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#1
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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An almost free, and appreciable, upgrade in sound for your EMU 0404
I recently learned that the 0404 USB comes with a "dirty" power
supply. It converts AC to 5 Volts of fluctuating DC. I found an old power supply from a zip drive I had that puts out 5 V of real DC, or linear DC. After converting the Zip drives power supply to work with my EMU, I hooked it up and gave it a listen to my music in my library again. This is what I found; Sound was much smoother, especially in the high frequencies. The EMU seemed to be able to resolve more as well. Also, the quiet passages were, um, quieter This was an easy upgrade that improved the sound of my 0404 significantly! For all you budget audiophiles out there who can't quite justify a DAC1 or a DA10, you should really give this 0404 with minor upgrade a try. A minor note on power supplies: it would be very easy to replace the non linear power supply with another non-linear one. I have found that some zip drives came with linear PSes and some didn't. Make sure to get a Linear one. They're the bigger, classic wal warts and get warm. The non linear ones are smaller. Here is a typical linear PS; http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/21...showimage.html Switching, non linear ones are smaller, like this; http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/51...showimage.html Make sure to get a linear PS, and enjoy the music! CD |
#2
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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An almost free, and appreciable, upgrade in sound for your EMU 0404
"codifus" wrote in message
I recently learned that the 0404 USB comes with a "dirty" power supply. It converts AC to 5 Volts of fluctuating DC. I found an old power supply from a zip drive I had that puts out 5 V of real DC, or linear DC. After converting the Zip drives power supply to work with my EMU, I hooked it up and gave it a listen to my music in my library again. This is what I found; Sound was much smoother, especially in the high frequencies. The EMU seemed to be able to resolve more as well. Also, the quiet passages were, um, quieter The proof of the pudding would be to run an Audio Rightmark, with each power supply: The software is free. http://audio.rightmark.org/downloads/rmaa6.exe |
#3
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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An almost free, and appreciable, upgrade in sound for your EMU 0404
I tried this out myself - also converting an old Zip drive supply. I
have to say that the sound seems much improved. Certainly worth the 20 minutes it took to make the change, and the old power supply was just sitting gathering dust so it didn't cost me anything. Turns out there are some people who make even more radical mods to the EMU 0404 (http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f6/emu...ished-297141/). Not sure I'd be brave enough myself!. It would be interesting to get some measurement data to prove whether or not Codifus and I are simply imagining the differences we're both sure we've heard! Anyway I'm pleased with the results which is the important thing :-) On 11 Nov 2008 23:26:43 GMT, codifus wrote: I recently learned that the 0404 USB comes with a "dirty" power supply. It converts AC to 5 Volts of fluctuating DC. I found an old power supply from a zip drive I had that puts out 5 V of real DC, or linear DC. After converting the Zip drives power supply to work with my EMU, I hooked it up and gave it a listen to my music in my library again. This is what I found; Sound was much smoother, especially in the high frequencies. The EMU seemed to be able to resolve more as well. Also, the quiet passages were, um, quieter This was an easy upgrade that improved the sound of my 0404 significantly! For all you budget audiophiles out there who can't quite justify a DAC1 or a DA10, you should really give this 0404 with minor upgrade a try. A minor note on power supplies: it would be very easy to replace the non linear power supply with another non-linear one. I have found that some zip drives came with linear PSes and some didn't. Make sure to get a Linear one. They're the bigger, classic wal warts and get warm. The non linear ones are smaller. Here is a typical linear PS; http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/21...showimage.html Switching, non linear ones are smaller, like this; http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/51...showimage.html Make sure to get a linear PS, and enjoy the music! CD --- Rob Tweed Company: M/Gateway Developments Ltd Registered in England: No 3220901 Registered Office: 58 Francis Road,Ashford, Kent TN23 7UR Web-site: http://www.mgateway.com |
