Do you need linear power supply for DACs?

[yodog]

Which linear power supply did you get?

I understand the snake oil thing. For me personally, regarding “snake oil” products, to my ears and whoever listens with me, clearly notice a difference when using Wireworld power cables (Electra or higher), Wireworld or Analysis Plus speaker cables (Equinox or higher, Silver Apex) and Analysis Plus interconnect cables (Silver Apex). Some of them cost a lot but I’d be very surprised if any human would say they hear no positive difference.

I even had found some snake oil ethernet cables that are worlds better than the typical cat 5e cable everyone uses. I found that these ethernet cables really help the AirPlay 2 streaming experience and really helps make any of my music sound more cohesive and just “right” as far as musical timing and rhythm is concerned. The Wireworld cat8 Starlight and Platinum ethernet cables, and the 22awg LINKUP STP cat8 ethernet cables. I tried the Wireworld Cat8 Chroma cable and it just didn’t have that substantial noticeable impact like the other two models of ethernet cable. I’ve also used a Cables Matter cat7 and cat8 ethernet cable and they provide a similar small increase in performance, similar to the Wireworld Chroma cat8 cable but still not enough of a difference that I would bet my money on. However the starlight/platinum and the linkup 22awg stp cat8 cables are legit. Luckily the linkup cables cost a fraction of the Wireworld ones and in many respects I’d say they sound more full but less exotic and I would imagine would jive with a much more broader amount of people’s music systems.

FYI I am just a regular guy who has no affiliation or relationship with any of the companies I listed. Just wanted to throw that out there incase of my personal observations are suspect. Anyways I hope this helps whoever this may help. It may save you time via money or experimentation (I’m hoping).

TLDR: Don’t bother with anything that isn’t OCC7N or better from wireworld, exception is the starlight ethernet cable; go straight for the Silver Apex line from Analysis Plus if you can afford it. Cheers.

 

[tedmingo]

I have an RME ADI-2 DAC, and switched to a linear power supply. For me there is no difference in the sound from the wall wart that comes with the DAC, I also switched to a LPS on my PC music source running Win10/JRiver. I did not get better sound, what I did get was a PC that has become extremely stable, no more random lock-ups and reboots. Although I have not measured the USB bus noise, it must be cleaner as the noise/ripple from the LPS is 10 times lower than the old PC switching supply. Overall did it improve sound, NO, but I got a much more stable PC. I'll take that as a win.

 

[Count Arthur]

I have an RME ADI-2 DAC, and switched to a linear power supply. For me there is no difference in the sound from the wall wart that comes with the DAC, I also switched to a LPS on my PC music source running Win10/JRiver. I did not get better sound, what I did get was a PC that has become extremely stable, no more random lock-ups and reboots. Although I have not measured the USB bus noise, it must be cleaner as the noise/ripple from the LPS is 10 times lower than the old PC switching supply. Overall did it improve sound, NO, but I got a much more stable PC. I'll take that as a win.

Which PC power supply did it replace?

The quality of PC power supplies can vary a great deal and people and suppliers of pre-built systems, often cheap-out on the power supply as they don't feature in the specs in the same way that the CPU, memory or graphics card might. You'll see a PC advertised as having a 750w power supply, but it might be some cheap no-name OEM brand, rather than well known brand like Seasonic, or Corsair, both of which have a reputation for producing decent quality power supplies.

 

[watchmania]

Which linear power supply did you get?

It's a custom linear power supply from a local audio store.

Actually I'm still A/B-ing between the LPS and the iPad charger, listening to the first few seconds of the song. As much as I wanted to use the iPad charger, I'm pretty sure I'm hearing very obvious extra resonance/tail on the cello sound, which is shadowing other instruments around the point.

It might've been my ears or my head, I might've gone crazy

 

[Steve Dallas]

Which linear power supply did you get?

I understand the snake oil thing. For me personally, regarding “snake oil” products, to my ears and whoever listens with me, clearly notice a difference when using Wireworld power cables (Electra or higher), Wireworld or Analysis Plus speaker cables (Equinox or higher, Silver Apex) and Analysis Plus interconnect cables (Silver Apex). Some of them cost a lot but I’d be very surprised if any human would say they hear no positive difference.

I even had found some snake oil ethernet cables that are worlds better than the typical cat 5e cable everyone uses. I found that these ethernet cables really help the AirPlay 2 streaming experience and really helps make any of my music sound more cohesive and just “right” as far as musical timing and rhythm is concerned. The Wireworld cat8 Starlight and Platinum ethernet cables, and the 22awg LINKUP STP cat8 ethernet cables. I tried the Wireworld Cat8 Chroma cable and it just didn’t have that substantial noticeable impact like the other two models of ethernet cable. I’ve also used a Cables Matter cat7 and cat8 ethernet cable and they provide a similar small increase in performance, similar to the Wireworld Chroma cat8 cable but still not enough of a difference that I would bet my money on. However the starlight/platinum and the linkup 22awg stp cat8 cables are legit. Luckily the linkup cables cost a fraction of the Wireworld ones and in many respects I’d say they sound more full but less exotic and I would imagine would jive with a much more broader amount of people’s music systems.

