[dBe]

or not:  Power2U receptacles.  What a nightmare for audio guys.  Your own, very special and personal noise generators for the home.  Woo-HOO!!!!



  http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/accessories/power_adapters/USB/in_wall_outlets?APC=READERSPC&Source=Blast14June11

For all of the techiegottahavethelatestthingoutthere guys that will buy this (I admit it... I will...) the Uber is the solution.

Thank you, technology geekoids!     The AC sewer gets even worse.

All cynicism aside this is exactly the kind of thing that the UberBUSS is designed to reduce to next to zero.

So, how many of you are buying the latest and greatest and fighting the noise battle?

Getting crazy.  The device that I had zeroed in on for the BUSS-Station DC eliminator has just been dropped from my sources... kinda.  IF I want to buy a minimum of 87 at $20.00 each and wait for three months to get them, I can.  Cool, huh?  Unbalanced lines are commonplace these days.  All of those toroids out there love DC offset.  There is a give and take in every "advancement" that we make.  Unfortunately most of the changes coming are going to put even more noise pollution on the lines.

It is getting harder and harder to get and maintain any kind of stocking levels of the exemplary devices to build VHQ power filtration products at a reasonable selling price point.  The cottage industry audio guys - stellar sound at killer price people - are taking a beating.  As usual, we all will hunker down, do the best we can to put out gear that excells in performance and try to make a living doing so.  Don't be surprised when prices rise and lead time get even longer.  I reckon that I am going to have to put the TightWad part of me out to pasture and join the fray.

Frustration leads to discussion.  What say you?  When does it become too much to handle in the SQ vs. $$$ war?

Dave

[HAL]

Dave,
I just put my power regenerator on my tube guitar amps to kill off the light dimmer noise in the house.  Even full on they are terrible.

DC on the AC lines is getting worse.  I will be looking at the new device to work with the stereo PA's instead of the power regenerator.

Just one voice out in the boonies.

[Jonathon Janusz]

Not that great sound at an audio show is a big deal or anything, but. . .

. . . place any bets on how fast every decent hotel in the USA gets at least one of these in every guest room?

Well, if there were at least 87 audio companies doing shows, at least you could probably make your minimum order with a reasonable backlog of customers. 

[dBe]

Not that great sound at an audio show is a big deal or anything, but. . .

. . . place any bets on how fast every decent hotel in the USA gets at least one of these in every guest room?

Well, if there were at least 87 audio companies doing shows, at least you could probably make your minimum order with a reasonable backlog of customers. 

Now THAT is funny, Jonathan!   

[mresseguie]

Okay, gang. Here's a question from the ignorance camp: What is it about USB that is so noisy?

[dBe]

Okay, gang. Here's a question from the ignorance camp: What is it about USB that is so noisy?

Oh, gosh where do I begin?

Let's start with the receptacle.  It contains a cheap switch mode power supply that is married to the power line.  A RFI generator of the first order.  Since most of the audio we listen to is in a digital format, the noise becomes a real problem.  When you noticed how much smoother the music was with your Uber that was a result of stripping the RFI from your AC.  Now, multiply that noise by a couple of orders of magnitude and you have our power grid in a very short time.

As power for DACs and other gear it just sucks.  Noise levels on the average computer's USB buss is over 100mV.  That is a 2% noise factor!  Totally wrong to power DACs, input receivers or anything else without regeneration or other heroic efforts to reduce it.  Not only that, but it plays hell with the digital data stream that runs in close proximity.  Digital anything is easily damaged by noise.  So what does the industry do but use dirtiest power possible to power the digital domain.  Computers often run on the ragged edge of stability from power induced timing errors.  Ever wonder why PCs wake up stupid so often?  Look at all of the wiring running around inside.  Apple figured this out a long time ago.  Of course there is the problem with many vendors producing software with compatibility issues causing crashes, too.  One of the reasons the Mac Mini makes such a great music platform is the lack of internal wiring to transmit SMPS noise throughout the circuitry.  Naked chips and exposed wires are a bad mix.

[mresseguie]

Dave,

Thanks. That helps. It also helps explain why my UberBUSS will have to be pried from my cold dead fingers before I allow it out of my house. 

I've already begun considering ordering a second buss (mini or majik) from you. I'd take that one to Taiwan with me. Can you make a mini-UberBUSS with 4 receptacles instead of 6?

Just yesterday, I decided to buy a Mac Mini to replace my aging (and gawdaful noisy) PC. [Pats self on back]

[dBe]

Dave,

Thanks. That helps. It also helps explain why my UberBUSS will have to be pried from my cold dead fingers before I allow it out of my house. 

I've already begun considering ordering a second buss (mini or majik) from you. I'd take that one to Taiwan with me. Can you make a mini-UberBUSS with 4 receptacles instead of 6?

