# Poll:Aftermarket Qutest psu.



## Zzt231gr

Hello to all!

Can you please post which aftermarket psu you are using and what differences do you hear from the stock?

If you tried one or some and didn't like it,choose stock and tell us the reason.

Thanks!Happy listening!


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## Zzt231gr

I tried MCRU but I didn't like it because it sounded a little bright-although it sounded awesome in every aspect!

I was going to try Ciunas Audio supercapacitor psu but the company closed...

I am open for tried suggestions!


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## Triode User

I have got MCRU, SBooster, Ciunas, iFi, Uptone LPS-1.2, battery, Sean Jacobs DC4.

The comment about MCRU being a little bright puzzled me as I did not hear that. I guess that underlines the importance of taking the whole system as an entity because everything can react together.

My SBooster is out on loan for a few more days to a reviewer trying it also with the Qutest but I hope to come to some sort of conclusion when it returns.


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## Zzt231gr

Triode User said:


> I have got MCRU, SBooster, Ciunas, iFi, Uptone LPS-1.2, battery, Sean Jacobs DC4.
> 
> The comment about MCRU being a little bright puzzled me as I did not hear that. I guess that underlines the importance of taking the whole system as an entity because everything can react together.
> 
> My SBooster is out on loan for a few more days to a reviewer trying it also with the Qutest but I hope to come to some sort of conclusion when it returns.


Maybe your Spendors or your tube gear make your system sound a little warmer tahn neutral,thus you liked the sound of the MCRU?To my ears it sounded excellent in all values but it was also like robbing that last percentage of bass-or sounding a liiittle bright.


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## Triode User

Zzt231gr said:


> Maybe your Spendors or your tube gear make your system sound a little warmer tahn neutral,thus you liked the sound of the MCRU?To my ears it sounded excellent in all values but it was also like robbing that last percentage of bass-or sounding a liiittle bright.



I don't know. It was with the Qutest going into a Music First Audio silver wound V2 Transformer Volume Control, then into Pass Labs XA60.8 monos and powering Spendor SP200 speakers. It sounded pretty good to me for £235. From memory I did prefer the Sbooster with Ultra MkII but like I said, that comparison and others with have to wait until loan gear has been returned.


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## uzi2 (Jun 23, 2020)

Zzt231gr said:


> I tried MCRU but I didn't like it because it sounded a little bright-although it sounded awesome in every aspect!
> 
> I was going to try Ciunas Audio supercapacitor psu but the company closed...
> 
> I am open for tried suggestions!


John Kenny (Ciunas Audio) recommends Allo Shanti, but that may be based on my requirement to power both a Pi4 and the Qutest...


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## DecentLevi

AH-HA! Finally a thread where we can talk about aftermarket DC LPS for the Qutest without getting too much 'resistance'... like on the Qutest thread... either their cable had too much 'resistance' (LOL  ) or more likely they correlated the notion as another 'snake-oil' / pixie-dust hack. Well friends I can assure you it's ANYTHING but the latter. My Qutest sounds horrible without an LPS. Don't get me wrong it sounds excellent in its' own right, but once I've heard how much better it can perform with an LPS, there's no going back! Maybe that's why the Hugo 2 I demoed awhile back sounded so great because it was on battery power. Unfortunately I'm without an LPS for it for now, will post back later.


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## HumanMedia

I’ve tried SBooster 1st gen, iFi, Welborne, Keces, Uptone LPS1.2, UpTone JS-2, Teddy Pardo, SR4.

YMMV and system dependency etc etc but here is my experience.

The worst were the Teddy Pardo and the UpTone LPS1.2, yes overall I’d prefer the stock supply. Next up are the iFi and stock supply. Next up Wellborne, Keces And Sbooster. Next up SR4. Best of all the Uptone JS-2. I will also put the Farad3 in there as a hypothetical best. Hypothetical as it was equal top when tested on my 2Qute but I don’t have a 5V version to try with the Qutest. But what seemed to ring true for the 2Qute tracks well with the Qutest.

in fact every night I’m thinking I should try a 5V Farad3, but I have so many power supplies lying around, and so many 5v supplies even, that with my current financial situation, another power supply seems a bit excessive. 🙂


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## Jon L

uzi2 said:


> John Kelly (Ciunas Audio) recommends Allo Shanti, but that may be based on my requirement to power both a Pi4 and the Qutest...



There is the new Allo Nirvana, which is smps but the only one that seems to deal with the leakage current issue (unlike ifi).
https://www.allo.com/sparky/nirvana-smps.html


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## DecentLevi (Jun 22, 2020)

To the best of my understanding, some of the things that set the ISO-PS from Ciunas Audio apart were: _particular pre-supercapacitor voltage regulators which are specially designed for eliminating/greatly reducing RF.  Direct power from battery or supercap is audibly far superior than when this power is routed through a voltage regulator - all voltage regulators seem to suffer from transient response issues & create dynamic noise when providing dynamic power to devices. Next it used a better supercapacitor config., _below is a quote about the Allo Shanti:
_I was told that while it (Allo Shanti) is a very good PS, it uses 2 small 10F supercapacitors on its' output for 5v and his use 3 larger supercaps outputting 350F, more than absolutely required giving more energy storage. Another issue reported with the Allo PS is residual power drains into any connected devices which may be a problem, but the ISO-PS isolates the outputs from the supercaps when switched off to prevent that. _

I wonder how the Allo Sparky differs from Shanti.

IMO, only direct battery power or direct supercapacitor power is the way to go with no voltage regulator near the output. That's what the Ciunas ISO-PS had done and it's much to my dismay that these don't seem to be available anymore. I also ended up returning mine for a withheld reason, and I even ordered a second replacement DC cable, the 4S6G(OFC) in JSSG360 shielding recommended by @HumanMedia which comes to almost $200 for both DC cables with express shipping, and currently no LPS to use it with. I'm waiting for @Triode User to finish his LPS comparison to see if maybe there's an even better recommendation, or maybe if I'm really lucky, John Kenny formerly of Ciunas will send the used LPS I'm returning to him to Triode User (Nick) for his top notch rewiring effort.


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## DecentLevi

@Triode User I presented the following by PM, but I'm also posting it here in case any of you also have an opinion:

Regarding routing of a power switch on an LPS:
(the routing of a confidential model) controls the input power to the regulator then the supercaps. So, when I first owned the ISO-PS I was powering the whole unit up from the main switch for my AC filtered power conditioner which caused a 1-3 min. delay when powering up / turning off my DAC waiting for the supercaps to recharge and power down. But I was told from Ciunas Audio this may be bad for my DAC with the supercaps trickling power while slowly discharging each time. In your opinion is there any reason to be concerned about this gradual increase / decrease of voltage to the Qutest on each power on / power off cycle? For me, I prefer to turn my system on / off every day when I'm done.

OTOH, would you say there is any concern to keeping the supercaps running at full charge 24/7, even in a well implemented way? And for this way, I'm thinking there may be a better way to route the DC output switch so it's not directly on the output circuit in order to yield optimal results - perhaps make the switch so it disconnects the supercaps or something like that, which may / may not require re-routing them between series or parallel to achieve that. Any feedback would be helpful.


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## Triode User

DecentLevi said:


> @Triode User I presented the following by PM, but I'm also posting it here in case any of you also have an opinion:
> 
> Regarding routing of a power switch on an LPS:
> (the routing of a confidential model) controls the input power to the regulator then the supercaps. So, when I first owned the ISO-PS I was powering the whole unit up from the main switch for my AC filtered power conditioner which caused a 1-3 min. delay when powering up / turning off my DAC waiting for the supercaps to recharge and power down. But I was told from Ciunas Audio this may be bad for my DAC with the supercaps trickling power while slowly discharging each time. In your opinion is there any reason to be concerned about this gradual increase / decrease of voltage to the Qutest on each power on / power off cycle? For me, I prefer to turn my system on / off every day when I'm done.
> ...



All of my DACs including my Dave run on third party external power supplies. I tend to leave all those power supplies on 24/7 so the issue doesn’t arise for me.

Personally I would prefer not to have an inevitably cheap switch in the dc output circuit. Spending time and money trying to get the best dc output (and hence best sound quality) and then putting a cheap switch in the DC output circuit doesn't make sense to me.

For instance the Uptone LPS-1.2 has a power switch on the power input side and so when switched on the supercaps gradually come to life and when switched off they gradually power down. 

As you know, I have completely rewired my Ciunas supply and as part of that process I took the switch out of the DC output circuit and put a different switch on the incoming power side of the circuit.


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## Zzt231gr

A guy I spoke to from Youtube recommends this powerbank,after trying some and came to the conclusion that it plays much better!

https://shop.aukey.com/products/30000mah-power-bank-with-30w-power-delivery-quick-charge-3-0

Anyone familiar with that?


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## DecentLevi

@Zzt231gr I'm not an expert yet, but it would seem that powerbank you're referring to above must have a voltage regulator, I believe they all do. See post #10 above about that.

@Triode User or someone, I get what you're saying about leaving it on all the time. But what if I wanted to turn it on/off every day, would that gradual discharge and slow power-up have any detrimental effect on a DAC like the Qutest?


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## Zzt231gr

I see that Allo Shanti seems similar to Ciunas supercap psu.Any member having this?


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## GreenBow

Well I just came across a DC voltage regulator in the M-Scaler thread, that delivers clean power. 

Might be a shortcut to just exacly what you folks are after. You could possibly use it in conjunction with the Chord PSU which is said to be RFI clean. I have no idea if the voltage regulator is RFI noisy, but whatever, here's the link.

https://www.ldovr.com/product-p/dxp-1a5dsc.htm

Folk discussing these type of regulators, or this one. (Don't know.) https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/...eaming/page/643/?tab=comments#comment-1039386


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## Zzt231gr

GreenBow said:


> Well I just came across a DC voltage regulator in the M-Scaler thread, that delivers clean power.
> 
> Might be a shortcut to just exacly what you folks are after. You could possibly use it in conjunction with the Chord PSU which is said to be RFI clean. I have no idea if the voltage regulator is RFI noisy, but whatever, here's the link.
> 
> ...


I think that this is the one that Sbooster and MCRU uses.Not 100% sure.


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## lauritsvd

I Got a Chord Qutest, and enjoy it a lot.
It is realy an amazing DAC.
Tried a powerbank as ps for the 5v, and liked the better resolution, but the Music was missing some attack, and dynamics.
But since it made a difference compared to the stock supply, I wanted to make a better ps. I already had a good expirience with MPAudio ps, and ordered a


SLS-HPULN PS With double lt 3045 regulation, and an Audio grade transformer.
Using an enclosure from an Old pc.
DC wire is Gotham in a 360 layout.
To my ears, this is just as big a step forward Soundwise, as the Qutest was In the first place. (coming from an Arcam Irdac)
Very high resolution, lots of attack, but No rough edges, If that makes sense.
English is not my native language.😊

Now back to happy listening.

There is still room for powercable, and a better fuse.


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## iFi audio

Triode User said:


> I have got MCRU, SBooster, Ciunas, iFi, Uptone LPS-1.2, battery, Sean Jacobs DC4.



If I may ask, how is iFi in all this?


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## DecentLevi

GreenBow said:


> Well I just came across a DC voltage regulator in the M-Scaler thread, that delivers clean power.
> 
> Might be a shortcut to just exacly what you folks are after. You could possibly use it in conjunction with the Chord PSU which is said to be RFI clean. I have no idea if the voltage regulator is RFI noisy, but whatever, here's the link.
> 
> ...


Hmmm I'm no electrical engineer, but while the internals of that unit certainly do look sophisticated, to me it looks more like a computer than a LPS. I'm still inclined to believe what I've learned from the former owner of Ciunas Audio. I will quote this one more time: _Direct power from battery or supercap (supercapacitor) is audibly far superior than when this power is routed through a voltage regulator - all voltage regulators seem to suffer from transient response issues & create dynamic noise when providing dynamic power to devices. _He went on to say that _This was something I discovered many years ago & my battery PS & now supercap PS are designed in this manner. The battery packs being talked about on that thread all have voltage regulators on their outputs & are far inferior sounding. _By *direct*, he means directly to a battery that outputs the said voltage natively, vs. any powerbank which all use a regulator to output whichever the needed voltage.


lauritsvd said:


> I Got a Chord Qutest, and enjoy it a lot.
> It is realy an amazing DAC.
> Tried a powerbank as ps for the 5v, and liked the better resolution, but the Music was missing some attack, and dynamics.
> But since it made a difference compared to the stock supply, I wanted to make a better ps. I already had a good expirience with MPAudio ps, and ordered a
> ...


 ^


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## Speedskater

Well designed components should be insensitive to any reasonably well designed external power supply.


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## dac64 (Jun 23, 2020)

Hi folks,

"Truly Direct"




As for the sounds, like PP (Stock PSU) vs SET in tube topology, in short

Battery was very direct, speedy and dynamic. However vocal was leaner.

Stock still excel in the low, better layers and definition.

Please bear in mind that the stock was after an isolated transformer, kemp elektroniks SHUNT NOISE SUPPRESSOR and power wedge conditioner.

The output of four fully charged battery was 5.4V, still within the safety range. Don't use Alkaline, it may go up to 6V for four.

10000 mAh for four, lasting for 4 hours playtime Therefore someone has suggested "D" cell, at 10000 mAh each.

Parts:

https://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-BK...NRNGRCKC1PK&psc=1&refRID=P3KTZ1PF7NRNGRCKC1PK

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/usb-connectors/1792871?cm_mmc=SG-PLA-DS3A-_-google-_-PLA_SG_EN_Connectors-_-Usb_And_D-Sub_And_Computing_Connectors|Type_A_Usb_Connectors-_-1792871&matchtype=&aud-826607888587la-393737483271&gclid=Cj0KCQjwoaz3BRDnARIsAF1RfLeRUc8xQjiqNgMgdTdcFnVY2-ali0iFykyIQX9eiLl1XgEw54SqObQaArqrEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds


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## dac64 (Jun 23, 2020)

It's highly recommended to have isolated transformer before the digital gears, it'll lower the noise floor because there isn't any physical contact between the pri and sec wirings:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/293619860247?ViewItem=&item=293619860247

https://www.ebay.com/itm/MGE-UPS-Sy...393609?hash=item365a30fbc9:g:T5IAAOSweHtd0v9d

https://www.ebay.com/itm/ECA-Extrem...860247?hash=item445d1b8317:g:Bb8AAOSwVDNe0WRd

https://www.ebay.com/itm/TOPAZ-LINE...692480?hash=item48907c0640:g:tokAAOSwqfNXkgyR


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## GreenBow (Jun 24, 2020)

DecentLevi said:


> Hmmm I'm no electrical engineer, but while the internals of that unit certainly do look sophisticated, to me it looks more like a computer than a LPS. I'm still inclined to believe what I've learned from the former owner of Ciunas Audio. I will quote this one more time: _Direct power from battery or supercap (supercapacitor) is audibly far superior than when this power is routed through a voltage regulator - all voltage regulators seem to suffer from transient response issues & create dynamic noise when providing dynamic power to devices. _He went on to say that _This was something I discovered many years ago & my battery PS & now supercap PS are designed in this manner. The battery packs being talked about on that thread all have voltage regulators on their outputs & are far inferior sounding. _By *direct*, he means directly to a battery that outputs the said voltage natively, vs. any powerbank which all use a regulator to output whichever the needed voltage.
> 
> ^



Undoubtably batteries or capacitors. Rob always said batteries are capable of huge dynamic current. Super-Capacitors too. Hence I can imagine you are hearing a significant audio improvement over stock Qutest PSU. Must be more dynamic sounding at the very least.

If you recall, I said you may have built yourself a Qutest TT. Even using the super-caps my have negated any noise from the PSU. You'd have to ask about that though.



dac64 said:


> Hi folks,
> 
> "Truly Direct"
> 
> ...



Hilarious. Genius unquestionably, but hilarious.


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## uzi2

GreenBow said:


> Undoubtably batteries or capacitors. Rob always said batteries are capable of huge dynamic current. Super-Capacitors too. Hence I can imagine you are hearing a significant audio improvement over stock Qutest PSU. Must be more dynamic sounding at the very least.
> 
> If you recall, I said you may have built yourself a Qutest TT. Even using the super-caps my have negated any noise from the PSU. You'd have to ask about that though.
> 
> ...


