I have two Sboosters feeding my Prime HP amp and USBridge/Sparky (the latter is important since the DAC section of the Prime is fed via USB) – they make an appreciable improvement.
I have tried the Sboosters on my main (all digital) setup (feeding a MiniDSP and an MS200 – the latter outputting S/PDIF coaxial to the MiniDSP, which is feeding a pair of DSP5200’s via S/PDIF in its turn) to no difference. I also hooked up an Sbooster to my NUC6 running RoonServer/Linux – no difference either (all of my endpoints are networked, WiFi, Bluetooth and Audio are disabled on the NUC).
While quality (L)PSUs can make for an improvement in the analog domain, their impact in the digital domain is limited (I’d say nil, but hey). Instead of pimping Roon Core with a DAC attached (Roon Core is quite the busy bee by nature, regardless of the OS), in my experience better results can be had by seperating the Core machine from the audio devices altogether (just connect to LAN and put it away from the listening enviroment) and using a low-powered bridge device (USBridge or one of the Rendu’s / SOtM devices) to connect your DAC to.
Thank you Rene, for your serieus comments! I,ve got already a SOtM trifectaSMS200 ultra with Txusb so SQ is already very good! Tom i consider to take a SBooster for my Mytek only.
As posted many months ago I installed an SBooster BOTW P&P ECO 18-19V with the LPS offering far greater sonic performance.
The other day someone advised, in a post on the DevialetChat site, that I should be looking at the recently introduced MK2 version of the SBooster BOTW P&P ECO 18-19V claiming it offered noticeable improvements over its predecessor.
Anyone made the comparison?
Thanks.
I am also listening with ROCK through Auralic Aries G2 to VEGA G2. Quite outstanding sound and performance with not a single “click” or other anoying sounds.
I did not make the comparison myself but you can trust this review about the MK2 version of the S-Booster.
I am using a single output 19-20V Keces P8 (with Kemp Elektroniks AC and Ghent DC cabling) on my Nucleus. Also a (big) improvement compared with the SBooster MK1.
Yes that Auralic combo is great! Don’t forget to put an LPS on your ROCK device and if you are using Ethernet to feed your Aries G2 buy a AQVox SE switch.
Can anyone comment on whether this might be a possible alternative PSU source for a Gen 7 i3 NUC running ROCK? Was looking for an upgraded PSU for my Pre Box S2 Digital anyway and wondered if the 20V (rated at 3A) output could drive my NUC as well to reduce cabling?
From memory, the NUC PSUs are rated at around 70W, so that one would barely suffice for a NUC. You might get away with it but if you are looking for a PSU to drive NUC and something else, certainly not.
I have an old Monolithic Sound P-3b Perpetual Power Plant. I got it to power the Perpetual Technologies gear back in the day. It comes in handy for other audio power needs, every once in a while. I’d like to use it to power my NUC, the 5i3RYK, with a thermal design power (TDP) rating of 15 watts. The 12v output of the Monolithic is rated at 2A. It is my understanding, then, that the Monolithic can output up to 24 watts. That should be fine, no? Thank you for any help you might have.
TDP rating is for the cpu only not including anything else on the Nuc like memory, video chips, logic and SSD etc
Powersupply specs are minimums normally and you should have a margin of overhead available for things where spikes can happen like power on and spin ups for HDD etc
Running devices outside of the specs can cause damage and void warranties.
