New HDPLEX 200W LPS

[henke]

12 hours ago, Lebouwsky said:

Thank you for the info. Can you please share some pictures so others with less electro-Engineering skills like myself can check / recoignize?

The Rubycon has the letter "K" on the top like theese (but it is not the same model)

The ELNA has like an sword or something at the top:

[gsquared]

13 hours ago, henke said:

My first unit of the new hdplex 200w did not have earth ground connection and I had an replacement for an new hdplex 200w unit that I yesterday opened up and discovered that it didnt have the ELNA caps 3300uf 50v instead it had Rubycon yxf 3300uf caps rated only for 35v. So this is not good. I wonder what voltage those caps are exposed to? This could be dangerous if it is over 35v or even if it is 35 there could be problem if there is a spike?

They seem to have done this because the lead time is long for ELNA and the price is the same for Rubycon according to an email I got. 

 

Thanks for sharing this. Mine definitely has the ELNA caps but not sure about the earth ground connection. Can you share a photo of what I should be looking for? Thanks!

[henke]

Just now, gsquared said:

 

Thanks for sharing this. Mine definitely has the ELNA caps but not sure about the earth ground connection. Can you share a photo of what I should be looking for? Thanks!

It should look like this (yellow cable this is right behind the iec power inlet) connects to the backplate I think

 

But the best way is to check is with an multimeter. Take for example out an screw from the top plate and measure from the screw hole to the IEC power inlet ground. It should be connected if there is earth connection to the chassis.

[rickca]

@henke I agree that it shouldn't be a surprise to discover that Rubycon caps have been substituted for ELNA caps due to supply constraints given that the ELNA caps are prominently featured in the specs.  HDPLEX should have at least advised those with affected orders.

 

When I asked HDPLEX about the yellow earth cable, they said you can feel immediately on the chassis if it is missing.  I don't know how HDPLEX is sure that your original unit is the only one with that problem.  I'm just reporting what HDPLEX told me.

 

I guess it is common practice to do some small engineering changes to a product without notice.  I don't know whether parts substitution like this is equally common.

[gsquared]

1 hour ago, henke said:

It should look like this (yellow cable this is right behind the iec power inlet) connects to the backplate I think

 

But the best way is to check is with an multimeter. Take for example out an screw from the top plate and measure from the screw hole to the IEC power inlet ground. It should be connected if there is earth connection to the chassis.

 

Thank you! I'll check mine.

[sypderman88]

Hi,

 

 From these posts, looks like Hdplex product quality assurance is really a hit and miss...safery and proper functioning of power-related  products are very crucial ... Any opinions ?

[luisma]

On 2/9/2019 at 2:42 PM, rickca said:

I like your idea of actually listening to the different configurations rather than relying on specs.  We also need to keep cost and complexity in the calculus ... or we're going to end up with a custom SR7. 🙄

I want one but it is out of my budget 

[luisma]

12 hours ago, LTG2010 said:

Voltage is fine - but I would send it back and get the power supply as specified or get your money back.

I will send it back too, it is advertised and though voltage is within range and regulated for 25V there will be a difference using rated 35 vs 50 caps in terms of performance and longevity. 

Reminded me the issue with my project s2 pink capacitors recall. 

 

[tboooe]

On 2/9/2019 at 9:22 AM, tboooe said:

I wonder if this combination sounds better than powering the server directly with the HDPlex 400w AC to DC lps atx which I have?  I have the 200w lps on order and I have the first generation DC-atx so I can do a.comparison.  No exactly a perfect test because I don't the current version of the DC-atx but an interesting test nonetheless.  Based on specs alone, the 400w lps is better than the DC-atx in terms of ripple.

So last night I compared my 400W AC-DC ATX lps to the original version of the DC-DC ATX psu I had.  Both were set up to power my mobo and cpu.  I dont have a SATA SSD in my system.  The DC-DC ATX was powered by a 19V brick smps.  In a nutshell, I would say the 400W lps just made the music sound more organic.  I think the reason why was because it was able to reveal more low level detail and nuance which made vocals in particular sound more lifelike.  Using the DC-DC ATX, I got bored listening to the music, I wasnt involved.   Of course I do not have the current version of the DC-DC ATX so that may part of the problem.  Once I receive the 200W lps I will use it to power the DC-DC ATX to see if the smps is whats causing the differences I am hearing.    More to come.

