Advice on powering JCAT USB card

[al2813]

I bought earlier this year an audio PC for a pretty good price. The sound however was not top and as I got more advice (new to this stuff) and asked more questions I pin pointed the power supply as the culprit. The PC maker used a home-brew internal linear power supply using cheap components. Over the Christmas break I built a NUC fanless box and got a 19v Teradak LPS to start with. I was already surprised - my NUC with standard USB out already sounded better than the other PC with a dedicated JCAT card. 

 

Today I realised I can connect the Teradak to the other PC. The Mobo had a DC in rated at 12-36V. Plugged out the wires from the internal Power supply and connected the DC in from the Teradak. The impact on SQ was no less than dramatic. massive improvement. 

 

At the moment the JCAT is still powered from the second 5V rail of the old LPS. I can get a cable on Saturday and power the JCAT from the motherboard. Do you think it's worth while trying? 

 

 

 

 

[Hauser]

Hi,

 

Probably not.  The J Cat card will give its best performance using a dedicated LPS.  Powering anything from the motherboard will be inferior.  The motherboard uses buck converters to get the voltages it needs creating noise.

 

Martin