Yes. when using Super capacitors or batteries, they will isolate any PSU noise. It doesn't matter how you charge them. My concern with NiMH was what happens as the voltage drops during use below 5V. I've only really considered them as a test case as I want a more permanent power supply (Super capacitors being constantly trickle charged).


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## GreenBow

uzi2 said:


> Yes. when using Super capacitors or batteries, they will isolate any PSU noise. It doesn't matter how you charge them. My concern with NiMH was what happens as the voltage drops during use below 5V. I've only really considered them as a test case as I want a more permanent power supply (Super capacitors being constantly trickle charged).



Sounds too good to be true doesn't it?


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## uzi2 (Jun 24, 2020)

GreenBow said:


> Sounds too good to be true doesn't it?


I think you already have the proof as you own Hugo2 (batteries) and TT2 (Super capacitors)


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## GreenBow

uzi2 said:


> I think you already have the proof as you own Hugo2



Wasn't questioning you. I was agreeing with you, and enjoying that it was possible. One of those pinch yourself moments.


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## Zzt231gr

Zzt231gr said:


> I see that Allo Shanti seems similar to Ciunas supercap psu.Any member having this?


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## uzi2

I have one on order


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## dac64

uzi2 said:


> My concern with NiMH was what happens as the voltage drops during use below 5V.



No sound from the qutest after 4 hours and ~4.2V left, from 5.4V, when fully charged.


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## uzi2

dac64 said:


> No sound from the qutest after 4 hours and ~4.2V left, from 5.4V, when fully charged.


So the Qutest still runs even after they are deeply discharged. As I understood it a single NiMH cell will run from 1.2V to 1.4 or 1.45V fully charged. The 4pack would be 4.8V - 5.4V). I would have expected the Qutest to power off at just below 4.8V. My question was whether this behaviour is healthy for the Qutest as it is designed for a sudden complete loss of power. What capacity NiMH batteries were you using? I did try a similar arrangement for a Pi4, but I only had old 1600mAh batteries. It powered on, but didn't boot. I guess you have 2500mAh or maybe more. To get a longer run time you would need a 4pack of Ds.


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## dac64

uzi2 said:


> So the Qutest still runs even after they are deeply discharged. As I understood it a single NiMH cell will run from 1.2V to 1.4 or 1.45V fully charged. The 4pack would be 4.8V - 5.4V). I would have expected the Qutest to power off at just below 4.8V. My question was whether this behaviour is healthy for the Qutest as it is designed for a sudden complete loss of power. What capacity NiMH batteries were you using? I did try a similar arrangement for a Pi4, but I only had old 1600mAh batteries. It powered on, but didn't boot. I guess you have 2500mAh or maybe more. To get a longer run time you would need a 4pack of Ds.



Qutest didn't power off after 4.2V, just not sound.

Rod said 5V 1A is sufficient to get Qutest moving.

Its a Panasonic envelop pro, 2450mAh each.

Yes, 4 Ds of 10000mAh each can last for 16 hours playtime.


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## uzi2

OK thanks for clarifying - so the lights are on, but nobody is at home  
My worry is what affect this has on the Qutest.
For the benefit of others - the total output of the pack is AA 2450mAh and D 10,000 mAh - only the voltage is x4
NiMH AA are commonly available up to around 3000mAh and slightly above. The 10,000mAh D size is not common, but I have seen them up to 12,000mAh
I didn't pursue the NiMH option as I ordered a LPS from Ciunas and following John's decision to close and on his recommendation the Allo Shanti.
I asked him what he considered to be 2nd best power supply for my needs


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## Zzt231gr

uzi2 said:


> I ordered a LPS from Ciunas and following John's decision to close and on his recommendation the Allo Shanti.
> I asked him what he considered to be 2nd best power supply for my needs


John said that?Cool!

When are you expecting it?

What is your psu experience level and what psu will you test it against?

Thanks!


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## uzi2

Zzt231gr said:


> John said that?Cool!
> 
> When are you expecting it?
> 
> ...


It should be within a week, but that's also how long the Ciunas order should have taken, so I am prepared for delays. At first he was awaiting components that were taking much longer to arrive than expected and then decided to close down. Very efficient with the refund once that happened.
I haven't tried anything other than stock with Qutest. I was going to try a NimH pack, but didn't pursue it once I'd decided to order the LPS.


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## RobertSM

I'm using a Sbooster 5v LPS for my qutest. I'm really loving it. To me it seems to have added a smoother presentation to the music. Also a deeper bottom end. I think it was a worthwhile addition and an absolute upgrade to the stock PS.


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## Triode User

RobertSM said:


> I'm using a Sbooster 5v LPS for my qutest. I'm really loving it. To me it seems to have added a smoother presentation to the music. Also a deeper bottom end. I think it was a worthwhile addition and an absolute upgrade to the stock PS.



Yes, I have one as well. Agreed that it is good, are you using it with the Ultra MkII?


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## RobertSM

Triode User said:


> Yes, I have one as well. Agreed that it is good, are you using it with the Ultra MkII?



Yes. I ran the stock Sbooster for a week and really liked it. I then went ahead and ordered and installed the Ultra MKII. I think it added a small improvement. So overall I think it's great.

I think regardless of what brand LPS owners add, we all seem to agree that qutest does respond well and shows improvement to the stock PS.


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## RobertSM

One thing I wanted to add about the Sbooster. I think it's actually a really well engineered LPS. I think it's of Dutch design and made in Bulgaria with high quality parts. With all of these parts and with it's design, I think the LPS itself needs and benefits from usage, and burn in. I mean, all of those parts really need electricity to run through. I think after owning the Sbooster now for about 3 weeks, it's just now settling down and sounding even better.


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## Triode User

RobertSM said:


> One thing I wanted to add about the Sbooster. I think it's actually a really well engineered LPS. I think it's of Dutch design and made in Bulgaria with high quality parts. With all of these parts and with it's design, I think the LPS itself needs and benefits from usage, and burn in. I mean, all of those parts really need electricity to run through. I think after owning the Sbooster now for about 3 weeks, it's just now settling down and sounding even better.



but have you tried theUltra MKII with it?


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## RobertSM

Triode User said:


> but have you tried theUltra MKII with it?



Yep, I have the Ultra MKII


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## Zzt231gr

RobertSM said:


> Yes. I ran the stock Sbooster for a week and really liked it. I then went ahead and ordered and installed the Ultra MKII. I think it added a small improvement. So overall I think it's great.
> 
> I think regardless of what brand LPS owners add, we all seem to agree that qutest does respond well and shows improvement to the stock PS.


I am one of some members who tried an aftermarket psu with negative results....

I tried MCRU and the sound was undoubtly better until I discovered that it sounded a tad bright and being tiring in the end.

This is the reason I want to try supercaps for my second try-out.


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## uzi2 (Jun 30, 2020)

My Shanti arrived today and I have given it a good work out and I am very pleased with the results. I t has a double benefit for me as it replaces the switching power supplies of the Pi4 and the Qutest. The Pi4 is connected to the 3A output and Qutest to the 1A. All traces of harshness in the treble are gone and I am more inclined to turn the volume up rather than down. It has a full bass, delightful mids and very clear highs
For those looking to replace only the Qutest power supply, I tested with an alternate source and found similar improvements.
For those looking at a Pi setup, I am running a very much underclocked beta version of DietPi running NAA.
The Shanti appears to have quite thin DC cables, in contrast to those that would have been supplied by Ciunas Audio and they are hardwired, but does come equipped with power lead and a full selection of adapters.


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## DecentLevi (Jun 30, 2020)

Sounds like you got excellent results with the Shanti. I'm inclined to say you could have even better results with a more robust aftermarket DC cable (thicker gauge wire, more isolation, etc.). When Ciunas was in business and I got their LPS, yes their supplied DC cable was great sounding and durable, but I was surprised at how big the difference was with another cable. That was the Gotham cable from Ghent Audio, and unfortunately it didn't work out for me, sounding just as harsh on the highs as others had experienced with it., so I got the other cable recommended recently on the Qutest thread instead, which I haven't gotten to try yet. I do believe the flimsy non-removable DC chords was a reason I chose not to go with the Shanti. Perhaps the only way to do that with yours is to open it up and replace the DC chords with female barrel sockets. (I'm not endorsing this, just a thought).

My Ciunas Audio LPS experienced an issue, and while it was only 1/2 my fault, the other issue was relating to internal/external build issues. While I choose not to get into specifics out of respect and an agreement I had with the owner of said company, I will just say I was far from alone on aforementioned matter. I sent my defective Ciunas back for a replacement but in the meantime they went out of business so they instead refunded me. Luckily I was able to find somebody to build a better quality replica of sorts, but for the time being, my source has to remain confidential until I'm told otherwise. Hopefully I'll have the new custom LPS in a week or so.


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## uzi2

John only gave "personal reasons" for the business closure, but before that he was awaiting components to complete my order. He recommended the Shanti when I asked him "What was the second best power supply?" It may well have been specific to my case in needing two 5V supplies. I'm more than happy with the way things sound, so I will leave well alone for now...


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## DecentLevi

Well that's good. Indeed one needn't mess with upgrade-innitus once you're happy with what you hear. With the Shanti DC cables however I would wonder if they would be susceptible to RFI/EMI being apparently unshielded and so thin. So maybe you can try something like keeping the LPS as close to the DAC as possible and tightly coiling (wrapping up) the extra cable slack.


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## Jon L

uzi2 said:


> My Shanti arrived today
> All traces of harshness in the treble are gone



I dunno... When I try various LPS and Battery Bank (internal regulator), I always note that treble becomes darker and smoother, but I also notice a decrease in life, sparkle, and (apparent) detail, which makes me HAVE to turn the volume up.  The only times I have noticed an increase in BOTH smoothness and sparkle/resolution is batteries at their native voltage without any regulation.  
I am already using such a battery for my USB soundcard and usb/spdif converter, but it's already a pain to have one battery pack, nevermind two, especially since 5V native battery thing is even more of a pain. 
Am looking at Shanti and Nirvana to see which emulates native battery characterisics more.


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## Zzt231gr (Jul 1, 2020)

uzi2 said:


> My Shanti arrived today and I have given it a good work out and I am very pleased with the results. I t has a double benefit for me as it replaces the switching power supplies of the Pi4 and the Qutest. The Pi4 is connected to the 3A output and Qutest to the 1A. All traces of harshness in the treble are gone and I am more inclined to turn the volume up rather than down. It has a full bass, delightful mids and very clear highs
> For those looking to replace only the Qutest power supply, I tested with an alternate source and found similar improvements.
> For those looking at a Pi setup, I am running a very much underclocked beta version of DietPi running NAA.
> The Shanti appears to have quite thin DC cables, in contrast to those that would have been supplied by Ciunas Audio and they are hardwired, but does come equipped with power lead and a full selection of adapters.


Thank you for posting your results,which are very promising!

Now,I will surely buy this or another Supercap psu I have in mind!I need only to power Qutest.

For DC cable,you can shield externally the one attached to the psu-this is what I am planning to do.There are special copper tape-like materials or copper braid on Ebay for example...


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## GreenBow (Jul 1, 2020)

Just had another idea for PSU, though probably useless.

I was just scrolling through YouTube, and there was a vid about salvaging old PC PSUs.

**


However that PSU is likely to be noisy to a degree. It's old and not exactly specified as clean. Might be just the thing though, as I don't know. It should have a 5V rail as PC PSU do.

What I did go on to think about is my PC PSU. I bought it because of one of its specifications. It has low ripple on the voltage rails. It's from the Corsair RM series of PSU, which includes RM, RMx, and RMi. I have no idea if it filters RFI at its output, because I can't remember the whole story. I think they would be easy to test if someone knew what to do. They are highly regarded in the PC PSU world though.

I saw one of the RM series of PSU on an oscilloscope, and the low ripple was real. I saw it on a couple of videos, and one video literally recorded zero ripple. You're only going to 12V, -12V, 5V, and -5V outputs, so no 15V.

Might be worth someone doing a listening test with any old quality PC PSU. Honestly have no idea though.


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## uzi2

GreenBow said:


> Just had another idea for PSU, though probably useless.
> 
> I was just scrolling through YouTube, and there was a vid about salvaging old PC PSUs.
> 
> ...



The big thing for power supplies to achieve noise isolation is that they are either charging batteries or super capacitors. If neither is present then the job is not done...


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## dac64

Jon L said:


> The only times I have noticed an increase in BOTH smoothness and sparkle/resolution is batteries at their native voltage without any regulation.



me too! poweradd vs nimah battery


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## Zzt231gr

Nah,I am pretty sure that these psu are not designed with trully noiseless output in mind...

Supercaps seem to be the future!Virtually no noise and perfect transient response with extemelly low output resistance.


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## GreenBow (Jul 2, 2020)

uzi2 said:


> The big thing for power supplies to achieve noise isolation is that they are either charging batteries or super capacitors. If neither is present then the job is not done...



Well I did know that a PC PSU was a completely off the wall suggestion. However Chord are issuing Qutest with a stock wall PSU, that is claimed to RFI free. Plus it does not engage capacitors or batteries. It's kind of besides the point though because this is a thread discussing replacements for the stock supply.

I don't know the full story over PC PSU, but some are designed to an exceptional standard. No idea what the current delivery will be like in terms of use for a DAC. Gaming PCs will experience quick current load changes, which may mean there are capacitor stores in the PSU. (Sometimes gaming PCs are drawing half CPU and GPU power, then suddenly a lot more.) … When we talk about quality PC PSUs, we are talking about gaming PC PSUs. As more quality comes with higher wattage. The average non gaming PC will have a reasonable quality 250 watt PSU. Quality PSU for gaming start around 500W.

I know one aspect about PC PSU that might be of interest though. The capacitors. In quality PC PSUs, they build them with Japanese capacitors. Both first and second stage. No idea what they mean by stages though, but if it's the output stage then it would be applicable.

It's not a discriminatory point to make, to say the following. Quality PC PSUs avoid Chinese capacitors because they are of significantly lower quality. (That's not me being nasty either. It's all information that is discussed in PC PSU builds.) Poorer quality capacitors cause PSUs to fail much easier, which is what no-one wants. Often because when PC PSUs fail, not only do they need replacing and your PC is down. They 'can' take out other PC parts when they die. In other words when we build a gaming PC and review PSUs, we look for all Japanese capacitors.


Anyway that's possibly way off the mark. However going back to the Chord PSU, some have stipulated it's not putting out RFI to the DAC. It's apparently dumping noise back into the mains. That then gets into the amplifier that is driving  speakers, or a headphone amplifier. I have no idea if that's true, however it's not unheard of. E.g. I have read that the Sony PlayStation PSU dump noise. E.g. two. I have read that we should isolate our digital and analogue power supplies, because the digital ones dump noise into the mains.

Anyway ignore me. I am still rambling about PC PSU for the Qutest.


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## Zzt231gr

FYI,I started reading the dedicated thread for Allo Shanti at diyaudio.Here is the link and seems very interesting and technical.

https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/vendor-s-bazaar/337859-shanti-dual-lps-5v-3a-5v-1-5a.html


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## HumanMedia

PC power supplies are the worst for audio, they are RFI furnaces, that’s why high end audio servers replace them with extremely expensive linear supplies. Extremely expensive because they have to supply multiple Voltages at the same time. Switching PC power supplies are perhaps the biggest reason why PCs are so problematic as audio sources.


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## uzi2

The Pc power supply requires many outputs. By contrast the requirement for the Qutest is very simple - clean 5V 1A


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## Zzt231gr

uzi2 said:


> My Shanti arrived today and I have given it a good work out and I am very pleased with the results. I t has a double benefit for me as it replaces the switching power supplies of the Pi4 and the Qutest. The Pi4 is connected to the 3A output and Qutest to the 1A. All traces of harshness in the treble are gone and I am more inclined to turn the volume up rather than down. It has a full bass, delightful mids and very clear highs
> For those looking to replace only the Qutest power supply, I tested with an alternate source and found similar improvements.
> For those looking at a Pi setup, I am running a very much underclocked beta version of DietPi running NAA.
> The Shanti appears to have quite thin DC cables, in contrast to those that would have been supplied by Ciunas Audio and they are hardwired, but does come equipped with power lead and a full selection of adapters.


Hey friend,your afterthought after living a few days with Shanti?Did it came to stay?I read Allo stating that their Supercaps need at least 2 days to burn in,showing a slight measurable decrease in harmonic distortion.

