Let the games begin!

Will there be jaw dropping or, posted on April 23, 2017 at 05:40:30
AbeCollins Audiophile Posts: 46280 Location: USA Joined: June 22, 2001 Contributor Since: February 2, 2002	...toe tapping involved? Inquiring minds want to know. ;-)

Warming up system, posted on April 23, 2017 at 09:00:48

E-Stat
Audiophile

Posts: 37584
Joined: May 12, 2000
Contributor
Since: April 5, 2002

and done some brief comparisons. Toe tapping or jaw dropping? Naw.

The first word that comes to mind when listening to the LPS-1 is focus.

Example? There's a simple, repeated - what two measure(?) "breathy" flute phrase that opens this track in Moonlight Kingdom (I have the 24/44 version). Soon follows a glockenspiel leaving behind a rich trail of harmonics.

The LPS-1 just gets it right. :)

Next, please find the best 5V 3A LPS for the Raspberry Pi..., posted on April 23, 2017 at 12:46:10
Ivan303 Audiophile Posts: 48887 Location: Cadiere d'azur FRANCE - Santa Fe, NM Joined: February 26, 2001	Asking for a friend. ;-) First they came for the dumb-asses And I did not speak out Because I was not a dumb-ass

RE: Next, please find the best 5V 3A LPS for the Raspberry Pi..., posted on April 23, 2017 at 13:14:02
double28 Audiophile Posts: 3230 Location: Greensboro, NC Joined: February 20, 2008	By the time we all think we are at the pinnacle of audiophile greatness with the RP we will have a $35 RP, $35 HFB Pro card and $ 2000 worth of cables, power supplies , and other miscellaneous sundries. LOL That's what makes us great. Will

Don't forget the $1,000..., posted on April 23, 2017 at 13:18:04
Ivan303 Audiophile Posts: 48887 Location: Cadiere d'azur FRANCE - Santa Fe, NM Joined: February 26, 2001	S/PDIF Cable to connect it to our Multi Kilo-Buck DAC First they came for the dumb-asses And I did not speak out Because I was not a dumb-ass

First of all, posted on April 23, 2017 at 13:25:29
E-Stat Audiophile Posts: 37584 Joined: May 12, 2000 Contributor Since: April 5, 2002	the best 5V 3A You need less than a third of that current if you have optimized the unit for audio playback - disabled HDMI output, declocked processor, etc. My suggestion would be to purchase two 12000(+) uAh batteries - one active and one fully charged. The Uptone is a 1A unit.

RE: Don't forget the $1,000..., posted on April 23, 2017 at 13:47:07
double28 Audiophile Posts: 3230 Location: Greensboro, NC Joined: February 20, 2008	And that would be our buddy and friend BH with his AQ Hope Diamond Blue cable. Upside is it sounds like a million bucks. Will

Nice. On a related note I'm curious...., posted on April 23, 2017 at 15:28:44
AbeCollins Audiophile Posts: 46280 Location: USA Joined: June 22, 2001 Contributor Since: February 2, 2002	...to know, is there a way to tell when the LPS-1 switches from one bank of capacitors to another? Is there a light or other indication? Doesn't the outboard PS charge one set of caps while the other set is in use, then it swaps?

There is one status light, posted on April 23, 2017 at 15:48:23
E-Stat Audiophile Posts: 37584 Joined: May 12, 2000 Contributor Since: April 5, 2002	but it does not indicate bank switching. I think you're right about its operation. Most likely if you leave the unit powered up 24/7, you'll never be listening when that occurs.

Thanks. I was just curious..., posted on April 23, 2017 at 17:16:56

AbeCollins
Audiophile

Posts: 46280
Location: USA
Joined: June 22, 2001
Contributor
Since: February 2, 2002

...if there was a way to know how long the device being powered is on capacitor "bank A" before it switches to "bank "B". I'm sure the time period depends on the how much current the device draws. The LPS-1 is a cool idea though.

What is your power source to the LPS-1, not that it should matter? It shouldn't.

Let us know what you think of the LPS-1 long term. For example, any quirks or does it "just work" and keeps on working?

