Power supply for the miniBOSS player

[Nevsky]

Would there be any benefit to upgrading the power supply for my miniBOSS player?  Would either the Shanti or Nirvana make a noticeable difference to the sound quality?

[audiobomber]

I have a Raspberry Pi 3b+ that I've used with several different DAC's. The USB bus from the Raspberry is awful. When I connect to the Pi, I make sure that the DAC is disconnected from the Pi's 5V power. There are various ways to do this, depending on the DAC.

 

• The Audiolab 8200CD is powered internally, doesn't use 5V power, so I block the +5V pin on the USB cable.
• With the iFi iOne, I use a USB dual-head cable (two USB A, one USB B connector), and a separate power supply.
• With XTremPro X1, I use an iFi iDefender with a power supply connected.
• With the Schiit Modi 3, I use the Modi's optional power supply, which disconnects the USB 5V feed. 

 

I tried feeding the Raspberry Pi from an iPower 5V SMPS instead of the freebie wall wart, and heard no difference in sound quality. I find the same thing with my Dell Inspiron Laptop. The Dell also has crappy USB power, but it sounds the same whether plugged into the wall or running on battery. 

 

I hesitated to reply to your question because I don't know whether your player allows you to power the DAC section separately. If it does, that is the route I would suggest rather than spending money to power the Pi section. Every DAC I've owned that could use an outboard power supply has benefitted from an upgrade. By far the best bang for buck PSU I've found is from Zero-Zone, which sounds better than the iFi iPower and only costs a few dollars more.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Finished-Zerozone-50VA-DC-LT1083-HIFI-Linear-Power-supply-50W-audio-PSU/324187931676?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649