#4
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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An almost free, and appreciable, upgrade in sound for your EMU
On Nov 11, 7:03*pm, "Arny Krueger" wrote:
"codifus" wrote in message I recently learned that the 0404 USB comes with a "dirty" power supply. It converts AC to 5 Volts of fluctuating DC. I found an old power supply from a zip drive I had that puts out 5 V of real DC, or linear DC. After converting the Zip drives power supply to work with my EMU, I hooked it up and gave it a listen to my music in my library again. This is what I found; Sound was much smoother, especially in the high frequencies. The EMU seemed to be able to resolve more as well. Also, the quiet passages were, um, quieter The proof of the pudding would be to run an Audio Rightmark, with each power supply: The software is free. http://audio.rightmark.org/downloads/rmaa6.exe I suppose I could do that, but I do not need to. I know there was a difference and I'm not about to clarify my results by posting the technical papers in some science journal. Rather, I'll take the 5 minutes to try the experiment and be done with it. This is not to say that the technical explanation for the change would not be interesting to see. I would be very interested. I just don't have that kind of time. I'd much rather spend it enjoying the music. Besides, I completely destroyed the original power supply CD |
#5
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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An almost free, and appreciable, upgrade in sound for your EMU 0404
"Rob Tweed" wrote in message
I tried this out myself - also converting an old Zip drive supply. I have to say that the sound seems much improved. Certainly worth the 20 minutes it took to make the change, and the old power supply was just sitting gathering dust so it didn't cost me anything. Turns out there are some people who make even more radical mods to the EMU 0404 (http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f6/emu...ished-297141/). Not sure I'd be brave enough myself!. It would be interesting to get some measurement data to prove whether or not Codifus and I are simply imagining the differences we're both sure we've heard! Anyway I'm pleased with the results which is the important thing :-) The proof of the pudding would be to run an Audio Rightmark, before and after the mods. The software is free. http://audio.rightmark.org/downloads/rmaa6.exe Runs in about 5 minutes. |
#6
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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An almost free, and appreciable, upgrade in sound for your EMU
"codifus" wrote in message
On Nov 11, 7:03 pm, "Arny Krueger" wrote: "codifus" wrote in message I recently learned that the 0404 USB comes with a "dirty" power supply. It converts AC to 5 Volts of fluctuating DC. I found an old power supply from a zip drive I had that puts out 5 V of real DC, or linear DC. After converting the Zip drives power supply to work with my EMU, I hooked it up and gave it a listen to my music in my library again. This is what I found; Sound was much smoother, especially in the high frequencies. The EMU seemed to be able to resolve more as well. Also, the quiet passages were, um, quieter The proof of the pudding would be to run an Audio Rightmark, with each power supply: The software is free. http://audio.rightmark.org/downloads/rmaa6.exe I suppose I could do that, but I do not need to. Right, you know that you are right, and no tecnical confirmation is required. I know there was a difference and I'm not about to clarify my results by posting the technical papers in some science journal. Rather, I'll take the 5 minutes to try the experiment and be done with it. Which experiment? This is not to say that the technical explanation for the change would not be interesting to see. I would be very interested. I just don't have that kind of time. I'd much rather spend it enjoying the music. Yes, spending 5 or 10 minutes to do the Rightmark test would separate you from the music you love, for far to long of a duration. Besides, I completely destroyed the original power supply However, we have another test of a typical unmodified unit. |
#7
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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An almost free, and appreciable, upgrade in sound for your EMU
On Nov 12, 9:47*pm, "Arny Krueger" wrote:
"Rob Tweed" wrote in message I tried this out myself - also converting an old Zip drive supply. *I have to say that the sound seems much improved. *Certainly worth the 20 minutes it took to make the change, and the old power supply was just sitting gathering dust so it didn't cost me anything. Turns out there are some people who make even more radical mods to the EMU 0404 (http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f6/emu...ished-297141/). Not sure I'd be brave enough myself!. It would be interesting to get some measurement data to prove whether or not Codifus and I are simply imagining the differences we're both sure we've heard! *Anyway I'm pleased with the results which is the important thing :-) The proof of the pudding would be to run an Audio Rightmark, before and after the mods. The software is free. http://audio.rightmark.org/downloads/rmaa6.exe Runs in about 5 minutes. Apparently, someone has already done the test . The results from the link below compare the 0404 using host power against battery power. The DC voltage generated from batteries, as I'm sure you know, is regarded as one of the best sources of smooth DC power; http://magsy.net/headfi/Comparison2.htm As you can see, the performance of the 0404 improved, somewhat dramatically even, when its power source was upgraded. 10 db improvement in noise and dynamic range right off the bat. 15 db improvement in stereo crosstalk. THD also improved with one anomoly. Oddly enough, intermodulation distortion became 2 times worse. Given that I use the 0404 as a music server, this may not apply to me as intermodulation distortion is defined as the distortion generated when multiple signals are input into the device. The only signal that is input into my 0404 is from my airport express. Or, is this intermodulation distortion a result of the 2 signals that are the stereo left and right channels, I wonder? So, would you like some more pudding CD |
#8
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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An almost free, and appreciable, upgrade in sound for your EMU
"codifus" wrote in message
Apparently, someone has already done the test . The results from the link below compare the 0404 using host power against battery power. The DC voltage generated from batteries, as I'm sure you know, is regarded as one of the best sources of smooth DC power; http://magsy.net/headfi/Comparison2.htm All of those results seem to be atypically poor. The are not the same as using a switchmode external power supply. Test 24/44- USB Pwr 24/44 24/48-USB Pwr 24/48 Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB:+0.09,-0.04 +0.09 0.04 + 0.10, -0.03 +0.10, -0.03 Noise level, dB -83.8 -94.7 -85.4 -94.2 Dynamic range, dB (A): 84.3 94.7 85.5 94.4 THD, %: 0.0040 0.0020 0.0042 0.014 IMD, %: 0.016 0.030 0.020 0.050 Stereo crosstalk, -77.8 -96.4- 79.6 -95.5 As you can see, the performance of the 0404 improved, somewhat dramatically even, when its power source was upgraded. Contrast those results with these: http://magsy.net/headfi/laptoppowered.htm Testing chain: Toshiba Tablet PC to Emu 0404, Sampling mode: 24-bit, 44 kHz Test Laptop on AC - USB Powered - Laptop on battery 5.25v Nimh Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB: +0.09, -0.04 +0.09, -0.04 +0.09, -0.04 Noise level, dB -96.5 -96.5 -96.5 Dynamic range, dB (A): 96.4 96.3 96.4 THD, %: 0.0017 0.0017 0.0017 IMD, %: 0.0095 0.0096 0.0099 Stereo crosstalk, -97.0 -96.1 -96.6 As you can see, the performance of the 0404 was generally better to far better, but remained unchanged even when its power source was upgraded. There are a number of other 0404 USB tests on the web, and they are generally consistent with the results for the 3 tests, above. 10 db improvement in noise and dynamic range right off the bat. 15 db improvement in stereo crosstalk. THD also improved with one anomoly. I think anomaly would be a good term to use. |
#9
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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An almost free, and appreciable, upgrade in sound for your EMU
On Nov 13, 5:30*pm, "Arny Krueger" wrote:
"codifus" wrote in message Apparently, someone has already done the test . *The results from the link below compare the 0404 using host power against battery power. The DC voltage generated from batteries, as I'm sure you know, is regarded as one of the best sources of smooth DC power; http://magsy.net/headfi/Comparison2.htm All of those results *seem to be atypically poor. The are not the same as using a switchmode external power supply. Test 24/44- USB Pwr * * * *24/44 * * * * 24/48-USB Pwr * * * *24/48 Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), * * dB:+0.09,-0.04 *+0.09 0.04 + 0.10, -0.03 * * +0.10, -0.03 Noise level, dB * * *-83.8 * * * * * * * *-94.7 * * * * * * * * * *-85.4 * * * * * * * * -94.2 Dynamic range, dB (A): 84.3 * * * * * * * * 94.7 * * * * * * * * * *85.5 * * * * * * * * * 94.4 THD, %: 0.0040 * * * * * *0.0020 * * * * * *0.0042 * * * * * * * * * 0.014 IMD, %: 0.016 * * * * * * * *0.030 * * * * * * * *0.020 * * * * * * * * * 0.050 Stereo crosstalk, * * -77.8 * * * * * * * -96.4- * * * * * * * *79.6 * * * * * * * * * *-95.5 As you can see, the performance of the 0404 improved, somewhat dramatically even, when its power source was upgraded. Contrast those results with these: http://magsy.net/headfi/laptoppowered.htm Testing chain: Toshiba Tablet PC to Emu 0404, *Sampling mode: 24-bit, 44 kHz Test Laptop on AC *- USB Powered *- Laptop on battery * * * *5.25v Nimh Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB: * * *+0.09, -0.04 +0.09, -0.04 * * * * * * * * * +0.09, -0.04 Noise level, dB * * *-96.5 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *-96.5 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * -96.5 Dynamic range, dB (A): * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *96.4 96.3 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *96.4 THD, %: 0.0017 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *0.0017 0.0017 IMD, %: 0.0095 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *0.0096 0.0099 Stereo crosstalk, * * -97.0 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * -96.1 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * -96.6 As you can see, the performance of the 0404 was generally better to far better, but remained unchanged even when its power source was upgraded. There are a number of other 0404 USB tests on the web, and they are generally consistent with the results for the 3 tests, above. *10 db improvement in noise and dynamic range right off the bat. 15 db improvement in stereo crosstalk. THD also improved with one anomoly. I think anomaly would be a good term to use. I think I see what you are getting at. The test is a bit misleading because it mentions USB powered. The EMU 0404 USB does not work on USB power. It needs an external power supply. So when it says USB power its really with the standard power supply. The test result you quoted pretty much echos what I saw earlier, and it still shows that the 0404s performance improved with the upgrade in the power supply to a linear DC one. The 2nd test you quoted shows how the performance changes, if at all, when the laptop driving the 0404 switches the laptop's power supply from AC to battery. The EMU 0404 USB remains unchanged in terms of the power supply it uses. I don't think that test is relevant to this thread. Also, how are these results bad, or atypically poor, as you say? These tests are at 24/44.1 and 24/48, and the dynamic range and noise results are pretty much at the limits of what you could achieve with a sampling rate of 44.1 or 48 Khz. CD |
#10
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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An almost free, and appreciable, upgrade in sound for your EMU 0404
On 13 Nov 2008 02:47:00 GMT, "Arny Krueger" wrote:
The proof of the pudding would be to run an Audio Rightmark, before and after the mods. The software is free. http://audio.rightmark.org/downloads/rmaa6.exe Runs in about 5 minutes. Some advice on how to hook it all up to run the tests please. I don't have another particularly high quality sound card to use as the reference. Here's what I have at my disposal: - Dell laptop with its own standard soundcard on which I can load up RMAA6 - Edirol UA-1EX USB audio interface (which may or may not be better than the Dell's own sound card so may act as a better reference card). and of course the EMU 0404 USB which is what we want to measure with the original and modified PSUs So what would you recommend I connect to what, and which RMAA6 test(s) should I run? Many thanks --- Rob Tweed Company: M/Gateway Developments Ltd Registered in England: No 3220901 Registered Office: 58 Francis Road,Ashford, Kent TN23 7UR Web-site: http://www.mgateway.com |
#11
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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An almost free, and appreciable, upgrade in sound for your EMU
On 13 Nov 2008 14:06:06 GMT, "Arny Krueger" wrote:
"codifus" wrote in message Besides, I completely destroyed the original power supply However, we have another test of a typical unmodified unit. If I get some time in the next week or so I'll try to run a test and report back. Due to the way I did the PSU adaptation, I can re-attach my original power supply to its plug and therefore get a before and after comparison. The differences I've heard seem significant so I really would expect to see some genuinely different measurements. --- Rob Tweed Company: M/Gateway Developments Ltd Registered in England: No 3220901 Registered Office: 58 Francis Road,Ashford, Kent TN23 7UR Web-site: http://www.mgateway.com |
