Linear Power supplies for DACs...?

Switch modes can be very quiet T&A uses them in one area of their excellent

200 dac , a top linear supply is better  90% of the time 

the downside is they are much larger , use much more power , but infused to operate the whole unit then LPS for sure. I use Linear Tube Audio , And a mojo audio both are one of the best out there.

If not, buy a new DAC yours must be pretty old and junk since even cheap ones now have pretty good filters. In others words it’s placebo. Good modern DACs work really well with whatever power supply they came with.

@djones51 Thanks for letting me know that I have three placebos on my rack. My listening skills and those of others who have heard my system must be in question, so take the rest of my post with a healthy grain of salt.

I first bought a MCRU linear power supply for my Arcam irDAC. The MCRU was souped up for me at the factory and had a Furutech rhodium IEC socket and fuse, and a pure silver DC tail. Adding this lps to my system made a very positive difference in the sound of the DAC, better bass, less hash in the mids, and smoother highs. Overall an improvement over the stock switching power supply. When I upgraded my DAC to a Chord QuteHD, the 12V MCRU improved the performance of that DAC as well compared to the stock smps. I am now using a Chord Qutest DAC and Bluesound N130 as a streamer/server, and I have ordered a Teddy Pardo Dual 5V LPs to supply both devices. I will report on how that works.

I was so pleased with the performance of the MCRU supply that I bought a Swagman SE linear supply for my Pro-Ject Tube Box DS to replace its switching supply, and again, a noticeable improvement. I have since added a less built out lps for my Amazon Firebox, the goal being to eliminate smps from my system entirely.

I can’t tell if the benefit of replacing smps with lps is accrued at the component or system level, or to what portion of each the benefit applies. I just know for my ears in my system the benefits are real. My reason for going in this direction was the fact that Naim and many high end makers of digital gear routinely put capable linear power supplies in separate boxes, and the performance of the improved power supplies are routinely lauded by audiophiles and reviewers alike.

Adding an lps also allows me to explore using different power cables, which in my system, also can make remarkably large differences in how my gear sounds. The differences are significant and not always good. As someone who assembles many of my own PCs, this allows me more ways to experiment with different materials and designs to see what works best in different applications. I have a fairly busy rack, with AV, analog and digital front ends, and keeping signals in their own lanes and noise contained may be of greater importance for me, ymmv.

I use a Shunyata power supply/conditioning, so there is some filtering from the wall and between components. I also have a dedicated power line from the breaker box and my listening room is purpose built for audio, so I have put significant thought and time into maximizing the performance of my fairly modest components.

Why are some higher end manufacturers going to switching supplies?  Well, in Europe, power consumption is an important issue, and there is no question that linear power supplies are less efficient than smps. Switching supplies have gotten quieter and more robust, perhaps as a result of efficiency driven demand for less power use and better performance. The stock switching power supply on my Qutest DAC is pretty good, and iFi is making some well received smps available at different voltages for not a lot of money. But I am not sure that the smps hype from manufacturers is fully consistent with reality. Rob Watts of Chord insists that the switching supplies for their DACs can’t be improved. Experience of customers say otherwise. Theory meets reality at your ears. That is where I make my decisions.

My biggest concern with wall warts is the noise they could inject into the AC line which gets picked up elsewhere. Putting a noise source AFTER a power conditioner without separate filter banks could allow it to inject noise into your previously clean power.

For this reason I like to keep networking wall warts outside of my power conditioner’s clean zone, and use an iFi to power my streamer.

I don’t think it’s worth major moolah, but an iFi wall wart or inexpensive LPS can be useful vs. cheap alternatives.

I also like to use shielded power cables.  Again, not major dough here, but another way to keep external network noise and EMI/RFI out of my system.