UltraCap™ LPS-1 Operation and Pre-purchase thread

[greenleo]

1 hour ago, Superdad said:

 

While it might work for a little while, why risk it?  Is the $15 you save by using some alternate charger (and is that 12V supply really up to the 1.5A that the LPS-1 WILL draw?) worth the chance of destruction of your LPS-1?

 

Inspection of the board will reveal if over-voltaging occurred--and such is NOT covered by our warranty.

Thanks Alex. Then I wouldn't do it.

 

My SMPS can output 5A.  The reason of intending to use it was not for saving money but not to waste.   It's a matter of mentality rather then monetary☺

[R1200CL]

Alex 

 

i know you're working hard on my special delivery. So I hopefully have given you a little extra back:

 

https://community.roonlabs.com/t/logitech-transporter-vs-sonore-microrendu/21957/15?u=r1200cl

 

Actually his description just so perfect. Maybe best LPS-1 review ever ??

 

I've always said Squeezebox Touch is close to a gemstone ?

It was maybe even ahead of its time. 

 

I've heard SBT with LPS-1 at my friend's house. It took 5 seconds. Jaw dropping.

[asdf1000]

Hi @JohnSwenson

 

I have two LPS-1's each powering Raspberry Pi's as Roon endpoints around my place. Both running the exact same software and hardware (Dietpi and HiFiBerry Digi+ Pro HAT's).

 

For one of the LPS-1's, when there's no music playing I can hear the cap banks switching, even from a few meters away.

 

For the other LPS-1, I can't hear any switching even with my ear inches from it. For this one, is it possible that the LPS-1 is outputting 5Vdc fine but it's no longer switching cap banks?

 

[JohnSwenson]

4 hours ago, Em2016 said:

Hi @JohnSwenson

 

I have two LPS-1's each powering Raspberry Pi's as Roon endpoints around my place. Both running the exact same software and hardware (Dietpi and HiFiBerry Digi+ Pro HAT's).

 

For one of the LPS-1's, when there's no music playing I can hear the cap banks switching, even from a few meters away.

 

For the other LPS-1, I can't hear any switching even with my ear inches from it. For this one, is it possible that the LPS-1 is outputting 5Vdc fine but it's no longer switching cap banks?

 

If the banks were not switching you would not get a sustained current from the output.

 

I have never heard the clicking that you are talking about, but then I have only been in the presence of two production models and 8 prototypes. Alex has been in the presence of hundreds of them and has only heard a couple times, so there is not a lot of experience with it and what causes it etc.

 

So I would say that if you have one that doesn't make any noise, that is the norm, don't worry about it.

 

John S.

[asdf1000]

8 minutes ago, JohnSwenson said:

So I would say that if you have one that doesn't make any noise, that is the norm, don't worry about it.

 

Thanks John. I'll worry less about the quiet one then and now worry more about the clicking/ticking/switching one 

 

That one is easily audible from meters away. Only with no music playing of course but you would definitely know it's on if you were blindfolded. And naturally, the more current being drawn, the more frequent the audible switching sound.

 

I always thought that was the normal one because I bought my first LPS-1 after reading about the Vinnie Rossi and that one initially had an audible switching noise (later it was silenced) so I thought that was normal all this time, even for the LPS-1.

 

 

 

[lmitche]

Hi all,

 

You should all know that Alex has been forced to evacuate his California home due to the forest fires nearby. We are unlikely to hear from him for a while.  Power and cell towers are offline in his area.

 

I know all of you, like me,  wish Alex, his family and his Uptone Audio employees best wishes for a safe and quick return to their homes.

 

Larry

[rickca]

I'm considering getting a bus-powered external enclosure for 2.5" drives and using it with something like the JCAT USB card FEMTO that has a 5V DC input jack.

 

My question is whether an LPS-1 would provide sufficient power for both the JCAT USB card and the external enclosure with a 2.5" WD Black 1 TB hard drive.  

 

Looks like the card itself needs maximum 0.5A.  The WD drive specs say average read/write power requirements 1.8W which is just 0.36A at 5V.  Problem is the specs also say 5VDC (+/- 10%) 1.1A peak.  Does anyone understand that?  

