here it is, made this for my self and a few audio friends. It is working fine.
NOTE: Has nothing to do with Ian Canada UC Conditioner solutions, which are very good by the way and plug and play. This is more for experimenting or use it as installed solution with large UC banks
It is just a management module to quickly charge a UC bank (up to 20Volt) through an external charger (10 A or so) and than switch back to the audiophile PSU of your choice which is also externally connected. The module will disconnect the charger and de-power its mains. This will save you long waiting time to get your device powered up as would be if you only use the audiophile CPU, which normally has little headroom to charge an large UC (Bank)
The UC Bank should be connected directly at the VB input of the device. Which I believed to be of advantage looking at the concept why a UC helps sound quality (shunt close to device/user) I know some see this critical for safety reasons, so you can still ad a thick 2 pole switch and disconnect the UC bank when not in use. Up to the user of course
It is a general module where the switch voltage can be set by DIP switches. Nice for experiments (like I do now) or in use with other gear (DDDAC 12 volt supply or Clocks/PCs with 15-18 Volt)
As there were concerns about my capabilities designing and building things like this, let me state this: I am not asking anyone to use this or risk their homes. BTW, DIY always carry risk. No need for UCs for that. If I see all that gear with no safety earth, you might dangle dead to your next tube amplifier as well
any way, here is a pic and the circuit:
DIY use only of course 😉
.
NOTE: Has nothing to do with Ian Canada UC Conditioner solutions, which are very good by the way and plug and play. This is more for experimenting or use it as installed solution with large UC banks
It is just a management module to quickly charge a UC bank (up to 20Volt) through an external charger (10 A or so) and than switch back to the audiophile PSU of your choice which is also externally connected. The module will disconnect the charger and de-power its mains. This will save you long waiting time to get your device powered up as would be if you only use the audiophile CPU, which normally has little headroom to charge an large UC (Bank)
The UC Bank should be connected directly at the VB input of the device. Which I believed to be of advantage looking at the concept why a UC helps sound quality (shunt close to device/user) I know some see this critical for safety reasons, so you can still ad a thick 2 pole switch and disconnect the UC bank when not in use. Up to the user of course
It is a general module where the switch voltage can be set by DIP switches. Nice for experiments (like I do now) or in use with other gear (DDDAC 12 volt supply or Clocks/PCs with 15-18 Volt)
As there were concerns about my capabilities designing and building things like this, let me state this: I am not asking anyone to use this or risk their homes. BTW, DIY always carry risk. No need for UCs for that. If I see all that gear with no safety earth, you might dangle dead to your next tube amplifier as well
any way, here is a pic and the circuit:
DIY use only of course 😉
.
Attachments
Hello Doede,
So you i can reserve the first one for me as i was the person who asked you to make this circuit? Thank you in advance. Greetings, Eduard
So you i can reserve the first one for me as i was the person who asked you to make this circuit? Thank you in advance. Greetings, Eduard
Nice circuit Doede 🙂
The joys of Arduino again and logic = great project!
Count me in as well as I will have a play too 🙂
The joys of Arduino again and logic = great project!
Count me in as well as I will have a play too 🙂
Can I suggest that when you have time Doede you produce a drawing showing the new module connected up in an example situation?
So connected with the PSU(s) ultra caps with the module showing real life example 🙂
So connected with the PSU(s) ultra caps with the module showing real life example 🙂
OK, will do Simon (yes and count you in to)
I have some spare PCBs and parts so I can send a few around
I have some spare PCBs and parts so I can send a few around
Excellent and thank you 😀
I suspected spare PCBs due to min order from that great PCB company we now use 😉
Of course I dont expect FOC and will pay whats needed
Hello Simon,
It will be tested in real life with the 61,7F cap and the 6 clock boards that will be sent to Germany achter i receive them.
Probably gonna use a 1A rated circuit from the ldovr site maybe there are better ones. Of course need one with a small sonic footprint.
Of course i will use a choke input!
Today ordered a few Ll2771 because metal prices will soon go sky high for consumers too.
Greetings,Eduard
It will be tested in real life with the 61,7F cap and the 6 clock boards that will be sent to Germany achter i receive them.
Probably gonna use a 1A rated circuit from the ldovr site maybe there are better ones. Of course need one with a small sonic footprint.
Of course i will use a choke input!
Today ordered a few Ll2771 because metal prices will soon go sky high for consumers too.
