Linear Power Supplies - any improvement in sound?

[LC1]

Hi,

I was wondering what people's thoughts were on this? Would a linear psu, such as a relatively inexpensive one from Strontronics for example, yield any noticeable improvements in sound quality over a standard switching wallwart for powering a Pi B+ and i2s DAC board?

Anybody using any inexpensive linear supplies that they would recommend?

Cheers,
Luke

[phalanger]

I have not yet tried this myself (but plan to, soon), but normally yes this should yield a noticable improvement in sound. Especially DACs perform better with a good regulated power supply.
I'm not familiar with Strontronic products.

[ABBDVD]

[phalanger]

EMI filter helps to reduce interference from the AC line (and vice versa), but does not otherwise improve regulation of the DC signal. A transformer and a rectifier+regulator would provide a better power source than a wall-charger. How much audible improvement it would give is hard to say and will depend a lot on the rest of your system.

[dwijtsma]

Building a 'good' SMPS isn't easy. Most suppliers fail at this, so don't buy a cheap SMPS. EMI filters won't make it any better. If you use a I2S dac. Just power it from a non switching, a bit over dimensioned power supply. It's not very expensive and it won't get much better than that. Every person with an electronics degree is able to design such a circuit and routing the PCB isn't very critical.
I think other electrical engineers will also agree on this also.
Good luck with it!

[LC1]

Thanks for the interesting replies. I haven't actually been able to find a linear power supply for the Pi at reasonable cost, and considering that the consensus seems to be that results will be minimal I probably won't bother with this now...

(unless anyone else thinks that they have had great results doing this, that is?!)

[sawesi]

The Best Power Supply is a battery or accu.
DIY with some inexpensive battery holders for the 5,2 Volts required.

This should be the best PS, and all others can be compared by listening for a week or so.

[Aquarius]

[ACX]

[Discovery]

I received an ultra linear power supply from Tomanek in Poland (http://www.tomanek.net.pl) today (I'm in England). I bought one of his ULPS Mini units, fitted with the correct plug for the Pi.

The cost was 300 PLN. The build quality is very good and the sound is noticeably better.

My system consists of the Pi 2 running Rune, mostly sourcing FLAC files from NAS or USB. I run this through an Audiolab MDAC, out to a Quad 909 power amp and then into Quad 989 electrostatic speakers. The Pi is definitely living comfortably in this company. I'm very pleased.