[Lebouwsky]

The new batch of the 200W will have improved grounding and gold plated IEC connector. It will be shipped end of februari.

 

Really looking forward to do some testing.

 

 

[rickca]

My unit has ELNA caps and it has that little yellow wire near the IEC inlet.  

[rickca]

The R-core transformer in the 200W LPS is an R-160.  Actually, XR-160 is printed on it.  So I'd take the 200W spec with a degree of skepticism.

[austinpop]

And maybe someone can explain how you get a "400W Hi-Fi DC-ATX Power Supply" while fed from a single 19V rail of a 200W (or 160W?) LPS?

[rickca]

@austinpop Obviously the 400W DC-ATX can't do more than what you feed it, so it's limited by the output of the 200W LPS.

HDPLEX does sell a 400W AC-DC unit to complement the 400W DC-ATX.

https://www.hdplex.com/hdplex-internal-400w-ac-dc-adapter-with-active-pfc-and-19vdc-output.html

 

I don't understand the technology inside that 400W AC-DC unit.  If someone can explain what's on the website in layman's terms, I'd appreciate it.  In particular, why would a 400W AC-DC plus a 400W DC-ATX be better than a traditional PC power supply?

 

HDPLEX also now has an 800W DC-ATX which is meant to be fed by dual 400W AC-DC.

https://www.hdplex.com/hdplex-800w-dc-atx-with-16v-63vdc-input.html

 

 

[LTG2010]

2 hours ago, austinpop said:

And maybe someone can explain how you get a "400W Hi-Fi DC-ATX Power Supply" while fed from a single 19V rail of a 200W (or 160W?) LPS?

400W is the maximum rated input meaning it can power a high current board / large CPU etc.Its regulators and components are chosen for high current operation. It doesn't need high current to work you can power it with a low power supply depending on your boards current requirements.

1 hour ago, rickca said:

I don't understand the technology inside that 400W AC-DC unit.  If someone can explain what's on the website in layman's terms, I'd appreciate it.  In particular, why would a 400W AC-DC plus a 400W DC-ATX be better than a traditional PC power supply?

The 400W ac-dc unit looks like a single rail SMPS using LLC Resonant converter, basically a higher grade SMPS using higher switching frequencies and less loss / higher efficiency and performance, the resultant use of smaller value components therefore less noise generated.

In 'theory' one or 2 of these feeding a dc-dc converter and its linear regulators should outperform a traditional PC supply, which in general would not be designed for audio use / low noise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mourip]

On 2/14/2019 at 5:55 PM, austinpop said:

And maybe someone can explain how you get a "400W Hi-Fi DC-ATX Power Supply" while fed from a single 19V rail of a 200W (or 160W?) LPS?

 

I have one that is powered by their 200W LPS and it works great for my Roon server.

[Chopin75]

HI all,

 

I have I believe the updated 200W model as I got it in 2019, but it just spontaneously smoked yesterday!   I was  using 19Vm and 2 of the 5 V for  SATA and USB bridge and it happened only few min after I turned off the main HDPLEX PC. Has anyone experienced this with the new model too ? 

[tboooe]

14 minutes ago, Chopin75 said:

HI all,

 

I have I believe the updated 200W model as I got it in 2019, but it just spontaneously smoked yesterday!   I was  using 19Vm and 2 of the 5 V for  SATA and USB bridge and it happened only few min after I turned off the main HDPLEX PC. Has anyone experienced this with the new model too ? 

Dude that's a bummer but I will say with total confidence that Larry will take care of you.  Have you contacted him?

[Chopin75]

4 minutes ago, tboooe said:

Dude that's a bummer but I will say with total confidence that Larry will take care of you.  Have you contacted him?

My builder did (I have the HDPLEX built to my specification) contact him and Larry is sending  a return slip for me to return it to have a look.  You guys mentioned an updated version to be (or already released) this month? I believe mine is earlier version. Now when I reread this site carefully, I feel perhaps mine HDPEX (ordered around end Dec or early Jan may be defective, ? no ground or defective ground or fuse, who knows  ??, Luckily my HDPlex appears ok though I have not fully tested it yet, and I am still not sure if my PinkFaun audio bridge is still ok (as expensive as the PC!) . A shame because it worked so nicely for past month. 

