Linear power supplies

Clipdat
Clipdat Posts: 12,934
in 2 Channel Audio
Does anyone have experience using a an upgraded linear power supply? Just curious if you've had positive improvements by using a linear power supply versus a switch mode/wall wart.

I am considering a product that offers an upgraded linear power supply. Here are the specs of the upgraded power supply:

"Mains Input:115VAC 60Hz
DC Output Voltage - 15V, 18V, 21V DC
Output Current - 1A Continuous, 2A Peak

Output Noise <-85dBu

Fuses
Main Input - T800mA Slow Blow
Internal - F2.5A Fast Blow

Overvoltage Protection
>24V DC

Output current is rated at 1amp continuous, but the supply can deliver more than double this for short periods. With a compact toroidal transformer and high-quality capacitors used throughout, long life and continued high performance are ensured."

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  • brgman
    brgman Posts: 2,859
    Have you looked to see if SBooster offers what you need?
    Main Rig-Realistic AM/FM Record player 8 track boasting 4 WPC

    Backup Rig-2 CH-Rogue Audio Zeus w/Factory Special Dark Mods,Joule-Electra 300ME Platinum Preamp,OPPO-105 w/Modwright Tube Mod, Auralic Aries G2.1,Polk 2.3TL,3.1TL's,Dreadnought,RTA-15TL's,1C's All Fully Modded,2xRTA-12c's ,Benchmark DAC3 HGC,Synology NAS,VPI Scout w/Dynavector DV-20XH and Rogue Audio Ares Phono Preamp,Sony PCM-R500 DAT,HHB-850 Pro CDR,Tascam CC-222SLMKII Cassette/CDR,MIT S3.3 Shotgun Cables,Shunyata Hyra-8,Shunyata and Triode Labs Power Cords

    I’M OFFENDED!!!!
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  • Clipdat
    Clipdat Posts: 12,934
    It looks like they do. Theirs is $360, this one I'm considering is $337.
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  • machone
    machone Posts: 1,510
    Mojo-Audio.com
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  • DaveHo
    DaveHo Posts: 3,515
    I use s welborne PS with an SMSL M8 DAC. Very obvious improvement over the supplied PS.
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  • jdjohn
    jdjohn Posts: 3,148
    Might it depend on the device being powered, and how being used? For example, I remember reading somewhere regarding streamers/players with no internal DAC, a LPS wouldn't make a difference since it is digital-in and digital-out. But for analog-out (built-in DAC), the power supply could make a difference.
    "This may not matter to you, but it does to me for various reasons, many of them illogical or irrational, but the vinyl hobby is not really logical or rational..." - member on Vinyl Engine
    "Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to." - Cicero, in Gladiator
    Regarding collectibles: "It's not who gets it. It's who gets stuck with it." - Jimmy Fallon
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,801
    I don't know why youse guyses don't go more for laboratory power supplies? Superb quality and inexpensive on the 'aftermarket'.

    e.g., I bought this HP for playin' with chip-amp and Class D type thingies.

    33943321368_709a00d16b_b.jpgDSC_4595 (2) by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
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  • brgman
    brgman Posts: 2,859
    I thought Welborne went the way of the Dodo bird but maybe not.I used one of those years ago with a squeezebox and it worked well.Just took forever to get after ordering.I know some folks have not so nice things to say about them.
    Main Rig-Realistic AM/FM Record player 8 track boasting 4 WPC

    Backup Rig-2 CH-Rogue Audio Zeus w/Factory Special Dark Mods,Joule-Electra 300ME Platinum Preamp,OPPO-105 w/Modwright Tube Mod, Auralic Aries G2.1,Polk 2.3TL,3.1TL's,Dreadnought,RTA-15TL's,1C's All Fully Modded,2xRTA-12c's ,Benchmark DAC3 HGC,Synology NAS,VPI Scout w/Dynavector DV-20XH and Rogue Audio Ares Phono Preamp,Sony PCM-R500 DAT,HHB-850 Pro CDR,Tascam CC-222SLMKII Cassette/CDR,MIT S3.3 Shotgun Cables,Shunyata Hyra-8,Shunyata and Triode Labs Power Cords

    I’M OFFENDED!!!!
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  • jdjohn
    jdjohn Posts: 3,148
    brgman wrote: »
    I used one of those years ago with a squeezebox and it worked well.
    On the SBT, were you using it with analog-out, digital-out, both? Curious as to where it made a difference.
    "This may not matter to you, but it does to me for various reasons, many of them illogical or irrational, but the vinyl hobby is not really logical or rational..." - member on Vinyl Engine
    "Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to." - Cicero, in Gladiator
    Regarding collectibles: "It's not who gets it. It's who gets stuck with it." - Jimmy Fallon
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  • EndersShadow
    EndersShadow Posts: 17,590
    IIRC @DarqueKnight had good luck with TeraDak linear PSUs.

