Introducing SilentPower from iFi - DC Blocker & GND Defender

Discussion in 'Product Announcements' started by iFi audio, Mar 19, 2021.

  1. iFi audio

    iFi audio MOT iFi Audio

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    Knowing the reason why your amp makes that buzzing sound would make things easier, that's for sure. Perhaps this could help: https://ifi-audio.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/iFi-audio-Tech-Note-Why-does-my-system-hum.pdf

    You could easily spend far more money on a far bigger external DC blocker box that would do the same thing as our tiny dongle...

    I hear you, I appreciate your feedback and I really understand what you mean. As a manufacturer with all our policies, marketing strats and products we can't possibly please everyone. We can only try :)
     
  2. dasman66

    dasman66 Self proclaimed lazy ass - friend

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    Are they more expensive than I would expect a tiny dongle to be? Absolutely. However, for what they do, they are less expensive than most alternative products.

    DC Blocker: Emotiva CMX-2 is the only other reasonably priced item out there... when I purchased it in 2019 it was $140. I just did a quick google search and the only thing that came up now was ebay for $160. Seems to be out of stock otherwise.

    Ground Loop: Again, not many options I could find in 2019. I ended up going for a balanced isolation transformer, which was $300. Another option could be the Ebtech Hum-X, which I couldn't find 2 yrs ago, but Amazon is selling for $90 now. No idea if it actually works...

    FWIW, the power at my office was so bad that I had to use both. DC blocker in the wall and then isolation transformer into the DC blocker. The DC offset was so bad that the isolation transformer was making all sorts of noise (audible from the transformer case itself) when it was plugged in alone.
     
    Last edited: Apr 7, 2021
  3. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    I wrote them off as trash back in head-fi days. Not long after buying an iCAN. With iFi as a member here, now, I was happy to let that be all in the past.
    What you can do: target your sales messages. Feed trash to the people who buy on trash messages; feed something more to those of us that want it and are more likely to buy it. Bottom line is that you need people to buy stuff, right?

    MOT or not, you are here as a member. Try posting member to member, not sales crap. Don't care what, or how, you post on HeadFi: I'll never see it. Do unto Headfi as thou shalt do unto Headfi: do unto sbaf as... or some sort of stuff like that.

    Just throwing this in and passing on. Certainly no wish to derail this thread, which might well be about good products, or, indeed, to cast any doubts on any of your current products.

    Free consultancy from a friend :). Sincerely.

    Back to grounding...
     
  4. iFi audio

    iFi audio MOT iFi Audio

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    It's all good. I'm aware that this audience is different from HF and more challenging. But even on HF we don't do much typical big PR stuff. This changed in recent years. Some official releases need to be launched, but other than this I communicate with HF's folks as an enthusiast, just as I do it here.

    Point taken though, I know what you mean. Thanks!
     
  5. bilboda

    bilboda Florida boomer

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    I think it's a waste of time try to mold people into your ideal. Let them be who they are and accept their perspective. I find varying approaches to communication can be frustrating , engaging, illuminating useless and informative all at the same time but almost always thought provoking. Backhanded censoring just makes for a dull world. We can always just move on the the next thread.
     
  6. iFi audio

    iFi audio MOT iFi Audio

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    That's true. Still, it's good to listen to what people have to say, get familiar with local customs and either try to fit in or not. It would be a mistake on my end to not take into account how this community rolls.
     
  7. scotto

    scotto New

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    Picked mine up on Amazon in the US :) It didn't come up in searches for me easily either.
     
  8. rhythmdevils

    rhythmdevils MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    So despite what I said about iFI’s marketing turning me off, and thinking these are likely overpriced for the parts inside, I have a First Watt speaker amp that had a buzz with more sensitive headphones than the HE6se. I pluggged the GND Defender into it, and it’s completely gone. Even with the volume turned all the way up (with no music playing) my T50rp and Audeze headphones are dead silent.

    and I think it made the amp sound better too. So This is a great product whether it’s overpriced or not.

