converting a DAC to DC battery supply

Puggie · 22nd April 2006, 12:42 PM

I'm looking to convert a DAC to run off a battery supply (car audio). My victim is an old Cambridge Audio Dacmagic2, I will be doing some of the upgrades outlined in the thread on this forum, but I also want to run it off a +12V supply (which IMHO is probably not a bad thing).

So I'm guessing I need to junk everything before the PSU bridge rectifiers, I'll leave good diodes in place to protect from stupidity (a.k.a. powering with reverse polarity) and add plenty of capacitance to smooth any ripples in the 12V supply, it will then be regulated down to +5v (IIRC) and I'll add more decent quality smoothing caps.

should this work?
am I missing anything?
is it stupid?
is therelikely to be any sonic benefit of a DC powersource?

thanks.

pburke · 22nd April 2006, 05:07 PM

you have to check the voltage level that comes off those rectifiers in the DAC. If it is considerably lower than 12V DC, you may need to add heat sinking to the regulators on the DAC board that follow the rectifier diodes. If it's more than 12V you will have to use two batteries in series and then you still need make sure that the regulators can handle bringing down 24V to 15 or whatever is needed inside the DAC. Temperature is the main issue if you can't closely match the original DC level with the battery.

Peter

22nd April 2006, 12:42 PM	#1
Puggie diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2004	converting a DAC to DC battery supply I'm looking to convert a DAC to run off a battery supply (car audio). My victim is an old Cambridge Audio Dacmagic2, I will be doing some of the upgrades outlined in the thread on this forum, but I also want to run it off a +12V supply (which IMHO is probably not a bad thing). So I'm guessing I need to junk everything before the PSU bridge rectifiers, I'll leave good diodes in place to protect from stupidity (a.k.a. powering with reverse polarity) and add plenty of capacitance to smooth any ripples in the 12V supply, it will then be regulated down to +5v (IIRC) and I'll add more decent quality smoothing caps. should this work? am I missing anything? is it stupid? is therelikely to be any sonic benefit of a DC powersource? thanks.

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22nd April 2006, 05:07 PM	#2
pburke diyAudio Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Madison Wisconsin	you have to check the voltage level that comes off those rectifiers in the DAC. If it is considerably lower than 12V DC, you may need to add heat sinking to the regulators on the DAC board that follow the rectifier diodes. If it's more than 12V you will have to use two batteries in series and then you still need make sure that the regulators can handle bringing down 24V to 15 or whatever is needed inside the DAC. Temperature is the main issue if you can't closely match the original DC level with the battery. Peter

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