Just yesterday, I decided to buy a Mac Mini to replace my aging (and gawdaful noisy) PC. [Pats self on back]

Well, there you go.  It all begins to make sense, doesn't it?

I can certainly build a MiniUber... is that an oxymoron?  The RevB is close.  It has a smaller EMI/RFI brick than an Uber, but I can shoehorn all of it into the RevB size.

You are going to love the Mini.  The Apple Core Audio engine is the best in the business and the enormous processing power in the new Mini is just what the Audio Doctor (whoever that might be) ordered.  I make a couple of power cables that take the performance to another level.  I will email you tomorrow.  It has been a very long day.     

[mresseguie]

Oh, goody! I get the first MiniUberBUSS (MUB?) 

My Mac Mini will have the upgraded 2.6 Ghz i7 processor and 8 GB of RAM. That should be enough power for a good long time. I'm developing an addiction to high quality power cables.

[doctorcilantro]

Dave,
I just put my power regenerator on my tube guitar amps to kill off the light dimmer noise in the house.  Even full on they are terrible.

DC on the AC lines is getting worse.  I will be looking at the new device to work with the stereo PA's instead of the power regenerator.

Just one voice out in the boonies.

What I don understand is why a re-generator would need DC blocking ability (which PS Audio inculudes) when it is supposed to "make clean power" e.g. AC > DC > AC. If you have read my thread you know DC on the lines comes right through my P3 and out my speakers. Not a ground loop as switching to a new power leg fixed it.

[jtwrace]

What's the pricing on the MiniUber?  Also, what are the dimensions and weight?

[HAL]

What I don understand is why a re-generator would need DC blocking ability (which PS Audio inculudes) when it is supposed to "make clean power" e.g. AC > DC > AC. If you have read my thread you know DC on the lines comes right through my P3 and out my speakers. Not a ground loop as switching to a new power leg fixed it.

Not using the regenerator with the DC blocker.   It would be for the audio setup without the regenerator, as it is in another room. 

[dBe]

Oh, goody! I get the first MiniUberBUSS (MUB?) 

My Mac Mini will have the upgraded 2.6 Ghz i7 processor and 8 GB of RAM. That should be enough power for a good long time. I'm developing an addiction to high quality power cables.

[dBe]

What I don understand is why a re-generator would need DC blocking ability (which PS Audio inculudes) when it is supposed to "make clean power" e.g. AC > DC > AC. If you have read my thread you know DC on the lines comes right through my P3 and out my speakers. Not a ground loop as switching to a new power leg fixed it.

Toroid hum is the problem and PS Audio does DC blocking to prevent the incoming turns from becoming biased differently than the outgoing.  Magnetostriction is the cause.  The magnetic field rises and collapses at 120Hz (not 60 as you would think) as the current swings past zero.  All electrical devices with a transformer hum ...  mostly below audibility in a well designed system.  The larger the transformer, the louder the humThis is not to say that the PS Audio PowerPlants are not well designed.  They are.  They put DC blocking in there to insure that the toroid doesn't growl.

Magnetostriction is a powerful force.  There used to be a nightclub here that we installed a system in that had 25KW of old Crown amps IIRC.  They did not have a sequential turn on device and the sound of the wiring slapping inside the conduit at energization was a very loud "KERANG".  Never could talk the owners into spending a dime on sequencing or be able to talk the sound guy ( ?!?) into turning on the amps one by one.

[dBe]

What's the pricing on the MiniUber?  Also, what are the dimensions and weight?

I think that I am going to replace the RevB with the MUB and call it RevC.  I sell 25 times more UberBUSSes than RevB's.  Available upon request like all of my gear.  It will be housed in the same case as the RevB.  I measured everything last night and I can fit everything in the case with a gnat's butt of clearance.  If the size of some of my components change I will have to rethink that.  Size is 5.375 x 5.375" x 10.5".  Weight will be about 9.5lb.

Pricing is TBD and not that much less than an Uber.  The savings are one receptacle, the components in the final filters, a couple of pieces of wire, a few square inches of Medex and a little paint.  Labor will be about the same.

[jtwrace]

I think that I am going to replace the RevB with the MUB and call it RevC.  I sell 25 times more UberBUSSes than RevB's.  Available upon request like all of my gear.  It will be housed in the same case as the RevB.  I measured everything last night and I can fit everything in the case with a gnat's butt of clearance.  If the size of some of my components change I will have to rethink that.  Size is 5.375 x 5.375" x 10.5".  Weight will be about 9.5lb.

Pricing is TBD and not that much less than an Uber.  The savings are one receptacle, the components in the final filters, a couple of pieces of wire, a few square inches of Medex and a little paint.  Labor will be about the same.

OK.  So go with an Uber unless size is an issue.  Got it.

[dBe]

OK.  So go with an Uber unless size is an issue.  Got it.

Yup.