FYI I am just a regular guy who has no affiliation or relationship with any of the companies I listed. Just wanted to throw that out there incase of my personal observations are suspect. Anyways I hope this helps whoever this may help. It may save you time via money or experimentation (I’m hoping).

TLDR: Don’t bother with anything that isn’t OCC7N or better from wireworld, exception is the starlight ethernet cable; go straight for the Silver Apex line from Analysis Plus if you can afford it. Cheers.

I am terribly sorry, but as an IT guy, I must respectfully call out what you wrote about ethernet cable as nonsense. There is zero physical possibility that ethernet cables can vary in the quality of audio they carry. Packets are transmitted and either accepted or dropped and re-transmitted. If you know how networking works, you know your assertions above are absurd. The data are the data on both ends of the wire. What you are "hearing" is confirmation bias.

Related question: Does wired ethernet sound different than WiFi?

 

[krumpol]

.. Analysis Plus interconnect cables (Silver Apex). Some of them cost a lot but I’d be very surprised if any human would say they hear no positive difference.

I hear no difference between silver/OFC and homemade Cu-ETP1 (10 EUR/pair) interconnects.

 

[tw99]

The question in the thread title is answered factually in the first post... We don't really need a load of new posters showing up and saying "but but I hear a difference". There are many other forums where that is encouraged.

 

[tedmingo]

Which PC power supply did it replace?

The quality of PC power supplies can vary a great deal and people and suppliers of pre-built systems, often cheap-out on the power supply as they don't feature in the specs in the same way that the CPU, memory or graphics card might. You'll see a PC advertised as having a 750w power supply, but it might be some cheap no-name OEM brand, rather than well known brand like Seasonic, or Corsair, both of which have a reputation for producing decent quality power supplies.

The main 600w power supply. Although I did not hear any perceptible audio quality, I did benefit from a much more stable music source.

 

[threni]

Which linear power supply did you get?

I understand the snake oil thing. For me personally, regarding “snake oil” products, to my ears and whoever listens with me, clearly notice a difference when using Wireworld power cables (Electra or higher), Wireworld or Analysis Plus speaker cables (Equinox or higher, Silver Apex) and Analysis Plus interconnect cables (Silver Apex). Some of them cost a lot but I’d be very surprised if any human would say they hear no positive difference.

I even had found some snake oil ethernet cables that are worlds better than the typical cat 5e cable everyone uses. I found that these ethernet cables really help the AirPlay 2 streaming experience and really helps make any of my music sound more cohesive and just “right” as far as musical timing and rhythm is concerned. The Wireworld cat8 Starlight and Platinum ethernet cables, and the 22awg LINKUP STP cat8 ethernet cables. I tried the Wireworld Cat8 Chroma cable and it just didn’t have that substantial noticeable impact like the other two models of ethernet cable. I’ve also used a Cables Matter cat7 and cat8 ethernet cable and they provide a similar small increase in performance, similar to the Wireworld Chroma cat8 cable but still not enough of a difference that I would bet my money on. However the starlight/platinum and the linkup 22awg stp cat8 cables are legit. Luckily the linkup cables cost a fraction of the Wireworld ones and in many respects I’d say they sound more full but less exotic and I would imagine would jive with a much more broader amount of people’s music systems.

FYI I am just a regular guy who has no affiliation or relationship with any of the companies I listed. Just wanted to throw that out there incase of my personal observations are suspect. Anyways I hope this helps whoever this may help. It may save you time via money or experimentation (I’m hoping).

TLDR: Don’t bother with anything that isn’t OCC7N or better from wireworld, exception is the starlight ethernet cable; go straight for the Silver Apex line from Analysis Plus if you can afford it. Cheers.

Perhaps you can help. I'm doing my accounts and I was using a cheap ethernet cable from my desktop to my router. I assumed, perhaps naively, that 'a cable is a cable' because the data is transferred digitally, and that therefore the resulting transfer will be the same no matter which cable is used. I've sort of collected them over the years so whenever I need to connect a device I just grab one from the box and go. But it appears you're in the know here and can detect a difference between cables which make music sound better. In my case, I'm looking to increase numbers in the parts of spreadsheet regarding my income and reduce the columns concerned with outgoings. Which cable do you recommend?

 

[KR8NUX]

Which linear power supply did you get?

I understand the snake oil thing. For me personally, regarding “snake oil” products, to my ears and whoever listens with me, clearly notice a difference when using Wireworld power cables (Electra or higher), Wireworld or Analysis Plus speaker cables (Equinox or higher, Silver Apex) and Analysis Plus interconnect cables (Silver Apex). Some of them cost a lot but I’d be very surprised if any human would say they hear no positive difference.

