Rockna dacs don’t benefit as much from DDC?
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They do, but they already have a solid PLL and clock in there, so they aren’t as impactful as on other dacs, I should have made a better note, they still improve, just not as substantially compared to the other dacs at hand. A lot of those dacs mentioned have lighter digital processing internally so they are both more sensitive to digital inputs, and also more dependent on their performance
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It’s a bit of a shame that you weren’t able to get the signature version since almost all user reports I’ve read are based on that, I think a lot of people like the customisation potential (the mod, clock etc), also the DAC modules that can be switched to Hibiki’s R2R board (have you seen that one as well? Though it’s a bit lower than the SDS board)
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I did see that, but the sds board is more interesting imo
And yeah I didn’t even know that signature thing existed until you mentioned it
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I cant even find it with googling tbf. Im guessing its just utterly unknown outside of china
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If I connect an unbalanced amp via its xlr output like flux fa22 to the xlr input of BF2 will it force the bf2 to run in SE mode? Kinda confusing 
because its an unbalanced design with balanced outputs.
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It probably will actually run balanced, but will be converted to single ended internally, but the bf2 will see it as balanced
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So I’m getting the full potential of BF2. Thanks.
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Not sure where to put this…maybe I should make a general power gear thread. Thoughts?
Is anyone familiar with Equicore/Deepcore conditioners and how they might compare to something like a PS Audio P3?
Sure, although I’d call it something like power conditioning / regeneration / distribution or something of the sort, just to make sure people don’t see power and think power amp
No, but they sure as hell look like they are trying to rip off equitech in both stylization (Equi=Core vs Equi=Tech) and similarity of name. I do have experience with equitech, they are legit stuff, have a whole circuit isolation transformer from them, real solid. But yeah can’t speak to the other one
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I think It’s just an isolation transformer, I have a Chinese made one, these don’t “condition power”.
All they do it provide ground decoupling, and depending on how they are wired, remove DC offset, they will filter some very high frequency noise, but for the most part you’ll get exactly the same noise on the output as the input.
You will hear it in the circuit if you A/B, which I assume is because they greatly increase the impedance of the incoming power, rather than any filtering it’s doing.
Looks like just an isolation transformer to me
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Main immediately noticeable benefits to me were dead silent transformers and tube amps (much much less mechanical hum/vibration, and that alone I bet helped improve sq), ground loops largely went away, and things generally just sounded more defined in most all my systems before the transformer was inserted. This all being said though, it was really expensive for a transformer large and high quality enough to both handle the circuit and also not degrade the sound, you really want to overspec the transformer if possible. While I am glad I did it, after getting the power plants I would have just rather gotten one of them instead if I knew when I was getting the transformer.
Yes they don’t really serve the same purpose, from my experience the cheaper stuff are more problem solvers than something for improving sq if you don’t have an issue, only the really really nice transformers have seemed worthwhile imo
You could get a 1:1 transformer, but it would likely end up being much more large and expensive
Also, isn’t one of the big benefits of a transformer is better power factor across the system? I’ve heard some say that is one of the reasons that contribute to better sound quality for a system overall
And there’s also the discussion of isolation transformers using balanced power, but I don’t know enough about that to discuss
stupid thought
Basic passive preamps are typically called a “pot in a box”, is it socially acceptable to call things like this a “trans in a box”?
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Those specific conditioners were suggested to me by Justin at A&S, and yes if your power has any DC offset it’ll completely remove it, and silence any mechanical transformer noise in the process, since that’s largely the cause.
Also will remove ground noise, as you state.
There was no real change in my system using one directly before the Pendant (which is what I bought it to fix), though I haven’t tried it between the wall and the regenerator.
They are 1:1 transformers, mine is wired so that all the output taps float.
I have captured my AC on a scope before and after the transformer, it looks basically the same, but some very high frequency noise will have been removed by the limited bandwidth of the transformer.
They do technically store energy, i.e. theoretically you can temporarily pull more current out of the transformer than is going in, BUT it adds impedance to do that which can be as negative as it is positive.
I know one of Paul at PS Audio’s big sells on the regenerators is they reduce the impedance of the incoming power to an absolute minimum.
It’s something that if I were building a home studio I’d invest in a big isolation transformer in a heartbeat, it’s a life saver and makes things so much easier, but for a hifi setup yeah I’m personally pretty mixed. It’s one of those things that I can see being worthwhile depending on the circumstance, but I wouldn’t likely suggest investing in one unless you have specific needs
I have heard smaller isolation transformers be actually fairly harmful to the system if they aren’t large/beefy or high quality enough, more an issue with big power 2ch amps though (in a similar way that some conditioners can be)
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My thoughts exactly, if you have mechanical transformer hum, I’d buy one in a heartbeat.
And I’d absolutely believe that for some people they can be a big win, but they aren’t an alternative to a regenerator.
I used to have pretty bad ground loops and hum issues with my amps. It completely went away when I got a regenerator and had the added benefits of better blacks and dynamics.
As an FYI, I’ve been pretty happy with a Richard Gray Power Company RGPC 1200 Custom | Richard Gray's Power Company that I picked up used. Heavy MFR’ like hernia heavy and I’m sure it’s all because of huge transformer.
After a lot of back and forth I decided against a regenerator simply because I was happy with the current state of my current. 
I’m sure one would more than likely provide additional gains when compared to a good isolation transformer based solution but at this time, just didn’t want to plunk down a couple of grand on just something to try as there were still low hanging fruits for improvement in my system.
I’ve spent a lot of time listening to my AC power and was fortunate enough that the AC outlets in the room are all on one circuit. When I want to spend some time doing critical listening now I just turn off anything that’s not stereo equipment related.
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Hello,
what do you think of this one?
https://www.rowen.ch/de/data/rowen_pt2000.php
I’m dreaming of it but the price is a bit of a deterrent, but it’s supposed to be good and even better than a power strip with a mains filter.
The manufacturers of Rowen also say that a transformer is better than a mains power strip with a filter because of the dynamics where the strip tends to neuter something.
Of course, a somewhat cheaper alternative would also be great.
Isolation transformers are all basically the same, they are just a big heavy 1:1 transformer, the only filtering they do is based on the bandwidth of the transformer so probably multiple KHz up.
Because they are transformers they do a few other things.
They remove any DC Offset - this can be a big win if you have any, and depending on the power transformer in the Amp.
They usually decouple neutral and ground, which will fix odd ground issues.
They can provide higher peak current than the input BUT as I said above this is a double edged source, the increased impedance resists change in power demand in both directions, it might be a win, or it might not.
I’m sure some of them include surge protectors and possibly additional filtering, but generally the one pictured above doesn’t, and you pretty much get out exactly what you put in without the DC offset.
And as @M0N pointed out if it’s undersized, it will degrade the dynamics of whatever you are using,
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Created the General Power thread if a mod wants to move this stuff over
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