Thanks!


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## uzi2

Definitely staying put. Can't say I've noticed any further improvements - just continuing to enjoy the music.


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## Jon L

Placed the Qutest stock power supply back in after large overall system SQ improvement with 18650 battery supply (no regulation) for my SOtM USB card and spdif converter.
To my surprise, the stock PS sounds pretty darn good now.  Once again, more upstream improvements seem to matter more.  Perhaps Rob Watts is right than stock PS is good enough..




0703201007 by drjlo2, on Flickr


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## DecentLevi

Thought I'd share my experiences with DC cables with an LPS on the Qutest.

First though I'll say I agree the above that upstream improvements matter. But let me qualify that by pointing out that the DC cable + LPS or PSU is also part of the upstream gear (if that's the direction referred to as _up_stream). On the same side of the coin, I'd say say that the quality of BNC or other digital input cable into the DAC makes a difference, as well as the electrical purity in the source component feeding it. I would further speculate that a good enough LPS with an DC cable of decent gauge & insulation has the potential to absorb some of any potential impurities from the digital cable coming into the DAC.

For downstream gear such as RCA cables, amp and headphones - these make an absolute difference because DAC improvements only make a difference if the equipment its' being sent to is up to par. But that's as far as I can agree. Because with a new custom LPS I've got from a confidential source along with a very robust DC cable that I will mention below, I am hearing profound improvements to the sound that are unmistakable and repeatable when A/B'ing both DC cables and the stock wall-wart of the Qutest vs. the custom LPS I'm using. My current downstream gear can be considered mid-fi, not the best but certainly revealing enough to show huuuge differences with clean power to the Qutest using a good DC cable and LPS.

My journey of aftermarket cables with an LPS for the Qutest went like this: Initially I used the provided stock DC cable from the now-closed Ciunas Audio. This yielded a much more smooth, intimate & organic sound with better detail / texture, paired with the LPS I formerly had from them. Next I tried a blue Gotham cable from Ghent Audio. IIRC the resolution & intimacy improved, as well as bass definition, but at the same time the treble became somewhat exasperated causing fatigue. Next up was a 4S6G cable also from Ghent Audio with JSSG360 shielding, which I regard very highly. The bass really came into its' own in a very good, impactful and controlled way, soundstage seems larger, everything is more puristic and all traces of digital glare / harshness in the highs have disappeared. Several A/B comparisons of it to the much thinner stock cable from Ciunas has shown a distinctive and repeatable difference, and especially when comparing the Qutest stock PSU to my custom LPS with custom 4S6G aftermarket cable - the difference was significant enough to make me question whether I'm still listening to the same song - the difference was THAT huge! Hard hitting bass with great definition, smooth silky mids, clean highs, etc., making the Qutest with stock PSU sound low-fi and clinical by comparison.

Of course the quality of said LPS makes all the difference here, the function of the DC cable being just to transfer the purity of its' power as faithfully as possible to your DAC (or 'color' it depending on the materials). Actually both the Gotham and custom 4S6G cables both sounded similar to each other, the former being just a little brighter. I also seemed to notice a somewhat bright leaning sound initially with the custom 4S6G cable, but interestingly with just around 6 hours on it that seems to have subsided, leaving me with what it seems as a more neutral sound, even when comparing the FR to the stock Ciunas cable. I owe @HumanMedia thanks for the formula for this thick black DC cable. Did you also experience the treble relaxing after burn-in, or was that just my imagination? Also I actually don't share your sentiment about any bass roll-off with mine, maybe that depends on the specific LPS pairing. 

For those left scratching their head, I'll illustrate it.

The Gotham cable has quad solid copper OFC wires with JSSG360 shielding - which I was told is similar to creating a Faraday cage around the cable to keep out EFI/RMI. Mine looked like this one:





_(generic photo)_

Ghent Audio recommended the above as well as this as the better type of DC cables. 
Neotech UPOCC 7N Copper 18AWG DC cable. This also has JSSG360 shielding, however HumanMedia reported that it's inductance is too high with its' thicker metals instead of star quad which means separated into four wires; resulting in a slow & dull sound.




_(generic photo)_

The one I was recommended from HumanMedia was the 4S6G cable which is this one, but also with JSSG360 shielding, which I requested on order by email and also specified 2.5mm barrel DC connector on one side and micro USB on the other side. This is also an OFC star quad cable using the best / thickest gauge possible for the micro USB connection type without getting into the territory of excessive inductance. The result looks similar to the exterior of the above cable as you can see below.



_(my 0.5 meter Canare 4S6G OFC cable with the JSSG360 shielding and a micro USB connection on one side with 2.5mm DC connection on the other side. In the middle is the supplied stock cable that came with an LPS from the now-closed Ciunas Audio which is acceptable quality of unknown material, and on the left is the stock Qutest DC cable for reference)_

Just to avoid confusion, the Gotham cable was found by several to be too bright, the specified Neotech cable was found too dark / dull by another user, and to me the recommended variant of 4S6G cable shown above (right) was the best so far by a good margin. And RE my current LPS, I have to keep the source on it confidential for now.

Also HumanMedia would you mind to mention your source for a Canadian sourced silver DC cable that other users swear by? I'm just curious on the price & appearance at least.


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## Zzt231gr

Reminder for any members that might have missed this thread...


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## HumanMedia (Jul 26, 2020)

DecentLevi said:


> Also HumanMedia would you mind to mention your source for a Canadian sourced silver DC cable that other users swear by? I'm just curious on the price & appearance at least.



Yes the darling DC cable over at the Audiophile Style epic thread "A Novel way to improve the SQ of Computer..." is the *Audio Sensibility Signature Silver cable* from Audio Sensibility in Canada. It was the cable that many who used Ghent cables moved on and up to, and still recommend. And a few in that thread are using these with Chord components.

However I have not tried Audio Sensibility so I cannot recommend personally and its an all silver construction for those that care. I have never had good experiences with anything silver, but many many people say that with OFC and single crystal silver there are no downsides and its all good. Im still wary especially as the cost in the hundreds of dollars and  a small number in that thread who have moved from the Audio Sensibility cable to a DIY Mundorf Silver-Gold and prefer it over the Audio Sensibility.

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/...c-server/page/2/?tab=comments#comment-1021544

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/...eaming/page/665/?tab=comments#comment-1059262


From the anecdotal reports of the sound of the DIY Mundorf Silver-Gold, it sounds to be like it might be more aligned to my personal taste, plus the DIY Mundorf Silver-Gold will be a fraction of the cost to make.  I just need to get my head around doing the JSSG360 treatment myself which I haven't done before. Its not brain surgery but it is a little trickier than just making a non shielded cable.

The other DIY option I am seriously considering is one based on the VHAudio V-Quad Cu21 with Oyaide terminations (and JSSG360m shielding). I think DecentLevi mentioned these in an earlier post. (or maybe it was to use them as interconnects? for either usage they appear to be very, very good)

In fact I could do one each of the DIY versions and still have change compared to the cost of the Audio Sensibility Cable, so I will likely go that way first. In the meantime Im doing a few DIY experiments on ferrited coax cables to connect my Chord MScaler to the Chord Qutest.


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## HumanMedia (Jul 29, 2020)

In the meantime I have ordered another DC cable for my M Scaler. A Ghent 4S8 with JSSG360 shielding. I really want to try the oxygen free version of the 4S8 (the 4S8G) as the 4S6G is better than the 4S6. But Ghent doesn’t stock the 4S8G even with two guaranteed orders from me if he would. He keeps whining about having to order a minimum of 100m from Japan in order to offer it. Maybe if others asked after it as well he would do it, or maybe he just wants to up-sell people to the non-star-quad Neotech cable$$.

Two years ago I would have never have imagined that DC cables on digital components up the replay chain would make any difference to the end sound. Frustrating and bewildering that they do, even on my ultraRendu streamer!?, but rewarding when you get the incremental improvements from improving them.


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## greenblured

Got the Shanti and using it for a couple of weeks now. Def. an improvment in sq in my set up. Details, depth in soundstage and bass sounds better than the stock psu. The diference between the four filter options on the Qutest are now easy to recognize (with good recordings).
So far so good, but dc cables are flimsy and you need an adapter (includeded) to connect it to the Qutest. Using the 3 amp line. When first time connecting the Shanti with stock powercord to mains i got a hum from the Shanti. Changing it with a shielded aftermarket solved the problem.
As the stock Qutest is 2 amp and the Shanti is either 1 amp or 3 amp out, what is the best to use. (Tried both and can not hear any sonycally diference.
Read about the powerdown-issue, so i disconnect by dc cable.


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## Jon L

greenblured said:


> Got the Shanti and using it for a couple of weeks now. Def. an improvment in sq in my set up. Details, depth in soundstage and bass sounds better than the stock psu.



Would you say Shanti makes sound brighter or darker compared to stock PS?


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## greenblured

Neither, just more detailed.


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## greenblured

greenblured said:


> Neither, just more detailed.


This is with the Hd800. The 650 sounds more rolled off in both ends than ever.


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## Zzt231gr

greenblured said:


> Got the Shanti and using it for a couple of weeks now. Def. an improvment in sq in my set up. Details, depth in soundstage and bass sounds better than the stock psu. The diference between the four filter options on the Qutest are now easy to recognize (with good recordings).
> So far so good, but dc cables are flimsy and you need an adapter (includeded) to connect it to the Qutest. Using the 3 amp line. When first time connecting the Shanti with stock powercord to mains i got a hum from the Shanti. Changing it with a shielded aftermarket solved the problem.
> As the stock Qutest is 2 amp and the Shanti is either 1 amp or 3 amp out, what is the best to use. (Tried both and can not hear any sonycally diference.
> Read about the powerdown-issue, so i disconnect by dc cable.


So,another happy Shanti user with Qutest!

You should use the 3A output.


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## uzi2 (Jul 31, 2020)

greenblured said:


> Got the Shanti and using it for a couple of weeks now. Def. an improvment in sq in my set up. Details, depth in soundstage and bass sounds better than the stock psu. The diference between the four filter options on the Qutest are now easy to recognize (with good recordings).
> So far so good, but dc cables are flimsy and you need an adapter (includeded) to connect it to the Qutest. Using the 3 amp line. When first time connecting the Shanti with stock powercord to mains i got a hum from the Shanti. Changing it with a shielded aftermarket solved the problem.
> As the stock Qutest is 2 amp and the Shanti is either 1 amp or 3 amp out, what is the best to use. (Tried both and can not hear any sonycally diference.
> Read about the powerdown-issue, so i disconnect by dc cable.


The 1A is perfectly good for the Qutest. The manual says it requires a minimum of 1A and the Shanti output is rated at 1.2A. I have been using it that way for some while now as the 3A is powering my Pi4. Rob Watts has confirmed that the gradual power down is not harmful to the Qutest.


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## dac64

3A is fine because all depending on the load.

But not the V. E.g. can't exceed 15V for HMS.


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## HumanMedia

Anyone using a Farad3 on their Qutest?
The Farad3 was the best when I tried it on my 2Qute, bettering the SR4 and the UpTone JS-2.
Since I don’t have a 5V Farad3 I use the JS-2 on the Qutest but I keep wondering what a Farad3 would sound like.
Curiously different power supplies made a bigger difference on the 2Qute than on the Qutest.


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## The Jester

Voted stock ...
tried a battery pack and couldn’t detect any real difference,
more noticeable was upgrading the USB and BNC cables To the MScaler ...
although the stock PSU’s for Qutest and MScaler are plugged into seperate isolated filter boards fed from a mains conditioner ...


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## Triode User

HumanMedia said:


> Anyone using a Farad3 on their Qutest?
> The Farad3 was the best when I tried it on my 2Qute, bettering the SR4 and the UpTone JS-2.
> Since I don’t have a 5V Farad3 I use the JS-2 on the Qutest but I keep wondering what a Farad3 would sound like.
> Curiously different power supplies made a bigger difference on the 2Qute than on the Qutest.



I have a Farad3 15V that I tried with the Mscaler but now that I use a Sean Jacobs power supply with the Mscaler I am considering converting the Farad3 to 5V. 

Farad will sell a 5v super cap board and transformer for 100 euros plus tax but the soldering needs to be precise and accurate so do not embark on this unless you are experienced and proficient in detailed soldering . . . . 

Hopefully I will report back on my thoughts but it will take a little while to get the arts then do the conversion.


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## DecentLevi (Aug 5, 2020)

The Jester said:


> Voted stock ...
> tried a battery pack and couldn’t detect any real difference,
> more noticeable was upgrading the USB and BNC cables To the MScaler ...
> although the stock PSU’s for Qutest and MScaler are plugged into seperate isolated filter boards fed from a mains conditioner ...


Well, different strokes for different folks, as they say. The amp + speakers or headphones connected to the Qutest have a huge impact on being able to hear the difference. And I would speculate that a USB input into the Qutest has strong potential to inject RF noise, possibly negating the clean power effect of any DC LPS or battery power - not to mention its' USB input is not up to par with superior sound that can be had with other connections such as Toslink optical and BNC coax cables. Also I would think that a good DC LPS with a thick & shielded DC cable into the Qutest has better ability to absorb dirty energy than a small battery pack is able to do. Furthermore if you're expecting an improvement from a main conditioner when using an AC/DC PSU, you're doing it wrong. Mains conditioners filter AC power, but this advantage is negated after converting back to DC and sent over a very thin gauge cable - something I have also tested multiple times to sound the same with my top conditioning unit as direct to main power and same as without any PSU. Even more is that if you're using a battery pack akin to a mobile power-bank you're getting less than optimally clean power since these all use voltage regulators which are detrimental to the sound.

Not hearing a difference with an alternative LPS with the Qutest IMO can be attributed to the resolving ability of ones' gear connected to its' output, hearing ability, or from feeding the Qutest dirty electricity via other components.


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## The Jester (Aug 6, 2020)

DecentLevi said:


> Well, different strokes for different folks, as they say. The amp + speakers or headphones connected to the Qutest have a huge impact on being able to hear the difference. And I would speculate that a USB input into the Qutest has strong potential to inject RF noise, possibly negating the clean power effect of any DC LPS or battery power - not to mention its' USB input is not up to par with superior sound that can be had with other connections such as Toslink optical and BNC coax cables. Also I would think that a good DC LPS with a thick & shielded DC cable into the Qutest has better ability to absorb dirty energy than a small battery pack is able to do. Furthermore if you're expecting an improvement from a main conditioner when using an AC/DC PSU, you're doing it wrong. Mains conditioners filter AC power, but this advantage is negated after converting back to DC and sent over a very thin gauge cable - something I have also tested multiple times to sound the same with my top conditioning unit as direct to main power and same as without any PSU. Even more is that if you're using a battery pack akin to a mobile power-bank you're getting less than optimally clean power since these all use voltage regulators which are detrimental to the sound.
> 
> 
> Not hearing a difference with an alternative LPS with the Qutest IMO can be attributed to the resolving ability of ones' gear connected to its' output, hearing ability, or from feeding the Qutest dirty electricity via other components.


Some interesting points ...
Tried a powerbank after reading posts about digital hash from MScaler and Qutest needing special BNC cables,
“Mains conditioner” is a local Thor brand with their own filtering power boards ... google some reviews it’s more than just a mains conditioner ...
Sound over USB from a dedicated PC is at least equal to a Cambridge CXC Transport over Toslink


----------



## uzi2

The Jester said:


> Voted stock ...
> tried a battery pack and couldn’t detect any real difference,
> more noticeable was upgrading the USB and BNC cables To the MScaler ...
> although the stock PSU’s for Qutest and MScaler are plugged into seperate isolated filter boards fed from a mains conditioner ...


What sort of battery pack are you using? If it is one of the popular Lithium ones, then you will still have the potentially noisy current switcher in the circuit and many have reported no difference using these. The only battery pack with a native 5V is 4xNiMH.
Also by having the Mscaler in the chain there are 2 potentially noisy switching supplies to consider. Replacing one is only half a job.


----------



## The Jester

uzi2 said:


> What sort of battery pack are you using? If it is one of the popular Lithium ones, then you will still have the potentially noisy current switcher in the circuit and many have reported no difference using these. The only battery pack with a native 5V is 4xNiMH.
> Also by having the Mscaler in the chain there are 2 potentially noisy switching supplies to consider. Replacing one is only half a job.


