UltraCap™ LPS-1 launch thread!

[Superdad]

Alex, he said he was using the Mean well supply.

 

Okay, well that settles it--his particular SSD is drawing over 1.1A during heavy read/write sessions.

 

Also, I just looked at the Samsung spec page for his 4TB SSD, and it says average draw is 3.6W and max is 5.6W in burst mode. That burst mode consumption is just enough to put it over the LPS-1's limit.

 

Honestly, the vast majority of SSD's consume well under what Roy's 4TB monster does. Heck, I have big spinning hard drives that consume less!

[austinpop]

Okay, well that settles it--his particular SSD is drawing over 1.1A during heavy read/write sessions.

 

Also, I just looked at the Samsung spec page for his 4TB SSD, and it says average draw is 3.6W and max is 5.6W in burst mode. That burst mode consumption is just enough to put it over the LPS-1's limit.

 

Honestly, the vast majority of SSD's consume well under what Roy's 4TB monster does. Heck, I have big spinning hard drives that consume less!

 

BTW - Alex, did I mention I got the dreaded red overload light too? It's not a show stopper, but thought I'd let you know.

 

It happened when I tried powering both my FMC and the microRendu with a Y-connector, and the LPS-1 set at 7V. I know people have reported that they've successfully powered the mR and FMC together. But perhaps this particular FMC - the MC200CM - draws just a tad more power?

 

The mR chain had:

 

mR > Intona > Vbus2 > RUR > Ayre Codex DAC

[Superdad]

BTW - Alex, did I mention I got the dreaded red overload light too? It's not a show stopper, but thought I'd let you know.

 

It happened when I tried powering both my FMC and the microRendu with a Y-connector, and the LPS-1 set at 7V. I know people have reported that they've successfully powered the mR and FMC together. But perhaps this particular FMC - the MC200CM - draws just a tad more power?

 

The mR chain had:

 

mR > Intona > Vbus2 > RUR > Ayre Codex DAC

 

Yes, well the Intona is drawing 180mA from the microRendu, so remember to add that to the maybe 200mA the microRendu is drawing, and then whatever the FMC draws. And maybe the Intona-powering microRendu is drawing a bit more. Can't know without setting that up am measuring. But I bet if you remove the Intona from the chain the LPS-1 will handle the spilt better. Not that you want to do that for sonics...

[lmitche]

BTW - Alex, did I mention I got the dreaded red overload light too? It's not a show stopper, but thought I'd let you know.

 

It happened when I tried powering both my FMC and the microRendu with a Y-connector, and the LPS-1 set at 7V. I know people have reported that they've successfully powered the mR and FMC together. But perhaps this particular FMC - the MC200CM - draws just a tad more power?

 

The mR chain had:

 

mR > Intona > Vbus2 > RUR > Ayre Codex DAC

Rajiv,

 

Maybe it's time to retire the FMCs. My advice is to get a Ethernet isolation transformer and be done with it. Simpler is better.

 

Larry

[austinpop]

Yes, well the Intona is drawing 180mA from the microRendu, so remember to add that to the maybe 200mA the microRendu is drawing, and then whatever the FMC draws. And maybe the Intona-powering microRendu is drawing a bit more. Can't know without setting that up am measuring. But I bet if you remove the Intona from the chain the LPS-1 will handle the spilt better. Not that you want to do that for sonics...

 

Hey Alex,

 

I should have made my intent clear. I completely accept your reasoning. I was simply offering up my experience so that if/when customers ask about using the LPS-1 to power both an FMC and an mR, you have another data point on which to base your answer.

[austinpop]

Rajiv,

 

Maybe it's time to retire the FMCs. My advice is to get a Ethernet isolation transformer and be done with it. Simpler is better.

 

Larry

 

Already done, Larry. I am now using the direct connection to bridged music server approach. My FMCs are sitting idle.

 

I am hoping to hear from others whether adding EMO or Etalon isolators helps the direct connection further, and if so, a comparison of the two.

[romaz]

I looked up the specs for the 4TB Samsung 850 EVO ... @romaz, you said 950 EVO but I'm pretty sure you mean 850 EVO, right?

 

Anyway, the 4TB version has the following specs. The note about actual power consumption is a bit of a mystery.

Active Reads: 3.7 W (max)

Active Writes: 4.4 W (max)

Idle: 0.5 W (max)

 

Note actual power consumption may vary depending on system hardware and configuration

 

 

Yes, my error. I meant 850 EVO.

[romaz]

Okay, well that settles it--his particular SSD is drawing over 1.1A during heavy read/write sessions.

 

Also, I just looked at the Samsung spec page for his 4TB SSD, and it says average draw is 3.6W and max is 5.6W in burst mode. That burst mode consumption is just enough to put it over the LPS-1's limit.

 

Honestly, the vast majority of SSD's consume well under what Roy's 4TB monster does. Heck, I have big spinning hard drives that consume less!

You're absolutely right! It's interesting how Samsung has spec sheets posted in different places that offer different values but on their website, it states a draw of up to 5.6w in burst mode and indeed, this is just beyond the LPS-1's stated limit. This is obviously what is happening.

[romaz]

Romaz, if you change the SSD for a 4 or 5 TB 2.5 inch hard disk you might be surprised with the SQ increase.

