AudioBang

Antipodes Audio speaks of the necessity for a "fast" power supply for digital circuits. Having done their factory LPS to hybrid LPS/SMPS power supply upgrade to my server and player, there was a distinct sound quality improvement. I now only wish I spend half the money and replaced the LPS in the Antipodes with the Hypsos myself. My second data point for buying the Hypsos was John Swenson's forum on DIY DC Cables where he explains that rapidly changing load current in digital circuits changes the voltage via inductance in the DC cable. My Audio GD DAC uses a power regenerator to feed three smaller transformers dedicated to Left, Right and Digital. I connected the Hypsos to the 5V input of the digital section of my Audio GD R8HE DAC and heard similar improvements that I got from the Antipodes upgrade. After engaging the 4TST voltage sensing feature, Anne Sophie Mutter's violin opened up whereas prior to the Hypsos, the harmonics, especially in the upper register, sounded bottlenecked. Heavy rock music even sounds more spacial, better defined and natural.

Balanced Interconnects and JSSG - another data point from today's experiment.... https://www.stereophile.com/cables/407jps/index.html I found the cable shield overview from this 2007 cable review fascinating so years ago I actually constructed AC, I/C and Speaker cables using plastic washer drain hose for the I/Cs and shop vac hose for AC and speaker, filled them with copper shot and drained the tonnage of shield to source ground[s]. No difference. Having experimented with JSSG, it appears that I may now know why. But the review does raise the question pertaining to the degree that shield thickness makes a difference done with JSSG. The Experiment: I had some Analysis Plus balanced cable laying around that uses a thick copper shield that doubles as the ground wired to pin 1 on both ends. So I disconnected the shield from Pin 1 and added an insulated wire to reconnect to pin 1 [ground] at each end and a second wire to connect the ends of the now isolated shield and ran them outside of the cable [shield] [I had no choice for the new pin 1 ground wire]. These make-shift 6' I/Cs were run between the preamp and mono power amps which are powered off separate dedicated AC lines. There was a clear and distinct difference to the treble which snapped into a more precise focus, like upgrading a clock source. The cable manufacturer in the review offers that shields act like antennas picking up airborne noise and re radiate that noise back into the signal conductors. I wouldn't know but is seems to make sense. My system is currently interconnected using Krell's CAST current mode signal transfer with balanced solid silver cable with uninsulated wire ground touching the foil shield which for me sounded better than any of the balanced XLR interconnects I have tried. I don't know the criticality of running the pin 1 ground wire within the shield but now onto finding a quality balanced cable with a third insulated conductor within the shield...

The topic of AC Cable shielding does open a lot of questions and I did not mean to over simplify the topic in sharing my above findings. While I did convert the shielding on cable[s] one application or box at a time and then listened, where I heard an incremental improvement at each step, I did not account for say, whether on the amps and preamps, if no shield at all would have produced the same result. So many variables, so little time... and off topic of "DIY DC Power Cables". This has been a great thread and thanks to JS and everyone for sharing their experiences.

Inspired having just reading this topic, I reconfigured my (12) DIY AC power cords yesterday by opening the shield grounded at the wall plug and connecting an 18AWG wire external to each end of the [now] floating shield. The results were positive in all categories from bass weight and definition just hearing more information everywhere. One category is how out-of-phase sound staging information is rendered with additional clarity, weight and specificity. One recording I use is Led Zeppelin's remastered "Since I've Been Loving You" where the kick drum comes out the phantom center channel and the rest of the kit is spaced out of phase to the right from 0 to ~45 degrees. The weight of the kick drum as well as its timbre is easily more discernible. My cables are Furutech 12AWG FPS3032N cable [unfortunately not-Star Quad] mated to Cardas E5 connectors with shielded shells. Source: Router>TP-Link MC100CM Fiber Rptr>Antipodes CX Server>TP-Link MC100CM Fiber Rptr>(3) Uptone EtherRegens*>Antipodes EX Player>Phoenix USB Regen>SingXer SU-2 DDI*>IIS>Audio GD R8HE DAC>ACSS>Krell Antipodes S60 PS>EtherRegens - Ferrum Hypsos PS>SingXer SU-2* - Mutec Ref10 SE120 10Mhz>EtherRegens, SU-2 DDI, R8HE Amplification: Krell Evolution II preamps via CAST, Krell Evolution I Amps Dunlavy SC VI with rebuilt crossovers - Duelund Cast caps and inductors, ISOAcoustics feet AC Power: 240VAC via (2) 3AWG [Amps], 6AWG to front-end, Purple SR fuses and UEF Dots, Bybee Gold Purifiers

Pertaining to Orange Fuses: Does anyone have experience with dual-fuse IEC inlets where a second Orange Fuse was inserted after listening to just one? I haven't found any information on SRs website or any forums or reviews pertaining to multiple fuses in line on the same circuit.