Hence the Thor products .... as I said in previous reply ... google some reviews
Mains analyser with or without an SMPS psu .... 0-1


----------



## The Jester

I just voted for the stock PSU as i’m more than happy with the sound with upgraded cables ...
Lots of posts re MScaler and needing special cables led to a quick experiment with a powerbank I already had ...
Listening done via main system and speakers, if I noticed something I might have plugged the Stax energiser directly into the Qutest ..
So what improvements could I expect with a good LPS on the Qutest and MScaler ... 
a few reviews out there intimate the pair is arguably better resolving than a stand alone DAVE but in turn it sounds more “musical” which to me would point to better harmonics and instrument tonality .....
If the answer is “closer to a DAVE” I’d be very interested ....
As I said, more than happy with the Chord pair but always open to ideas ...
Tried them out a few weeks back with Dire Straits Brothers in Arms ... ripped CD version, SACD version and LP version ...
Ripped CD version just won out ... better bass definition than SACD and a little more dynamic than LP, but to be fair SACD was from a multi disc Sony 4K BluRay player so not really in the same league as the Chord duo or even the Rega P6 / Graham Slee phono amp ...


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## HumanMedia (Aug 6, 2020)

Triode User said:


> Farad will sell a 5v super cap board and transformer for 100 euros plus tax but the soldering needs to be precise and accurate so do not embark on this unless you are experienced and proficient in detailed soldering . . . .
> 
> Hopefully I will report back on my thoughts but it will take a little while to get the arts then do the conversion.



You can can send the supply back and have them do the conversion, which I am sure you already know, but then there is the travel time and cost of freight there and back.

Different power supply designs also favour certain components. I hadn’t really thought about it until ‘Superdad’ from UpTone mentioned it to me. He said that components that have wildy different power draws like computer based devices (Like Streamers) may work better better with supercacitor supplies and SMPS. Computers can demand huge spikes in current for hundreds of a second to refresh RAM, and are generally more random in power demands from the subsystems while other devices draw in a more sinusoidal fashion which may favour transformer based supplies. Of course there is way more to it than than that, but it started me thinking more about synergies of certain supplies with certain components. The best supplies on some components may not be the best on other components.


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## HumanMedia (Aug 6, 2020)

The Jester said:


> So what improvements could I expect with a good LPS on the Qutest and MScaler ...
> a few reviews out there intimate the pair is arguably better resolving than a stand alone DAVE but in turn it sounds more “musical” which to me would point to better harmonics and instrument tonality .....
> If the answer is “closer to a DAVE” I’d be very interested ....



I don’t know how it compares to a Dave, but a good supply on the MScaler, a good supply on the Qutest and ferrited BNC cables (DIY) each raise the performance. It’s almost like you don’t hear the full potential of the components without these.

More to consider - mains filters (and mains analysers) rarely work in the GHZ range which is the range which will affect the performance of the DAC, as ferrited cables and OPTO DX clearly prove. Power filters and the MScaler itself have the MHZ range covered but not the GHZ range. Plus those SMPS push out LOTS of AC leakage current, which Rob doesn’t talk about much except when people have humming problems or get minor electrical tingling from the casing of their components, however other engineers do flag this as problematic if not for your DAC then for whatever your DAC is attached to. Ferrited cables and power filters do nothing for AC leakage, but good supplies do.

Another note on power filters, they may be good in stopping SMPS noise getting back to the rest of your system and won’t effect the performance of an SMPS, and can be good for low current digital devices but they may well be detrimental to conventional transformer/capacitor power supplies. If they stop power surges they will also interfere the way a power supply charges its capacitors.


----------



## The Jester

Tried clip on ferrite‘s on the stock BNC cables which some say are marginal vs a close fitting ferrite ... 2 then 4,6,8
noted the slight difference each time so left them at 8 per cable, in the interim I decided to match the USB cable to the rest of the system after trying various USB cables both on approval and courtesy of friends .... went through Belkin gold, Cord silver plus, Atlas and 2 Oyaide‘s D+ class A and class S, slight preference for the cheaper class A as the S seemed bolder or more forward ...
so in went a Nordost Blue Heaven USB ... biggest improvement to date ... bit the bullet and put in 2 Blue Heaven BNC cables... 
for the first time going up from bypass on the MScaler became really noticeable ... red to green ... yup.. green to blue ... oh yeah ... blue to white .. oh wow .. all three are Nordost recommended 1.5 metre length ... got me wondering if the “issue” with RF isn‘t so much coming out of the BNC socket as being radiated by the MScaler itself and then picked up by the stock cables ...
straying away from the OP a little (sorry) but all part of my original vote ...
output of the Qutest is via Nordost Heimdalls to a CJ CT6 pre ..


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## HumanMedia (Aug 6, 2020)

The Jester said:


> Tried clip on ferrite‘s on the stock BNC cables which some say are marginal vs a close fitting ferrite ... 2 then 4,6,8
> noted the slight difference each time so left them at 8 per cable, in the interim I decided to match the USB cable to the rest of the system after trying various USB cables both on approval and courtesy of friends .... went through Belkin gold, Cord silver plus, Atlas and 2 Oyaide‘s D+ class A and class S, slight preference for the cheaper class A as the S seemed bolder or more forward ...
> so in went a Nordost Blue Heaven USB ... biggest improvement to date ... bit the bullet and put in 2 Blue Heaven BNC cables...
> for the first time going up from bypass on the MScaler became really noticeable ... red to green ... yup.. green to blue ... oh yeah ... blue to white .. oh wow .. all three are Nordost recommended 1.5 metre length ... got me wondering if the “issue” with RF isn‘t so much coming out of the BNC socket as being radiated by the MScaler itself and then picked up by the stock cables ...
> ...



I must have 10kg of various ferrites I have tried and use around the home. There are only two sets of solid ferrites which Ive found so far which really help the MScaler to DAC connection, from Fairight and Wurth. The vast majority of ferrites are designed for the MHZ range, these two sets reach above 1GHZ.

And I hear you about USB cables. I tried about a dozen different audiophile brands and dismayed and exhausted from the whole experience I put the whole exercise aside and came back to the lowly Oyaide Neo Class A as the best of the lot that I tried (Yes including the Supra). BUT the whole time since then I’ve realised that this a weak point in my replay chain and I am gathering the energy to get round to try some better alternatives. Your post has encouraged me.

And you have a very good point on radiated RFI, which Im starting to believe is the reason why the JSSG360 shielding on cables is so beneficial and audible. Not just because it shields the cables from external interference, because It also stops problematical components from radiating interference out via connected cables. Plus by the nature of the shielding not being tied to signal ground, it doesn’t just dump interference onto the ground plane where it will inevetibly find its way back into the modulated signal. (The key technology behind Lush USB cables is JSSG360 shielding)


----------



## The Jester

HumanMedia said:


> I must have 10kg of various ferrites I have tried and use around the home. There are only two sets of solid ferrites which Ive found so far which really help the MScaler to DAC connection, from Fairight and Wurth. The vast majority of ferrites are designed for the MHZ range, these two sets reach above 1GHZ.
> 
> And I hear you about USB cables. I tried about a dozen different audiophile brands and dismayed and exhausted from the whole experience came back to the lowly Oyaide Neo Class A as the best of the lot that I tried (Yes including the Supra). BUT the whole time I’ve realised that this a a weak point in my replay chain and I am gathering the focus to try some better alternatives. Your post has encouraged me.
> 
> And you have a very good point on radiated RFI, which Im starting to believe is the reason why the JSSG360 shielding on cables is so beneficial and audible. Not just because it shields the cables from external interference, because It also stops problematical components from radiating  interference out via connected cables.


Main reason (apart from the price) I went for the Blue Heaven range is they’re the first in the range to use “micro monofilament tech “ which is a nice match for my version one Hiemdall’s and that they‘re terminated with quality BNC connectors, Hiemdall 2 USB and BNC cables are close to double the price too ... and they go up and up from there 😳
so many to chose from ... and so few $$ to play with ...
and Nordost‘s Q Source is big $$ for a good linear PSU ... too late to get a better job ... Lottery win the only avenue left ...


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## Stourmead

Hey
Just been directed here and - after swapping the ifi for the shanti... BOOM

Test track was Goldie's Kemistry. just made it sound that tad more holographic and with more oomph. Switching to Beastie Boys 'Get it together' , Q-Tip was just sounding mercurial. As he should....


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## Jon L

Stourmead said:


> Just been directed here and - after swapping the ifi for the shanti... BOOM



When I get some time, I do need to compare the Shanti to Bakoon (Jcat) Li battery PS, among others...




ShantiBakoon by drjlo2, on Flickr


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## Jon L (Aug 27, 2020)

*REVIEW: ALLO SHANTI LPS, BAKOON LI BATTERY SUPPLY*

REASON

Power supply discussions seem to generate a lot of strong opinions, and since I just carried out some concentrated listening of various power supplies, I thought I would jot down my impressions, a lot of it for my own record, thus as succinct as possible. 

SETTING

All power supplies mentioned are compared on *Chord Qutest DAC* and were all plugged into modified Liebert on-line, double-conversion power generator.  To minimize variables and to maximize minute differences, all supplies were compared on the same rig comprising of Schiit Jotunheim R amplifier powering Raal SR1a ribbon headphones by the way of Norne Silvergarde S3 pure silver headphone cable.

ALLO SHANTI LINEAR POWER SUPPLY




0827201234 by drjlo2, on Flickr

The thing I like about Allo Shanti is that despite what is obviously of serious build quality, its price is in the computer/IT realm not in the audiophile uber price realm.  It annoys me when certain audiophile companies pretend like they are selling solid bricks of gold, similar to how medical supply companies quadruple prices for "medical grade" power plugs, etc.  The fact Shanti sports the latest audiophile perks like supercaps on output and provide two outputs (5V/3A, 5V/1A) is a bonus.  


In direct comparison to Chord's stock SMPS (which actually sounds quite good) and Bakoon BPS-02 Lithium battery PS, Shanti differs by offering more density of texture and information.  At first glance, I can see some people actually preferring the stock SMPS, which sounds "prettier."  In photography/video terms, SMPS is akin to turning up brightness half click and turning down contrast half click.  This creates smoother yet airier sound that can be more forgiving of poor recordings while still bringing life and sparkle to music. 

Shanti actually seems to pull together the sonic pixels into more dense balls, so the performers are less diffusely large/forward.  Those who prefer large, forward, diffuse images (like from Magnepan speakers) may like the SMPS presentation more, especially with certain recordings that need that treatment.  This density carries into bass as well.  I've seen others mention that certain heavy-duty LPS's, including some mentions of Shanti, produce much more bass than "puny" SMPS's, which may or may not be the case depending on system.  On this system, what Shanti does is produce more dense, solid bass, which can give the impression of "more" bass due to noticing its presence more.  This is not night-and-day difference at all, and I consider SMPS bass perfectly great. 

The puny stock Chord SMPS plugged into Teslaplex AC outlets.




0827201137 by drjlo2, on Flickr

The main thing that may keep the Shanti around is its better retrieval of low-level details from mediocre recordings.  With recent, high-quality recordings, the system sounds perfectly faultless with SMPS; it wants for nothing IMO.  Mind you, this is only possible due to numerous refinements and optimizations over the years, i.e. just the right cabling, power treatment, adapters, server, software, etc, etc.  If I listened to great recordings all day, I do not need to use the Shanti or Bakoon battery supply.  However, with good-but-not-great recordings from say 1990's (good luck with 80's recordings), Shanti pulls in just that last few percent more detail resolution, so the decent recordings become more insightful and enjoyable.  One can hear a bit deeper into singer's smacking lips or quick inhalation before belting out, just a small bit more of venue wall reflections and sound trails as trumpet notes fade. 

THE BAD

At this price point, the only negative that bugs me is the attached DC cable.  It is very thin and extremely long.  I already know DC cables sound different by comparing and DIY'ing them, so at some point, I suspect I will mess with these.  If better DC cables weren't possible due to target price, then Allo should have at least provided DC jacks instead of permanently attaching them IMHO. 

WHAT ABOUT BATTERIES? 

IME, garden-variety laptop 5V battery supplies do not sound great.  Along with cheap, poorly-designed linear power supplies, these battery supplies tend to place a veil over the music while overly smoothing things out.  I get best sound quality by using batteries at their native voltage, in which case, clarity and life is preserved.  Unfortunately, one can't find native 5V Lithium batteries, so the next best thing is the Bakoon bps-02 Li battery supply (same unit here OEM JCAT). 




ShantiBakoon by drjlo2, on Flickr

With a good Li battery supply like this, the entire presentation is different.  Whether the difference is "better" or "preferable" is up to the individual's tastes and system synergy.  The background really does become more "inky black" like many reviewers out there report.  Textures and details become sexily pure and liquid while instrumental and vocal tone become rich, deep, wide.  I mean, who wouldn't like THIS, one wonders.  Many audiophiles can actually stop right here and not look back. 

But since I am particularly particular, I have noted one tendency.  Music is beautiful with noiseless background, but after long listening sessions, I do notice a sameness, a recognizable signature that slightly coats all genres.  It's slight and it's a pleasant signature, but after a long session, I feel this signature lessens the excitement and anticipation of finding out what the next track would sound like, and a different artist next, etc. 

Since I am not aware of native 5V batteries to compare to Bakoon, I cannot be sure if this tendency is due to the fact it still has internal voltage regulation or due to powering a device with both digital and analogue amplification circuitry.  The times I can power a purely digital component with native battery, I do not hear this "sameness."  For example, I am powering SOtM USB soundcard and USB-spdif converter with 18650 batteries, and there is no downside here.  In past, using 12V native batteries to power other pure digital components also did not result in any downside, either.  Oh, well, I suppose this question is unanswerable at this time, other than to recommend that one should try native-voltage batteries on purely digital components if possible. 




19733647013_232899f3e8_o by drjlo2, on Flickr

THE END
  ..to be continued.


----------



## Zzt231gr

Jon L said:


> *REVIEW: ALLO SHANTI LPS, BAKOON LI BATTERY SUPPLY*
> 
> REASON
> 
> ...


Very good review,dear friend!

What kind of music was it that you conducted the test?


----------



## Jon L

Zzt231gr said:


> Very good review,dear friend!
> 
> What kind of music was it that you conducted the test?



All genres.  Latest playlist include:  
Chip Taylor
Muse
Tanita Tikaram
Bach
Mahler
Tom Waits
Sophie Zelmani
Lhasa
Cannonball Adderley


----------



## uzi2

@Jon L The only native 5V battery supply you will find is 4x NiMh


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## Jon L

uzi2 said:


> @Jon L The only native 5V battery supply you will find is 4x NiMh



I've been hoping to avoid this pain.  NiMH 1.2 V 1900 mAH Eneloop battery means I need to double them ( 4 batteries x2) to get decent play time.  And then I need to have 8 additional batteries charged ready to go when the first 8 runs out, manually changing them out every time.  

I'll take one for the team since I have lots of Eneloop batteries already from photography   




AAcase by drjlo2, on Flickr




0828202047 by drjlo2, on Flickr


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## DecentLevi (Aug 30, 2020)

BREAKTHROUGH ALERT​
Introducing the ferrite bead improvement! These are nothing new, but new to me and I have found a few good uses for it, always making a positive difference and in slightly different ways on different components. So I have these 8 beads sitting around I got for like $6 five years ago to quell buzzing sound on an external anode wire for tubes. The incoming BNC cable from Wave High Fidelity that uses ferrite beads / chokes got me to thinking how these may be of use elsewhere.

Initially I tried these on my 6V AC cable leading to the Schiit Wyrd which is a USB purifier that goes between my PC and DDC / audio interface before feeding a super pure digital stream into the Qutest DAC. Here are my results with it after meticulous testing in different positions and A/B'ing with & without over two days:

*Ferrite beads on Schiit Wyrd cable*
Instant transformation: treble is smoother and more detailed without added fatigue, overall more natural / organic sound, improved instrument separation with a more holographic soundstage to boot! Bass is faster and especially now drums hit harder!
After trying all 8, 4 then 3 I actually settled with just 3. All 8 to me resulted in a somewhat overbaked job akin to clinical sonic reproduction, but the 3 combined with the 4 mentioned below were 'just the ticket' for me. I've found them to perhaps sound best when spaced approx. 6-8" (inches) from the source on either side, and 1 in the middle.
-


*Ferrite beads on aftermarket silver HD-600 cable*
While hearing more similar improvements on a headphone cable with generally improved resolution all around, this way is especially effecting the 'vividness' of the recording as well as harder hitting drums AKA dynamics. I heard decent improvement with two beads, but settled on four and I'm hooked for life!
The combination of ferrite chokes on USB purifier and headphone cable resulted in a _total_ metamorphosis of sound, almost leaving me to question whether the same song is still playing, and hearing a new detail I've yet to hear on a same trusty test song I've heard 100's of times over the years. Numerous comparisons yielded *unwavering* and repeatable night / day improvements, making my system sound fairly 'smeared' and dull without, as if sounds are more in one blob not separated as well and with softer drums - oh yes this system can perform better with the chokes!



