Hi guys,
I’m working on designing a brand new concept, UcConditioner. It is an ultra capacitor power conditioner which can add pre-charged/isolated ultra capacitors to any RaspberryPi power supply to clean/filtering the noisy 5V rail.
Base on the real listening test of both Greg and I, the sound quality of Raspberry DAC can be significantly improved. I’m pretty excited about that.
It works with any 5V power supply for RPi and can also be perfectly integrated with current LifePO4 power supply to upgrade the performance.
I’ll place the PCB order tomorrow. New update will be posted soon.
UcConditionerLayout by Ian, on Flickr
Ian
I think there is no more space to go higher, with the 1TB SSD at the base of the stack and Sheild Pi fitted.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
I tried splitting the stack using a ribbon GPIO extender, but had a small accident
We need to split the Pi from the DAC section though IMO. if we are to case this work of art up.
My concerns are the I2S cable link, the GPIO pin out.
I have seen several GPIO pin out's with different labels and had a small accident as a result.
If the Pi is separated from the Dac, how many pins require connection.
The Pi has 5V power to +ve, on pins 2 and 4. ground on pin 6.
Which pins require connection to the FIFO ?
What sort of cable would be 'good enough' for I2S, though I realise the answer is effectively none.
My concerns are the I2S cable link, the GPIO pin out.
I have seen several GPIO pin out's with different labels and had a small accident as a result.
If the Pi is separated from the Dac, how many pins require connection.
The Pi has 5V power to +ve, on pins 2 and 4. ground on pin 6.
Which pins require connection to the FIFO ?
What sort of cable would be 'good enough' for I2S, though I realise the answer is effectively none.
Solution to upgrade to ultra capacitor/LifePO4 hybrid power supply
Ultra capacitor/LifePO4 hybrid power supply could be so far the best 3.3V rail in the world. I found a very easy solution to upgrade my LifePO4 power supply board in this way.
3.3V LifePO4 battery power is already very good for low noise clock and DAC applications. However, ultra capacitor /LifePO4 hybrid power supply has even lower internal ESR. So with the upgrade, both response performance and low noise performance can be improved even more. There could be no any other power supply solution can be better than this.
I’ve tried using this upgraded hybrid 3.3V rails for the FifoPi clean side and VCCA of ESS DACs with good result. The improvement of sound quality can be heard clearly during the listening test. I’m very happy with it.
If you had my LifePO4 power supply, I would ask you doing this upgrade today not tomorrow. It will give you a big surprise.
To do so, you will need only 3 or 2 steps,
STEP1:
Prepare a pair of ultra capacitors. You can use either BCAP0350 E270 T13 or BCAP0325 P270 S17.
The second one has lower ESR almost as half as the first one. Connect a 470ohm passive balance resistor in parallel with each cell and then connect the two capacitors together in series.
Also prepare two pieces of wires, AWG18 or bigger.
If you don’t have other way to pre-charge your ultra capacitor package, you will also need a power resistor around 3 ohms.
UltraCapacitorLifePO4HybridPowersupply1 by Ian, on Flickr
STEP2:
Solder a wire between the negative of the battery cell of the LifePO4 power supply to the negative of the ultra capacitor package, and a wire from the positive of LifePO4 battery cell to the positive of the ultra capacitor through the power resistor (Or, you can solder them directly to the taps if you use battery holders). Leave them for a couple of hours until the capacitor package is pre-charged to higher than 3.0 volt.
BT6 is corresponding to 3.3V rail on J1
BT7 is corresponding to 3.3V rail on J2
If you can pre-charge the ultra capacitor package to around 3.3V in other way, you can escape this step.
CAUTION: Make sure no any short circuit happens during assembling and soldering. It will be very dangerous because huge energy stored in battery cells even without a DC power connected.
UltraCapacitorLifePO4HybridPowersupply2 by Ian, on Flickr
STEP3:
Remove the power resistor. Make sure both positive and negative terminals of the ultra capacitor package are connected very well to the battery cell.
Now you are having the upgraded hybrid power supply. It’s really not difficult. You no longer need to disconnect or to pre-charge the ultra capacitor package any more as long as you have battery cells installed. You are done!
Re-connect the upgraded hybrid power supply back to your system as before, enjoy the music!
UltraCapacitorLifePO4HybridPowersupply3 by Ian, on Flickr
I would suggest to upgrade the 3.3V rail for the FifpPi clean side first, and then the3.3V rail for the ESS DAC.
Have a good weekend.
Ian
Ultra capacitor/LifePO4 hybrid power supply could be so far the best 3.3V rail in the world. I found a very easy solution to upgrade my LifePO4 power supply board in this way.
3.3V LifePO4 battery power is already very good for low noise clock and DAC applications. However, ultra capacitor /LifePO4 hybrid power supply has even lower internal ESR. So with the upgrade, both response performance and low noise performance can be improved even more. There could be no any other power supply solution can be better than this.
I’ve tried using this upgraded hybrid 3.3V rails for the FifoPi clean side and VCCA of ESS DACs with good result. The improvement of sound quality can be heard clearly during the listening test. I’m very happy with it.