    I’m thinking about one for my Raspberry Pi...

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/222531578345
    "....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
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  • afterburnt
    afterburnt Posts: 7,892
    edited September 2020
    I have one on one of my Auralic Minis I don't think I ever hooked it up with the stock wall wart however I have another Mini in another system that I ran with the standard wall wart that I upgraded to an ifi ipower wall wart which was an improvement over stock but I also swiched the DAC wall wart to an ifi at the same time. Both cost a lot less than one linear power supply. For fifty bucks maybe you want to try that fist?
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  • EndersShadow
    EndersShadow Posts: 17,590
    afterburnt wrote: »
    I have one on one of my Auralic Minis I don't think I ever hooked it up with the stock wall wart however I have another Mini in another system that I ran with the standard wall wart that I upgraded to an ifi ipower wall wart which was an improvement over stock but I also swiched the DAC wall wart to an ifi at the same time. Both cost a lot less than one linear power supply. For fifty bucks maybe you want to try that fist?

    That TeraDak is only 66 bucks, so not a lot more lol....... not saying its BETTER than the iFi....

    There is also this one which has multiple outputs....

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/DC-15W-DC5V-2-5A-TALEMA-25VA-Dual-USB-Low-Noise-Linear-Regulated-Power-Supply/273360652983
    "....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,801
    I eschew SMPS (switchmode power supplies) -- shhh, don't tell ASR! ;)

    The high-frequency hash they generate (which has to be dealt with both within and outside of the P/S) is the price one pays for their high electrical efficiency.





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  • afterburnt
    afterburnt Posts: 7,892
    @mhardy6647 the linear that I have runs hot as hell, is that any indication of efficiency?
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,801
    afterburnt wrote: »
    @mhardy6647 the linear that I have runs hot as hell, is that any indication of efficiency?

    Yup.
    The SMPS run cool -- they're very green.
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  • DaveHo
    DaveHo Posts: 3,515
    brgman wrote: »
    I thought Welborne went the way of the Dodo bird but maybe not.I used one of those years ago with a squeezebox and it worked well.Just took forever to get after ordering.I know some folks have not so nice things to say about them.

    Hey, Mike! Nice to see you chime in. Got my welborne used from a member here. Yep, the company is long gone and didn't go out on a high note.
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  • Clipdat
    Clipdat Posts: 12,934
    jdjohn wrote: »
    Might it depend on the device being powered, and how being used? For example, I remember reading somewhere regarding streamers/players with no internal DAC, a LPS wouldn't make a difference since it is digital-in and digital-out. But for analog-out (built-in DAC), the power supply could make a difference.

    Hey Jody. It's for a tube preamp in DJ mixer form: https://mastersounds.co.uk/collections/mixers/products/radius-two-valve

    Here's the PSU: https://mastersounds.co.uk/collections/mixers/products/linearpower
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  • Clipdat
    Clipdat Posts: 12,934
    afterburnt wrote: »
    I have one on one of my Auralic Minis I don't think I ever hooked it up with the stock wall wart however I have another Mini in another system that I ran with the standard wall wart that I upgraded to an ifi ipower wall wart which was an improvement over stock but I also swiched the DAC wall wart to an ifi at the same time. Both cost a lot less than one linear power supply. For fifty bucks maybe you want to try that fist?