This is a fabulous article written from the standpoint of passion and extreme intellectual curiosity. I love it! Current delivery and noise are areas I too have experimented with on my dedicated audio circuits 60' back to my service panel. My first experience was converting a Krell amplifier from 120V to 240V which delivered an unmistakable sense of ease and accuracy. Then I changed about 45' of the accessible 60' feeds from 10AWG to 6AWG and experienced a similar jump in performance. Now I have two dedicated 3AWG equivalent feeds to the Krell mono blocks which delivered a smaller jump in improvement compared to going from 10AWG to 6AWG originally. I like to use Bybee V2 QSEs sitting at the AC cable entry. After about 20 minutes you can hear them affecting the phase of the music in a very "right" way before they settle in 24 hours later. I wish I could assertively explain what they were doing but I'd be just shuffling their marketing platitudes [as explained to me] back at you. Another tool I like to use are the Bybee Gold purifiers after the bridge rectifiers or after the final regulator on whatever I can put them on. - Antipodes CX/EX, Innuos Phoenix USB Regen, DAC, preamp etc. It's amazing to me how much 70s rock plays back with a 180 degree sound field. The expanded soundstage breathes new life into Who's Next and Close To The Edge by Yes. That you are now hearing a 360 degree sound field is really inspiring to me! On the opening guitar part[s] on Siberian Khatru [Close To The Edge] - I believe there are four differently positioned guitars from 180 degrees left to 180 degrees right. I'm still working on un smearing them in terms of their transients and image specificity. I'm sure your Taiko server is providing a huge advantage here. Can you comment on whether a jump from 180 degrees to 360 degrees soundfield will be possible on most material if one is already at the 180 degree soundfield? Thank you again for this fine review and your passion! Rich M

https://doge.audio/product/doge-7-tube-dac/ Another China Dac.... Q&A approach to product/company description mirrors [copies] Schiit.

Not a problem my friend! A valid post on your end.

I have been following this thread with a measure of exuberance as I have been contemplating a new DAC. Prior to considering the Wavedream, I had the Playback Designs MPD-8, then the Tambaqui and possibly even the BAT REX DAC [which runs the Playback Designs algorithm] on my short list. Saleh84 - Thanks for your posts. Your level of satisfaction and discovery makes them fun to read. Having experienced the Wavedream DAC and then the NET Server, is there a way to generally quantify your level of satisfaction between the step up with the Wavedream DAC vs. the step up with the Wavedream NET source?

From my experience, I think VerdantAudio is spot on. My first Server as a source was an Antipodes DX 2. From memory and shooting from the hip, I'd say it was a 30% jump in SQ over my Krell 505 transport. Upgrading to the DX 3 and switching from SqueezeBox to Roon was another 25% improvement over the DX 2. I was getting outstanding imaging on certain source material but un-listenable glare and blur on certain instruments... Anna Netrebko's powerful vibrato... I'm not an opera listener but once I hone in on certain source material/frequencies that bring my system to its knees, I keep referencing back to it for neutrality check after system tweaks. I then tried a discontinued Auralic Renderer and again, another 20% SQ jump. I then upgraded to the Antipodes CX/EX and SQ jumped another 50% over the DX 3 - but the halo of glare around Anna Netrebko's vibrato remained just as un-listenable. The common denominator was USB using WireWorld Platinum Starlight 8. I've also converted USB from the renderer to i2S using the Singxer SU-6 and then the SU-2 but these were only very minor improvements. I did try a few USB Regens early on but only got minor incremental improvements. After reading Austinpop's Innuos Phoenix review I pulled the trigger and right from cold out of the box the SQ improved by 500%. The halo of glare around Anna Netrebko's voice was 90% reduced. 500% sounds like BS, but that's how I call it. Getting a pair of EtherRegens on Wednesday. I suspect that will also be positive.

