Installed the UpTone JS-2 LPS Today WOW!

[sdube]

So, finally have Mac Mini (late 2012) connected to the JS-2 -- the Regen was connected to it earlier -- and I am very happy with the improvements. Thank you AC and JS. Just one question: Is there anything like a break-in for the Regen and JS-2? (Surely not for a new, tricked-out Mac Mini?)

[Elberoth]

I decided to take the plunge and bought one myself. It looks so nice I could not resist. Should have it here in about 3 more weeks. I'm gonna use it to power both of my Regens (Amber and Green).

[[email protected]]

Does anyone have the manual for the JS2? I just received mine today with no manual to how to select output?

 

Have the cables for both the regen, also got, and the Mac Mini but do not know what to set the dials at the back for each device.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Bob

[baddog]

@Bob -

 

I have a JS-2 and a Mac Mini and Regen, here is what I do.

 

DC-2 Output for Mac Mini - 12V position. (Blue Switch)

 

For the other output for the Regen you can set it to either 7V or 9V - should not be a difference between the two.

 

Let me know if that helps.

 

Barr

[baddog]

p.s. Do you have the MMK kit as well? If yes, then I have the little black switch set to "Sense Set"

 

[sdube]

@Bob -

 

I have a JS-2 and a Mac Mini and Regen, here is what I do.

 

DC-2 Output for Mac Mini - 12V position. (Blue Switch)

 

For the other output for the Regen you can set it to either 7V or 9V - should not be a difference between the two.

 

Let me know if that helps.

 

Barr

Since it is two Regens 9v. Otherwise, +1

[geoffb]

Just installed mine, really a step up from my prior LPS, super detailed soundstage, smooth. Thanks Alex ! Really good.

The MMK fan control board also made a huge difference.

[sandyk]

The MMK fan control board also made a huge difference.

 

Non Mac Mini users need fan control boards too ! (HINT)

[Superdad]

Hi everyone. JS-2 continue to move as fast as we can build them (which admittedly isn't very fast, about 15 every three weeks), and sometimes a batch has so many going to one country that I scratch my head and wonder what is going on.

Last month it was France, but this month 7 of the 10 international bound units (see below pic of international; the 5 domestic units of the batch left yesterday) are heading down under--6 to Australia and 1 to New Zealand.

 

Another popular destination is Singapore. And one of these today is headed to the Czech Republic (even the heavily discounted FedEx "Great Rate" program we use could not keep the freight on that one from breaking $200; Most every other country we just charge $95 for super-fast, insured FedEx Priority).

 

Hard work but good times. Thanks all…

 

--Alex C.

 

[jumper]

Would it be possible to ask where the JS-2 would stand in comparison to the new 'mystery' PSU if say I was looking to power 2 low power devices (DAC and MicroRendu)? I know that details are forthcoming about the 'mystery' PSU but is the JS-2 still meant to be king of the hill? Sorry if I'm jumping ahead with this question (again, in regards to info about the mystery unit).

[Superdad]

Would it be possible to ask where the JS-2 would stand in comparison to the new 'mystery' PSU if say I was looking to power 2 low power devices (DAC and MicroRendu)? I know that details are forthcoming about the 'mystery' PSU but is the JS-2 still meant to be king of the hill? Sorry if I'm jumping ahead with this question (again, in regards to info about the mystery unit).

 

Well the new supply will be just 1A at 3.3v, 5V, or 7V (user switch-selectable of course), so while it will be wonderful with the microRendu, the REGEN, Squeezebox Touch, SSDs, and small DACs, you would likely need one for each device. What DAC are you looking to power?

 

The JS-2 can output continuous 5A @5V and 7A @12V--or combinations in between when using both of its outputs, so it really is a different and more powerful beast.

 

My partner John Swenson shared--at the bottom of the JS-2 web page--some details regarding the technical design of the JS-2 in comparison to other approaches. (JS-2 Linear Power Supply – UpTone Audio)

 

In addition to those, and aside from the feature differences such as user-selectable output and mains voltages, quiet R-core transformer, and beautiful casework and highest quality cable and packing system, I would like to point out a couple of VERY important and entirely unique aspects to the design which I often forget to mention and which prove that there are NO linear power supplies on the market which are similar in circuit function to the JS-2.

 

Our choke-filtered design has many advantages--and the results are measurable and audible.