*Ferrite beads on the Qutest stock PSU cable*
Although I already have a spectacular LPS, I thought I'd do this comparison 'for the team'. On this one, the sound was affected quite different than above. I did another comparison of the Qutest stock DC wall-wart (PSU cable) to my LPS with thick aftermarket DC cable (both without any ferrite beads) and noticed a much more vivid sound, with robust dynamics, smoother treble & more detail with the LPS. Next attaching all 8 ferrite beads to the Qutest stock PSU cable, I was actually pleasantly taken aback. It's a very coherent sound with some improvements: bass definition improved a bit, things seems more forward and I'm hearing a bit more details.

A few A/B's however made me realize the ferrite beads are no match for a good LPS, maybe sounding 1/3rd as good - yet still better than 'stock'. The stereo image seemed to suffer from a bit of 'congestion' and instrument placements seemed a bit 'smeared'. I do suppose however if one were to get a large pack of these beads / chokes... say 20 on the Qutest cable and 4-8 more for your headphone cable and any other components as desired, you just may have the 'smoking gun' for a dirt cheap hack that doesn't involve a LPS replacement. For me though having only 8 I was unable to test beads on all 3 cables simultaneously.


Ferrite beads on both the USB purifier cable and headphones for me were PURE magic dust, with a heightened sense of realism unlike I've experienced before at home, with substantial improvement on transient response (drums / dynamics) etc. and is what finally put a smile on my face. Not everybody's results will be identical but I encourage you to experiment to your liking, and these are cheap too.

On my system in particular something that made a huge difference was the Kenwood VR-406 A/V receiver I came across for free - a semi-vintage 5.1 channel solid-state speaker amp that happens to have a m-a-r-v-e-l-o-u-s headphone output to boot (in "source direct" mode), for me comparing very well with the Rangarok v1.

For my LPS, it's a custom prototype that is similar to one which compared favorably to the Allo Shanti by some. For anyone with that LPS, I recommend trying the beads on its' thin cable and see how much things may improve. Though it also helps on other parts of the system perhaps even more.


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## Zzt231gr

Metamorphosis comes from the Greek word "Μεταμορφωση" , which means transformation!

I trully believe you,dear friend!Ferrites do work and I think Wave cables realize this concept to the max!

Cheers!!


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## HumanMedia (Aug 30, 2020)

DecentLevi said:


> BREAKTHROUGH ALERT​
> Introducing the ferrite bead improvement! These are nothing new, but new to me and I have found a few good uses for it, always making a positive difference and in slightly different ways on different components. So I have these 8 beads sitting around I got for like $6 five years ago to quell buzzing sound on an external anode wire for tubes. The incoming BNC cable from Wave High Fidelity that uses ferrite beads / chokes got me to thinking how these may be of use elsewhere.



Get some of these into your system as well, the one you have pictured are most likely in the low hundreds of megahertz range, these ones peak at 1GHz and extend up to 2.5GHz, which helps with that dreaded wifi saturation.
https://au.rs-online.com/web/p/ferrite-sleeves/6688864/

I use solid core versions for my BNC cables but put these Clip ons everywhere else. The external AC cords for my power supplies, ethernet cables, router cables, computer power cables even though they are far away from the AV System. The ones linked have an internal diameter of 8mm, but there are others with 13mm and higher.

Edit: if you do get some, make sure to order the extra plastic key that you will need to open them back up to try in different places. They are not fingernail openable like other ferrites


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## Jon L

HumanMedia said:


> Get some of these into your system as well, the one you have pictured are most likely in the low hundreds of megahertz range, these ones peak at 1GHz and extend up to 2.5GHz, which helps with that dreaded wifi saturation.
> https://au.rs-online.com/web/p/ferrite-sleeves/6688864/


Interesting product.  Mouser and Digikey carry it in U.S. for those interested.
As with all things in audio, I don't think one can predict which type/size of ferrite will subjectively "sound better" in specific situation, even in different parts of the same system depending on different RFI/EMI profile, AC vs DC application, etc.  For those interested, please perform the obligatory "ferrite rolling" and report back  

https://resources.altium.com/p/how-do-ferrite-beads-work-and-how-do-you-choose-right-one
"Ferrite beads do not act like a wideband low-pass filter as they can only help attenuate a specific range of frequencies. You must choose a ferrite bead selection and choke where your undesired frequencies are in its resistive band. If you go a little too low or a little too high the bead will not have the desired effect."


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## The Jester

Lots of effort on your part with some interesting results .. 👍
I’m guessing with the headphone cables they were affected by RFI from somewhere, twisted pair cables can offer some rejection and it looks like the ferrite improved on that ...
There’s always been two camps on analogue interconnects ... full braid and foil shield vs twisted pair but after reading Rob’s comments on claims of “more air and space” with some high end cables I’m guessing it’s down to a false impression due to RFI ... you may have just proved that ..
Be interesting to see what effect the wave cables make when they arrive ...


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## Jon L (Sep 10, 2020)

Upgraded the DC cable on Allo Shanti with VH Audio 18 AWG Unicrystal OCC copper wire in Airlok + Schurter DC plug.




0910200751 by drjlo2, on Flickr




0910200950 by drjlo2, on Flickr

Then I made a native 5V battery supply using rechargeable NiMH AA batteries, 2 groups of four in parallel.  Fun times ahead...




0910200831 by drjlo2, on Flickr


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## Jon L

What I have feared has come true.  I truly did not want the AA batteries to sound best because who wants to change out 8 batteries manually every few hours?
Unfortunately, the native NiMH AA batteries sound significantly better than the Bakoon Li battery supply with internal regulation.  That slight bit of warmth and pleasant richness has been burnt away, along with cloying sense of sameness.  What is left is ultra clean background with crisp, fresh, resolute clarity and body.  Nothing is blurry or murky, and although poor recordings are even easier to identify, their brittle, harsh, thin recording quality is communicated clearly while not exaggerated.  

The good news is that Allo Shanti LPS, when upgraded with shorter, better-quality DC cable and fed from a good power cord from a good power regenerator, turns a few sonic corners toward the sonic signature of native batteries.  The stock DC cable is found to darken and smooth out the sound a bit at the expense of clarity, but this signature actually improves tolerability of some brittle and thin rock/metal music.  Future experimentation with different wires are planned, and I may end up installing a DC jack for easy cable swapping.  

No rest for the wicked.. (as I change eight AA batteries and two 18650 batteries for the system).


----------



## Zzt231gr

Jon L said:


> What I have feared has come true.  I truly did not want the AA batteries to sound best because who wants to change out 8 batteries manually every few hours?
> Unfortunately, the native NiMH AA batteries sound significantly better than the Bakoon Li battery supply with internal regulation.  That slight bit of warmth and pleasant richness has been burnt away, along with cloying sense of sameness.  What is left is ultra clean background with crisp, fresh, resolute clarity and body.  Nothing is blurry or murky, and although poor recordings are even easier to identify, their brittle, harsh, thin recording quality is communicated clearly while not exaggerated.
> 
> The good news is that Allo Shanti LPS, when upgraded with shorter, better-quality DC cable and fed from a good power cord from a good power regenerator, turns a few sonic corners toward the sonic signature of native batteries.  The stock DC cable is found to darken and smooth out the sound a bit at the expense of clarity, but this signature actually improves tolerability of some brittle and thin rock/metal music.  Future experimentation with different wires are planned, and I may end up installing a DC jack for easy cable swapping.
> ...


Thank you for your valuable info!

Is the sound of the battery psu far away from Allo Shanti?


----------



## uzi2

Jon L said:


> What I have feared has come true.  I truly did not want the AA batteries to sound best because who wants to change out 8 batteries manually every few hours?
> Unfortunately, the native NiMH AA batteries sound significantly better than the Bakoon Li battery supply with internal regulation.  That slight bit of warmth and pleasant richness has been burnt away, along with cloying sense of sameness.  What is left is ultra clean background with crisp, fresh, resolute clarity and body.  Nothing is blurry or murky, and although poor recordings are even easier to identify, their brittle, harsh, thin recording quality is communicated clearly while not exaggerated.
> 
> The good news is that Allo Shanti LPS, when upgraded with shorter, better-quality DC cable and fed from a good power cord from a good power regenerator, turns a few sonic corners toward the sonic signature of native batteries.  The stock DC cable is found to darken and smooth out the sound a bit at the expense of clarity, but this signature actually improves tolerability of some brittle and thin rock/metal music.  Future experimentation with different wires are planned, and I may end up installing a DC jack for easy cable swapping.
> ...


As expected really as all contact with potentially noisy mains supply is eliminated and no potentially noisy current switching, just a clean simple source. Not the most convenient, but there are higher capacity NiMh batteries available. AAs at around 3000mAh and Ds around 10000mAh.
Your cable rolling on the Shanti may produce a better long term solution with the pure battery power showing a result to aim for. Good luck


----------



## Triode User

Jon L said:


> Upgraded the DC cable on Allo Shanti with VH Audio 18 AWG Unicrystal OCC copper wire in Airlok + Schurter DC plug.



I have just been round to a friends house to listen to his newly acquired Allo Shanti (as well as Sbooster, Farad3, a Sean Jacobs DC2 and also a DIY Supercap PSU). I was pretty sure I could hear a difference between the 3A and 1A outputs on the Allo Shanti. Have you listened to both?


----------



## Jon L

Triode User said:


> I have just been round to a friends house to listen to his newly acquired Allo Shanti (as well as Sbooster, Farad3, a Sean Jacobs DC2 and also a DIY Supercap PSU). I was pretty sure I could hear a difference between the 3A and 1A outputs on the Allo Shanti. Have you listened to both?



I have listened to both, but I suspect the differences will reveal themselves more depending on how much current (continuous and peak) each component draws. 




uzi2 said:


> Not the most convenient, but there are higher capacity NiMh batteries available. AAs at around 3000mAh and Ds around 10000mAh.
> Your cable rolling on the Shanti may produce a better long term solution with the pure battery power showing a result to aim for. Good luck



My experience is that Eneloops are the only NiMH rechargeables I have used that hold their charge well.  Several other brands I have tried seem to leak charge like a sieve just standing there. 
Do you know of any good rechargeable D's? 
Eneloop/Eneloop Pro and Energizer "Recharge" have been measured to store their charge well from tests, but Eneloop D is their AA in D spacer case..


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## Jon L

I had put aside this battery for my music server due to the hassle involved.  Little did I know what true hassle was...
Time to go off-grid.




0911201626 by drjlo2, on Flickr


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## dac64

Jon L said:


> What I have feared has come true.  I truly did not want the AA batteries to sound best because who wants to change out 8 batteries manually every few hours?



Very true! Comparing to poweradd as if horn to conventional speakers. 

Batteries just direct and pure!


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## uzi2 (Sep 12, 2020)

Jon L said:


> I have listened to both, but I suspect the differences will reveal themselves more depending on how much current (continuous and peak) each component draws.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I've never used Ds and am not currently using any NiMh batteries. My understaning is that there are two types of NiMh, the early ones that did not hold charge and a newer variety that does. It is easy to spot which is which as the latter are sold as Ready to use, or have stay charged on the packaging.


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## Triode User (Sep 12, 2020)

I have bought, borrowed, begged and made some supplies to compare more fully with the Qutest over the weekend (no batteries, too much faff).

Edit, I have just realised I missed off the SBooster from the photoshoot and it is now sulking in the corner of the room.


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## Jon L (Sep 12, 2020)

0912201035 by drjlo2, on Flickr

Some concentrated comparisons took place.

Audio server.
HDPLEX LPS vs. 12V Li Battery.

With stock DC cable and power cord, HDPLEX sounds less resolving and coarser than battery.  However, after DIY'ing a DC cable until it sounded better, which meant starting wtih pure silver but later adding OCC copper to the concoction, and finding a specific sound signature with a particular power cord, the LPS now sounds in general ballpark of battery sound signature.  Battery still sound a smidge purer, but LPS does have its own charm of tiny more vocal texture, close enough for me to use the LPS for the music server. 

SOtM USB card and DXIO USB-spdif converter.
18650 Li battery vs. various LPS and SMPS in house.

Here, the 18650 battery was found to be irreplaceable in preserving the sparkling purity of sound.  I'm not sure if it's the 18650 battery type itself that's the difference or the fact only two 18650 need to be used, resulting in a simple architecture.  It could also be that SOtM and DXIO, for whatever reason, benefit more from battery power, being very small, pure-digital devices. 

Chord Qutest DAC
AA NiMH battery vs. Allo Shanti LPS

This was the most crucial comparison, since changing 8 batteries every few hours would have been a real bummer.  Perhaps this thought acted as a bias, but with stock DC cable and power cord, Allo Shanti had a significantly different sound signature than battery.  Shanti was darker, smoother but less resolving than battery.  After DIY'ing a better DC cable and also DIY'ing a particular power cord design that pushed the sound signature to a direction I wanted, the Shanti now moved towards the battery sound signature more, i.e. purer, sunnier, more resolving.  Images now projected forward easier with more presence.  Battery still sounds bit more "fresh" and pure, but Shanti actually seems to have a smidge more low bass kick, so I could settle down with Shanti. 

Further Thoughts.

When everything was powered by battery, it was akin to having every light in the living room turned on. Everything was visible and plain as day with ample light bubbling up in every corner.  After awhile, though, perhaps things were a bit too present and lit.  It was certainly an awesome experience, but with time, the fully-tweaked LPS's introduced just enough shadow and texture to appeal to the emotional side.  For my setup and tastes, keeping 18650 batteries and the two LPS's hit the balance I wanted, but obviously YMMV and I may change my mind at any time.


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## Triode User

Jon L said:


> 0912201035 by drjlo2, on Flickr
> 
> Some concentrated comparisons took place.
> 
> ...



your investigations are welcome and interesting but at the same time they are intriguing.

Normally I would expect any mention of being ‘fresh‘ or more ‘resolving’ to be associated with noise in the system. But yet it was the battery giving these sound signatures with you. Also you mention the Allo Shanti as being darker and smoother and then you set about trying to get away from that smooth sound by configuring the dc cable.

I was side tracked from my Qutest power supply comparison today but hope to do it tomorrow. However when my friend and I used the same power supplies for the Node 2i streamer (used only as a streamer with external dac) on Friday we were generally chasing the smoothest sound as being the one with the least amount of noise.

This all just goes to show that unless you are there in the room it is very difficult to know exactly what sound was being produced or whether others would agree on the ranking of what was better etc. 

Anyway, thanks for the report. I know how time consuming it is to do these things and then more time being needed to write it up.


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## Jon L

Triode User said:


> we were generally chasing the smoothest sound as being the one with the least amount of noise.



Yup, this is the problem with using words to describe sound.  Perhaps instead of "darker and smoother," maybe "appears smoother because darker" is more descriptive.   Batteries do sound purer but perhaps brighter, with less grain (which maybe was described as texture).  Thus tweaked LPS has more texture (liken to grain) while batteries are like polished with finer grit sandpaper.  Upon first blush, coarser grain may seem more obvious (aka resolved), but if one looks closer, finer grained batteries have more number of pixels/grains per inch (more resolving).  By "fresh," I am attempting to describe something like a clear spring water, which would mean less "stuff" or particles (aka "grain" ?texture).  

Tragically, even if two people ARE in the same room, they may use very diffferent words to describe what they hear.  Oh, well, such is audiofool's life.


----------



## uzi2

Wasn't it Frank Zappa who said "Writing about music is like dancing about arhitecture" ?