    Just checked and the iFi unit doesn't output high enough. Thanks for the heads up though, that looks like a cool product.
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  • jdjohn
    jdjohn Posts: 3,148
    Clipdat wrote: »
    Hey Jody. It's for a tube preamp in DJ mixer form: https://mastersounds.co.uk/collections/mixers/products/radius-two-valve

    Here's the PSU: https://mastersounds.co.uk/collections/mixers/products/linearpower
    Interesting pro product there. I still maintain my amateur status :)

    Looks to be all analog, so might benefit from a LPSU.
    "This may not matter to you, but it does to me for various reasons, many of them illogical or irrational, but the vinyl hobby is not really logical or rational..." - member on Vinyl Engine
    "Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to." - Cicero, in Gladiator
    Regarding collectibles: "It's not who gets it. It's who gets stuck with it." - Jimmy Fallon
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  • Gardenstater
    Gardenstater Posts: 4,462
    Too bad. I have had great results with the iFi iPower myself. I am using it with the iDefender which allows the iFi to supply my DAC with power instead of the computer (and now my Squeezebox Touch I just bought). It uses military grade Active Noise Cancellation. I don't think it would be of any advantage to upgrade the power supply to the SBT since it is just a digital output situation to the DAC but who knows? I'd like to try it if I had another iPower.
    George / NJ

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  • Clipdat
    Clipdat Posts: 12,934
    jdjohn wrote: »
    Interesting pro product there. I still maintain my amateur status :)

    Looks to be all analog, so might benefit from a LPSU.

    I've wanted it for like a year now. Such a cool product.
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  • jdjohn
    jdjohn Posts: 3,148
    Clipdat wrote: »
    jdjohn wrote: »
    Interesting pro product there. I still maintain my amateur status :)

    Looks to be all analog, so might benefit from a LPSU.

    I've wanted it for like a year now. Such a cool product.
    How do you plan to use it? In what type of application/situation?
    "This may not matter to you, but it does to me for various reasons, many of them illogical or irrational, but the vinyl hobby is not really logical or rational..." - member on Vinyl Engine
    "Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to." - Cicero, in Gladiator
    Regarding collectibles: "It's not who gets it. It's who gets stuck with it." - Jimmy Fallon
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  • Clipdat
    Clipdat Posts: 12,934
    edited September 2020
    Just for fun at home with my DJ setup. Got some different equipment hooked up right now, but this is it:

    v1hlpbowxs0y.jpg
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  • afterburnt
    afterburnt Posts: 7,892
    Scratch?
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  • Clipdat
    Clipdat Posts: 12,934
    Nope.
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  • jdjohn
    jdjohn Posts: 3,148
    I don't see a microphone...yet B)
    "This may not matter to you, but it does to me for various reasons, many of them illogical or irrational, but the vinyl hobby is not really logical or rational..." - member on Vinyl Engine
    "Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to." - Cicero, in Gladiator
    Regarding collectibles: "It's not who gets it. It's who gets stuck with it." - Jimmy Fallon
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  • Clipdat
    Clipdat Posts: 12,934
    Yeah, no mic either.
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  • afterburnt
    afterburnt Posts: 7,892
    Clipdat wrote: »
    Yeah, no mic either.

    Some DJ you are lol
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  • Clipdat
    Clipdat Posts: 12,934
    I'm not the same kind of DJ as @erniejade
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  • afterburnt
    afterburnt Posts: 7,892
    https://youtu.be/MRRmU_pOXnk
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  • BlueBirdMusic
    BlueBirdMusic Posts: 2,278
    @Clipdat, here is a thread from the "Steve Hoffman" forum (2018) regarding the new Musical Surroundings Linear Power Supply. I have a Phonomena II+ and was searching about a month ago if a Linear Power Supply makes a difference. I was especially interested for info regarding the Musical Surroundings Linear Power Supply because it is so expensive at $650.

    One of the "verdicts" in the thread and substantiated by others was the Musical Surroundings Linear Power Supply at $650 "turns the $700 phono preamp into an AMAZING $1400 phono preamp". I have not purchased one yet so believe the thread at your own ri$k.

    I think this verdict satisfies @jdjohns statement: "But for analog-out (built-in DAC), the power supply could make a difference".

    If you read the thread, you will find our own F1nut has a couple of posts in the thread.

    Also, the thread contains a link to this blog: Power Supply Design: Switch-Mode vs. Linear | Simply Smarter Circuitry Blog.

    Anyone tried the new Musical Surroundings Linear Power Supply?
    https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/anyone-tried-the-new-musical-surroundings-linear-power-supply.785876/

    For completeness, here is another supplier of Linear Power Supplies.
    I have a friend who has purchased from this supplier many times.
    http://www.swagmanlab.com/
    kswymejs99e0.png
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