1) The JS-2's DC output ground is entirely isolated from the AC mains and chassis ground (though our transformer and chassis are grounded to the AC mains for safety). With any other LPS, if you put a continuity meter to the DC output ground and the mains wall ground you will get a "beep." So other supplies are giving a path for noise--and for ground loops. We go to a lot of trouble to isolate the output ground.

 

2) All other power supplies in this market--both SMPS and LPS--kick noise spikes back into the AC mains. Yes, LPS units do it to as their diode bridges are not conducting over the entire AC waveform (only about 50% of time), so they put harmonics back into the line. With the JS-2's choke-filtered design, we are drawing current from the entire waveform (98%). Thus we are the ONLY POWER FACTOR CORRECTED LINEAR POWER SUPPLY ON THE MARKET. Thus we do not kick ANY harmonics back into the AC mains. This is a very big deal.

 

 

Coming back to your question about the JS-2 versus our small but radical forthcoming new supply: If you meant which one will sound better with a microRendu or a small DAC, then I'll have to get back to you on that as we have neither finished measurement benchmarks nor done a fair comparison between them under real world conditions.

[jumper]

Well the new supply will be just 1A at 3.3v, 5V, or 7V (user switch-selectable of course), so while it will be wonderful with the microRendu, the REGEN, Squeezebox Touch, SSDs, and small DACs, you would likely need one for each device. What DAC are you looking to power?

 

The JS-2 can output continuous 5A @5V and 7A @12V--or combinations in between when using both of its outputs, so it really is a different and more powerful beast.

 

My partner John Swenson shared--at the bottom of the JS-2 web page--some details regarding the technical design of the JS-2 in comparison to other approaches. (JS-2 Linear Power Supply – UpTone Audio)

 

In addition to those, and aside from the feature differences such as user-selectable output and mains voltages, quiet R-core transformer, and beautiful casework and highest quality cable and packing system, I would like to point out a couple of VERY important and entirely unique aspects to the design which I often forget to mention and which prove that there are NO linear power supplies on the market which are similar in circuit function to the JS-2.

 

Our choke-filtered design has many advantages--and the results are measurable and audible.

1) The JS-2's DC output ground is entirely isolated from the AC mains and chassis ground (though our transformer and chassis are grounded to the AC mains for safety). With any other LPS, if you put a continuity meter to the DC output ground and the mains wall ground you will get a "beep." So other supplies are giving a path for noise--and for ground loops. We go to a lot of trouble to isolate the output ground.

 

2) All other power supplies in this market--both SMPS and LPS--kick noise spikes back into the AC mains. Yes, LPS units do it to as their diode bridges are not conducting over the entire AC waveform (only about 50% of time), so they put harmonics back into the line. With the JS-2's choke-filtered design, we are drawing current from the entire waveform (98%). Thus we are the ONLY POWER FACTOR CORRECTED LINEAR POWER SUPPLY ON THE MARKET. Thus we do not kick ANY harmonics back into the AC mains. This is a very big deal.

 

 

Coming back to your question about the JS-2 versus our small but radical forthcoming new supply: If you meant which one will sound better with a microRendu or a small DAC, then I'll have to get back to you on that as we have neither finished measurement benchmarks nor done a fair comparison between them under real world conditions.

 

Thanks Alex, yours and John's availability on this forum is really great - thanks for your info. I'm taking a hard look at a previously owned Bottlehead DAC. There is something about the synergy between these components that I find extremely appealing. I know the JS-2 is way overkill current-wise but I thought 1) JS-2 has two independent outputs, I have two components that need powering 2) the price of two really nice individual supplies might come close enough to the JS-2 price it would be justified 3) John and Jesus are using the JS-2 with these so that tells me something (I want to squeeze all the sound quality out of the DAC and MicroRendu that I can). I did send you a PM regarding my DAC aquisition but I understand you're a busy man

[wanta911]

@Bob -

 

I have a JS-2 and a Mac Mini and Regen, here is what I do.

 

DC-2 Output for Mac Mini - 12V position. (Blue Switch)

 

For the other output for the Regen you can set it to either 7V or 9V - should not be a difference between the two.

 

Let me know if that helps.