----------



## Zzt231gr

Jon L said:


> Yup, this is the problem with using words to describe sound.  Perhaps instead of "darker and smoother," maybe "appears smoother because darker" is more descriptive.   Batteries do sound purer but perhaps brighter, with less grain (which maybe was described as texture).  Thus tweaked LPS has more texture (liken to grain) while batteries are like polished with finer grit sandpaper.  Upon first blush, coarser grain may seem more obvious (aka resolved), but if one looks closer, finer grained batteries have more number of pixels/grains per inch (more resolving).  By "fresh," I am attempting to describe something like a clear spring water, which would mean less "stuff" or particles (aka "grain" ?texture).
> 
> Tragically, even if two people ARE in the same room, they may use very diffferent words to describe what they hear.  Oh, well, such is audiofool's life.


Thank you again for your time to listen and compare dear friend!

You mentioned batteries sound better but brighter;have you find bass to sound a tad thinner,too?Or the sound being a little thin,making you think that the bass lost a little weight?


----------



## Jon L

Zzt231gr said:


> You mentioned batteries sound better but brighter;have you find bass to sound a tad thinner,too?Or the sound being a little thin,making you think that the bass lost a little weight?



This is what I wrote above:
"Battery still sounds bit more 'fresh' and pure, but Shanti actually seems to have a smidge more low bass kick, so I could settle down with Shanti."

Good battery seems to have perfectly good bass, but Shanti does have a bit extra oomp and push.  This is not the amount of difference to make one bassy vs. thin, but I wonder about those supercaps at Shanti's output,  Naturally, next thing to try is some supercaps at battery outputs, so people can feel free to provide links to some suitable supercaps,


----------



## uzi2

Jon L said:


> This is what I wrote above:
> "Battery still sounds bit more 'fresh' and pure, but Shanti actually seems to have a smidge more low bass kick, so I could settle down with Shanti."
> 
> Good battery seems to have perfectly good bass, but Shanti does have a bit extra oomp and push.  This is not the amount of difference to make one bassy vs. thin, but I wonder about those supercaps at Shanti's output,  Naturally, next thing to try is some supercaps at battery outputs, so people can feel free to provide links to some suitable supercaps,


Probably not a rabbit hole worth going down. It is the supercaps that provide the isolation and provide the same function as the batteries in storing the power. In theory it shouldn't matter how you charge either. The supercaps will probably be better equipped to provide instant draws on their power and may sound better than batteries because of this. There are likely to be differences between various supercaps as there would be with different battery types, but it is only n4xNiMh that will provide the required 5V without noisy switching circuitry so a comparison is not possible between battery types.


----------



## Triode User

Jon L said:


> This is what I wrote above:
> "Battery still sounds bit more 'fresh' and pure, but Shanti actually seems to have a smidge more low bass kick, so I could settle down with Shanti."
> 
> Good battery seems to have perfectly good bass, but Shanti does have a bit extra oomp and push.  This is not the amount of difference to make one bassy vs. thin, but I wonder about those supercaps at Shanti's output,  Naturally, next thing to try is some supercaps at battery outputs, so people can feel free to provide links to some suitable supercaps,



When using supercaps you have to consider the method of initial charging. When the supercaps are discharged and a charging voltage is applied to them they in effect short circuit whatever is charging them and it needs to be able to cope with that or limit the current delivery. Imagine just connecting a wire between the plus and negative terminals of your batteries. . . . .


----------



## jeremya

How tolerant is the Qutest 5V input of higher voltages?  I happen to have a Farad Super3 that I use to provide 6V to an ultraRendu (with _wonderful _results. the improved SQ was revelatory) -- but I'm wondering if I can safely experiment by using it to supply power to the Qutest instead.

I wouldn't dare doing this without knowing that Qutest was very tolerant of a steady 6V input, though. I'm not about to burn out (or arbitrarily shorten the lifespan of) my Qutest for the sake of idle curiosity... when it comes time to fully move the supply to Qutest, I can always have Farad re-configure the Super3 for 5V instead.


----------



## Triode User

Jon L said:


> Upgraded the DC cable on Allo Shanti with VH Audio 18 AWG Unicrystal OCC copper wire in Airlok + Schurter DC plug.



When you did this did you have difficulty desoldering the existing dc cable from the circuit board? I am doing it for a friend and it does not to want to shift for some reason.


----------



## Triode User (Sep 22, 2020)

Triode User said:


> I have bought, borrowed, begged and made some supplies to compare more fully with the Qutest over the weekend (no batteries, too much faff).
> 
> Edit, I have just realised I missed off the SBooster from the photoshoot and it is now sulking in the corner of the room.



I have realised that it is actually quite difficult to do a meaningful comparison of so many psu at the same time so I am splitting it into a series of smaller shoot outs and hope to get to an eventual winner that way. The first of these is with the Allo Shanti, SBooster with Ultra Mk2 upgrade (and my DIY supercap psu included just for fun).

The selection was partly decided by my friend who owns the Allo wanting it back for his own system to power his two Mutec MC-3+ reclockers. He had really brought it to me because he was not impressed with the captive DC output leads and he had asked me if I would change them for a pair of GX16 so he was free to use other dc cables.

On the face of that the swop should have been simple but Shanto appear to have fixed the dc leads to the pc board with something that is not normal solder. It almost looks like a rivet. Anyway, it required a full dismantling of the Shanti, unbolting the transformer to enable removal of the pc board so that I could drill out whatever it was fixing the factory wire to the boards. It was a pain but only added about an hour. I could have cut the factory dc wires to a short length and soldered them to the GX16 sockets but I like to work on the basis that if a job is worth doing it is worth doing well. This is the Allo with a matching end plate to the original so I was not drilling the original one which was retained for reinstalling if the Shanti is ever sold.



Anyway, to the listening which was done by my friend (Nigel) and me. The Qutest was connected to a Music First Baby Ref V2 pre amp feeding my Pass Labs XA60.8 power amps with Spendor SP200 speakers. First we listened to the Allo Shanti with it’s removed captive dc leads now reattached with a GX16 plug into the new GX16 sockets on the Shanti. I have got used to hearing my Qutest with my SBooster and to me the Shanti seemed to give a harsher and more forward presentation to the treble. Everything was a bit more 'in your face' than I was used to with the SBooster.

Then we swopped over to some MCRU leads recently purchased by Nigel which he specified to be made up with Neotech wire, carbon infused sheathing and an Oyaide DC barrel plug. These cost £80 each for a 1m length.

I must say I was surprised by the extent of the clearly audible difference in sound quality with the upgraded dc cables. The track we were listening to (Confians by Mino Cinelu) has a clear percussive line which can at times stray the wrong side of prominence and mask the other instruments. With the Shanti factory supplied captive lead the sound was indeed straying in that direction but with the Neotech dc lead everything became rather less frenetic and much more pleasant to listen to.

Now that Nigel’s Shanti has the GX16 dc output sockets it was easy to try some more dc cables. I have a Ghent Audio Neotech wired cable with JSSG360 shielding which we plugged in. I have always struggled to see how the JSSG360 shielding could make any difference at all and so it was that there was no audible difference compared to the MCRU version of the Neotech cables.

Next we tried a Sean Jacobs cable that came with my DC4 and usefully had GX16 connectors. This is also wired with Neotech but uses a tight twist of the cables. I personally thought this gave a slight improvement and in future this is how I will build my own dc cables.

We then connected the Qutest to the SBooster with Ultra MkII upgrade. This was better than the Allo Shanti even with the Shanti's upgraded cables and reinforced Nigel’s and my previous conclusion that whilst the Allo Shanti is good value for money the SBooster is the better buy if the budget allows. Everything was a bit calmer and easier to relax into. There was still plenty of detail, indeed probably more real detail than with the Shanti but it was provided in a more subtle way rather than being shouted.

The DIY supercap psu was really only included for Nigel and my amusement because only he and I together with a couple of other friends have one. We both thought that it was much better than the Shanti (with and without upgraded cables) and nearer to the SBooster

Lastly, we swopped to a Sean Jacobs DC4 (with the Sean Jacobs cable) which unsurprisingly trumped the SBooster in all areas but then it does cost about six times as much.

At the end of this little session the conclusion was that the Allo Shanti is good value for money and can certainly be recommended for the budget conscious but for us it was some way behind the SBooster + Ultra Mk2 when powering the Qutest. This gap was narrowed when the Shanti was pimped to give it better DC cables but this is not an easy install and in any case still left the Shanti trailing behind the SBooster.

So, for Nigel and me this was a win for the SBooster plus Ultra Mk2 (the Sean Jacobs and the DIY supercap psu were _hors concours_).

Round 2 will follow.


----------



## Jon L

Triode User said:


> I have realised that it is actually quite difficult to do a meaningful comparison of so many psu at the same time so I am splitting it into a series of smaller shoot outs and hope to get to an eventual winner that way. The first of these is with the Allo Shanti, SBooster with Ultra Mk2 upgrade (and my DIY supercap psu included just for fun).
> 
> The selection was partly decided by my friend who owns the Allo wanting it back for his own system to power his two Mutec MC-3+ reclockers. He had really brought it to me because he was not impressed with the captive DC output leads and he had asked me if I would change them for a pair of GX16 so he was free to use other dc cables.
> 
> ...



Yikes, I didn't realize the Sean Jacobs costs that much.
Sbooster Ultra MkII setup seems about $460, so the $160 Shanti is a nice bargain.  
Are you guys plugging the power supplies straight to the wall or using a power conditioner of some sort?

In my setup, Shanti becomes "good enough" for Raal SR1a only after I made a custom star-quad power cable to synergize with its sonic qualities and plugging it into a Liebert power regenerator.


----------



## Triode User (Sep 23, 2020)

Jon L said:


> Yikes, I didn't realize the Sean Jacobs costs that much.
> Sbooster Ultra MkII setup seems about $460, so the $160 Shanti is a nice bargain.
> Are you guys plugging the power supplies straight to the wall or using a power conditioner of some sort?
> 
> In my setup, Shanti becomes "good enough" for Raal SR1a only after I made a custom star-quad power cable to synergize with its sonic qualities and plugging it into a Liebert power regenerator.



The different prices in different countries make it difficult to compare. In the UK the Allo Shanti delivered costs about £180 UKP ie about $228 USD. If you are buying it for $160 USD then that is cheaper than we can buy it.

The SBooster in the UK is £330 UKP delivered and the Ultra MkII costs £90 UKP delivered. The main sonic advantage comes with the SBooster itself and the Ultra is then a marginal gain in addition IMO. So if possible I would suggest going looking first at the bare SBooster.

If you need all that stuff to make a Shanti 'good enough' then maybe the Sbooster is the better option because to my ears it is way better than the Shanti and I personally would always want to change the Shanti DC cable. Sure the Shanti is cheap but to my ears that is reflected on the sound of the Qutest with it, especially with the stock captive DC cables.

The Sean Jacobs DC4 is not aimed at the Qutest and is more appropriate for powering Dave. That is why I described it as being _hors concours_ in the test. I have previously borrowed a Sean Jacobs DC2 to use with the Qutest and I would put it at somewhere between the Shanti and SBooster. It is not made anymore but its value is probably about £120UKP.

I run all my hifi from a 3kVA PliXir balanced mains transformer. I have not heard any improvement with it to the DACs but is does improve my power amps. I did own a PS Audio P10 but did not like the sound with it and so sold it.


----------



## RobertSM

Love my SBooster w/Ultra MkII for Qutest. A great pairing.


----------



## Triode User

Today it was Part 2 of me listening to some more power supplies with the Qutest. The system set up was unchanged from Part 1 and also the track was the same.
I no longer have the Allo Shanti because it has been returned to its owner. Therefore I listened again to the track using the SBooster + Ultra MkII upgrade to reacquaint myself with the sound.

First for comparison in Part 2 was the MCRU LPS psu (cost £235 UK pounds). This has a captive lead and like the SBooster it has the final stage of regulation in a a smaller separate box located near to the end of the captive lead nearer to the end of the lead. Right from when the track kicks off this psu has a 'fresher' sound compared to the SBooster and has more 'air' and attack. Many will like this presentation but for me I find the dominance of any percussive notes to be distracting and I yearned for the smoother but no less detailed SBooster. However, just like the Allo Shanti, the MCRU is quite a bit cheaper than the SBooster so that also has to be taken into account and so this power supply should not be discounted at all. It may be perfect in your system and indeed they sell very many to satisfied customers.

Next up was the Uptone UltraCap LPS-1.2 (£445 UK pounds from Vortexbox in the UK). Compared to all the others this is much smaller physical size due the lack of an internal mains fed transformer and instead there is a supplied Uptone SMPS to connect DC to the LPS-1.2. I found the sound to be quite good and certainly nearer to the SBooster than to the MCRU. Indeed some might even prefer it to the SBooster so whilst I prefer thew SBooster I would say that the LPS-1.2 is worth hearing in your own system with the Qutest to see if it works for you. It also usefully has a user switchable output voltage so it can be used with other devices but do check on their current draw because the LPS-1.2 can run quite hot when it is near to its maximum output.

Finally I got to hook up the Farad Super3 power supply. With the supplied DC Level 1 upgrade lead and tax this cost me 661 euros which equates to £605 UK pounds so it is the most expensive of all the power supplies I tested with the Qutest. The construction just oozes quality and to me it looks great with the heart sink fin to the rear.The sound of the Qutest with the Farad was of the relaxed but detailed sort of sound that I like so much with the SBooster. Bass and mid range were firm and detailed and with a good deep bass. I really like the Qutest with the Farad. Did I prefer it to the SBooster? Possibly. Was the extra cost with it? Possibly depending on your system. Bear in mind also that The Farad can be ordered with a number of DC lead upgrades. The output voltage is fixed but it can be returned to the manufacturer for a replacement transformer and supercap board to enable the voltage to be changed. In fact I originally bought mine as a 15V model and I bought the parts from the manufacturer to change the voltage to 5v. However I would not recommend this DIY route unless you are experienced and competent with detailed and precise soldering - it is certainly not for the novice.

I hope this part 2 of my listening session helps. As always one really needs to hear the power supplies in your own system. There are no really bad options here and together with the Part 1 options one ought to be able to find one at a suitable budget to power the Qutest in any system. 

Cheers, Nick.


----------



## HumanMedia (Sep 29, 2020)

I know this is going to go down like a fart in a crowded elevator, but...

Fuses.

A few years ago I tried a few, anything containing silver sounded bad and I ended up going back to stock. Ones that remained were cheap generic ceramic fuses replacing the stock cheap glass fuses of the same rating. Plus the Furutech fuses stayed. The furutechs were rhodium plated copper.

Fast forward to today, with years of iterations, I’ve largely ignored fuses but now the top of the heap seem to be the Hi-Fi Tuning Gold/silver and the Synergistic Research Orange (also a gold/silver filament?). A few friends recommended I try the latest, plus the designer of the Farad3 is a fan of the SR orange, as is the designer of the Sonore power supplies.

Note right now that the SR Orange retails for USD $159, three quarters of the cost of the Shanti, so these are not for cheap power supplies, but for the Farads, the Jacobs, UpTone JS-2 and Hynes supplies. I am only half way through the 200-300 hour burnin time (yes 200-300), but there is something important happening here. What I hear is a far more natural and organic midrange, more contained highs. It’s almost like the power supplies I have had for years haven’t been performing at their optimal level.

Is it simply a matter of generic fuses having a tortured bit of mild steel, hot and vibrating freely like a light filament, a step away from physically snapping, being the weak link in an otherwise robust power delivery system? and replacing this with high quality conducting metals is all there is to it? Or does the gold content have some sort of mild high frequency filtering quality? (Ears I trust also rave about using gold/silver alloys for DC cables)

Whatever the explanation, the SR Orange is doing some good things to what I am hearing.

For those with high quality power supplies you must look into trialling some of these, as sound quality wise they have just as much effect on the sound as quality DC leads. Maybe it’s obvious when you think about it but there really is something important happening here. Synergistic Research are usually on my black list of snake oil merchants, but even the stopped clock tells the right time twice a day, and I have to give them credit here. Looks like 5 generations of their fuses really has let them empirically fine-tune their filament alloy.

Those with quality power supplies really should see if you can loan one, and at least try it.


----------



## Jon L

DC CABLE COMPARISONS

Never the one to leave well-enough alone, I installed a DC jack on the Shanti LPS to do some DC cable comparisons for fun.  I've probably spent hundreds of hours comparing interconnects, speaker cables, digital cables, power cables, etc, over the years, but not too many people have directly compared DC cables, including myself, so I ordered a bunch of Schurter DC connectors and wires.  