This certainly could be true as I haven't tested too many different SSDs against spinning hard drives but in my direct A/B of a Lacie Thunderbolt drive with stock Seagate 2.5in 500GB HD vs an equivalent Lacie Thunderbolt drive but with the stock HD replaced by a 1TB Samsung 850 Pro SSD, I could hear no difference at all which left me with the impression that it didn't matter. The only argument I came up with in going with an SSD over a hard drive was the absence of mechanical noise and the potential for better reliability.

[lmitche]

This certainly could be true as I haven't tested too many different SSDs against spinning hard drives but in my direct A/B of a Lacie Thunderbolt drive with stock Seagate 2.5in 500GB HD vs an equivalent Lacie Thunderbolt drive but with the stock HD replaced by a 1TB Samsung 850 Pro SSD, I could hear no difference at all which left me with the impression that it didn't matter. The only argument I came up with in going with an SSD over a hard drive was the absence of mechanical noise and the potential for better reliability.

You may want to give this SSD vs. HDD experiment another go, but with LPS-1 power and SATA rather than USB connections.

[SwissBear]

Hi Alex,

 

When announcing the LPS-1, you wrote: "That is cool, because over time (definitely NOT this year) we could readily scale the core tech of John's efforts to larger supplies, at higher voltages and higher currents."

 

Do you still have plans to make such a larger LPSU ?

 

Any plan to have a version with two different outputs, like an upgraded JS-2 ? I would love to use this to power a µ-rendu/SOtM sMS-200 on one output and a Mutec MC-3+ USB on the other output.

 

Thanks.

[Superdad]

Hi Alex,

 

When announcing the LPS-1, you wrote: "That is cool, because over time (definitely NOT this year) we could readily scale the core tech of John's efforts to larger supplies, at higher voltages and higher currents."

 

Do you still have plans to make such a larger LPSU ?

 

Any plan to have a version with two different outputs, like an upgraded JS-2 ? I would love to use this to power a µ-rendu/SOtM sMS-200 on one output and a Mutec MC-3+ USB on the other output.

 

Hi SwissBear:

 

Thanks for your question.

 

The short answer is: Definitely not in 2017.

 

We have sketched out/discussed two possibilities for higher current, multiple output UltraCap supplies.

Due to requirements for more and larger ultracaps, heatsinking for larger output devices, larger chassis, and even more serious "energizing"/charging current requirements, neither version would be cheap to build.

 

We have not run the numbers closely yet, but even a modest 3A version would end up over $1,000.

And to me, that current and price range seems like something of a no-man's land as far as use and marketability. To use your example, neither the Mutec nor the microRendu need current that high, and yet 2-3A is not enough to consider for larger computer or multirail powering.

 

So if we were to want to offer something in the range of the 5-7 amp JS-2 or larger, then we would go full out and offer 4 outputs, very wide voltage range, and truly high current. But I promise that would end up around $3K--and in a large chassis, with a lot of assembly labor. It would be a world-beater, and I've had a fair number of people tell me they would buy such a beast, but it would not be a volume product like the $395 UltraCap LPS-1.

 

Have a great weekend,

 

--Alex C.

[SwissBear]

Hi Alex,

 

Thanks for your answer

[koblongata]

Exactly, just like batteries. But you will have to make a custom pair of cables to do it. Obviously a standard DC "Y" cable is not going to connect the two supplies in series (+/-/+/-).

 

And to answer the logical next question: No, at this time we are not offering a pre-made "series" cable for pairing LPS-1s for higher voltage.

 

Cheers,

--Alex C.

 

How about connecting it in parallel? Is it possible too? Higher current can be desirable in some applications..

[Superdad]

How about connecting it in parallel? Is it possible too? Higher current can be desirable in some applications..

 

Sorry, but no, paralleling for greater current is only possible if I sit and select a pair of LPS-1 boards whose output voltages (at a give current and voltage setting) match to within 10mV (0.01V) of one another (and then one still needs to use exact same but separate long output cables to add series resistance to help balance load draw.

 

I have done it, but we are not offering that matching service.

[Tand]

I just made an order of a LPS-1 to my Rednet 16 project. Cant wait to get my hands on it 

[watercourse]

2 hours ago, Tand said:

I just made an order of a LPS-1 to my Rednet 16 project. Cant wait to get my hands on it 

 

Same here, LPS-1 ordered!

[Superdad]

THANKS GUYS!!  

[Tand]

On 4.4.2017 at 10:55 PM, Tand said:

I just made an order of a LPS-1 to my Rednet 16 project. Cant wait to get my hands on it 

 

Its on its way! Thanks Alex, that was fast! 

[watercourse]

Wow, way faster than expected!

[Tand]

On 6.4.2017 at 11:45 PM, Tand said:

 

Its on its way! Thanks Alex, that was fast! 

And received....! Thank you Alex. Perfect timing for Easter.  

 

By the way, my Rednet 16 sounds amazing now!

[koblongata]

41 minutes ago, Tand said:

And received....! Thank you Alex. Perfect timing for Easter.  

 

By the way, my Rednet 16 sounds amazing now!

Mind if I ask how you utilize your Rednet 16? I am intrigued..  

[Tand]

4 minutes ago, koblongata said:

Mind if I ask how you utilize your Rednet 16? I am intrigued..  

 

Hi

 

Wrote some words here. Please take a look  http://www.head-fi.org/t/781268/the-diyrs-cookbook/1035#post_13417165

[watercourse]

Mine arrived Saturday, blazingly fast... and I've been happily using it on my Regen ever since!