Knownothing2

bobbed, you just need to try it for yourself, rent some cables for "The Cable Co." and see if they do anything for you. Wilderness - I just added some new IC's and speaker cables to my office system which made a surprisingly large and positive improvement to the overall sound, perhaps because there is a lot of EMF garbage in office environments that is now being mitigated. I will try w/out the Dragontail to see if I get same result as you. kn2

So being the opportunist that I am, I took advantage of the recent Brexit currency disruption to pull trigger on MCRU power supply for the irDAC. I ordered with all possible built-in upgrades including silver DC supply cable, Furutech rhodium fuse and IEC connector. I did not initially opt for recommended IsoTek EVO3 Premier AC power cable, but after doing some research I took advantage of the 30% package discount and ordered the AC cable after the fact. The new power supply arrived with stock 18AWG AC supply cable and I started to burn it in immediately. The EVO3 cable arrived about 2 weeks later. I describe sound with stock AC cable and then with the EVO3. I had recently done some cleaning up of power delivery in my system and added a Shunyata Venom Defender to my Wiremold power strip for source components including the irDAC, while I plugged my Arcam receiver and B&W sub directly to my dedicated medical grade wall outlets and 20 amp line. Configured this way the irDAC was sounding pretty good with stock supply. Straight out of the shipping box the new MCRU supply had more bass, more detail and broader soundstage, better timing, but also sounded a bit shouty in the treble and upper midrange compared with the stock supply. The overall sound improved over breakin and at 200 hours the irDAC with the MCRU power supply sounded clearly better than the stock Arcam SMPS, added to the improvements described above the shouting subsided, the treble smoothed out and the music just flowed better than it ever has. The treble was a little recessed, but the sound was very engaging nevertheless. Replacing the stock AC supply cable with the IsoTek EVO3 Premier when it arrived was a shocking experience (figuratively). The total volume seemed to jump up a couple of decibels, and the top octive and a half immediately opened up by what sounded like 3-5 decibels, like the stock AC cable was operating as some kind of choke. Cymbals, wow! Dynamics, timing and PRAT in general improved. With the EVO3 cable inline the detail again advanced as did soundstage definition and perception of decay (although was some of this an artifact of greater treble energy?) At first midrange seemed to recede a bit with the advance of both treble and bass. Over time the treble and bass have pulled back into relative balance, but the presentation remains "lively". Tone has always been a strength of the irDAC. With the new MCRU power supply and IsoTek EVO3 Premier AC cable, spatial resolution and clarity are clearly up a notch, and timing and listener involvement have leapt ahead. Money well spent.

I know it is pretty lame to quote myself, but after reading some of the other posts later on in the thread, I stand by this statement but with an added observation. I think the Jitterbug may benefit systems with less than fully optimized computer servers like the one where I am using it. For my office based system I am using a multi duty Dell laptop/Dragonfly front end, modest AE desktop amp, Boston speakers with the ruthlessly revealing VR tweeters and PSB sub and modest cables. In this system the Jitterbug provides a distinct overall sonic advantage for a small investment. For someone using either a highly modded single function computer or a high end music server with a DAC that has very good USB implementation and jitter rejection built in, the Jitterbug may not bring the right sauce.

Ok, update on Anker with irDAC. Not as good as the stock power supply in my system. Sound: Less bass energy, some noise in the higher frequencies with battery inline. I have a dedicated 20A breaker and 10AWG AC supply line to hospital grade outlet, and a decent Wiremold power strip fitted with a Shunyata Venom Defender, so the power to/from the switching supply may be pretty clean, limiting noise to that generated by the SPS, and maybe even less. I am skeptical of the current supply from the Anker, given how fast the irDAC drained it (see below). Operation: Battery did not like being plugged into its power supply and the irDAC all the time to keep it charged. When unplugging battery from its supply when I wanted to play music, the battery would freeze, requiring me to power down the dac and reset the battery. Not good for me cause I like to keep dac warm between listening sessions, and this was a hassle. Current draw on battery from resting but powered up irDAC drained battery in <36hrs, so had to keep battery plugged in (but see problem above). This not the solution for me. Next onto dedicated linear power supply, but which one? Several quality options out there.

