Exactly so. I had to buy a spare BT SMPS, cut off the DC lead and plug and send it to MCRU for use on the new LPS.
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That sounds a most sensible, correct approach.
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Obviously you won’t isolate from anything outside your house, but it’s a tried and tested way to improve the quality of the supply to your HiFi.
You can split the meter tails simply by adding a connector block and splitting the supply in two from there. Just the same as adding a separate supply for a garage, shower etc. so it’s a simple everyday job for an electrician.
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“I choose to do/spend X, Y and Z on my system. Anyone` who does anything different to what I have done is wasting their money and/or time”.
Sound familiar?
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I don’t believe anyone in this thread has suggested that in this thread (assuming you were quoting something from elsewhere not stating it yourself!)
Hi @S.C
Listen to @ChrisSU …
I did this for the first time in 1986,.and is the first thing I did when I changed residence.
This is accepted today,.as the first action one should/must take when installing and optimizing a music system.
I actually don’t know anyone in Sweden who hasn’t done this.
AND,.there is plenty to read about this if you search here on the forum.
Sorry what are you saying does happen? You have devices plugged into your router creating common mode current electrical interference that you can hear on your streamer? Exactly this is possible with lower quality typically consumer equipment, especially double insulated devices, they can generate quite strong common mode electrical high frequency currents which acts as electrical noise and couple and be conducted along metallic cables - such as power supply lines, ethernet cables, mains leads etc
It’s nothing to do with networks or being a router however … which is what I was attempting to explain.
Its kind of important not to conflate electrical interference with network operability and performance.
High frequency common mode electrical interference is like the effect of connecting the audio out put from a TV into a preamp… but it’s nothing to do with the audio itself from the TV.
With respect to ethernet - if you have many low(is) quality devices or many devices that are not earthed (ie double insulated) connected to switch ports on devices connected that are shared with your streamer - you may want to consider wifi instead for your streamer. Wifi has the advantage it doesn’t suffer from this issue what so ever.
An alternative is to use a proper Ethernet Isolator and RF filters. They exist in the commercial and industrial markets for this sort of job, and they are not too expensive - and you can be confident assured products won’t damage your ethernet signals. Hers is a low cost item with a data sheet
BTW I see you are looking at replacing SMPS with LPS - if doing this for devices that are not earthed - ensure that that LPS is appropriately filtered for high frequency noise that may be created by your powered device - otherwise you could be allowing more interference to be created with a LPS compared to the appropriate SMPS. Of course you might prefer the audio with more HF electrical interference - it can sometimes make the audio feel more organic - but I wouldn’t blindly swap power supplies - unless the product says it can work with any power supply with the appropriate voltage and current. If it says it should only use the provided power supply - I would tread carefully.
Lot of mis information out there in audiophile land on power supplies and LPS - especially for clocked digital equipment.
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Simon, I’ve read your reply several times. Maybe I’m half asleep, but I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about or what it has to do with my router sounding different according to what it is placed on. I am a retired medical scientist but I have no qualifications or expertise in IT.
Not doubting what you are saying - I can’t because I don’t understand it! Perhaps you could elaborate in layman’s terms. I’ve no idea if you are agreeing that my router should sound different according to what it’s placed on or if you are disputing it!
Regarding the linear supply for the router instead of the BT SMPS. I did this a while ago and it sounds much better.
What powered device? Do you mean the router? That is what my LPS is connected to. That is what it is powering. The BT SMPS was not earthed. The MCRU LPS is. So are you saying that this is OK - or not? Please elaborate if you could be so kind.
My streamer has a long Cat 6 ethernet lead to a Cisco 3750. The ethernet lead has a clamped choke around the cable.
However I now decouple my DAC from my streamer and in doing that I have found I am not susciptible to LAN noise.
My music server and streamer server is accessed via a Wifi5 connection.
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Any electronic device with a high speed clock. A switch, a router, a media converter.
The BT HomeHub will be suitably RF filtered - as RF electrical interference would start to impact negatively the xDSL signals. VDSL (Superfast) can be susceptible to RF interference and reduce your synchronisation speed from what it would otherwise be. Common mode interference could otherwise travel up the DSL lead as well.
I can’t remember whether the BT Smarthub (FTTC) instructions states whether to only use the provided power supply or not. If the instructions say nothing on this - you can probably try alternate power supplies without much consideration.
Edit I have just checked - and the instructions say to only use the provided power supply - and there is an EMC certificate for use with the provided power supply… so I can’t recommend you doing anything different.
Thanks. Just checked and the instructions state to “only use power adapters supplied by BT for this specific device”.
I did contact BT before doing it and the guy I was messaging said that if I could find a supply that I thought provided better performance then I should go right ahead. He wsn’t a technical guy though - just a BT agent. Don’t really think he knew what he was talking about - I just wanted a confirmation email that it was OK in case basically my router or whatever failed and I could then say that they told me it was OK to do it!
So it sounds better to my ears. The pitch of notes is more explicit, blacker backgrounds - just more real. But if I understand you correctly, despite this it could still be causing problems?
Oh so ethernet cables do not see any negatives adding a ferrite choke around them, only removing RFi?
Look if it sounds better to you - and is not causing any issues elsewhere then carry on doing… you are not going to cause any harm to anybody else. I simply would not recommend it generally.
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OK thanks. My concern is that could it in some way increase EM radiation emission from the router so that it potentially no longer complies with (health) safety limits? I would rather sacrifice sound quality than to be bathed in unsafe levels of EM radiation!
Correct. Ethernet cables use twisted pairs; and the purpose of the twisted pair is to reduce the chance of the cables emitting RF energy as well as reducing the susceptibility in being impacted by RF energy. The cables in a twisted pair carry opposite polarity voltages, which means the signal they carry only exists between the two cables of the twisted pair - and not outside of the twisted pair.
The choke adds an impedance to any RF current flowing through all the cables simultaneously - hence why it’s called common mode. So the common mode RF voltage is superimposed onto the twisted pairs - but has no consequence to the conveyed signal across the twists pair.
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Your mod might mean it no longer complies with the EMC certificate - ie it could potentially now cause interference to other devices (hence why I said as long as there are no issues) , but the levels are going to be so low I can’t see it affecting health and safety…
OK thanks Simon. TBH from what you’ve said I’m minded to change back to the BT SMPS. I’m not happy using something that’s out of spec or doesn’t comply with the appropriate standards.
Sorry to appear to be milking you but just another question:
My configuration is that I have an EE8 switch connected to my BT router. My Melco music library is connected to this via ethernet - no wireless option on the Melco. Also I have a Sony Blu ray player and an Apple TV box connected to other ports on the switch. They have two-core mains leads so are not earthed. Are you saying that these could be degrading the performance of the Melco by being connected to the switch? They both have the option of wireless connection so would this be more desirable in this instance? Thanks for your help.
Thanks Simon. @anon55098131 didn’t believe me!! We don’t see you much on here these days, I hope all is well with you.
I think whatever you, @HungryHalibut, say here in this forum is true 150%, and I mean it.
I am surprised that you bought an EE8, and I am sure that you won’t find any SQ difference.