Agree, that's been my experience as well.., posted on April 23, 2017 at 18:51:58
Ivan303 Audiophile Posts: 48887 Location: Cadiere d'azur FRANCE - Santa Fe, NM Joined: February 26, 2001	Currently using a 24,000 mAh battery that lasts a couple days continuous. But others (jaydacus in particular) seem to have differing experiences. I'd be interested in what a $100+ 5V 2.5A-3.0A LPS sounds like in comparison. Dang, might have to BUY one. :-( First they came for the dumb-asses And I did not speak out Because I was not a dumb-ass

RE: Warming up system, posted on April 24, 2017 at 04:12:39

Ryelands
Audiophile

Posts: 1867
Location: Scotland
Joined: January 9, 2009

The LPS-1 just gets it right. :)

Thanks for your report. I'm now using three LPS-1s in a "no mains power" digital setup; my experience is much the same as yours.

AbeCollins wrote:
. . . if there was a way to know how long the device being powered is on capacitor "bank A" before it switches to "bank "B"

Other than monitoring the power drawn by the PS driving the LPS-1, the user don't know if the LPS-1 is charging or idling. As I understand it, cycle times are short, a matter of minutes, under a minute near maximum load.

Charging currents certainly increase as the power draw from the LPS-1 increases. Plug the PS into one of those power meter things and you can see the power draw go up and down quite rapidly even though the load is more or less constant and well within limits. I use an LPS-1 to drive an embedded PC that draws ~700mAmp (+/- a few mAmps only) at 7.5v. The power drawn by the PS fluctuates every few seconds between a low, a middle and a higher value though I forget now what the values are. (In any case, settling time for a cheap power meter is probably too long for readings to mean much other than that they do fluctuate.)

I've tried different PSUs to see if they affect the sound quality of the device being driven by the LPS-1. My "trials" were certainly not exhaustive but my experience was that PS quality made no difference provided the mains supply to the PS was adequately filtered. If I'm right, any perceived degradation is presumably down to the PS feeding noise back into the mains, not because one supply's output is "cleaner" than another. The answer was simple: I used the filter/isolating transformer that I'd prior used for the PC's linear PSU to drive the LPS-1's PS. That done, I cannot tell the difference between Uptone's stock SMPS and a couple of reasonably decent linear PSUs.

Another tweak is to filter the LPS-1's output. Fitting Mad Scientist Audio "kegs" to the two lines makes for a worthwhile improvement (as it does BTW with those battery "chargers"). Again, I assume it's down to noise from the driven device. I've been meaning to try a little C-L-C filter, mainly because it'd be much cheaper than MSA "kegs", but I've yet to do so.

My experience is that devices powered by an LPS-1 typically sound significantly better than they do when powered by a battery charger though the difference is more marked with some devices than others. (A WaveIO USB>I2S board e.g. = big difference, the Intona thingie, much less.) That said, the charger cost about a tenth as much as the LPS-1 and, even though they work at 5v only, can safely be recommended.

Though making the adapter was fiddly, I fitted an Anker 22100aH charger to a friend's M2Tech HiFace, one of those tiny DACs that connects straight into a USB port. He's delighted with the improvement.

RE: Agree, that's been my experience as well.., posted on April 24, 2017 at 06:04:55
E-Stat Audiophile Posts: 37584 Joined: May 12, 2000 Contributor Since: April 5, 2002	I've used two different LPS units with my previous Touch players, one from Teradak ($100) and the other from Welbourne Labs ($220). They resulted in better resolution than the wall wart, but only offered convenience as compared with battery sources. I didn't find they sounded any better than going AC free.

RE: Thanks. I was just curious..., posted on April 24, 2017 at 06:26:14

E-Stat
Audiophile

Posts: 37584
Joined: May 12, 2000
Contributor
Since: April 5, 2002

What is your power source to the LPS-1, not that it should matter? It shouldn't.

A simple wall wart bundled with the unit.

Let us know what you think of the LPS-1 long term.

Absolutely. And provide more listening observations.

The HDPlex is now in the office powering the cable modem. My current Cisco router has a captive plug, but I am to be getting a new gigabit version soon which has a wall wart that I can replace. Since the power supply has two separate rails, I can power each with its own leg.