#12
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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An almost free, and appreciable, upgrade in sound for your EMU
On Nov 13, 10:46*pm, codifus wrote:
Also, how are these results bad, or atypically poor, as you say? These tests are at 24/44.1 and 24/48, and the dynamic range and noise results are pretty much at the limits of what you could achieve with a sampling rate of 44.1 or 48 Khz. What does sampling rate have to do with dynamic range? This is being done at 24 bits, which should give you dynamic range well over 100 dB. And does, as this review demonstrates: http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/...-0404-usb.html Those results are with the stock power supply, needless to say. The results you quoted suggest one of two things. Either the person doing the measurements was measuring a defective unit, or he screwed up the measurements. As for your personal experience, I'd lean toward an explanation in the psychoacoustic realm. bob |
#13
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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An almost free, and appreciable, upgrade in sound for your EMU
On Nov 14, 4:01*pm, bob wrote:
On Nov 13, 10:46*pm, codifus wrote: Also, how are these results bad, or atypically poor, as you say? These tests are at 24/44.1 and 24/48, and the dynamic range and noise results are pretty much at the limits of what you could achieve with a sampling rate of 44.1 or 48 Khz. What does sampling rate have to do with dynamic range? This is being done at 24 bits, which should give you dynamic range well over 100 dB. And does, as this review demonstrates:http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/...-0404-usb.html Those results are with the stock power supply, needless to say. The results you quoted suggest one of two things. Either the person doing the measurements was measuring a defective unit, or he screwed up the measurements. As for your personal experience, I'd lean toward an explanation in the psychoacoustic realm. bob My bad. You are correct. I confused the sampling rate with bit depth. Bit depth determines dynamic range and at 24 bits, the theoretical limit is around 144 db. So Arny was correct as well, in that the quoted results should be much better. I keep thinking 16/44.1 even though the test was run at 24/44.1. As for your personal opinion, thank you for pointing me towards which realm to look into. I am quite familiar with the acoustic realm. Perhaps I could get some advice from you on the psycho realm? CD |
#14
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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An almost free, and appreciable, upgrade in sound for your EMU
On Nov 14, 9:06*am, Rob Tweed wrote:
snip Some advice on how to hook it all up to run the tests please. *I don't have another particularly high quality sound card to use as the reference. *Here's what I have at my disposal: - Dell laptop with its own standard soundcard on which I can load up RMAA6 - Edirol UA-1EX USB audio interface (which may or may not be better than the Dell's own sound card so may act as a better reference card). and of course the EMU 0404 USB which is what we want to measure with the original and modified PSUs The Rightmark software is actually intended to evaluate sound cards and not other equipment but that is possible also. Given that your Edirol UA-1EX is essentiall a sound card, you only need to plug its output into its input and run the software selecting the Eridol hardware. The trickiest part (but really not hard) is to select the correct input port (typically line) and set the input gain and output signal level to reasonable values so that a proper input signal level is obtained. Then you can just run the test. It is possible to test other other equipment by inserting it in the signal path from the sound card output to its input but that can be misleading and even dangerous to the sound card if the input signal level is too high. The assumption here is that the sound card has greater fidelity than the equipment being tested which may not be true but is not a relevant concern for testing your Edirol. |
#15
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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An almost free, and appreciable, upgrade in sound for your EMU
On 15 Nov 2008 05:57:15 GMT, jwvm wrote:
On Nov 14, 9:06*am, Rob Tweed wrote: snip Some advice on how to hook it all up to run the tests please. *I don't have another particularly high quality sound card to use as the reference. *Here's what I have at my disposal: - Dell laptop with its own standard soundcard on which I can load up RMAA6 - Edirol UA-1EX USB audio interface (which may or may not be better than the Dell's own sound card so may act as a better reference card). and of course the EMU 0404 USB which is what we want to measure with the original and modified PSUs The Rightmark software is actually intended to evaluate sound cards and not other equipment but that is possible also. Given that your Edirol UA-1EX is essentiall a sound card, you only need to plug its output into its input and run the software selecting the Eridol hardware. The trickiest part (but really not hard) is to select the correct input port (typically line) and set the input gain and output signal level to reasonable values so that a proper input signal level is obtained. Then you can just run the test. It is possible to test other other equipment by inserting it in the signal path from the sound card output to its input but that can be misleading and even dangerous to the sound card if the input signal level is too high. The assumption here is that the sound card has greater fidelity than the equipment being tested which may not be true but is not a relevant concern for testing your Edirol. You misunderstand - it's the EMU I want to measure so we can compare its performance with the old and new PSU. However from what you say I'd simply plug the EMU into my Dell, connect its outputs to its inputs, set its input and output gains appropriately and run the test. OK I'll give it a shot. --- Rob Tweed Company: M/Gateway Developments Ltd Registered in England: No 3220901 Registered Office: 58 Francis Road,Ashford, Kent TN23 7UR Web-site: http://www.mgateway.com |
#16
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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An almost free, and appreciable, upgrade in sound for your EMU
Well I ran the Audio Rightmark tests on the EMU with the original PSU
and the Zip drive PSU. Interestingly there was almost no difference between the measurements. See what you think. I ran 4 consecutive tests with each power supply. Everything else was kept identical, even the power socket that I plugged the supply into. Original power supply: http://gradvs1.mgateway.com/misc/emu_original_PSU.jpg Using Zip drive power supply: http://gradvs1.mgateway.com/misc/emu_zip_PSU.jpg And by comparison, here's the results for the cheapo Edirol USB UA-1EX http://gradvs1.mgateway.com/misc/edirol.jpg My conclusion is on these measurements alone, I must be imagining the differences I thought I heard between power supplies, but it at least vindicates my view that the EMU sounds a lot better than the Edirol! Bear in mind that the test I ran was the one where the outputs were connected to the inputs so I was running through both the ADC and DAC stages of the EMU. However, since every other parameter was constant, I was looking for differences in measurements, and not particularly concerned about the absolute values. You'll notice that what differences there were between the tests with the two different power supplies are barely different from the differences between each test run for each PSU. The measurements I suppose are consistently fractionally better with the Zip drive PSU, but it's marginal! Rob On 13 Nov 2008 14:06:06 GMT, "Arny Krueger" wrote: "codifus" wrote in message On Nov 11, 7:03 pm, "Arny Krueger" wrote: "codifus" wrote in message I recently learned that the 0404 USB comes with a "dirty" power supply. It converts AC to 5 Volts of fluctuating DC. I found an old power supply from a zip drive I had that puts out 5 V of real DC, or linear DC. After converting the Zip drives power supply to work with my EMU, I hooked it up and gave it a listen to my music in my library again. This is what I found; Sound was much smoother, especially in the high frequencies. The EMU seemed to be able to resolve more as well. Also, the quiet passages were, um, quieter The proof of the pudding would be to run an Audio Rightmark, with each power supply: The software is free. http://audio.rightmark.org/downloads/rmaa6.exe I suppose I could do that, but I do not need to. Right, you know that you are right, and no tecnical confirmation is required. I know there was a difference and I'm not about to clarify my results by posting the technical papers in some science journal. Rather, I'll take the 5 minutes to try the experiment and be done with it. Which experiment? This is not to say that the technical explanation for the change would not be interesting to see. I would be very interested. I just don't have that kind of time. I'd much rather spend it enjoying the music. Yes, spending 5 or 10 minutes to do the Rightmark test would separate you from the music you love, for far to long of a duration. Besides, I completely destroyed the original power supply However, we have another test of a typical unmodified unit. --- Rob Tweed Company: M/Gateway Developments Ltd Registered in England: No 3220901 Registered Office: 58 Francis Road,Ashford, Kent TN23 7UR Web-site: http://www.mgateway.com |