If you had my LifePO4 power supply, I would ask you doing this upgrade today not tomorrow. It will give you a big surprise.
To do so, you will need only 3 or 2 steps,
STEP1:
Prepare a pair of ultra capacitors. You can use either BCAP0350 E270 T13 or BCAP0325 P270 S17.
The second one has lower ESR almost as half as the first one. Connect a 470ohm passive balance resistor in parallel with each cell and then connect the two capacitors together in series.
Also prepare two pieces of wires, AWG18 or bigger.
If you don’t have other way to pre-charge your ultra capacitor package, you will also need a power resistor around 3 ohms.
UltraCapacitorLifePO4HybridPowersupply1 by Ian, on Flickr
STEP2:
Solder a wire between the negative of the battery cell of the LifePO4 power supply to the negative of the ultra capacitor package, and a wire from the positive of LifePO4 battery cell to the positive of the ultra capacitor through the power resistor (Or, you can solder them directly to the taps if you use battery holders). Leave them for a couple of hours until the capacitor package is pre-charged to higher than 3.0 volt.
BT6 is corresponding to 3.3V rail on J1
BT7 is corresponding to 3.3V rail on J2
If you can pre-charge the ultra capacitor package to around 3.3V in other way, you can escape this step.
CAUTION: Make sure no any short circuit happens during assembling and soldering. It will be very dangerous because huge energy stored in battery cells even without a DC power connected.
UltraCapacitorLifePO4HybridPowersupply2 by Ian, on Flickr
STEP3:
Remove the power resistor. Make sure both positive and negative terminals of the ultra capacitor package are connected very well to the battery cell.
Now you are having the upgraded hybrid power supply. It’s really not difficult. You no longer need to disconnect or to pre-charge the ultra capacitor package any more as long as you have battery cells installed. You are done!
Re-connect the upgraded hybrid power supply back to your system as before, enjoy the music!
UltraCapacitorLifePO4HybridPowersupply3 by Ian, on Flickr
I would suggest to upgrade the 3.3V rail for the FifpPi clean side first, and then the3.3V rail for the ESS DAC.
Have a good weekend.
Ian
Last edited:
Ultra capacitor/LifePO4 hybrid power supply could be so far the best 3.3V rail in the world. I found a very easy solution to upgrade my LifePO4 power supply board in this way.
3.3V LifePO4 battery power is already very good for low noise clock and DAC applications. However, ultra capacitor /LifePO4 hybrid power supply has even lower internal ESR. So with the upgrade, both response performance and low noise performance can be improved even more. There could be no any other power supply solution can be better than this.
I’ve tried using this upgraded hybrid 3.3V rails for the FifoPi clean side and VCCA of ESS DACs with good result. The improvement of sound quality can be heard clearly during the listening test. I’m very happy with it.
If you had my LifePO4 power supply, I would ask you doing this upgrade today not tomorrow. It will give you a big surprise.
To do so, you will need only 3 or 2 steps,
STEP1:
Prepare a pair of ultra capacitors. You can use either BCAP0350 E270 T13 or BCAP0325 P270 S17.
The second one has lower ESR almost as half as the first one. Connect a 470ohm passive balance resistor in parallel with each cell and then connect the two capacitors together in series.
Also prepare two pieces of wires, AWG18 or bigger.
If you don’t have other way to pre-charge your ultra capacitor package, you will also need a power resistor around 3 ohms.
UltraCapacitorLifePO4HybridPowersupply1 by Ian, on Flickr
STEP2:
Solder a wire between the negative of the battery cell of the LifePO4 power supply to the negative of the ultra capacitor package, and a wire from the positive of LifePO4 battery cell to the positive of the ultra capacitor through the power resistor (Or, you can solder them directly to the taps if you use battery holders). Leave them for a couple of hours until the capacitor package is pre-charged to higher than 3.0 volt.
BT6 is corresponding to 3.3V rail on J1
BT7 is corresponding to 3.3V rail on J2
If you can pre-charge the ultra capacitor package to around 3.3V in other way, you can escape this step.
CAUTION: Make sure no any short circuit happens during assembling and soldering. It will be very dangerous because huge energy stored in battery cells even without a DC power connected.
UltraCapacitorLifePO4HybridPowersupply2 by Ian, on Flickr
STEP3:
Remove the power resistor. Make sure both positive and negative terminals of the ultra capacitor package are connected very well to the battery cell.
Now you are having the upgraded hybrid power supply. It’s really not difficult. You no longer need to disconnect or to pre-charge the ultra capacitor package any more as long as you have battery cells installed. You are done!
Re-connect the upgraded hybrid power supply back to your system as before, enjoy the music!
UltraCapacitorLifePO4HybridPowersupply3 by Ian, on Flickr
I would suggest to upgrade the 3.3V rail for the FifpPi clean side first, and then the3.3V rail for the ESS DAC.
Have a good weekend.