[rickca]

21 minutes ago, Chopin75 said:

You guys mentioned an updated version to be (or already released) this month?

There's a second batch of inventory expected at the end of February.  Some small changes ... moving the transformer a bit further away from the daughter card because some units like mine arrived with the daughter card pins not properly seated.  Larry also mentioned a gold plated AC inlet.  There's certainly no change in the new batch related to the unit going up in smoke!

 

HDPLEX has also said the new batch will have ELNA capacitors like it's supposed to.  A small number of the first batch had Rubycon caps due to supply lead time from ELNA.

 

 

[Chopin75]

1 minute ago, rickca said:

There's a second batch of inventory expected at the end of February.  Some small changes ... moving the transformer a bit further away from the daughter card because some units like mine arrived with the daughter card pins not properly seated.  Larry also mentioned a gold plated AC inlet.  There's certainly no change in the new batch related to the unit going up in smoke!

 

HDPLEX has also said the new batch will have ELNA capacitors like it's supposed to.  A small number of the first batch had Rubycon caps due to supply lead time from ELNA.

Thanks! Maybe I will ask him just to send me a new updated unit, even if I need to wait till end of the month.  Any advantage of ELNA cap vs the Rubycon ? 

[rickca]

17 minutes ago, Chopin75 said:

Thanks! Maybe I will ask him just to send me a new updated unit, even if I need to wait till end of the month.  Any advantage of ELNA cap vs the Rubycon ? 

Well, are you sure your unit had Rubycon caps?  Mine has ELNA caps and it was from the first batch.  I opened it up and checked.  HDPLEX says the Rubycon and ELNA have similar specs and performance characteristics.

 

Were you using the 19V rail of the 200W LPS together with an HDPLEX 400W DC-ATX?  What are the specs of the PC you had built?  Even if you overloaded a rail, it shouldn't go poof. 

 

[Chopin75]

4 minutes ago, rickca said:

Well, are you sure your unit had Rubycon caps?  Mine has ELNA caps and it was from the first batch.  I opened it up and checked.

 

Were you using the 19V rail of the 200W LPS together with an HDPLEX 400W DC-ATX?  What are the specs of the PC you had built?

 

Not sure what caps I have. Did not open it. Yes, I used the HDPLEX 400W, as recommended by Larry and I also asked him about running AMD ryzen chip. The 19V is supplying the main HDPLEX PC, and it is a ASROCK X3700 + AMD Ryzen 2700x chip. I also use the 5V to supply the SATA drive (where the OS is) and another 5 V for the USB audio bridge. I also have surge protector (Trip-lite isolator, and none of the other equipments were afffected)

[rickca]

11 minutes ago, Chopin75 said:

The 19V is supplying the main HDPLEX PC, and it is a ASROCK X3700 + AMD Ryzen 2700x chip. I also use the 5V to supply the SATA drive (where the OS is) and another 5 V for the USB audio bridge.

That's very similar to my configuration.  My CPU is i7-6700K (91W TDP).  Your 2700X is 105W TDP.  I'm also using the two adjustable rails ... 12V into a Startech USB card and 7.5V into an Uptone Audio ISO REGEN.  Obviously the 19V is carrying most of the load, the load on the adjustable rails is very light.

 

You said it started smoking shortly after you turned off your PC.  Had you just been listening to music, or were you doing something CPU intensive?

 

I use a ZeroSurge on my office system where I run this configuration.

[Chopin75]

3 minutes ago, rickca said:

That's very similar to my configuration.  My CPU is i7-6700K (91W TDP).  Your 2700X is 105W TDP.  I'm also using the two adjustable rails ... 12V into a Startech USB card and 7.5V into an Uptone Audio ISO REGEN.  Obviously the 19V is carrying most of the load, the load on the adjustable rails is very light.

 

You said it started smoking shortly after you turned off your PC.  Had you just been listening to music, or were you doing something CPU intensive?

 

I use a ZeroSurge on my office system where I run this configuration.

No, I was not doing anything intensive such as PCM-->DSD256 or uploading files at same time, was just playing 24/96 native 2-ch, not using HQplayer. Though I did nor check if the PC OR LPS was really hot before the meltdown. I think the LPS was rather hot but it is usually quite hot anyway,