how some popular 3A rated units can't even make it to 2A.  So please be careful since you can see from the above that a charger whose voltage drops--due to inability to make rated current--will then be called upon to produce ever greater current as the voltage goes down.  For the UltraCaps it's about the Watts baby! 

[Ryelands]

17 hours ago, Superdad said:

With the isolated, bank alternating, never-connected architecture of our UltraCap supplies, cleaner charging power does not result in ANY change to the quality of the final output of our unit. 

 

I don't dispute that fitting "cleaner" chargers does not affect the output of the LPS-1 - I can't because I've never used anything other than the supplied Meanwells on the five LPS-1s I have in daily use. (I don't think a user can reasonably or even honestly expect a manufacturer to honour a warranty claim if the device is not used as supplied.)

 

But what I can confidently say is that improving the charging configuration of my LPS-1s definitely improved the SQ of my system. I use an isolating device based on Jon Risch two-transformer & capacitance circuit in front of each Meanwell. They're bulky and I'd love to get rid of them but, if I do remove them, SQ definitely falls. Trust me, I've tried several times.

 

I long since connected the Meanwell's negative outputs toi safety earth as instructed to good effect. The only directly mains-powered devices in my system are the power amps - they have a dedicated mains feed, a mains-power regenerator and fancy PSUs. Everything else (CPU, USB gizmo, DAC) is "off-grid" in the sense you describe. The sound is exquisite BUT, if I by-pass the Meanwell's mains isolation, its quality definitely falls.

 

I'm not saying the Risch circuit is mandatory (I had the bits to hand) and suspect that any decent isolating transformer would work just as well. I'm also sure we can agree that, though using a spare JS-2 output is fair game, buying the likes of a JS-2 simply to drive the Meanwells is a waste of money.

 

I wonder of you're not doing actually yourself dowh slightly here. An LPS-1 charged by a directly mains connected Meanwell sounds excellent by any reckoning but the relatively modest effort involved in ensuring that the Meanwells (or, I suspect, the LPS-1.2 equivalents) are thoroughly isolated from the mains definitely gave me a worthwhile improvement.

 

Am I the only user who claims this?

 

Dave

 

 

[BCRich]

Hi Alex,

So based on the following regarding the soon to be released “Optical Rendu”.............

 

This going to be the official power specifications and recommendations:

•  Power input: 2A peak current and 1.5A continuous current at 6-9 VDC output
• Uptone Audio UltraCap LPS-1/LPS-1.2 power supplies - for use with USB devices that do not use USB bus power.

How does those of us using an isoRegen and having a Dac (Bryston BDA-3) that uses bus power factor into the equation. Disregarding the debate of it not being needed to begin with, cause I know there are some who feel that it is not.

 

Note: I am using a dedicated LPS-1.2 for both my ultraRendu and isoRegen.

 

Thanks......Mike

[Superdad]

27 minutes ago, BCRich said:

Hi Alex,

So based on the following regarding the soon to be released “Optical Rendu”.............

 

This going to be the official power specifications and recommendations:

•  Power input: 2A peak current and 1.5A continuous current at 6-9 VDC output
• Uptone Audio UltraCap LPS-1/LPS-1.2 power supplies - for use with USB devices that do not use USB bus power.

How does those of us using an isoRegen and having a Dac (Bryston BDA-3) that uses bus power factor into the equation. Disregarding the debate of it not being needed to begin with, cause I know there are some who feel that it is not.

 

Note: I am using a dedicated LPS-1.2 for both my ultraRendu and isoRegen.

 

Thanks......Mike

 

Hi Mike:

This week John made detailed current requirement measurements (boot-up peak, after boot-up, with and without fully bus-powered DAC) of the opticalRendu boards that will be used in production.  I will leave it to Sonore to publish those figures first.

 

To minimize support issues and questions, Jesus chose to recommend our UltraCap supplies only "for use with devices that do not use USB bus power."  That's fine.  But based on John's measurements, the UltraCap units will power an opticalRendu just fine even feeding a USB device using as much as 100mA (0.1A) of 5VBUS current.

 

And to your question of using an ISO REGEN with an opticalRendu, and powering the opticalRendu with an UltraCap unit:

No problem!  The ISO REGEN draws just 20mA of VBUS power at its input (to power an LT3042 reg which is powering the upstream side of the Silanna galvanic isolator chip).

 

[davide256]

13 minutes ago, Superdad said:

 

Hi Mike:

This week John made detailed current requirement measurements (boot-up peak, after boot-up, with and without fully bus-powered DAC) of the opticalRendu boards that will be used in production.  I will leave it to Sonore to publish those figures first.

 

To minimize support issues and questions, Jesus chose to recommend our UltraCap supplies only "for use with devices that do not use USB bus power."  That's fine.  But based on John's measurements, the UltraCap units will power an opticalRendu just fine even feeding a USB device using as much as 100mA (0.1A) of 5VBUS current.

 

And to your question of using an ISO REGEN with an opticalRendu, and powering the opticalRendu with an UltraCap unit:

No problem!  The ISO REGEN draws just 20mA of VBUS power at its input (to power an LT3042 reg which is powering the upstream side of the Silanna galvanic isolator chip).

 

there's a world of difference between using USB power to power the USB  receiver chip vs using it to power the DAC circuitry also...

[BCRich]

Thanks Alex! Looking forward to the Etherregen too!!!!

[Superdad]

46 minutes ago, davide256 said:

there's a world of difference between using USB power to power the USB  receiver chip vs using it to power the DAC circuitry also...

 

Right.  Yet in @BCRich’s case, the ISO REGEN handles any DAC’s VBUS load via the 1A reg on its downstream side—which is powered by whatever PS is connected to the ISO REGEN (in his case another UltraCap unit).

So the opticalRendu has only the tiny 20mA (load of input side of IR) added.  

[HumanMedia]

Quick question

the output dc port is 2.1mm pin radius, what is the size of the input DC jack from the charger?

the same?