Ian
Look at the photos below, are you still impressed? I have introduced a long time ago that someone in Taiwan have proposed to integrate capacitors and battery because the battery will have similar ripples during continuous power consumption. It’s just a pity that Ian may feel that I am coming to a trick so that provide an upgrade plan now.
You win.......
It's really annoying to have to keep scrolling through the original post though.
The highlight and delete buttons are there for a reason.
Last edited:
Hi Ian,
Looking at your solution with the hybrid battery/ultracap supply one question came up. The ultracapacitor is in parallel with the battery, as the battery is the energy storage device you will only need the capacitor for lowering the impedance and decoupling noise from the battery. If this is the working case than why use an ultracapacitor of such a high capacitance? Is it not equally efficient to use smaller ultracapacitors?
Regards,
Looking at your solution with the hybrid battery/ultracap supply one question came up. The ultracapacitor is in parallel with the battery, as the battery is the energy storage device you will only need the capacitor for lowering the impedance and decoupling noise from the battery. If this is the working case than why use an ultracapacitor of such a high capacitance? Is it not equally efficient to use smaller ultracapacitors?
Regards,
Ultra capacitor/LifePO4 hybrid power supply could be so far the best 3.3V rail in the world. I found a very easy solution to upgrade my LifePO4 power supply board in this way.
3.3V LifePO4 battery power is already very good for low noise clock and DAC applications. However, ultra capacitor /LifePO4 hybrid power supply has even lower internal ESR. So with the upgrade, both response performance and low noise performance can be improved even more. There could be no any other power supply solution can be better than this.
I’ve tried using this upgraded hybrid 3.3V rails for the FifoPi clean side and VCCA of ESS DACs with good result. The improvement of sound quality can be heard clearly during the listening test. I’m very happy with it.
If you had my LifePO4 power supply, I would ask you doing this upgrade today not tomorrow. It will give you a big surprise.
To do so, you will need only 3 or 2 steps,
STEP1:
Prepare a pair of ultra capacitors. You can use either BCAP0350 E270 T13 or BCAP0325 P270 S17.
The second one has lower ESR almost as half as the first one. Connect a 470ohm passive balance resistor in parallel with each cell and then connect the two capacitors together in series.
Also prepare two pieces of wires, AWG18 or bigger.
If you don’t have other way to pre-charge your ultra capacitor package, you will also need a power resistor around 3 ohms.
UltraCapacitorLifePO4HybridPowersupply1 by Ian, on Flickr
STEP2:
Solder a wire between the negative of the battery cell of the LifePO4 power supply to the negative of the ultra capacitor package, and a wire from the positive of LifePO4 battery cell to the positive of the ultra capacitor through the power resistor (Or, you can solder them directly to the taps if you use battery holders). Leave them for a couple of hours until the capacitor package is pre-charged to higher than 3.0 volt.
BT6 is corresponding to 3.3V rail on J1
BT7 is corresponding to 3.3V rail on J2
If you can pre-charge the ultra capacitor package to around 3.3V in other way, you can escape this step.
CAUTION: Make sure no any short circuit happens during assembling and soldering. It will be very dangerous because huge energy stored in battery cells even without a DC power connected.
UltraCapacitorLifePO4HybridPowersupply2 by Ian, on Flickr
STEP3:
Remove the power resistor. Make sure both positive and negative terminals of the ultra capacitor package are connected very well to the battery cell.
Now you are having the upgraded hybrid power supply. It’s really not difficult. You no longer need to disconnect or to pre-charge the ultra capacitor package any more as long as you have battery cells installed. You are done!
Re-connect the upgraded hybrid power supply back to your system as before, enjoy the music!
UltraCapacitorLifePO4HybridPowersupply3 by Ian, on Flickr
I would suggest to upgrade the 3.3V rail for the FifpPi clean side first, and then the3.3V rail for the ESS DAC.
Have a good weekend.
Ian
I Assume this is a temporary solution until the "UcConditioner" is finished.
And what if the battery level goes down, so will the level of the UC. Is recharging the battery and UC calculated in the design of the power supply?
Hi Supersurfer
You can try super capacitors with less capacitance but lower ESR. But I can not find any of them so far. I think you have the answer now
.Have a good weekend.
Ian
UCconditioner is for 5V rail and not a hybrid power. That's the main difference.
This solution is for 3.3V hybrid voltage rails and it's a permanent solution. Ultra capacitors can be re-charged together with LifePO4 battery cells by the power supply with any issue. The only thing is that you need to pre-charge the ultra capacitor for the first time you install it.
If I had chance to update my LifePO4 power supply design down the road, I will make it compatible with a ultra capacitor board to make things easier to upgrade to a hybrid power supply.
Regards,
Ian
Is it not possible then, to use the UCconditioner or a modified version, as UC on 3.3V? It might even look better.
Hi clsidxxl,
UCconditioner was designed for 5V RPi voltage rail.
The ultra capacitor/LifePO4 hybrid power supply solution is better than the UCconditioner and it's for 3.3V rail. It's natively integrated with LifePO4 power supply. People can do the upgrading by them self without any additional board.
Regards,
Ian