I’m going to use premium gasoline in my car so Roon will sound better over ARC and CarPlay.
I respect your knowledge and understanding of the linear power supply myth.
However, my experience suggests otherwise, and I believe we should all respect each other’s beliefs.
At the very least, I encourage you to try it before reaching a conclusion.
There are people who believe the earth is hollow and reptiles live there who control humanity. Clearly there are conflicts if we are supposed to respect every belief.
You may see it from a business perspective. Whatever people buy from someone, if both are happy and no one else is harmed there’s hardly any need to argue.
Feeling, believing and knowing are completely different domains. There’s no need to convince others of having wrong feelings or beliefs unless others are harmed by that
I believe the point being made is that Roon hasn’t had an opinion one way or the other in the past, and this is an (unwelcome) change.
Moreover, I don’t think anyone is disputing the benefits of a LPS in an appropriate situation.
Driving a general purpose computer*, that generates high frequency noise–as does a switching supply–with a LPS is an exercise in the futile, irrespective of belief.
But no one here is preventing anyone from doing what they want, and as long as things stay civil it is okay to disagree.
*That’s all the Nucleus is–it’s not an audio device.
If you’re worried that the power supply of your music server is injecting high-frequency noise back into your mains, ask yourself: wouldn’t it make more sense to first address the much larger sources of electrical noise in your home? Think about it—your lighting, kitchen appliances, AV gear, heating systems, and even your neighbor’s house all contribute far more to mains contamination than a single SMPS in your music server.
And have you ever actually measured the noise that large linear power supplies (LPS) from power amps put back into the mains? It’s often worse than you’d expect. Many well-designed switch-mode power supplies (SMPS) are actually cleaner in this regard, especially modern ones with proper filtering and PFC (power factor correction).
The same applies to computers, linear power supplies are NOT inherently “cleaner” than switch-mode designs. A well-engineered SMPS will almost always outperform a LPS when it comes to efficiency, noise control, and load regulation.
So let’s be critical of marketing claims. Don’t blindly trust “high-end” audio manufacturers who make big promises without providing solid technical data. Stop generalizing, and let’s rely on measurements rather than repeating audiophile myths. A well-designed SMPS wins over an LPS any day of the week—seriously, I’m not joking!
So you might ask why high end manufacturers are not selling SMPS then? Well, that’s just how the market of demand and supply works. My own fully DIY active four way systems consist of no less then 12 smps supplies and is dead quiet, not even the slightest hint of noise and hum and it sound dead gorgious. Switching to well designed smps supplies was a big upgrade compared to the previous linear supplies. More authority, wider soundstage, more resolution and above all a lot better efficiency. Quit with this LPS is good SMPS is bad mantra, it is just absolutely NOT true.
While I agree generally …
when the power noise bogeyman appears, what people mean is not separately audible noise but noise in the sense of signal distortion.
This is of course also more convenient because the absence of separately audible noise like static or humming is easily demonstrated but distortion to the signal provides endless opportunities to „hear“ something.
I believe that selling something that demonstrably fails to achieve its stated purpose or is even detrimental to said purpose is harmful in more than one way, even if it makes buyers “happy”.
I get it, but I’ve actually measured noise well into the MHz range, and my SMPS supplies were cleaner, especially in power amps and computers. Why? Because of how the load behave, something many LPS advocaters tend to overlook.
The reality is that loads are rarely linear, and LPS units draw very high peak currents during only a small portion of the AC sine wave. This happens because traditional linear power supplies rely on large transformer-based rectification, causing short, high-current pulses at the peaks of the AC cycle. These pulses create very strong harmonic distortion and conducted noise, often much worse than the high-frequency switching noise from a well-designed SMPS and above, most equiment is more sensitive to thsi kind of noise than to easy to filter HF noise, something which is done by good design.
So, just because it’s called a “Linear” power supply doesn’t mean it delivers power in a smooth or even manner. In fact, the high peak currents and their harmonics can be more problematic than the residual switching noise from a properly filtered SMPS.
I disagree.
True, in a way it’d be pure waste of resources. But that’s in line with our global economy. It’s all about satisfying mankind, nothing else.
And all the very well known facts about snake oil advertising and communication don’t prevent people from investing in such as long as belief is strong. And strong (mis)belief is immune against knowledge.
That’s why all this explaining and warning or quoting ASR usually lead to nothing. And that’s okay. If people want to buy an LPS or a power cleaner or audiophile network switches or audio ethernet cables for what ever money on earth, let them do so.
By the same logic, if people want to point out fallacies, let them do so, too. Seems less harmful
In this very specific field of snake oil it’s well known that arguing against it may satisfy the writer but usually does not reach those you want to reach. It’s really like arguing about believing in god or not. It’s rather pointless
I’m getting mellow with age . And endless writing against snake oil is tiring. There are so many other really interesting things to read or write about
It also never works to tell those who feel the urge to make a rational argument that it never works
One is a matter of faith whereas the other is a matter of science and engineering. Faith is necessary to believe in what cannot be seen, but not for that which is known and understood.
Oh, I won’t get into this kind of discussion . One last comment, faith and belief are processed in our brains as well as hearing. Rate all three of them from 1 (0%) to 10 (100%) regarding their connection strength to the reality outside of the brain
Already OT. Initial question was “I’m planning to get an Sbooster and need to know if it will be able to power the Nucleus One”. So, decision has already been made
Good decision🫰
Operator for about 2 years SBooster devices without problems:
Fritzbox, Melco D100, 10 MHz reference clock generator!
Please note: our compatibility list is not limitative. So, if a product is not listed, it does not per se means, that there is no match. We just don’t know each and every audio and video. Do you want to upgrade your device, but your product is not listed, don’t hesitate and send us an email. We are happy to check the compatibility for you!
It doesn’t satisfy mankind in any way to say that anything goes and fallacies are fine for the sole purpose of marketing. Convincing people that there is a difference to be heard with just about anything seems quite easy. It feels like a Brave New World type of conditioning for the purpose of consumerism.
It doesn’t satisfy me that we have to keep debunking snake oil. As for religion, I’m not going there, it’s too long a trip.
You mean, any digital signal. Which can be carried over quite noisy transports with no errors.
As in, not important at all. If the source was so bad as to cause computers to malfunction, they would crash left and right and become rather unusable.
Can’t void a warranty if it has expired