RE: Next, please find the best 5V 3A LPS for the Raspberry Pi..., posted on April 24, 2017 at 08:07:55

GStew
Audiophile

Posts: 633
Location: NE Mississippi
Joined: September 21, 2001

LOL... no $1000 cables here, but one of my setups rocks with a highly modified HiFiBerry DAC+ Pro on top of an Allo.com Kali R-Pi I2S reclocker and an R-Pi running PiCorePlayer (Squeezelite).

The standard setup uses 4 DIY'd high-test linear supplies... a modified K&K supply for the Pi & 3 seriously-oversized transformers with good soft-recovery diodes into 40,000uf Jensen 4-pole capacitors ($$) for the Kali and the digital and analog sides of the modified HFBD+P separately.

This sounds VG to my ear.

BUT the hot-rod version setup uses 3 Uptone Audio LPS-1 for the Allo.com Kali and the modified HFBD+P.

Even better!

I agree with what both E-Stat and Ryelands said above, 'The LPS-1 just gets it right :)'. The most interesting difference between using the mains-powered linear supplies and the LPS-1s is the quality, definition, and power of the bass.

I did a fairly radical set of modifications to a Sony HAP Z1-ES (and yes, I have compared it to a stock unit and found it a significant lift in all parameters) and the setup with the modified HFBD+P with the mains-connected linear supplies is about equal and with the LPS-1s, better.

Power supplies make the gear!

Greg in Mississippi

P.S. See what I did for mods to the HFBD+P in this thread:

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/digital-line-level/285811-hifiberry-dac-pro-hw-mods-anybody-10.html

Everything matters!

Next up is, posted on April 24, 2017 at 10:41:28
E-Stat Audiophile Posts: 37584 Joined: May 12, 2000 Contributor Since: April 5, 2002	a new DC power cord for the unit! John Swenson has found great results using star quad Canare cable over at CA. I purchased some along with the screw terminal connectors he uses as well. Total cost-about six bucks for 8' of cable and ten connectors!

What does the new LPS Go For $$$$ ..........?.........nt, posted on April 24, 2017 at 12:16:52
Cut-Throat Audiophile Posts: 18285 Location: Minneapolis - St.Paul Area Joined: September 2, 2000 Contributor Since: May 16, 2021	nt

$395, posted on April 24, 2017 at 12:51:29
E-Stat Audiophile Posts: 37584 Joined: May 12, 2000 Contributor Since: April 5, 2002	More info about it here.

My Jaw is Dropping Already ! ..... :-)................nt, posted on April 24, 2017 at 12:56:53
Cut-Throat Audiophile Posts: 18285 Location: Minneapolis - St.Paul Area Joined: September 2, 2000 Contributor Since: May 16, 2021	nt

Nice reports; Thanks guys!, posted on April 24, 2017 at 13:44:59

SuperDad
Manufacturer

Posts: 127
Location: Yosemite, CA
Joined: September 23, 2004

Alex at UpTone here:

Thanks for your nice reports. And your facts are all about right.

The LPS-1 does switch banks rather often--indeed based on load. If you want to see just how often, there are two sets of red/green LEDs on the board (one set in the corner, the other near the middle). The case takes a Torx T10 (remove only one cover plate and slide the board out), but please don't touch parts while it is operating.

I don't hang our here at AA these days--just too busy with product production and launches to keep up with more than one or two forums--so I invite any/everyone to stop in at our sponsored forum at ComputerAudiophile:
https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/forum/25-uptone-audio-sponsored/

John Swenson and I are always happy to give honest answers to any questions over there.

Best regards.
AJC

RE: Warming up system, posted on April 24, 2017 at 17:07:49
watercourse Audiophile Posts: 38 Location: PDX Joined: June 7, 2009	In my system, where the LPS-1 powers the USB Regen and Audirvana Plus is my playback source, the change I have heard in one word: ease. The change to LPS-1 allows me to hear textures across all audio bands easier, and dynamic contrasts are much more discernible. Really like what it does with cymbals, much more natural sounding now. Obviously an easy recommendation from me :-)

RE: Warming up system, posted on April 24, 2017 at 18:16:51
E-Stat Audiophile Posts: 37584 Joined: May 12, 2000 Contributor Since: April 5, 2002	Ease. Yes, that's another great characterization of the results. :)

Computer Audio Asylum

Let the games begin!

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