Thanks for your post. I just got one of these Anker batteries and am trying it out with my Arcam irDAC. First impression is that it sounds good, at least as good as the stock SPS. The sound with the battery powering the dac also seemed to improve over the first few hours of listening, will give it some time before final judgement on sound quality. One issue right away is battery life of the Anker with the irDAC. Three albums of listening and I am at about 50%. Resting draw with the dac powered up looks to be about about 24-36 hours or maybe a bit more. The lights on the dac must draw some power, and who knows what other draw is occurring, but the dac never gets even warm to touch. I am one to leave my system on 24/7 to reduce warm up time with busy schedule. Would like to leave the battery plugged into its power supply all the time I am not actively listening to keep it charged and the dac powered up, but wondering if this could harm either unit, present a fire hazard, or reduce useful battery life? I read in the user manual for the battery that it has some sophisticated power management circuits, so would hope this is not an issue. Interestingly, I did a quick comparison of sound with Anker battery connected (charging) and unconnected from its power supply and had a difficult time hearing a clear difference through the irDAC.

This may seem like heresy or a step back to some, but have you tried the Arcam irDAC? It's not too shinny on top and not overly powerful on the bottom end, but it has great clarity, nice midrange and good pace when called for. Not Hifi like "wow!" But very musical just the same. Good power management all the way upstream to the outlet and breaker box is well rewarded, even (or especially when) using the stock switching power supply.

Maybe I need to try Jitterbug with irDAC now that it has burned in other system for a few weeks. It was pretty close to fresh out of the box when I first gave it a whirl with the irDAC. Also did not try in empty USB port on Dell as opposed to inline with Pangea USB AG cable.

Mulberry, are you using the iFi with an irDAC? I tried an Audioquest Jitterbug with my irDAC and took it out. Unadulterated USB implementation on Arcam is best I have heard yet in my system. Jitterbug monkeyed with sound, especially upper bass-lower midrange. Some good things, but not enough. In contrast, the Jitterbug made a big improvement in my office system with Dragonfly DAC, like they were meant for each other... Curious what effect iFi or REGEN would have on sound of irDAC.

I received a Jitterbug a few weeks ago. Right out of the box it clearly changed the sound of my office system for the better (Western Digital 1TB external HD, Dell Latitude, Windows7, JRiver 21, JB, Dragontail USB lead, Dragonfly v1.2). Immediately there was a reduction in edginess with better tonality. The trade off was slightly less drive, snap and brilliance and a bit of "plastic-y" tone in the lower midrange and upper bass. I tried it still fairly "green" in my home system (same computer, JB, Pangea USB AG, Arcam IrDAC). In this system it shifted the tonal balance by making the highs emerge from a darker background with perhaps a bit better overall spatial resolution. But. The weird tonky upper bass was much worse here, to the point I took it out fairly quickly. I don't know if the Jitterbug needed additional burn in, or there is some fundamental incompatibility with the irDAC, which has a very good USB implementation. I will try again later. I ran the Jitterbug for over a week back in the office system with the Dragonfly, and experimented with it before, after, and without the Dragontail lead. For some reason I found it sounds best in this order: USBport > Dragontail > Jitterbug > Dragonfly. Now I find the Jitterbug is really making a huge difference for the better here. Used with the Dragonfly, the JB lowers the overall tonal signature, less urgent, a lot smoother, better defined soundstage. Taking the JB out returns system to overall sound signature that is more exciting, but more fatiguing, more like a horn based PA system. I put the JB back in where it is going to stay. Will try additional JB in empty USB port on the Dell to see if this improves sound further. Clearly the Jitterbug was designed to enhance the performance of the AQ Dragonfly, and it does.

Thanks, is there a reason you chose that PS over others available?

I recently purchased an Arcam irdac which I think sounds very good in my system. I am looking to improve it's performance further by replacing cheap switching power supply with an aftermarket linear supply. Looking for opinions/advice. There are positive reviews on various sites for Teddy Pardo Linear PS, Main Cables R Us advertises their irdac solution extensively on eBay, Custom Hifi Cables makes an interesting looking 12VAC unit, and Paul Hynes who designed the regulator for the Empirical Audio Overdrive SE makes a stand alone power supply for the irdac as well. I have also been approached by a vendor for Best of Two Worlds Power and Precision - ECO linear supply system (built by Sbooster). All are in the same ball park in terms of cost (~$400 USD delivered), and all have champions on the Internet forums. One further consideration. Teddy Pardo claims that his supplies are super quiet. I find this compelling, but am thinking that current deliver may be just as or more important for DAC audio performance. In terms of a linear supply to improve performance of my irdac, do you have experience with it or upgrading it to a linear supply and a specific recommendation? I have a dedicated 10 gauge AC supply line on it's own breaker with good outlet In residential neighborhood, so power to system is decent.