#17
Posted to rec.audio.high-end
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An almost free, and appreciable, upgrade in sound for your EMU
On Nov 25, 11:07*am, Rob Tweed wrote:
Well I ran the Audio Rightmark tests on the EMU with the original PSU and the Zip drive PSU. *Interestingly there was almost no difference between the measurements. *See what you think. *I ran 4 consecutive tests with each power supply. *Everything else was kept identical, even the power socket that I plugged the supply into. Original power supply: http://gradvs1.mgateway.com/misc/emu_original_PSU.jpg Using Zip drive power supply: http://gradvs1.mgateway.com/misc/emu_zip_PSU.jpg And by comparison, here's the results for the cheapo Edirol USB UA-1EX http://gradvs1.mgateway.com/misc/edirol.jpg My conclusion is on these measurements alone, I must be imagining the differences I thought I heard between power supplies, but it at least vindicates my view that the EMU sounds a lot better than the Edirol! Bear in mind that the test I ran was the one where the outputs were connected to the inputs so I was running through both the ADC and DAC stages of the EMU. *However, since every other parameter was constant, I was looking for differences in measurements, and not particularly concerned about the absolute values. *You'll notice that what differences there were between the tests with the two different power supplies are barely different from the differences between each test run for each PSU. *The measurements I suppose are consistently fractionally better with the Zip drive PSU, but it's marginal! Rob On 13 Nov 2008 14:06:06 GMT, "Arny Krueger" wrote: "codifus" wrote in message On Nov 11, 7:03 pm, "Arny Krueger" wrote: "codifus" wrote in message I recently learned that the 0404 USB comes with a "dirty" power supply. It converts AC to 5 Volts of fluctuating DC. I found an old power supply from a zip drive I had that puts out 5 V of real DC, or linear DC. After converting the Zip drives power supply to work with my EMU, I hooked it up and gave it a listen to my music in my library again. This is what I found; Sound was much smoother, especially in the high frequencies. The EMU seemed to be able to resolve more as well. Also, the quiet passages were, um, quieter The proof of the pudding would be to run an Audio Rightmark, with each power supply: The software is free. http://audio.rightmark.org/downloads/rmaa6.exe I suppose I could do that, but I do not need to. Right, you know that you are right, and no tecnical confirmation is required. *I know there was a difference and I'm not about to clarify my results by posting the technical papers in some science journal. Rather, I'll take the 5 minutes to try the experiment and be done with it. Which experiment? This is not to say that the technical explanation for the change would not be interesting to see. I would be very interested. I just don't have that kind of time. I'd much rather spend it enjoying the music. Yes, spending 5 or 10 minutes to do the Rightmark test would separate you from the music you love, for far to long of a duration. Besides, I completely destroyed the original power supply However, we have another test of a typical unmodified unit. --- Rob Tweed Company: M/Gateway Developments Ltd Registered in England: No 3220901 Registered Office: 58 Francis Road,Ashford, Kent TN23 7UR Web-site:http://www.mgateway.com Rob, thanks for doing the tests. The improvement I observed was subtle, and I gather that the tests may bear this out. A subtle difference shouldn't cause a huge change in tests results, should it? Fact is, the Zip power supply on average was providing better total harmonic and intermodulation distortion figures. Not much, but it was there, and it was there consistently. Given that when we listen to music via the EMU we are only using the digital to analog pathway as opposed to the round trip that this test was performed on, I wish there was a way to test the D to A part only. Also, to add to my initial observations, the change of power supply was most noticeable in high frequencies. Splashes of treble were much smoother. Cymbals in the music fizzled more pleasantly. So while i think that this test shows a little bit of how the improved PSU bettered the EMU 0404, a better test would be to test the D to A only, and perhaps do separate tests on different groups of frequencies; 8000 to 16000 Hz for one test, 20 Hz to 500 Hz, for another etc. All D to A only. CD |
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