 

So does this mean an LPS-1 isn't going to be enough?

 

I'm thinking this through because I may use the same 2.5" drive/external enclosure with an Adnaco S3B rather than the JCAT card.  The power considerations are similar.  The Adnaco gives galvanic isolation with fiber, but doesn't have the femto clock of the JCAT USB card.

 

 

[lmitche]

Rick,

 

I can easily test running a 2.5 inch hdd through my Adnaco usb all powered by an lps-1. The peak power demand will come at startup of the hdd as it comes up to speed, if I can read and/or write you should be good to go.  I'll let you know the drive model number used in the test.

 

The Adnaco usb uses .35A at 5 volts same as the jcat.  No surprise as they are probably designed by the same guy at Adnaco.

 

Would that all be of help?

 

Larry

 

 

[lmitche]

Actually I just tried with an Acorn data usb 3 sata controller and a 750 gb Hitachi 2.5 inch hdd labeled as using 5volts at 700 ma.  The drive fires up and then the lps-1 light changes from green to red. Not good.

 

A 3.5 inch drive uses an external 12 volts for the disk motor and in a USB enclosure the sata controller can be powered via 5 volts vbus.  This is the configuration used here and I expect it will be stable with either the Adnaco or Jcat femto card.

[Superdad]

22 minutes ago, lmitche said:

Actually I just tried with an Acorn data usb 3 sata controller and a 750 gb Hitachi 2.5 inch hdd labeled as using 5volts at 700 ma.  The drive fires up and then the lps-1 light changes from green to red. Not good.

 

Well it might not be fair to be trying bus-power drives that are meant to be connected via USB 3.x connections.  The current draw limits for USB 3.x devices is MUCH higher than the 500mA USB 2.0 max. spec.

There really should not be any USB 2.0 bus-powered drive/enclosures that draw more than 500mA--unless it is the sort that comes with 2 cables, one that gets data and power from one host port, the other that just gets more 5VBUS power.  I have one of those in a drawer somewhere.

[rickca]

1 hour ago, Superdad said:

The current draw limits for USB 3.x devices is MUCH higher than the 500mA USB 2.0 max. spec.

I am definitely talking about a USB 3.0 enclosure for 2.5 inch SATA III drives.  Unlike the enclosures for 3.5 inch devices, these are designed to run on bus power and do not have external DC input jacks.  The 3.5 inch drives need 12V, but the 2.5 inch drives just use 5V.

 

The Adnaco S3B and JCAT USB Card Femto are both USB 3.0.  The question is how many amps does an LPS used with these devices need to supply to run a USB 3.0 enclosure with a 2.5 inch SATA III drive.  I suspect the LPS-1 may not make it.  It's a big jump to a VR Mini (2.5A continuous with 5A transient) but it would probably do the job.

 

@Superdad, I guess a JS-2 would work, right ... 5A continuous?

 

@lmitche, thanks for the experiment, I thought you were on vacation.

 

By going to a 2.5 inch drive, I'm trying to avoid needing a 5V LPS on the Adnaco/JCAT and a 12V LPS on a 3.5" enclosure and just use one 5V LPS for both the card and the drive/enclosure.

 

Matrix Audio has a relatively inexpensive X-Hi USB 3.0 PCIe card, but for some inexplicable reason it requires 9-12V DC input and obviously uses some switching regulators.

[Audiophile Neuroscience]

Hi to Alex, John and all,

I am to planning to purchase 3 x LPS-1's and a ISOREGEN and want to check if my plan to implement them is sound (no pun intended )

 

1) An LPS1 to power two internal 5V SSD's via a Y spliter cable ( I gather this will work fine)

 

2) An LPS1 to power the ISOREGEN

I gather it needs the 5V from usb VBUS on input, and 7V from LPS1 on output. All good.

Does ISOREGEN have the same 2.1mm x 5.5mm DC input jack as the REGEN?

 

3) An LPS1 to power a PPA usb card version 3.