1010201448_1602381355760 by drjlo2, on Flickr

The previously hard-wired VH Audio 18 AWG unicrystal OCC copper in Airlok (foamed teflon) sounds very clear, linear, with tons of detail, without any artificial bloat or blur.  What more could one ask for?  Actually, when compared to certain other types of wire and especially my battery power supply, there is a slight emphasis on vividness and presence, right around the vocal range.  In non-DC applications, I have noted similar findings more with solid-core cable compared to stranded and also teflon-type dielectrics, although foamed teflon is far preferable over solid teflon for my taste.  

Canare 4S6 Star Quad has neither solid core wire nor teflon dielectric.  It uses 20 AWG stranded copper in polyethylene dielectric in Star Quad configuration for 17 AWG per leg and has become quite popular for DC cable application in DIY and boutique shop communities.  Canare essentially walked the opposite line from Airlok wire.  Switching from Airlok, Canare sounded extra rich, warm, with more bass quantity although not as tight.  Highs were smoother and creamier, although bit darker overall.  Male vocals especially shined with this cable in girth and foundation, and thin rock recordings were more forgiving.  

Airlok and Canare were quite a bit apart in their presentations, so I decided to throw in the stock Shanti DC wire to establish a baseline.  The stock Shanti comes with hard-wired 60" DC cable, which is way too long IMO.  In DC application, conductor diameter and length really matter, so I cut the 60" stock cable into 20," which resulted in a nice improvement in sound quality.  This also resulted in a conundrum, because the shortened stock cable actually fit somewhere between Airlok and Canare in terms of subjective frequency balance.  Stock had less bright and vivid presentation than Airlok but more presence than Canare.  Airlok and Canare both sounded more "expensive," Airlok with superlative clarity and Canare with pleasing velvety richness.  One could argue the shortened stock cable sounded bit more grainy, less suave, but its tonal balance was actually closer to my battery reference.  It also lacked some low bass weight compared to battery reference.  

My next desired step is to try some stranded OCC copper Star Quad, but such a thing does not seem to exist.  If anyone knows of similar wire, do let me know.  Closest thing I see is VH Audio V-Quad Cu21, but it's solid core, not stranded, and ends up being 18 AWG per leg in Airlok, which I already tried.  

For now, it's rather hilarious, but I am using the stock Shanti cable doubled-up in "Shotgun" mode...


----------



## HumanMedia (Oct 18, 2020)

This is the latest favourite DC cabling over in the massive CA thread, the Mundorf Silver-Gold.
https://www.partsconnexion.com/MUNDORF-72180.html
I plan to DIY a new DC cable with it soon, however I will get double the length of the lower gauge version and star quad them together
https://www.partsconnexion.com/MUNDORF-70802.html

Simply using two insulated wires for positive and two wires for negative and twisting all four anticlockwise as you look at them on end, creates a star quad configuration. This lowers the inductance of the cable to one third that of having two double gauge conductors in parallel. Lower inductance is good for DC cables.

Another very promising cable as Jon L mentioned above from VH Audio is this one:
The VH Audio VxQuad CU21
https://www.vhaudio.com/wire.html

Already in Star Quad configuration with high purity copper.

These are top of the list for me to DIY. If anyone has personal experience with these I would love any opinions or findings.


----------



## Triode User

HumanMedia said:


> This is the latest favourite DC cabling over in the massive CA thread, the Mundorf Silver-Gold.
> https://www.partsconnexion.com/MUNDORF-72180.html
> I plan to DIY a new DC cable with it soon, however I will get double the length of the lower gauge version and star quad them together
> https://www.partsconnexion.com/MUNDORF-70802.html
> ...



The mundorph silver gold is flavour of the month at the moment but does the Emperor have new clothes? I discussed this last week with one of the top dc power supply designers. Proper discussed, not just an email exchange. I think it is fair to say that he is probably in the agnostic camp at the moment. He is not going as far as being an atheist but he is quite far from believing the hype. I suspect the geometric configuration has at least as much effect than does any differences in the material. And that is also probably more important with some power supplies compared to others. Some are more and some are less stable.

For me at the moment I am sticking with a tight twist using Neotech stranded copper but I’m watching the experiments with interest. . . . .


----------



## Jon L

The audiophile rub is that ONLY way to truly know if something sounds the way you want is to try it in your exact system configuration at the time.  Even this changes as something else is changed over time.  Kind of a royal pain, really.

Some people reported that Duelund pure copper in cotton/oil sounds "much" better than VH Airlok 18 AWG for DC cable, and it happens to be exactly 10x cheaper than the Mundorf Silver/Gold, so I ordered some.  Why not..?
https://www.partsconnexion.com/DUELUND-81388.html


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## Jon L (Oct 24, 2020)

The Duelund 20 AWG Copper in Cotton/Oil wire arrived.

Two things struck me first.
With only the cotton jacket, stated 20 AWG feels very skinny, and my impulse is to double them up per leg, but we will stick to one wire per leg for now.
Non air-tight dielectric on bare copper brings concern over oxidation, and I suppose that's why Western Electric and most Duelund is tin-plated copper. After stripping the cotton, the copper did seem duller than usual, so I sanded it slightly before soldering (photo). We shall see how this sounds as DC cable after some settling down.




sanded by drjlo2, on Flickr




Duelundcoppercotton by drjlo2, on Flickr

==============
More Comparisons.

Duelund copper in cotton/oil makes for an involving-sounding DC cable.  Its calling card is richer, denser midrange, quite a bit more so than Airlok 18 AWG, which in comparison adds supertweeter-like topmost air at the price of a slightly more "shiny" or artificial upper-mids.  Bass on both is stupendously good both in quantity and definition.  

Depending on one's system and tastes, I can see one choosing one over the other.  Those who absolutely cannot stand plastic/teflon shine will gravitate toward Duelund, whereas those who place a premium on uppermost air and last pixel of resolution will prefer the Airlok. 

As an aside, the stock Shanti DC cable really lacked iron-fisted bass impact of others even after being shortened, so I made a cable with double runs of the stock cable. Top-end extension and overall resolution is quite shy of above cables, and bass still lacks iron-fisted definition.  However, bass quantity and bloom increased nicely, and the overall tonality and presentation sort of reminds me of certain aspects of big Harbeth speakers. This is a viable option for those times when you are not in analytical mood.


----------



## Zzt231gr

Hey friends,anyone using succesfully Sbooster with Qutest?

Any updates for fellow aftermarket PSU users?


----------



## iFi audio

Jon L said:


> The Duelund 20 AWG Copper in Cotton/Oil wire arrived.
> 
> Two things struck me first.
> With only the cotton jacket, stated 20 AWG feels very skinny, and my impulse is to double them up per leg, but we will stick to one wire per leg for now.
> ...



Very cool stuff. Have you tried their speaker cables? If I recall, also based on cotton in oil but probably thicker in diameter.


----------



## Jon L

iFi audio said:


> Very cool stuff. Have you tried their speaker cables? If I recall, also based on cotton in oil but probably thicker in diameter.



Their speaker cables are all tin-plated copper, not pure copper like the 20 AWG I used.  And they are 16 AWG or 12 AWG, very difficult to work with and find DC connectors for


----------



## iFi audio (Dec 10, 2020)

Jon L said:


> Their speaker cables are all tin-plated copper, not pure copper like the 20 AWG I used.



Thanks! Old Western Electric cables were tin-plated as well so I imagine that this is what inspired Duelund and several other cable makers. Haven't heard Duelund's, but the concept is cool


----------



## naum

Hi,
why didn't you use the micro usb connector but go through the 5.5/2.5 connector and adapter wire?


----------



## iFi audio

naum said:


> why didn't you use the micro usb connector but go through the 5.5/2.5 connector and adapter wire?



Not sure whether your question was to me. Was it  ?


----------



## Triode User

I have been delving into DC cables for use with my Sean Jacobs DC4 LPS with the Dave and also with his DC3 LPS that I now use with the Qutest. Sean is quite a fan of using a tight twist on the Neotech stranded copper and that has worked well for me but I have been returning to the Gotham 4/1 11301 UltraPro Star Quad cable with 5 shields. I had a couple of these made by Ghent Audio but they supply them in the JSSG format ie with all the shields not earthed which has always seemed to me to be in chocolate teapot territory. I therefore took the cables apart and rebuilt them with the shields earthed at the source end. I first tried them as the DC cables between the DC4 LPS and the Dave (this requires two separate cables for the digital board and analogue board) and I was so impressed that I have started using the cable for the DC supply to the Mscaler and Qutest (all with the shield earthed at one end) with similar good results (smooth and detailed sound with good bass).

We often talk about managing RF in our systems in order to stop it getting into the DAC analogue stage and yet we plug in a DC cable which can act as an efficient RF aerial and take the received RF direct to the inside of the DAC. My logic is to screen the dc cable to reduce that happening but not to put my faith in JSSG360 because basically I don't have any faith in it.

So far I am very happy indeed with all my DC cables made from earthed Gotham 4/1 11301.


----------



## iFi audio

Triode User said:


> Sean Jacobs



The name rings a bell. Aren't his PSUs in products by Innuos?


----------



## Triode User

iFi audio said:


> The name rings a bell. Aren't his PSUs in products by Innuos?



Correct. 

A good bloke and his LPS for Dave seem to be well thought of.


----------



## iFi audio

Triode User said:


> A good bloke and his LPS



So I've heard, Innuos kinda exploded, didn't it  ?

Enjoy!


----------



## JazzAudioDog

Zzt231gr said:


> Hey friends,anyone using succesfully Sbooster with Qutest?
> 
> Any updates for fellow aftermarket PSU users?


I Recently purchased a Sbooster with the Ultra MkII addition.  Out of the box I thought it was the most horrid sounding piece of audio equipment I’d ever heard. My dealer had warned me not to critcally listen for at least two days. He also said to keep streaming 24x7 with my tube integrated amp off when not listening. I was surprised that I could hear a slight improvement from this each evening when I started active listening.

After 4 days of this, combined with 8 to 12 hrs/day of music play, it’s sounding quite nice! The improvements I hear with the Sbooster compared to the Qutest without the Sbooster include more and better defined bass, more high-frequency detail, improved soundstage depth, and better imaging between the speakers.


----------



## dac64 (Mar 25, 2021)

JazzAudioDog said:


> I Recently purchased a Sbooster with the Ultra MkII addition.  Out of the box I thought it was the most horrid sounding piece of audio equipment I’d ever heard. My dealer had warned me not to critcally listen for at least two days. He also said to keep streaming 24x7 with my tube integrated amp off when not listening. I was surprised that I could hear a slight improvement from this each evening when I started active listening.
> 
> After 4 days of this, combined with 8 to 12 hrs/day of music play, it’s sounding quite nice! The improvements I hear with the Sbooster compared to the Qutest without the Sbooster include more and better defined bass, more high-frequency detail, improved soundstage depth, and better imaging between the speakers.


Someone in Hugo mscaler has replaced it with a powerbank

Didn't work for HMS/TT2. Qutest maybe yes. 

#13155
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hug...ectronics-the-official-thread.885042/page-877


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## apmusson (May 8, 2021)

HumanMedia said:


> I know this is going to go down like a fart in a crowded elevator, but...
> 
> Fuses.
> 
> ...


It's crazy isn't it?  It's not a small change in sound - even a sceptic could hear it.  I know that many will say it's distortion of some kind.  But I have been seriously impressed with the natural sound that this fuse ended up (post 200 hours) imparting to my system.

I'm not saying that I understand what it is doing.  I haven't got a clue.  I would seriously love someone to investigate (once they've heard the impact) as I'm at a total loss.  Who'd have thought cables need burn in? Who'd have thought that different DC cables make a difference?  Fuses?  That's crazy...

I've got an SR Orange for my Stax Energiser and another on the way for my Paul Hynes Sr4T PSU.


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## Clive101 (May 8, 2021)

Want to know the best fuse......

NO FUSE

But you can tune your system with a fuse they do sound different.

Tried quite a few of them.

You need the fuses inside the equipment but in a UK plug "No Way" if you have a mains power supply because that fuse protects the whole HiFi system (if it all plugs into your power supply).

Guess this is why for example schuko plugs are used in the UK for Hifi


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## jsawyer09

I had initially used an Uptone UltraCap LPS-1.2 and really liked it. When I sold my eR, I kept it for a bit but ultimately sold it and got a Paul Hynes SR4, which I cannot say enough good things about when paired with the Qutest. Paul sent me their silver DC cable with micro-USB and I feel it sounds quite good compared to the copper, but it's VERY subtle if I'm to be honest. I have another SR4 I power my EE8 switch with. Of all the LPSs mentioned in this thread, I'd agree that the Sbooster BOTW ECO MK2 is quite good as well. I have one powering my modem. As one could conclude, my entire networking components are fitted with LPSs, along with several isolation techniques, including a transformer and double-conversion pure sine UPS. All of these have offered incremental improvements, some more obvious than others, that together are anything but subtle in my system.


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## Oldbigears (Jul 21, 2021)

I still use my Qutest pretty much standard, except for the iPower X PS.  I haven't compared it recently to the stock PS but when I first bought it I was satisfied it's slightly better.  I choose to not send it back, after all.  Aside from that, I'm feeding my Qutest through its USB drive via an OpticalRendu.  The Qutest in turn feeds my Belles Aria, and then my Kudos Super 20's.  It's a decent level of performance, but some recordings can occasionally sound slightly bright.

So I'm intrigued by the possibility of taking my Qutest to the next level with (a) an SBooster / Ultra PS and (b) Audiowise SRC DX Bridge, enabling double-BNC connection with my OpticalRendu.  From all the various reports, this should be a nice upgrade  for around $1000.  But that begs the question....My Qutest becomes a $2700 DAC....should I sell and simply buy a new DAC such as a Denafrips Venus?


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## dac64

Oldbigears said:


> I still use my Qutest pretty much standard, except for the iPower X PS.  I haven't compared it recently to the stock PS but when I first bought it I was satisfied it's slightly better.  I choose to not send it back, after all.  Aside from that, I'm feeding my Qutest through its USB drive via an OpticalRendu.  The Qutest in turn feeds my Belles Aria, and then my Kudos Super 20's.  It's a decent level of performance, but some recordings can occasionally sound slightly bright.
> 
> So I'm intrigued by the possibility of taking my Qutest to the next level with (a) an SBooster / Ultra PS and (b) Audiowise SRC DX Bridge, enabling double-BNC connection with my OpticalRendu.  From all the various reports, this should be a nice upgrade  for around $1000.  But that begs the question....My Qutest becomes a $2700 DAC....should I sell and simply buy a new DAC such as a Denafrips Venus?


Get an isolated transformer from ebay


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## The Jester

Interesting reading some of the design philosophy behind the newest Antipodes music servers on their technology page, seems they feel while a linear PSU is cleaner and smoother it limits bandwidth and affects the life of the music, while smps has a wider bandwidth but slightly noisier …
Their solution is a hybrid PSU supplying wide bandwidth where it’s needed and smoother bandwidth limited power where it has the benefit…
Maybe why a native 5v battery is better option for SQ while being the worst for convenience ?


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## Triode User

The Jester said:


> Interesting reading some of the design philosophy behind the newest Antipodes music servers on their technology page, seems they feel while a linear PSU is cleaner and smoother it limits bandwidth and affects the life of the music, while smps has a wider bandwidth but slightly noisier …
> Their solution is a hybrid PSU supplying wide bandwidth where it’s needed and smoother bandwidth limited power where it has the benefit…
> Maybe why a native 5v battery is better option for SQ while being the worst for convenience ?


I personally found that a 5V battery was moderate for the Qutest, certainly not best sounding.


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## HumanMedia (Aug 7, 2021)

Oldbigears said:


> I still use my Qutest pretty much standard, except for the iPower X PS.  I haven't compared it recently to the stock PS but when I first bought it I was satisfied it's slightly better.  I choose to not send it back, after all.  Aside from that, I'm feeding my Qutest through its USB drive via an OpticalRendu.  The Qutest in turn feeds my Belles Aria, and then my Kudos Super 20's.  It's a decent level of performance, but some recordings can occasionally sound slightly bright.
> 
> So I'm intrigued by the possibility of taking my Qutest to the next level with (a) an SBooster / Ultra PS and (b) Audiowise SRC DX Bridge, enabling double-BNC connection with my OpticalRendu.  From all the various reports, this should be a nice upgrade  for around $1000.  But that begs the question....My Qutest becomes a $2700 DAC....should I sell and simply buy a new DAC such as a Denafrips Venus?


My opinion for that amount of money, ditch that iPower immediately, forget battery just get a good power supply like a Sean Jacobs, Farad3 or Uptone JS-2. You are using an OpticalRendu, which are phenomenal with the right optical SFP connector. SFP are highly noisy laser devices sitting right inside your Player, in my experience they can make or break the sound quality of the OpticalRendu. Spend $50 on a good sounding pair, like the Finisar FTLF1321P1BTL-HW.
When you have done the above and let the power supply burn in and those SFP to burn in (they definitely need 2 weeks). Evaluate how things sound then you might find ypu don’t need to go any further, and before going the DX bridge (which would also need a good power supply, or fiddly batteries.

‘Further thoughts. You have an Optical Rendu and a Qutest. These are great pieces of kit. Giving them (both) good power supplies a great USB cable like a Sablon, and those SFP I mentioned and you are on another level. Avoid adding any more stuff in there and get your ears around what you really have there.


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## Oldbigears

HumanMedia said:


> My opinion for that amount of money, ditch that iPower immediately, forget battery just get a good power supply like a Sean Jacobs, Farad3 or Uptone JS-2. You are using an OpticalRendu, which are phenomenal with the right optical SFP connector. SFP are highly noisy laser devices sitting right inside your Player, in my experience they can make or break the sound quality of the OpticalRendu. Spend $50 on a good sounding pair, like the Finisar FTLF1321P1BTL-HW.
> When you have done the above and let the power supply burn in and those SFP to burn in (they definitely need 2 weeks). Evaluate how things sound then you might find ypu don’t need to go any further, and before going the DX bridge (which would also need a good power supply, or fiddly batteries.
> 
> ‘Further thoughts. You have an Optical Rendu and a Qutest. These are great pieces of kit. Giving them (both) good power supplies a great USB cable like a Sablon, and those SFP I mentioned and you are on another level. Avoid adding any more stuff in there and get your ears around what you really have there.



I agree on many points. I'm sure my iPower X could be improved but recently I re-compared it with the stock wall-wart that is supposed to be good enough according to many, such as Rob Watts - and I hear a distinct improvement in body and tone to my music. But I could probably improve it without spending a fortune. The Farad would be a contender.  Yes, the OpticalRendu is super, especially when fed by an Etheregen.  But my most surprising and impressive upgrade was just last week...I've long wondered if switching from USB to Optical input would be beneficial.  For that purpose, the various Denafrips DDC's have been on my radar for months.  However, after reading a strong recommendation, I took a flier and bought a cheap Douk Audio USB to SPDIF / Optical converter, which arrived on Friday.  With a total cost of $55 including freight, my expectations were minimal and I was quite prepared to put it all down to a fun experiment.  The amazing thing is that this little box has just transformed my Qutest. I obviously can't say how much further a more sophisticated DDC would improve my system's performance but I can say that this is the best value upgrade I've ever experienced. Qutest owners owe it to themselves to try the optical input, versus the USB.


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## The Jester (Aug 18, 2021)

Triode User said:


> I personally found that a 5V battery was moderate for the Qutest, certainly not best sounding.


Probably not, but something like the DC4 you’ve used is way out of my budget, especially trying to power a Qutest and MScaler with high end linear PSU’s that cost more each than the Qutest/MScaler duo cost me..
I‘ll keep filling out those Lottery entries though … 🤞🙄


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## stevedlu

I just got the iFi iPower Elite and I must say its the first PSU that made a change worth bragging about. The sub-bass is tighter and more impactful.


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## Sense

With the shanti…what Output to you use? 5v/3A or 5v/1A? Also…has anyone tried the Topping P50?


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## greenblured

I use the 3A output from the Shanti. Imo it sounds a bit more dynamic than from the 1A output.


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## uzi2

Sense said:


> With the shanti…what Output to you use? 5v/3A or 5v/1A? Also…has anyone tried the Topping P50?


I use 1A as this is more than sufficient for Qutest. The 3A rail powers my Pi4


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## Sense

uzi2 said:


> I use 1A as this is more than sufficient for Qutest. The 3A rail powers my Pi4


Have you tried the 3A to see if you hear an audible difference?


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## uzi2

Sense said:


> Have you tried the 3A to see if you hear an audible difference?


It will not work the other way round as the Pi requires more current. Any comparison would then involve using the original Pi power supply, so not a worthwhile exercise. It is my belief that the Pi benefits more from the Shanti than does the Qutest.


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## Sense

Has anyone tried the Topping P50 with the Qutest?


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## Uguccione

I have recently got a Sbooster mk2, with which the Qutest has finally started to sound as it knows. I come to say that with the stock power supply, the Qutest is not worth the money it costs: harsh and fatiguing sound.


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## vert

I would upgrade the fuse on the LPS for the Qutest. 

I upgraded the fuse on my Uptone JS2 and it made a dramatic difference.

The Uptone is powering my Lumin U1 mini.


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## Benno1988

Is there an aftermarket power supply for the Qutest that is grounded?


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## Triode User

Benno1988 said:


> Is there an aftermarket power supply for the Qutest that is grounded?


Most of them are floating output voltages rather than tagging the voltage to ground / AC neutral. 

But is that what you meant? Are you looking to ground the Qutest case? That is a different question.


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## Benno1988

Triode User said:


> Most of them are floating output voltages rather than tagging the voltage to ground / AC neutral.
> 
> But is that what you meant? Are you looking to ground the Qutest case? That is a different question.


Yes but neatly.

At the moment I just run a BNC to RCA adapter and then a iFi groundhog thing. So just a power plug with only the ground pin connected up to one of the free spots on the DAC. Works, just wondering if could do a two for one, upgrade the PSU and have grounding built in.


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## Quince

Benno1988 said:


> Yes but neatly.
> 
> At the moment I just run a BNC to RCA adapter and then a iFi groundhog thing. So just a power plug with only the ground pin connected up to one of the free spots on the DAC. Works, just wondering if could do a two for one, upgrade the PSU and have grounding built in.



Hi Benno, I find this text by Nordost explains the different kinds of grounds very clearly and concisely. Seems that you are mixing the meaning of signal ground and earth ground.


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## Benno1988

Quince said:


> Hi Benno, I find this text by Nordost explains the different kinds of grounds very clearly and concisely. Seems that you are mixing the meaning of signal ground and earth ground.


Will have a read.

The gist of it is with the Qutest into a Kenzie Encore or into my active speakers (2pin power), there is a ground loop of some sort formed and savage noise. Something that happens with no other DAC yet.

If I connect any part of the Qutest such as one of the RCA or BNC ground/negative to a ground pin power plug (so powerboard, or direct to wall, earth pin to RCA/BNC ground/neg) it stops.


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## Atriya

I'm using a Shanti with a Qutest. I read about the flimsy stock DC cables in this thread, but I'm not willing to take things apart to replace them.

Do you folks think that merely replacing the stock DC to micro-USB adapter with a Ghent Audio one (while keeping the stock DC cable intact), could make an incremental improvement? Or is that only a meaningful thing to do if the DC cable is replaced?


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## Triode User

Atriya said:


> I'm using a Shanti with a Qutest. I read about the flimsy stock DC cables in this thread, but I'm not willing to take things apart to replace them.
> 
> Do you folks think that merely replacing the stock DC to micro-USB adapter with a Ghent Audio one (while keeping the stock DC cable intact), could make an incremental improvement? Or is that only a meaningful thing to do if the DC cable is replaced?


I doubt that changing the adapter will do much. The existing dc leads are excessively long so you could cut them down to a shorter length which will probably help much more.


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## DJW50

Just found this thread, I'm based in the UK and wondered what would be the best upgrade until I can afford while I wait and save fro the new M Scaler or even a secondhand with BNC interconnects.
I did notice MRCU do a few models of PSU for the Qutest in fact they sell two of the more expensive models both on e-bay and one on their website which looks the same but costs £100 more than the e-bay one. 
Is this the best plug and play upgrade?


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## Triode User

DJW50 said:


> Just found this thread, I'm based in the UK and wondered what would be the best upgrade until I can afford while I wait and save fro the new M Scaler or even a secondhand with BNC interconnects.
> I did notice MRCU do a few models of PSU for the Qutest in fact they sell two of the more expensive models both on e-bay and one on their website which looks the same but costs £100 more than the e-bay one.
> Is this the best plug and play upgrade?


There are several LPS that could fit the bill for you. I owned and liked the sound of the Qutest with the SBooster and the Farad Super3 but there are others. I would suggest keeping an eye open for a second hand LPS and let that play a part in deciding which one to get.


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## DJW50

Triode User said:


> There are several LPS that could fit the bill for you. I owned and liked the sound of the Qutest with the SBooster and the Farad Super3 but there are others. I would suggest keeping an eye open for a second hand LPS and let that play a part in deciding which one to get.


Thanks, I'll have a look around, it seems the price difference of the more expensive MCRU units is the mains cable, although to add confusion the cheaper e-bay offering seems to have a more expensive mains lead. Very confusing.
Also would the cheaper of the two units they offer which I think was in your test do the job okay?


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## DJW50

Thought I would just add my comments to this thread. In the end I ordered the more expensive £550 MCRU LPS from e-bay. First of all the Qutest runs much cooler, before the LPS when you touched the top near the glass cover it was warm to quite hot after a lengthy listening session.
I am convinced that the soundstage is bigger and I've noticed some little odd sounds in the recording like very subtle quiet bits of guitar.
I had a mindset that I would probably return the unit if I had the slightest reservation but I can honestly say I have no reservations at all.
My system sounds so good now. I've recently added an Auralic Aries G1 to my system to replace the iPad for Amazon HD and I'm very happy. 
To muddy the waters even more in the last few weeks I've replaced the valves in my Pathos Inpol ear with some Russian Reflector valves and of course the new Utopia's have probably done their burn in too.


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## Oldbigears

I found that adding the SBooster to my Qutest took it to another level.  Secondly, connecting via DDC through the optical connection far superior in my system, compared to USB.  I wouldn't dream of going back to USB, and the standard power supply.  To me, the difference - with these two essential factors in place - is night and day.


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## alvin sawdust

A power supply that might be of interest to you guys is the Supercharger by Temple Audio in the UK priced at £250.
I have one powering my Melco D100 ripper, seems very well made and John at Temple is great to deal with.
https://www.templeaudio.net/supercharger.html


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## reggiegasket

Interesting, Alvin. They aren't a million miles from me, so may try to get hold of a demo unit.


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## alvin sawdust

reggiegasket said:


> Interesting, Alvin. They aren't a million miles from me, so may try to get hold of a demo unit.


Temple have always made good quality audio gear at reasonable prices. I baulked at paying £500 for a psu so very happy with the Supercharger. Hard to give you an idea of how it actually sound really, but when I occasionally use the D100 as a cd player it sounds as good as the rips to me.


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## reggiegasket

Sounds good. I've been in contact with John at Temple so I'll be getting a supercharger to try soon


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## alvin sawdust

reggiegasket said:


> Sounds good. I've been in contact with John at Temple so I'll be getting a supercharger to try soon


Great, let us know how you get on


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## Dr_Hibbert

Has anyone compared the iFi iPower Elite against the Sbooster BOTW (with or without Ultra upgrade)?  Thx.


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## iFi audio

Dr_Hibbert said:


> Has anyone compared the iFi iPower Elite against the Sbooster BOTW (with or without Ultra upgrade)?  Thx.



I think that I saw something brief about that, but can't recall where it was. Wouldn't hurt asking in the Pro iDSD thread as folks tend to swap PSUs for that product a lot.


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## DecentLevi (Jul 31, 2022)

Hey guys it's been a while. Currently using my same DC cable recommended here a few years ago - Canre 4S6G from Ghent Audio with added JSSG360 shielding (thick black cable). This is Canare 4S6G OFC copper Star Quad, OD 6.4mm, 4 conductors x 20AWG with JSSG360 two layer copper shielding. I'm currently using it for the receiving side of my new USB optical cable which powers the optical to USB conversion section and I'm finding with this component the quality of DC power cable also makes as big of a difference as does DC power to a DAC. It's the cable shown in this post for reference.

As outlined in the post above, to me the blue Gotham cable had better detail and bass than a generic stock cable, but fatiguing highs which was a no-go for me.

Another user reported the Neotech UPOCC 7N Copper 18AWG DC cable to sound slow & dull due to too high of inductance from thick metals.

I am still highly satisfied with my Canre 4S6G from Ghent Audio with added JSSG360 shielding, and would have to stretch to imagine anything that could be improved. Definitely getting a full spectrum sound, chameleon PRaT and tone (depending on the recording), detailed but not clinical, can be weighty depending on recording, and not over/under done in any way.

Then recently I was speaking with two people on another thread, @rsbrsvp and @801evan who I think are both using the same DC cable and are swearing by it as the best: 17 (or 18?) AWG Neotech silver OCC cable. Is this shielded, or what type does it use? Mind to share a link or a diagram photo of the internal design?

Something in common with both the Gotham and thick black JSSG360 cable is that they have a quad wire design which I think improves DC signal somehow.

What about other users here, especially @HumanMedia - what is your current best DC cable? I recall you mentioning something about a silver cable that Canadian users were swearing by. Maybe it was the above Neotech.


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## 801evan

DecentLevi said:


> Hey guys it's been a while. Currently using my same DC cable recommended here a few years ago - Canre 4S6G from Ghent Audio with added JSSG360 shielding (thick black cable). This is Canare 4S6G OFC copper Star Quad, OD 6.4mm, 4 conductors x 20AWG with JSSG360 two layer copper shielding. I'm currently using it for the receiving side of my new USB optical cable which powers the optical to USB conversion section and I'm finding with this component the quality of DC power also cable makes as big of a difference as does DC power to a DAC. It's the cable shown in this post for reference.
> 
> As outlined in the post above, to me the blue Gotham cable had better detail and bass than a generic stock cable, but fatiguing highs which was a no-go for me.
> 
> ...


Ey. Mine's a custom build 5 core 20awg solid occ silver.


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## DecentLevi (Aug 7, 2022)

801evan said:


> Ey. Mine's a custom build 5 core 20awg solid occ silver.


Can you share the details of this custom cable (price, source, internal design photos, etc.)?
And can you recommend any good 5v DC LPS?

I'm thinking of getting the iFi iDefender and a DC LPS for the sending side (PC side) of my USB optical cable. My thinking is that even though the USB cable transmits only the digital signal via optical with clean DC power regenerated on the receiving side, maybe clean DC power on the sending side would give an even better optical conversion from the PC. Or let me know if this is unwarranted? 
Even if it doesn't help I can still find another use for it.

I already have a very good custom 5v DC LPS, but alas both ports are already in use on the receiving side and it's too far away from the sending side of the USB optical cable, so I'm considering an additional DC LPS and cable. Something I do not want is sBooster with their lackluster design and thin chord.

Or anyone else feel free to chime in - @rsbrsvp or @HumanMedia maybe you also can share which DC cable and LPS you found the best?


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## Atriya

Dr_Hibbert said:


> Has anyone compared the iFi iPower Elite against the Sbooster BOTW (with or without Ultra upgrade)?  Thx.



I'm interested in this, and general observations of anyone using the Elite with the Qutest. I'm wondering if it might be a modest upgrade over my Allo Shanti.


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## iFi audio

Atriya said:


> I'm interested in this, and general observations of anyone using the Elite with the Qutest. I'm wondering if it might be a modest upgrade over my Allo Shanti.



Just to state the obvious, we're also very interested in any comparisons that include our iPower Elite and linear PSUs


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## drummerdimitri (Dec 18, 2022)

I've tried 4xNimH batteries in series and found it to be slightly superior to the stock PSU and was wondering what aftermarket power supply could get me as close to that experience as possible.

Currently eyeing a Farad3 as it seems to be one of the best power supplies out there but would like to hear your thoughts on the matter.

Edit: Nevermind, the difference I thought I was hearing was my brain playing tricks on me. Stock PSU is as good of a SQ as you will ever get with the Qutest. Rob was right all along no surprise here.


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## jeremya

The Farad Super3 is excellent and handily outdid the LPS1.2 and the stock SMPS.


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