    But I’m curious how much these actually cost to make. Is it 5$? I’d be more comfortable paying 50$ for this tiny thing.

    and to be more clear about the marketing, it probably works in general so it is what it is, but for me personally I have studied marketing and branding pretty extensively and I associate heavily marketed products with crappy products. There’s a strong trend where companies either invest in marketing or the product and it’s rare they invest in both but there are exceptions. I think iFI is borderline here. They do make some good products but I’m not totally sold and don’t like supporting their marketing. But when the product fits, what are you going to do. This product along with the micro BL and Nano BL are all excellent. If I find myself wanting to listen to my orthos in the garden it will be hard not to get a Diablo.

    Anyways, this is definitely a good product if you’re willing to spend this much. Thanks for fixing my amp @iFi audio
     
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  9. iFi audio

    iFi audio MOT iFi Audio

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    You're welcome :)

    All I can say is that owners of the company now, are the same people who started their audio adventure in a garage DIY-ing stuff. To keep up with their products naturally marketing had to follow, otherwise there would be no growth. But if you think that we have this borderline balanced, I'll take it :)
     
  10. Audioenzo

    Audioenzo New

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    Since I have solar panels on the roof I have a transformer hum in the power amplifiers (Kinki Studio EX-B7 mono amps) and it varies during the day.
    A DC Blocker like this iFi could help, I am only afraid of dynamics loss because there is something in the power supply. I often read about powerfilters that cause this.
    How is the iFi in this?
     
  11. rhythmdevils

    rhythmdevils MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    I didn’t try thy the DC version but the GDN model made my amp sound significantly better. It was bass lite before and with the GDN it’s got close to neutral bass now plus it just sounds better. More clarity and dynamics and sense of space. I didn’t a/b so I’ll keep it to that.
     
  12. Audioenzo

    Audioenzo New

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    Because it's a transformer hummm, i think it needs the DC Blocker.
    My mono amps only drive mid and high, for bass each loadspeaker has a seperate bass amp (Hypex Fusion).
     
  13. iFi audio

    iFi audio MOT iFi Audio

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    The sound of SilentPower

    iFi’s new SilentPower range tackles mains-related noise to improve audio/AV system performance.

    Alongside its award-winning collection of audio devices for home and portable use, including class-leading DACs and headphone amps, iFi makes a range of accessories to tackle common issues that affect the performance of audio systems. The prime objective is to reduce noise in the audio signal which may be engendered in various ways, from problems caused by USB interfaces to issues with mains electricity.

    iFi’s latest collection of specialized ‘audio enhancers’ deals specifically with mains-related noise. The all-new SilentPower range consists of four products at launch: the DC Blocker, the GND Defender and a pair of IEC power cables called Nova and SupaNova.

    Nova – the affordable high-performance mains cable

    iFi has made a number of clean-power products in its nine-year history to date, but these did not include an IEC mains cable for home audio components – until now! The Nova is a specialized power cable with a high-end construction that belies its affordable price point, delivering a serious upgrade over standard mains leads that imbues sound with greater clarity, space, and definition.

    The Nova incorporates five conductors, each made from heavy-gauge, continuous-cast OFHC (Oxygen-Free High Thermal Conductivity) copper. Two pairs of live and neutral conductors have arranged on either side of the grounding (or earth) conductor, which is positioned at the center of the cable. This geometrically balanced configuration causes the magnetic fields generated by the live and neutral conductors to cancel each other out perfectly, ensuring the grounding conductor is unaffected by residual magnetism and unwanted induced voltage – iFi calls this design Ground Zero.

    A further pair of air-dielectric delineators – polymer matrix tubes filled with air – are arranged on either side of the earth conductor, keeping the two pairs of live and neutral conductors apart whilst improving the cable’s overall dielectric performance and constructive solidity.

    Each individual live and neutral conductor sports multiple layers of insulation and shielding. First, a dielectric made from a polymer matrix is extruded over the OFHC copper conductor. Surrounding this is an oxygen-free copper shield. And covering the shield is a further layer of polymer insulation. These individually shielded conductors, plus the air-dielectric delineators, are twisted in a circular helix around the central, untwisted grounding conductor, itself wrapped in polymer insulation – this twisted arrangement further aids RFI/EMI rejection. The cable is completed with a tough yet flexible polymer outer sheath and iFi’s audiophile-grade connectors, with oxygen-free copper conducting pins coated in tarnish-resistant 24ct gold.