I even had found some snake oil ethernet cables that are worlds better than the typical cat 5e cable everyone uses. I found that these ethernet cables really help the AirPlay 2 streaming experience and really helps make any of my music sound more cohesive and just “right” as far as musical timing and rhythm is concerned. The Wireworld cat8 Starlight and Platinum ethernet cables, and the 22awg LINKUP STP cat8 ethernet cables. I tried the Wireworld Cat8 Chroma cable and it just didn’t have that substantial noticeable impact like the other two models of ethernet cable. I’ve also used a Cables Matter cat7 and cat8 ethernet cable and they provide a similar small increase in performance, similar to the Wireworld Chroma cat8 cable but still not enough of a difference that I would bet my money on. However the starlight/platinum and the linkup 22awg stp cat8 cables are legit. Luckily the linkup cables cost a fraction of the Wireworld ones and in many respects I’d say they sound more full but less exotic and I would imagine would jive with a much more broader amount of people’s music systems.

FYI I am just a regular guy who has no affiliation or relationship with any of the companies I listed. Just wanted to throw that out there incase of my personal observations are suspect. Anyways I hope this helps whoever this may help. It may save you time via money or experimentation (I’m hoping).

TLDR: Don’t bother with anything that isn’t OCC7N or better from wireworld, exception is the starlight ethernet cable; go straight for the Silver Apex line from Analysis Plus if you can afford it. Cheers.

What did I just read ?

 

[tedmingo]

What did I just read ?

I used a HDPLEX 300W power linear DC power supply. This is a high end supply designed for audio.

 

[Angsty]

Perhaps you can help. I'm doing my accounts and I was using a cheap ethernet cable from my desktop to my router. I assumed, perhaps naively, that 'a cable is a cable' because the data is transferred digitally, and that therefore the resulting transfer will be the same no matter which cable is used. I've sort of collected them over the years so whenever I need to connect a device I just grab one from the box and go. But it appears you're in the know here and can detect a difference between cables which make music sound better. In my case, I'm looking to increase numbers in the parts of spreadsheet regarding my income and reduce the columns concerned with outgoings. Which cable do you recommend?

As you said, “a cable is a cable”. Unless the cable is so poorly shielded that it is actually contributing to dropped packets ( a very remote possibility), then all Cat5+ Ethernet cables will perform the same. Some cables may be more physically durable than others, but that generally will not impact signal transfer in audio systems. Bottom line: keep your cheap cable unless it is physically broken.

 

[jst]

If everything doesn't matter other than just snake oil and placebo then wow we should use the cheapest things possible like those on the right
Which ones do you actually use ?

Spoiler

01.

<- this OR this ->

02.

<- this OR this ->

03.

<- this OR this ->

04.

<- this OR this ->

05.

<- this OR this ->

etc

IKR

 

[RayDunzl]

Which ones do you actually use ?

1, 2, and 4 on the right look familiar where even remotely applicable.

3 is 2AWG THHN on the big speakers here, because I could and it was "free" from the junk box.

5 is an Equitech 1.5RQ here if that counts, bought from a studio in St Louis that was upgrading to whole-house balanced power..

 

[solderdude]

If everything doesn't matter other than just snake oil and placebo then wow we should use the cheapest things possible like those on the right
Which ones do you actually use ?

1: Something in between left and right.
2: right ... definitely
3: right one.. but thicker of course
4: Depending on what needs to be fed it will either be linear or SMPS
5: right one of course

 

[watchmania]

Which ones do you actually use ?

1. RCA interconnects? something better than the right, with at least 0.6 ohm resistance, most with gold plated connectors are of better quality on both connector and cable parts. Or just solder myself with some spare canares I have. I have cable with locking RCA connectors but that will be the last cables I bought with such feature -- not needed and what a pain to remove!

2. power cable? right, but branded/quality ones. poor ones might not even have ground pins connected!

3. speaker wires? right, with lowest resistance measured. the cheaper one can be pretty high over long runs. But.. can I have black/black color please.

4. DC adaptors? right, but good branded ones.

5. right. Btw rather than the left thing.. have you considered a Honda inverter AC power generator? Or some power inverter with pure sine?

I'm pretty sure I'm hearing very obvious extra resonance/tail on the cello sound, which is shadowing other instruments around the point.

Apparently it's just my mind playing tricks on me (or the difference of my ear position against the speaker during the testing). Diff from aligned D50s records out to my Scarlett 2i2 gen2 at 24-bit 96kHz did not reveal any difference whatsoever.



I even tried to zoom in, but no..

 

[Veri]

Apparently it's just my mind playing tricks on me (or the difference of my ear position against the speaker during the testing). Diff from aligned D50s records out to my Scarlett 2i2 gen2 at 24-bit 96kHz did not reveal any difference whatsoever.

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I even tried to zoom in, but no..

View attachment 152279

I applaud your inquisitive mind

 

[watchmania]

I applaud your inquisitive mind

Thanks.. with nothing to back me up -- means that psu was a waste of money and efficiency (50C hot transformer!)

 

[Veri]

Thanks.. with nothing to back me up -- means that psu was a waste of money and efficiency (50C hot transformer!)

I'm currently using two iPad chargers in series to function as a ~10V 2A PSU. Not a single reason for it other than I had them lying around. It works Anyway. Can't say a power supply changed a thing, audibly, ever for me. Always happy to see people reach the same conclusion.

 

[watchmania]

I'm currently using two iPad chargers in series to function as a ~10V 2A PSU

I almost misread it as connecting them in parallel, which may not be a good idea... but looks doing it in series is a smart way to get quality 10V PSU