Subject: Better clock on USB When I had the original Uptone Audio USB regen I read the positive posts about users modding the regen with the NewClassD oscillator. There was much skepticism to the post coming from all sides - especially considering the lead length required from external mounting of the larger board. Given the NewClass D was $479 I got lucky to find a few 24Mhz TCXOs on the shelf at Connor Winfield for $25 a piece with phase Noise performance similar to the Crystec 575. The form factor was off by a few mm and hence it looked like a monster truck pulling a wheelie when soldered to the pads . The wheelie end was power and N/C But the improvement was in the listening - typical of a better clock: the image snapped into a clearer focus, better transients, better sense of ease.... On a murkier speculation, when I heard about Aurender using an OCXO in their N10 Music Server, Mark Jenkins of Antipodes Audio asserted that in his experiments with OCXO and TCXO, clock made no difference. Since the Antipodes DX2 integrated the server and renderer into one platform I was curious if HW-wise, whether there was a separate clock for the rendering function that could be improved. I suspect it was all integrated in SW but am not sure. I have since upgraded to the DX3. I have found austinpop's reviews and system component comparisons very useful. Thanks.

Almost a year later - have you heard anything on the BAT REX DAC? I saw a favorable review on the PBD Dream DAC from Steve Plaskin/DARKO and was wondering if BAT also implemented the PBD USB interface. Also, the PBD incorporates separate power supplies for left and right channels along with separate digital supply. I see there are three torroids in the BAT - I suspect the small blue one for digital, but I don't know about the two bigger torroids - is one for the tubes and the other for both L&R analog? Would have preferred separate EI core transformers for both the digital and L&R analog. No reviews that I can find and the BAT material is minimal.

If anyone is willing to travel to the central Connecticut area I'd be happy to talk/listen audio for an hour or two . Bring your own DAC if you want. I think it could be a great experience to meet and share... Krell Evolution I mono amps - custom noise absorbing power feeds and DC Blockers, Gold Bybees on load side of power bridge rectifier Krell Evolution II Dual mono preamps with EI-core Ultra-ISO transformers [J&K Audio-Singapore] replacing the factory torroids Dunalvy VI with rebuilt crossovers using Duelund CAST and RF filters across each driver Antipodes DX3 Music Server Vega Dac with separate EI-core Ultra ISO transformers [J&K Audio] replacing stock torroid, SIC Schottky diodes, Pulsar clock replacing Crystek CCHD-575 [elevated about 5mm from same circuit board pads], Sparkos regs Assemblage DAC powered from batteries w/Matrix USB SPDIF 2 and Uptone ISO regen (battery powered) 240VAC dedicated 10AWG lines to amps and front end - silver contact pasted on all connections back to the main breaker 240 to 120V balanced EI-core Ultra-ISO trans [J&K Audio] to each component before amps Analysis plus Silver Apex Balanced interconnects - pin 1 open at receive ends, grounded through Gold Bybee Filter at source ends Analysis Plus Big Silver Oval speaker cable TP Link Ethernet to Antipodes fiber optically isolated from main router and powered from dedicated balanced EI core transformer. Rich M Avon, CT

BTW, thanks [Barrows] for the GWord PDF. I see Whitlock's Pin 1 problem was referenced in the paper. When I spoke to Whitlock over the phone, I didn't get that we were talking the same language in terms of his use of the word "hum and noise" vs. the result I was after which was eliminating the gray haze that, until its gone, you never knew was there obstructing the detail, calm and ease and openness of the presentation. According to JPS Labs' Joe Scuba, "the interconnect is where everything goes wrong". I've been screwing with this "hit or miss -style" for a few years now. It was the Tara grounding box description that had me take the final step of draining the shield at the source end through the Bybee. Rather than alter my relatively new Analysis Plus interconnects, which came highly recommended by MSB, I altered my cheap Assemblage DAC by combining both channels' Pin 1 to a single Bybee going to ground inside the chassis. For my balanced digital cables, I used a $8 Hosa ground lifter and drilled small holes to insert ground leads to a Bybee Gold as the absorber. I used this on two different Balanced Digital Cables with very positive result. Not sure if I want to rattle the cage yet with power cord discoveries....

I am reporting actual listening experiences so despite specs and what I read, if the experience isn't there I wouldn't be reporting it. Putting a battery on the clock circuit of my Wadia 27ix years ago produced a very desirable improvement. My original post described a definite improvement substituting the Pulsar for the Crystek 575 in the Vega Dac. My opinion regarding that experience was that it did not reflect 20X the cost of a $25 Crystek. After altering the shield grounding in my system, the level of resolution was indescribable. I had no idea what I had been missing all these years. And under that context, the imaging/soundstaging improvements were much less discernible before the said shield grounding change. According to Jensen's Bill Whitlock, noise being induced from a shield to the balanced signal carrying conductors is not induced equally. And that is the problem He even goes on to describe how the different color dyes in the + and - signal insulation affect the dielectric properties of the cable. His view is that the cable needs to do its job delivering identical noise on each balanced conductor so that the diff amp can do its job. I guess anyone can say anything and this is just his view. But the experience is undeniable.