    The result of this sophisticated mix of materials and construction is a power cable offering constant impedance and superior rejection of EMI/RFI, maintaining the purity of mains electricity feeding each component in an audio or AV system. While the effect of this cable on sound quality is significant when used on its own, it combines brilliantly with iFi’s PowerStation mains-conditioning bar – the PowerStation filters out common mode and differential mode noise from the mains supply, while the Nova maintains optimum purity right through to the connected component.

    [​IMG]

    SupaNova – advanced mains cable with active noise filtering

    The SupaNova active power cable takes the Nova and adds a cylindrical housing part way down its length. This cylinder contains Active Noise Cancellation II – the latest version of iFi’s proprietary noise-busting tech – in combination with advance-filtering components.

    Most power-conditioning products engage passive noise reduction through a selection of filters and regulators. While this can be effective, it has inherent disadvantages compared to iFi’s active system, which uses inverse noise current to cancel out the noise in the mains signal. The way this works is comparable to the technology in noise-cancelling headphones.

    Noise in the mains supply occurs at different frequencies, depending on the cause. Passive noise reduction systems are effective at the top end of the frequency spectrum but often less so at lower frequencies. In addition, passive systems need large capacitors to be truly effective, which make the best such products bulky and expensive. iFi’s Active Noise Cancellation II technology enables a power-conditioning device that is highly effective at reducing noise consistently across the entire frequency spectrum yet sufficiently compact and lightweight to position within the mains cable itself.

    By combining the Nova’s sophisticated construction with Active Noise Cancellation II, iFi has delivered a do-it-all clean-power cable solution that delivers optimised power to individual audio/AV system components without the need for a separate mains conditioning device. Sonic improvements delivered by the SupaNova power cable include greater clarity and definition, plus enhanced dynamic and spatial qualities, avoiding the apparent softening of leading edges, timing and dynamics that can occur with lesser mains filtering products.

    [​IMG]

    Price and availability

    All four devices in the iFi SIlentPower range launch this month – the DC Blocker and GND Defender are on sale now, and the Nova and SupaNova are available from April. RRPs as follows:

    • Nova: £169, €199, US$169 (1.8m cable)
    •  SupaNova: £349, €399, US$349 (1.8m cable)
     
  14. Vtory

    Vtory Audiophile™

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    Hope @iFi audio to send these new power-related products over to either @purr1n or @atomicbob to get objectively verified. Noise is one of few obviously measurable/experimentable things in the audio. By knowing to which exact frequency range, by what decibel, or even for which noise patterns these products can benefit, potential buyers may enjoy better informed purchases (rather than suspecting snake oils).
     
    Last edited: Apr 30, 2021
  15. atomicbob

    atomicbob dScope Yoda

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    I bought an iFi iPower X which is in the (rather long) measurement queue.
     
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  16. Azteca

    Azteca Friend

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    SupaNova page says
    Noise reduction
    > 40dB

    So there must be a measurement internally. No graphs on the page unfortunately.
    @iFi audio any measurements are welcome.
     
  17. iFi audio

    iFi audio MOT iFi Audio

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    I need to have them first, and whether I will it's not up to me :)
     
  18. WATChad

    WATChad New

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    iFi GRD Defender + DC Blocker + SuperNova right now plugged into a PS Audio Dectet. There is a small hum I'm trying to work out of my system.

    Question: The polarity light is red on the SuperNova. One green, one red. I flipped the breakers and pulled out the outlet, but it seems right to me. Thoughts?
     
  19. Metro

    Metro Friend

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    Hum from the speakers, or mechanical hum from a transformer? What's a SuperNova?
     
  20. WATChad

    WATChad New

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    Speakers. And the SuperNova is mentioned just a few posts above by iFi. It's a power cable.
     

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