Greetings,Eduard
Hello,
If availability is not an issue and it does what it needs to do and will probably have a longer lifespan than most modern parts i wouldnt mind at all.
We all know stories of people replacing a 25 year old washing machine still in working order because all their friends have one with a 35 page manual and lights like a Christmas tree.
So finally they said yes, everybody happy, after 3 years a few lights already dim and one year later machine dead. A repair probably cost as much as new one and these machines are not made to be repaired.
I have a 30 year. old drying machine. It has become noisy a few years ago but still works perfect. It is not the motor or a bearing otherwise it would have stopped by now.
Why not buy a new one? Just because of the noise. If i could buy a similar one and it will work for 25 years before coming noisy i would but they cannot be found. I dont trust modern companies.
Greetings,Eduard
If availability is not an issue and it does what it needs to do and will probably have a longer lifespan than most modern parts i wouldnt mind at all.
We all know stories of people replacing a 25 year old washing machine still in working order because all their friends have one with a 35 page manual and lights like a Christmas tree.
So finally they said yes, everybody happy, after 3 years a few lights already dim and one year later machine dead. A repair probably cost as much as new one and these machines are not made to be repaired.
I have a 30 year. old drying machine. It has become noisy a few years ago but still works perfect. It is not the motor or a bearing otherwise it would have stopped by now.
Why not buy a new one? Just because of the noise. If i could buy a similar one and it will work for 25 years before coming noisy i would but they cannot be found. I dont trust modern companies.
Greetings,Eduard
Hello Simon,
I have been using choke input supplies for decades,
Even compared to a more basic lineair supply with a beefy transformer a LCRC supply gave less wow when feeding a PLL circuit plus motor for a turntable.
The people at Uptone do have a choke input power supply and they say the choke does things a regulator cannot do.
Doede recently wrote about going from crc to clc to feed his 12 volt regulator.
Of course choke input is an even bigger step.
MY idea is that with the right choke input you can never go wrong when used for a supply using power '' from the wall ''. What i like about it that it just works , like adding weight to a turntable platter or adding wings to a formule one racing car!
For the 16,5 volt supercap supply to work safely after being connected to the audiophile supply we need something to keep the supply at 16,5 volt.
We remember reading Doede's test of some candidates to replace the LF50 on the mainboard. We know the supercap does a lot of filtering.
I can imagine there are a two regulators. Both well designed one being more high tech and one more basic but giving a sound that you can listen to all day long. Now when using the supercap to the basic regulator it will keep its easy sound but will a little more definition in the right way.
I dont know if the six boards from Andrea will work better if one way or another you can make the noise coming from your supply go down. Going from 30 to 60 F will usually give an improvement but can it be that if your regulator gets '' to high tech '' that you will end up with an amp with two much feedback?
Maybe there are some specs that need to be focused upon when searching for the regulator controlling the big F. If you have a few fixed 16,5 volt 1A regulators that all can cope with the same input voltage because the use a heatsink then comparing could be easy. Maybe difference will be minimal once your budget is 20$ or more.
Any ideas?
Greetings, eduard
I have been using choke input supplies for decades,
Even compared to a more basic lineair supply with a beefy transformer a LCRC supply gave less wow when feeding a PLL circuit plus motor for a turntable.
The people at Uptone do have a choke input power supply and they say the choke does things a regulator cannot do.
Doede recently wrote about going from crc to clc to feed his 12 volt regulator.
Of course choke input is an even bigger step.
MY idea is that with the right choke input you can never go wrong when used for a supply using power '' from the wall ''. What i like about it that it just works , like adding weight to a turntable platter or adding wings to a formule one racing car!
For the 16,5 volt supercap supply to work safely after being connected to the audiophile supply we need something to keep the supply at 16,5 volt.
We remember reading Doede's test of some candidates to replace the LF50 on the mainboard. We know the supercap does a lot of filtering.
I can imagine there are a two regulators. Both well designed one being more high tech and one more basic but giving a sound that you can listen to all day long. Now when using the supercap to the basic regulator it will keep its easy sound but will a little more definition in the right way.
I dont know if the six boards from Andrea will work better if one way or another you can make the noise coming from your supply go down. Going from 30 to 60 F will usually give an improvement but can it be that if your regulator gets '' to high tech '' that you will end up with an amp with two much feedback?
