atomicbob's SMPS Noise Nuke for HP amps with external SMPS

Thoren L. The designer says it will benefit. But I don’t know what to believe.lol
He says this about the caps.

What it does do is give low impedance/high peak current near the Zen Can, compensating the long, relatively high resistance cable from the PSU

I don’t know how that translates to sound

thanks again

 

Well kinda sorta.
I mean up to a point it’s got to measure pretty well. Or at least for me the measurements should show any serious faults of the design.
My Marantz HD DAC1 for example has high noise on the headphone amp. As a DAC it measures well and sounds great. But the headphone amp is no where near as clear as the Ifi zen can.
It’s punchy and wide though. But it’s hard to listen to after you hear the Zem can and can hear all the details in the music.

but yeah certain things are hard or impossible to quantify.

much appreciated

 

Measurements are only going to get you so far. Reference these threads:

https://superbestaudiofriends.org/i...ment-methodlogy-and-equipment-discussion.460/

https://superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/measurement-faq.64/

https://superbestaudiofriends.org/i...thd-and-thd-n-specifications-and-graphs.5074/

https://superbestaudiofriends.org/i...distortion-vs-amplitude-a-visual-guide.12279/

https://superbestaudiofriends.org/i...analysis-systems-technical-measurements.4465/

Basically you can quantify by both measurements and using your ears. You will find that balanced approached here vs. other forums.

What @purr1n was trying to say above is that some amps or DACs or even streamers might improve or have some kind of measured or even subjective change. The iFi PowerX is extremely good and probably the best thing next to an actual Noise Nuke and meets your requirements of 5V/3A.

The choke in the Noise Nuke acts a low pass filter to remove all that high frequency noise. That is why it also works well on LPS PSU's, because those might have voltage drops and are not perfect. If you want close to perfect, then use batteries, which I have seen some crazy battery setups for those that have SMPS nervosa. But yes, you can run the ifi PowerX with a Noise Nuke and there might be some improvement, maybe not.

Don't let your nervosa get to you and maybe look for better overall equipment instead. You can only chase that dragon of improving cheap equipment so long.

 

Thanks man,

yeah I don’t subscribe to the measurements only camp either. Not to mention as many of those links include how measurements can be manipulated to show positive or negative. I’ve seen this all too many times with a certain Amir at a certain forum.
Balance is good in life in general.
This goes for audio as well.

thanks for the links and the info man. And yeah I’m trying not to get caught up too much in a specific amp and trying to make it better.
It is a fun thing to do and a learning experience though as I have done it with other things mostly for educational and having fun

I was going to try a supercapacitor as well as you mentioned , mostly out of curiosity to see what it does. It’s part of the fun of this hobby.

It’s part of the reason I learned and redesigned my crossover on my speakers, learned to take quasi anechoic measurements and make crossovers. Was a super fun experience

thanks!

 

It performs as advertised.

Nitsch Pietus Maximus is a great amp and is a solid performer. I personally prefer it, if I had to choose between it or the Zen Can.

 

Do you know of any low cost low noise 5V 5 or 4A power SMPS power supplies to feed more current in my Zen Can?

I am getting a supercapacitor for it as well.

thanks.

 

BTW I was chatting with Thoren and he had an idea to make a few custom ZEN cans for us with no limit to budget , supercapacitor powered, upgraded pot, upgrade circuit, etc

Within a good budget of course.

 

@Tone? - it would be very helpful if you would gather your thoughts into one post which helps keep the signal to noise ratio higher. It is something we strive for on this forum.

My stock answer is
1) look for an LPS solution from Acopian
https://www.acopian.com/photo-goldbox.html
2) acquire a laboratory linear bench supply such as Keysight U8002A
3) find a ZeroZone HiFi Ultra Low Noise 5V configured for at least 60W

 

Wow I didn’t know people from ASR lurk on here and simply use it as a way to ‘ mock’ or criticize others.
Why that is so important to them I don’t understand.
Way too much drama for me.

I guess he is mocking you, me and atomicbob in this.

anyway as I said, way too much drama for me. It’s only audio. Why some people find it so important to try and prove themselves right is beyond me.


https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-for-my-ifi-zen-can.54740/page-3#post-1990624

 

If it was all in their minds, RME wouldn’t be selling a 1300 USD hum free linear power supply for the ADI-2 Pro line and 650 USD DC power filters. They wouldn’t be selling 90 dollar floor warts for the Babyface Pro to get cleaner power than the usb port…

 

of course not.

but to ‘ lurk’ on other forums to mock people on here and elsewhere is just beyond me.
They either must be super young, or just full of spite and pent up anger to go to that trouble.

that’s some kind of pathology and at the least childish drama.

I’d like to know if any of those people/ children have manufactured an audio device ever.
I would wager 0.3% have

never again. It’s my fault for ever going on there thinking stupidly that I could ask a simple question without getting mocked.

 

@atomicbob can the Vali 3 be used with a NoiseNuke? It’s DC, has an SMPS. But I don’t know about the details like the delayed start etc. it would be cool to get better performance out of this little amp though and I have a couple NoiseNukes here.

 

Vali 3, like most Schiit products with wall warts, has a Linear PS onboard and uses a wall wart transformer, not an SMPS.

Vali 3 wall wart supplies two voltages, 6 Vac and 24 Vac. NoiseNuke™ is for DC only.

 

I avoid ASR for various reasons. I did check out the link in this case and skimmed the exchange.
It appears Solderdude makes a majority of the responses. Solderdude has designed numerous headphone amplifiers. Some of the designs aren't well received here. But two in particular are highly regarded by many SBAF members: Garage1217 Project Sunrise III and Project Horizon III.
Here are some useful links to learn more:
https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...-hp-amps-with-external-smps.5142/#post-164292
https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...ffect-on-garage1217-project-sunrise-iii.5073/
https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...ge-1217-project-sunrise-iii-measurements.552/
https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...d-distortion-surface-sinad-can-suck-it.14043/
https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...project-horizon-iii-project-sunrise-iii.1478/

 

Well exactly part of my point.
Making an audio device for oneself is one thing. Doing it for a manufacturer is a completely and utterly different thing.
Poking fun at Thoren has got to be the silliest thing. I don’t see a solderdude who’s name is on magazines for designing an affordable amp for anyone.

anyway, most of my point was that lurking around and then posting on a site where you know you will be backed up by similar minds is silly.
Amazing how some people want to prove themselves right and no one else knows of their existence.
It’s just audio. Not worth my time to fraternize with people who just want to prove something. What that something is I have no idea.

 

This reminds me, I really need to find my Wyrd so I can plug that in for my Babyface. Don't think I'd spend $90USD for a wallwart though...