Power conditioning for computer audio

Newark.com does sell to individuals in any quantity you want. Their ordering process is a little complex to set up the first time but the selection is vast and the ferrites are very reasonably priced.

Hi Paul,

I checked the site of one of the distributors I mentioned, Mouser Electronics, and you can order from them in quantities as small as 1.

Just enter the Fair-Rite part number into the search box near the top of Mouser's home page. For instance, part number 0431167281 returns this, indicating 17,520 in stock, with a minimum order of 1 piece, costing $2.64. Looks like they'll add on about $7 for shipping of a 1 pound parcel.

So, does improvement from these things typically fall into the "I think I hear something" category or the "there is a definite improvement" category?

I can't really say, as I haven't gotten into computer-based audio, but the technical rationale strikes me as plausible, and the cost is minimal, so my instinct would be to just do it, as a matter of good practice.

Happy holidays, and best for 2011!

-- Al

Barking up the wrong tree, digital out from your MAC doesn't care about internal noise. Your MAC would be malfunctioning if 1's and 0's weren't being read correctly inside the case.
But your external D/A and analog equipment does care about how clean its power source is... ghost signals from other equipment power draws can reduce your tranparency during and after analog conversion.

Davide256, note that the question concerned "high-frequency noise put back into the line by computers and digital sources," so the wrong tree was not being barked up.

Regards,
-- Al

Paul - you must be very careful about where you use ferrites. They can definitely inhibit dynamic current flow to a DAC for instance. If you are using a sound card in a desktop PC, the ferrites may add significantly to the jitter by making the power supply sluggish.

IMO, these are only useful for protection of a computer against line voltage fluctuations. Keep them away from the audio parts.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio