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DAC power supply advice

L

Linnovice

pfm Member
Hi all, I’ve recently purchased a Musical Fidelity MX DAC. It comes complete with a wall wart style power supply. I’ve seen advertised an ‘upgrade’ to this ps, an Audiobrava unit. Does anyone have any experience of these units and would a change of ps make any difference to the sound quality?
 
Can o' worms..? If a piece of equipment has a competently-designed power supply from the off then spending £££ upstream of it is probably pointless.
 
Linnovice said:
Hi all, I’ve recently purchased a Musical Fidelity MX DAC. It comes complete with a wall wart style power supply. I’ve seen advertised an ‘upgrade’ to this ps, an Audiobrava unit. Does anyone have any experience of these units and would a change of ps make any difference to the sound quality?
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Most high quality equipment audibly responds to better power.

Teddy Pardo offer a 14 day no quibble return – so this is a risk free option
 
Better PS = better sound, ergo buy a DAC that sounds good enough to you in the first place and you'll automatically have a good enough power supply.

It's hard enough with 3 boxes, the more separate add-on boxes you add from different manufacturers, the harder it is to get everything working together optimally.

If you still can't resist the need to tweak, at least make it a cheap one. For example, use one of those 5V car battery jump starter packs. A very expensive high quality linear, IME, will improve the sound of a DAC (and almost anything else) but not necessarily in proportion to the expenditure.
 
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mansr said:
You and I obviously have very different definitions of quality. In fact, mine is the exact opposite of yours.
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Inclined to agree. One of the points of good quality kit is that it should do a decent job of rejecting power feed crap. However I'd agree that not everything that presents itself as 'quality' actually meets this fairly basic expectation. Then becomes a question of which is cheaper and more satisfactory. Change the item or hope a nicer PSU will fix it.
 
Thank you for responding.
Broadly you echo my own feelings. I’m really pleased with the DAC as it is. It replaced a Teac UD-H01 and it’s a marked improvement on that. I was just curious about the ps.
 
I was recently reading the spiel for the Allo digione ive just bought. It’s so good that it doesn’t need any special power supplies. Then, they come up with the digione Signature that needs two.
 
My kingrex t 20u improves with a better power supply than the one it came with..as do my other little amps..Ill try my beresford dac at work next week with a better power supply..
 
I have a Musical Fidelity V-DAC 2 with a wall wart for which I bought a V-PSU 1 (linear PS). It may have made a difference, or maybe not. At most, any differences were modest.

It was then replaced by a Naim DAC, which is a whole world away in SQ.
 
clownfish said:
Might be worth explaining this to Naim.
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Naim have turned selling power supplies into a fine art, a perhaps kind way of putting it, but improving them does make a difference. Many manufacturers who use a separate power supply, like Graham Slee and Beresford, offer better power supply options. If they didn't achieve anything they'd be found out pretty quickly.
 
Companies are driven by cost and the cash commandos will do their best to cut costs of a developing design. Most things are built to a budget to offer their best price. Providing a better power supply may not necessarily improve the paper specification of the item but will significantly increase the cost to the buyer. In my opinion a better power supply is a worthwhile option but that decision is left up to you.
 
Well every piece of gear can be improved. The question is whether you want to have a bash at improving it yourself or whether you let the designer do it by just selecting the "next model up the range".
 
I am currently powering my Schiit Modius DAC with a smallish battery pack. I honestly don’t know if I can really hear any difference in SQ when I use this as compared to either a 5v feed from my Raspberry Pi or the usual wall wart type thing.
Still, in my head I think I can and so I’m convinced it “must” be better and so that’s all that matters really.
I guess it was an easy decision as I had a power bank lying around doing nothing.
if I’d had to fork out for a specific PSU, I’m not sure I would have done so.
 
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Sorry I don't, I've been thinking about a 12v one so have looked at quite a few on AliExpress, and these look tempting as you say. I do have a Chinese Breeze 5v one powering my dac, which has worked faultlessly for more than four years, and it was purchased 2nd hand as a package. I've never compared it to a more expensive European made PSU, so cannot say if there would be an improvement, and don't forget, many of the PSU's advertised may have different names but it is easy to see they are the same unit. If you do go for one I hope you will let us know how you get on
 
legacylenslover said:
I am currently powering my Schiit Modius DAC with a smallish battery pack. I honestly don’t know if I can really hear any difference in SQ when I use this as compared to either a 5v feed from my Raspberry Pi or the usual wall wart type thing.
Still, in my head I think I can and so I’m convinced it “must” be better and so that’s all that matters really.
I guess it was an easy decision as I had a power bank lying around doing nothing.
if I’d had to fork out for a specific PSU, I’m not sure I would have done so.
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I've just read a post on another forum, he found adding a LPS didn't change things musically for the better, but removed a layer of digital grain, enabling him to listen for longer and louder if he wanted. That's probably the best description I've read, since that's how I find them.
 
I read the instructions yesterday where they categorically state not to use any other ps than the one supplied. Not even pushing one that they may manufacture. I think that will do it for me.
 
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