This is a 5V card. My DAC does NOT need 5V supplied from the usb VBUS. I read somewhere that the OXCO module may need up to 5V/2A.However in correspondence with Paul Pang, if not powering a usb device, the V3 card uses 750mA when the oven is heating, then 200mA. So an LPS! should do the trick? Can anyone confirm they use an LPS1 with a PPA V3 ?

 

4) I was hoping to "energize" *all 3* LPS1's with one 12V rail from my JS2 LPSU via a DC splitter cable. I have a Dc to x4 splitter (couldnt find a x3 splitter). Ultimately I would like to use the other 12V rail to power a thin mini ITX MOBO. Can the JS2 handle all of this? What is the size of the DC input Jack on the LPS1?

Cheers and thanks!

David

 

 

[R1200CL]

57 minutes ago, Audiophile Neuroscience said:

Does ISOREGEN have the same 2.1mm x 5.5mm DC input jack as the REGEN?

 

Yes

 

57 minutes ago, Audiophile Neuroscience said:

What is the size of the DC input Jack on the LPS1?

 

2.1mm X 5.5 mm

 

Start quad cables is recommended ?

(Out from LPS-1)

 

[Audiophile Neuroscience]

45 minutes ago, R1200CL said:

 

Yes

 

 

2.1mm X 5.5 mm

 

Start quad cables is recommended ?

(Out from LPS-1)

 

Thanks. Interesting that the JS2 has 2.5mm output connections but the regen,isoregen and LPS1 all have 2.1mm inputs. No matter, so long as you get the right size connectors.

 

Star quad cable looks interesting. I've recently put in dedicated AC power lines and sourced twisted cores with screens.A lot of homework and reading from the likes of Henry W Ott and Bill Whitlock. Bill is a fan of twisted pairs (conductors, that is) and in "magnetically hostile environments consider star quad microphone cables- it improves immunity to magnetic fields by about 40dB compared to standard shielded twisted pair cable."

 

I will likely use the DC cables which I got with the JS2 which are shielded, and perhaps I may need some more. My issue is more concerning the DIY adapter interconnections, Y splitters and the like. They would appear to be the "Achilles heel" for noise/interference with likely thin straight  wire and with no screening. I guess I could make something up from star quad wire?? I am not that 'handy' in the DIY stuff like Alex C or AlexK. :-(.

 

BTW, I heard from AlexK (SandyK) yesterday! Those that know him will know he has been offline for some time due to relocating and no internet. He should be back online very soon and enlightening us all with his electronic wizardry. Did someone say isoregen LPS1 linear rips? :-)

 

[esldude]

8 minutes ago, Audiophile Neuroscience said:

 

BTW, I heard from AlexK (SandyK) yesterday! Those that know him will know he has been offline for some time due to relocating and no internet. He should be back online very soon and enlightening us all with his electronic wizardry. Did someone say isoregen LPS1 linear rips? :-)

 

 This is good to hear. 

[R1200CL]

36 minutes ago, Audiophile Neuroscience said:

My issue is more concerning the DIY adapter interconnections, Y splitters and the like

 

There are solutions available for that ?

With Oyaide plugs and Canare 4S6 star quad cable. 

 

And Alex sells those shielded cables that is supplied with the JS-2. You just have to email him as they are not listed on his website yet. 

 

 

[Audiophile Neuroscience]

1 hour ago, R1200CL said:

 

There are solutions available for that ?

With Oyaide plugs and Canare 4S6 star quad cable. 

 

 

 

 

Ahh you mean DC11 Oyaide DC-2.1G/2.5G Canare-4S6 DC Y-Cable at http://www.ghentaudio.com/part/dc11.html ?

I didn't realize they were made from star quad cable. Thanks

David

[Superdad]

On 8/16/2017 at 9:48 PM, Audiophile Neuroscience said:

Hi to Alex, John and all,

I am to planning to purchase 3 x LPS-1's and a ISOREGEN and want to check if my plan to implement them is sound (no pun intended )

 

1) An LPS1 to power two internal 5V SSD's via a Y spliter cable ( I gather this will work fine)

 

2) An LPS1 to power the ISOREGEN

I gather it needs the 5V from usb VBUS on input, and 7V from LPS1 on output. All good.