 

Barr

 

Barr,

 

I'm curious - have you tried the 12V output with your Auralic? (not sure if you have the Aries or Mini these days)

 

I have always been tempted to take the plunge on the JS-2 but it really isn't worth it unless I can power my Aries with it. I know jtwrace uses the JS-2 for his Aries but I was wondering if there were other impressions using the 12V in lieu of the 15/16V spec.

[baddog]

Barr,

 

I'm curious - have you tried the 12V output with your Auralic? (not sure if you have the Aries or Mini these days)

 

I have always been tempted to take the plunge on the JS-2 but it really isn't worth it unless I can power my Aries with it. I know jtwrace uses the JS-2 for his Aries but I was wondering if there were other impressions using the 12V in lieu of the 15/16V spec.

 

Hello. I have an Aries Mini these days so it is not a suitable candidate for the JS-2 which is unfortunate as I would love to try it with it. Jason is as far as I know the only one using it with the higher end Aries, though perhaps there are others. Given Jason replaced the linear power supply that came with the Aries with the JS-2 that is telling. Though perhaps he had other reasons as well.

 

Heck if you were not so far away I would lend you my JS-2 so you could try for yourself. Do you have the higher model Aries, if yes, do you have the one with the linear power supply? FWIW I found nothing lacking when using the higher end Aries with the supplied linear power supply.

 

Barr

[Superdad]

I have always been tempted to take the plunge on the JS-2 but it really isn't worth it unless I can power my Aries with it. I know jtwrace uses the JS-2 for his Aries but I was wondering if there were other impressions using the 12V in lieu of the 15/16V spec.

 

We have lots of Aries owners using a JS-2. Mr. Wang of Auralic himself blessed the use of a 12V supply. As is typical, he said that at 12V you just need a little more current capability from the supply.

That's why lots of laptops and other devices specify higher voltages: So the outboard PS units don't have to be as beefy or costly. There is no chips in any of this gear that uses even 12V. It all gets dropped down with regulators (linear ones if you are lucky) to 5V, 3.3V, 1.2V.

 

The robust JS-2 just laughs at the sort of loads most people throw at it with streamers and DACs. It is only when you get into full blown CAPS (computer audio music servers) with a bunch of drives do you then need to more carefully assess current demand. I routinely test JS-2 units on the bench at 7.4 amps(!)/12V. Barely gets warm as not much is dissipated/wasted. The cooker is continuos 5 amps at 5 volts--an hour at that is the burn-in routine!

[Superdad]

Hello. I have an Aries Mini these days so it is not a suitable candidate for the JS-2 which is unfortunate as I would love to try it with it. Jason is as far as I know the only one using it with the higher end Aries, though perhaps there are others. Given Jason replaced the linear power supply that came with the Aries with the JS-2 that is telling. Though perhaps he had other reasons as well.

 

Hi Barr:

 

Your JS-2 will power your Aries Mini just fine. Try it and see!

 

Best,

 

ALEX

[baddog]

@alex - That is good to hear, I was advised otherwise, so I will certainly give it a shot. One question, does that advise change if I have an internal drive in it as well? I can certainly loopback with Mr. Wang if you are unsure.

 

Barr

[wanta911]

Do you have the higher model Aries, if yes, do you have the one with the linear power supply? FWIW I found nothing lacking when using the higher end Aries with the supplied linear power supply.

 

Barr

 

Yep - I have the Femto Aries with the LPS. I have an HDPLEX 100w LPS with a 16V output in lieu of the 19V. When I first switched from the Auralic LPS to the HDPLEX I found it to be an upgrade as far as clarity goes but after quite a few months it became obvious that this clarity came with some harshness around the 2 to 5 kHz range. I have since switched back to the Auralic LPS and am enjoying it. What peaks my interest with the JS-2 is a thread on Stereonet where some hard core DIY server and power supply guys have made some comments including that the HDPLEX is prone to this sort of harshness due to the lack of a choke filter and that the JS-2 is the best off the shelf LPS available, with no sign of the issue with the HDPLEX. This might account for some of those sales to OZ

 

We have lots of Aries owners using a JS-2. Mr. Wang of Auralic himself blessed the use of a 12V supply. As is typical, he said that at 12V you just need a little more current capability from the supply.

That's why lots of laptops and other devices specify higher voltages: So the outboard PS units don't have to be as beefy or costly. There is no chips in any of this gear that uses even 12V. It all gets dropped down with regulators (linear ones if you are lucky) to 5V, 3.3V, 1.2V.