Maybe there are some specs that need to be focused upon when searching for the regulator controlling the big F. If you have a few fixed 16,5 volt 1A regulators that all can cope with the same input voltage because the use a heatsink then comparing could be easy. Maybe difference will be minimal once your budget is 20$ or more.
Any ideas?
Greetings, eduard
I am not sure I get this... Could you explain a bit more what the basic use case and functionality of the module is? As far as I can tell, it provides some "quick charging" function. But why / when do you need this? What does the Arduino do? What is an "audiophile CPU"? Couldn't I do the first "quick charge" of the ultra caps using a lab/bench PSU?
What safety risks are you referring to? I guess it would be fair to tell users clearly what kind of risk they are taking with this.
Hello,
You can find additional info on Doede's blog.
You NEED a supply that has enough '' energy '' to charge the cap at constant current once that is done you can use a normal supply to keep the supercaps from going empty because of the current being drawn by the load.
Greetings, eduard
You can find additional info on Doede's blog.
You NEED a supply that has enough '' energy '' to charge the cap at constant current once that is done you can use a normal supply to keep the supercaps from going empty because of the current being drawn by the load.
Greetings, eduard
My emoji I thought would have indicated I was joking
I understand the value of chokes and use them too. Nearly every post you make talks about them 😉 so decide to make a joke...... ignore me 😀
The modules heart is the arduino which is the brains and logic on when to switch on and off the different relays. It reads in various data to decide when to do this and one of the main ones is the status of the ultra cap charging is.
It manages not only the charging but when to switch in your audiophile PSU with the ultra cap to give you that amazing PSU for your DAC or clock or whatever is connected
It also fully disconnects the charger from the ultra cap which is important. Once you complete your listening and switch off the ultra caps will discharge so when you switch on again the module will charge and repeat the process
Yes you could do this from a bench PSU but this makes life easy
Doede if I have it wrong or miss any point please add or correct me
Thanks for the write up Simon, may be add an example with the DDDAC
A 4 deck dddac consumes like 1A. My own DDDAC power supply can deliver a bit above this when needed. So there is little headroom for charging a ultracap bank with 6x500F. This might take like 20 minutes.
In stead the management module connects a fast charger. I used a LED driver with CVCC delivering more than 10A, charging the ultra pro in 45 secs to 12 volt. From that point the dddac “audiophile” psu takes over and keeps the ultracap on charge. In the same time the PI is booting, so you can start enjoying music roughly at the same time as normal
A 4 deck dddac consumes like 1A. My own DDDAC power supply can deliver a bit above this when needed. So there is little headroom for charging a ultracap bank with 6x500F. This might take like 20 minutes.
In stead the management module connects a fast charger. I used a LED driver with CVCC delivering more than 10A, charging the ultra pro in 45 secs to 12 volt. From that point the dddac “audiophile” psu takes over and keeps the ultracap on charge. In the same time the PI is booting, so you can start enjoying music roughly at the same time as normal
My emoji I thought would have indicated I was joking
I understand the value of chokes and use them too. Nearly every post you make talks about them so decide to make a joke...... ignore me
Hello Simon,
Unless emoji looks really clear i usually wont see them. There must be lots of them that i even dont understand.
In my country, the Netherlands, 25 % of the 15 years old people cant read and write properly. At that age i was already close to the Miller's tale no emoji's back then we had buttons.
I have been getting close to being accused of getting commission from Lundahl. I like their what i call wide frequency range chokes. There is someone else here on this site that the only really good thing they make are their chokes. I wont say that but the fact is they make their chokes the same way they make output transformers. AND by now we all now there is much more to filter in a supply than 100 hertz or 120 cycles ripple.
Greetings, Eduard
I understand the value of chokes and use them too. Nearly every post you make talks about them so decide to make a joke...... ignore me
Hello Simon,
Unless emoji looks really clear i usually wont see them. There must be lots of them that i even dont understand.
In my country, the Netherlands, 25 % of the 15 years old people cant read and write properly. At that age i was already close to the Miller's tale no emoji's back then we had buttons.
I have been getting close to being accused of getting commission from Lundahl. I like their what i call wide frequency range chokes. There is someone else here on this site that the only really good thing they make are their chokes. I wont say that but the fact is they make their chokes the same way they make output transformers. AND by now we all now there is much more to filter in a supply than 100 hertz or 120 cycles ripple.
Greetings, Eduard