Does ISOREGEN have the same 2.1mm x 5.5mm DC input jack as the REGEN?

 

3) An LPS1 to power a PPA usb card version 3.

This is a 5V card. My DAC does NOT need 5V supplied from the usb VBUS. I read somewhere that the OXCO module may need up to 5V/2A.However in correspondence with Paul Pang, if not powering a usb device, the V3 card uses 750mA when the oven is heating, then 200mA. So an LPS! should do the trick? Can anyone confirm they use an LPS1 with a PPA V3 ?

 

4) I was hoping to "energize" *all 3* LPS1's with one 12V rail from my JS2 LPSU via a DC splitter cable. I have a Dc to x4 splitter (couldnt find a x3 splitter). Ultimately I would like to use the other 12V rail to power a thin mini ITX MOBO. Can the JS2 handle all of this? What is the size of the DC input Jack on the LPS1?

Cheers and thanks!

David

 

Hi David:

 

I think I answered all your above questions in our PM exchange.  Let me know if I missed anything.  

And If anyone else needs the answer to any of the above questions, feel free to give it a bump and I'll respond.

 

Thanks,

ALEX

 

[rickca]

10 minutes ago, Superdad said:

An LPS1 to power two internal 5V SSD's via a Y spliter cable

I'd like to know how to power an internal SSD with an LPS-1.  I assume it has to be SATA rather than NVMe?

[Superdad]

11 minutes ago, rickca said:

I'd like to know how to power an internal SSD with an LPS-1.  I assume it has to be SATA rather than NVMe?

 

Well NVMe flash cards get their power from the computer bus.  I have never seen one with an external power jack.

 

But for a standard SATA SSD, you just need to get a cheap SATA>Molex power cable, cut off the white Molex end and solder on a 5.5mm x 2.1mm plug or jack (depending upon length required and if you want to cable to it).  Here is the cable I refer to:

 

If I had time or more staff, I'd offer a SATA power cable with a DC jack--because I have never seen one offered anywhere.

[rickca]

4 minutes ago, Superdad said:

I'd offer a SATA power cable with a DC jack--because I have never seen one offered anywhere.

Yeah, that was going to be my next question.  I don't solder, I'm a klutz.  Anyway, I do understand it now thanks.

[Superdad]

6 minutes ago, rickca said:

Yeah, that was going to be my next question.  I don't solder, I'm a klutz.  Anyway, I do understand it now thanks.

 

So maybe order a bag of these:

 

 

You will need a screwdriver and wire strippers though.  

[Jeremy Anderson]

24 minutes ago, Superdad said:

 

So maybe order a bag of these:

 

 

You will need a screwdriver and wire strippers though.  

Nice find!

 

Found this:

4-Pin Male Molex Connector to 12V DC 5.5mm x 2.1mm Plug 16" LED Power Cable https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0121QHR2E/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_ygqNzbS0V5HTW

 

[Audiophile Neuroscience]

On 8/23/2017 at 1:11 PM, Superdad said:

 

Hi David:

 

I think I answered all your above questions in our PM exchange.  Let me know if I missed anything.  

And If anyone else needs the answer to any of the above questions, feel free to give it a bump and I'll respond.

 

Thanks,

ALEX

 

 

Hi Alex,

Yes, thanks, you answered my questions! I look forward to receiving my three LPS1s and ISOREGEN  and will report back with some listening impressions.

Thanks again for your assistance.

David

[elcorso]

On 8/17/2017 at 0:26 AM, Audiophile Neuroscience said:

-----

BTW, I heard from AlexK (SandyK) yesterday! Those that know him will know he has been offline for some time due to relocating and no internet. He should be back online very soon and enlightening us all with his electronic wizardry. Did someone say isoregen LPS1 linear rips? :-)

 

 

Good to have news about AlexK (SandyK) !

 

No rips with IR, I'm waiting for AlexK research.

 

Best,

 

Roch