 

The robust JS-2 just laughs at the sort of loads most people throw at it with streamers and DACs. It is only when you get into full blown CAPS (computer audio music servers) with a bunch of drives do you then need to more carefully assess current demand. I routinely test JS-2 units on the bench at 7.4 amps(!)/12V. Barely gets warm as not much is dissipated/wasted. The cooker is continuos 5 amps at 5 volts--an hour at that is the burn-in routine!

 

Great! Just what I need to empty my wallet

 

@alex - That is good to hear, I was advised otherwise, so I will certainly give it a shot. One question, does that advise change if I have an internal drive in it as well? I can certainly loopback with Mr. Wang if you are unsure.

 

Barr

 

I'd be very interested in your impressions if you give it a go. What power supply do you use with the Mini now?

[jumper]

Alex - where are you guys on the JS2 production schedule? Is the lead time currently long for new orders?

[Superdad]

Alex - where are you guys on the JS2 production schedule? Is the lead time currently long for new orders?

 

Saw your e-mail from this morning about this. Just doing too many things at once today (I hate tax time!).

 

As you saw above, we just shipped a batch of 15 this week. But my assistant is already well into the next batch. Have not set an official date yet, but March 30th should be easy. Maybe sooner. Only about half of this reduced-size batch of 11 (all I have left of boards and chassis for the next 5-6 weeks) are already spoken for.

 

So jump on in, production is fine and so are these sweet power supplies.

 

[jumper]

Thanks, no worries - tax time is crazy. Just shoot me an email whenever you have free time. Thanks!

[jtwrace]

Hi Barr:

 

Your JS-2 will power your Aries Mini just fine. Try it and see!

 

Best,

 

ALEX

 

That's not true. It will power it but the MINI needs a minimum of 14vdc IIRC. The ARIES and ARIES LE is ok on 12Vdc but NOT the MINI. It will power it and it will work but the regulator will burn itself over time.

[jtwrace]

And just to backup my post above because I really am all about that data.

MINI Power Requirement

 

 

ARIES and ARIES LE Power Requirement

[Superdad]

That's not true. It will power it but the MINI needs a minimum of 14vdc IIRC. The ARIES and ARIES LE is ok on 12Vdc but NOT the MINI. It will power it and it will work but the regulator will burn itself over time.

 

Hi Jason:

 

Thanks for that info. I'll certainly accept that as Mr. Wang is always forthcoming. But what you say about regulator burn-out is a bit odd since the voltages used in the device are much lower, and stepping down from 12V creates less heat than dropping from 14V. Then again, the Aries mini uses at least 4 switching regulators and things can get weird with those. They might be both buck and boost regs.

 

That said, it would be just one tiny resistor change next to one of the JS-2 switch settings to give you a 14V output. Max current at that voltage would probably drop to about 3.5 to 4 amps, but that is plenty for the Aries mini requirement of 1.2A at 14V.

 

Ciao,

 

--Alex C.

[JohnSwenson]

Hi Jason:

 

Thanks for that info. I'll certainly accept that as Mr. Wang is always forthcoming. But what you say about regulator burn-out is a bit odd since the voltages used in the device are much lower, and stepping down from 12V creates less heat than dropping from 14V. Then again, the Aries mini uses at least 4 switching regulators and things can get weird with those. They might be both buck and boost regs.

 

That said, it would be just one tiny resistor change next to one of the JS-2 switch settings to give you a 14V output. Max current at that voltage would probably drop to about 3.5 to 4 amps, but that is plenty for the Aries mini requirement of 1.2A at 14V.

 

Ciao,

 

--Alex C.

 

The mini uses switching DC-DC regulators, so the input current will increase as the input voltage decreases. There are various tradeoffs when doing the design, one approach uses a high input voltage which means a low input current, which allows a cheaper lower current regulator chip. Or you can go with a lower voltage higher current chip, lower voltage usually means lower cost, but the higher current makes it more expensive. It seems the designer has gone for the higher voltage lower current chip.

 

The higher the current the more heat gets generated inside the chip, and these chips are usually very small with very small thermal interface (power pad), so the chip could easily get too hot as the voltage decreases, even though electrically it is fine.

 

John S.