There's beeen a lot of debate on the implementation of LPS to replace SMPS. Results is quite polarised. Some prefers the super black , quiet background and improved imaging while some find out that LPS is robbing the life out of the music. So far my experience is pretty mixed. LPS does wonder to one piece of equipment while doesn't on another. So I think one shouldn't preclude which is defintiely better than the other. It is case dependant and also depend on the quality of the LPS and designer's intent and understnading of music!
I always think that decent power supply is very important to sound quality . Yesterday, my friend RC came to visit my place for a listen. He brought along an iFi Power X 12V/2A . I am very familiar to this little PS and is already working great with my WEA. But this time he gave me a completely new idea.
We listened to streaming through my WEA and after a few songs, he suggested me to replace the walwart PS of my modem to the iFi. I gladly obliged and OMG, the sound has literally improved across the board. Before , my setup's sound is good in listening to softer music and due to Douk E6's character, dynamics was a bit softer. But once I replaced the stock PS of the modem to iFi, the piano's attack , size and body has actually stepped up by a very large margin. He also brought in some other gadgets but none was so significant than this implementation!
Story did not end here, we then switched over to play LPs from Sound Burger and the overall sound was quite decent. Again , I replaced the walwart PS of my U4 to the iFi, same effect! This combo of SB/U4/iFi produces sound that is very respectable, the dynamics, bass, vocals and soundstage both improved more than 30 %. Lesson is power supply, a good one, be it SMPS or LPS can do wonder to every single piece of equipment starting from the source , i.e. modem to router to streamer onwards etc! Well, I always lamenting a Plixir LPS....hmmm
Eventually I had gotten an iFi Power X to power up the Douk U4 and am enjoying immensely the sound of analog which is very at ease and natural that reminds me again that nothing can replace analog. Lucky I got some old LPs from old days and from friends of Eagles, Pink Floyd, Santana, Eric Clapton , Police and some nice Audiophile discs so that I have a decent selection to become nostalgic~ of course I have been buying more LPs , but less from HiFi grade ones, instead go for very old edition which I usually find more balanced.
Even further improvement??
Yes, a few days ago, I inserted a DIY LPS made by a nice c-hing FM (a mere $45USD) into my modem and yet experienced another lift in SQ in overall system through my WEA as well as through U4! When I first bought the LPS, the sound was lifeless and uninteresting despite a bit quieter in the background. I spoke to FM and he replaced the sliver plated DC cable to another one made of Belden cable and voila, everything that I had anticipated has been realised and music has came alive! What a difference a DC cable makes!
I discovered way more details and nuances of music details, quieter background and less digital noise without sacrificing the dynamics and PRAT of the music! This improvement now also extends to my Soundburger as well!. The soundstage has widened further, dynamics has improved and bass dig deeper and with more body! I have immense enjoyment with my new LP from Andrea Vollenwieder only for $11USD!
Well, does an LPS always work? Just when I pick up confidence on LPS from the same guy, I have ordered an LPS for Douk E6 to replace the cheapo USB cord of 5V/1A which I use a cheapo USB charger for charging phone to power the E-6! The LPS is nicely built with quality parts, so I have a lot of high expectation that sound may be further improved. To my utter surprise, sound quality not only does not improve, but then overall sound has took a setback. The sound while is cleaner, but it has become lifeless and the microdynamics was much better with USB cable which the pppp to ffff of sound was so clearly heard to a point that I am in awe! Sound on steroid indeed. I suspect by using 3 UMI signal transformers and 6 earth boxes, the background has blackened to a point that it has reached an equilibrium and any more blackening will make it sound dry, as if life being sucked out?! But for now, I cannot reach a conclusion and is definitely case by case where sometimes LPS helps but sometimes don't. Don't ask me why, but it is what I have heard!!!
I spoke to FM and he told me he has a well built commercial grade SMPS to try out and on a Saturday morning I hook that up and start auditioing it. Overall, it is better than the LPS, however, I still much prefer using the USB charger and is actually too obvious to hear the difference. It's more dynamic in macro and micro, high frequency extension is great and it has the liveliness that I most treasure! So I now find out that LPS may or may not help. For Douk E6, since it uses DHT , according to a seasoned tube amp designer, the use of LPS will amplify the noise 10 folds so LPS is not recommended to be used in DHT preamps! One learn something new everyday for sure~
On my E6, Results in a nutshell : USB phone charger > SMPS > LPS
As of now,
U4 - iFi PowerX 👍
E6 - USB phone charger 👍👍
Modem - DIY LPS by FM 👍
Wattson WEA - iFi PowerX
Wifi Router - walwart SMPS (next step after I have found a LPS to replace my iFi in WEA)
UMI S2 - USB phone charger , mixed. For some reason, too much hum when hooked up to U4, while on WEA is fine.
For now, I will use my USB charger for Douk E6. Next step is to try to experiment LPS on my Wattson, until then adios!
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