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Author Topic: New digital PS designed by Salas  (Read 2741 times)

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MisterRogers

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New digital PS designed by Salas
« on: September 03, 2014, 01:54:52 PM »

Wanted to be sure you all knew about a new PS design that Salas has made available. I've build a few and installed them in two DAC's. In both cases they replaced BIB's / LDO's. The improvement was astounding. More detail, more organic, more weight, increased separation. I suggest you builders check it out!


http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/group-buys/258340-gb-salas-reflektor-d-power-supply-digital.html
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MisterRogers

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Re: New digital PS designed by Salas
« Reply #1 on: September 04, 2014, 12:51:33 AM »

One of the DAC's I installed this PS in was my 'FrankenDAC' (BIII, PH shunts, Amanero, reclocker, clock board, discrete low noise power for clocks & output flip flops, XO Caps, etc.). Sabre chips have always revealed the detail in music, but getting rid of the 'edge' or digitalis has been a continual effort with FrankenDAC. This PS - one feeding the DAC and another feeding the clocks has the 9018 sounding more like an AK chip then ever.
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Peef

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Re: New digital PS designed by Salas
« Reply #2 on: September 15, 2014, 05:33:23 PM »

I hope this doesn't sound terribly silly, but why would it be especially well suited for digital? The shunt mosfet's impedance is going to be hard to keep low in the higher frequencies because of the gate capacitance requiring more drive than the mirror can provide. Looks great for the audio band though. I'd expect a BJT or cascode to work a bit better for high frequencies but can't get it to sim right.
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MisterRogers

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Re: New digital PS designed by Salas
« Reply #3 on: September 16, 2014, 03:47:18 PM »

I posted your question to Salas - wanted to hear for my self his response:

"If it tells something to him its low on 1/F noise, has 160uV RMS 20MHZ wide band noise, its flat output impedance goes up 3dB not before 280kHz. LM317 does that at 1KHZ for instance.

*Reflektor-D means a Reflektor version suited for digital voltage range BTW."
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Solderdude

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Re: New digital PS designed by Salas
« Reply #4 on: September 16, 2014, 09:10:19 PM »

It does not matter what the shunt does at higher frequencies (whether it is still active as in having a low resistance) because noise on the digital chips isn't determined by the shunts ability to 'shunt' those frequencies, but is solely determined by proper decoupling as close as possible to the chip(s) in question.
It is physically too far away from it anyway as the PCB traces have too much inductance for a low impedance power supply to be of help.
Certainly when that shunt PCB is connected with a few cm of wires  ;)
The noise in the HF range can cause problems with complying to (common mode) emission regulations and/or have other strange interference effects.
Layout and PROPER decoupling are paramount here.

Low noise in the 'audible range' and above is what some claim that counts as it is these lower frequencies that 'modulate' the clock and PS lines of the associated chips (think H-L transition points and references) is what causes the sound to 'degrade'.

It should be noted that from a technical point of view it is hard to prove the claims of the audibility of it but that's another matter entirely which I won't go into because I may be commandeered to  walk the plank   :)p13

In any case, a good low noise power supply never hurt any circuit and if it brings something good to peoples ears (not necessarily mine) I am all for it.
« Last Edit: November 30, 2014, 07:46:57 AM by Solderdude »
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Mullet

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Re: New digital PS designed by Salas
« Reply #5 on: November 30, 2014, 07:31:22 AM »

I got in on the latest group buy. Bought 2 full kits. Not sure how I'm going to use them yet. But I figure it's good to have them. I do have two other 5v supplies that are actually from the Subbu v3 group buy. Never actually bought the DAC board. Just the supplies. These seem to be better though, so I may never use the Subbu supplies.

My latest idea for a project is to build a streaming DAC with a Wire amp built in. So for example... I'm thinking of going with RuneOS with a Beagle Bone Black > Acko AMN-S02 Reclocker / Acko AKX302 Clock board > Acko AKD23P DAC -> A) Wire Amp > 1/4" Out B) RCA Out. As a bonus it would be nice to have Amanero USB and BBB i2s switching before I hit the reclocking. Don't know if all of this is feasible. But it's my current goal. Eventually, I have to use my Acko AMN-S03 board. I'd use that maybe with a Buffalo 3 or equivalent DAC.
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Mullet

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Re: New digital PS designed by Salas
« Reply #6 on: December 07, 2014, 02:34:36 PM »

One of the DAC's I installed this PS in was my 'FrankenDAC' (BIII, PH shunts, Amanero, reclocker, clock board, discrete low noise power for clocks & output flip flops, XO Caps, etc.). Sabre chips have always revealed the detail in music, but getting rid of the 'edge' or digitalis has been a continual effort with FrankenDAC. This PS - one feeding the DAC and another feeding the clocks has the 9018 sounding more like an AK chip then ever.

I'm just re-reading this posting. And I'm actually finally noticing the ES9023 "edge" or glare. I guess different headphones can reveal it better than others. I've recently upgraded to Alpha Primes and I'm definitely noticing it now. I'm not sure which is to blame. I'd say both.

I used AMB's Sigma 25 power supplies in my Curryman ES9023. While they're not the best option out there, they were the smallest / best I could do at the time. I'll probably drop in a Salas Reflektor D to see if there is a difference. Otherwise, these are going into the above project I mentioned.

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MisterRogers

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Re: New digital PS designed by Salas
« Reply #7 on: December 07, 2014, 02:50:57 PM »

That'd actually be a very good comparison. Last weekend I took an Acko 9023 board with an installed JG Filter, an Acko clock board, ann Amanero USB with Acko isolator, and power the above with 3 x Reflektor D's, and one SS03 Super Regulator for the JG. Wow. I've never heard the 9023 sound like this. I'm continually amazed at at how quality power, and the correct power circuits for analog and digital - make such a huge difference in getting the most out of these DAC chips. With a separate 'D''s powering the Sabre, the clock & the reclock flip/flop - this chip loses most if it's 'digititis' and glare.

It is a bit extreme to power a budget chip like this, but I wanted to get a sense of the performance 'headroom' of this chip. Before the end of the month, I have some proto boards of AKM4490 & AKM4495S DAC's landing. They'll end up in this case/PS build.
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Mullet

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Re: New digital PS designed by Salas
« Reply #8 on: December 07, 2014, 04:37:06 PM »

You think 3 Reflektor Ds are required? I guess if it makes the difference then it's worth it. I can see doing 2 supplies. One for DAC/Reclocker and other for Clocks. But like you said you wanted to push it to the max.

For my next 9023 project (mid to late 2015) I'm going for the Beagle Bone Black as input source. Like you I have a pile accumulating of unused parts. Mostly Acko's stuff. I'm hoping Acko will finish his Cape board by then. I'm still trying to figure out if it's even possible to use something like the OTTO II and switch between Amanero and BBB. Not sure if the isolation/reclocking will work after that. I'm definitely going to want as many Reflektors in action. As mentioned, the plan is to use a Wire SE-SE with its associated power board. I'll use the same PSU for the JG Filter. I think it's going to be a cool project. Then we can talk about AK DACs ;)

So the SSLV1.1 isn't the right supply for digital then? I have two of those boards sitting around... waiting for the right project. I was thinking for a future NTD1...

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firev1

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Re: New digital PS designed by Salas
« Reply #9 on: December 07, 2014, 06:18:28 PM »

Wow beagle via I2s? I'm not even sure if anyone has done a switch microprocessor clock manager for it. Unless you are going by USB.
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