AIR

[Umetaro]

It is said that linear power supply is very effective for improving sound quality of PC/Mac based transport. I am wondering whether linear power supply is effective for AIR. Does sound quality improve if PC/Mac is supplied with linear power supply? Has anyone tried this?

[Hermanh]

It is said that linear power supply is very effective for improving sound quality of PC/Mac based transport. I am wondering whether linear power supply is effective for AIR. Does sound quality improve if PC/Mac is supplied with linear power supply? Has anyone tried this?

It does in my system

[f1eng]

It is said that linear power supply is very effective for improving sound quality of PC/Mac based transport. I am wondering whether linear power supply is effective for AIR. Does sound quality improve if PC/Mac is supplied with linear power supply? Has anyone tried this?

I think with recent Macs the power supply is built in. The Mac mini a few generations ago had a separate power supply so a linear supply could be substituted. People who tried this had varying opinions, some finding a vast improvement some no difference so I think you will have to try it for yourself in -your- system.
I use 2 Metric Halo ADC/DACs which come with off-board switched mode power supplies. A few years ago there was a big internet debate about this since lots of audiophiles use these for the DAC section alone, which is SOTA.
I tried it at the time myself and could hear no difference, Barry Diament who uses them for his recordings at Soundkeeper, felt that the linear power supply he tried was actually slightly worse in the bass.

It probably does come down to try it yourself at home, in the end, since the internet experiences vary so widely.
My theory has always been that a competently engineered component should be immune to the sort of interference which -may- be generated by SMPS but there are plenty of cottage industry products in this hobby which may have some compelling feature in one sense whilst not being thoroughly engineered in the traditional way. If you have one of these it may be susceptible.

My experience has been that some of my kit is improved by mains filters and some not affected at all, which is part of the data leading to my current opinion.

[Hermanh]

It is said that linear power supply is very effective for improving sound quality of PC/Mac based transport. I am wondering whether linear power supply is effective for AIR. Does sound quality improve if PC/Mac is supplied with linear power supply? Has anyone tried this?

I think with recent Macs the power supply is built in. The Mac mini a few generations ago had a separate power supply so a linear supply could be substituted. People who tried this had varying opinions, some finding a vast improvement some no difference so I think you will have to try it for yourself in -your- system.
I use 2 Metric Halo ADC/DACs which come with off-board switched mode power supplies. A few years ago there was a big internet debate about this since lots of audiophiles use these for the DAC section alone, which is SOTA.
I tried it at the time myself and could hear no difference, Barry Diament who uses them for his recordings at Soundkeeper, felt that the linear power supply he tried was actually slightly worse in the bass.

It probably does come down to try it yourself at home, in the end, since the internet experiences vary so widely.
My theory has always been that a competently engineered component should be immune to the sort of interference which -may- be generated by SMPS but there are plenty of cottage industry products in this hobby which may have some compelling feature in one sense whilst not being thoroughly engineered in the traditional way. If you have one of these it may be susceptible.

My experience has been that some of my kit is improved by mains filters and some not affected at all, which is part of the data leading to my current opinion.

In my Windows based system I installed a separate PSU (battery) for my SSD and a separate PSU (Teddy Pardo) for the USB-Card both of which greatly improved sound quality. I gained more detail, a blacker background and an improved soundstage.

[Umetaro]

Hermanh and f1eng - thanks for your input. I am considering to get a new Mac/PC based transport with a linear power supply but I am not sure as I have not seen any comment from AIR users who have Mac/PC based transport with a linear power supply. I agree with you, f1eng, that I need to test this in my system and am glad to know that Hermanh has a positive experience.
I would highly appreciate other users' comments on a linear power supply for AIR.

[Antoine]

When you guys use AIR does your internal volume control become disabled? Mine seems to stay enabled when I have a feeling it should disable?

I only know the behaviour of Windows (I don't own any Mac's) and at least in Windows the volume control indeed remains available. I asked Devialet about this last year and Thierry explained:

Q: Another question: since I can adjust the volume in Windows I don’t think the output is fully bitperfect as the Windows mixer is not bypassed. Am I correct?
A: when you use WASAPI bit perfect mode, the mixer is completely bypassed. Setting the volume changes the Devialet's volume because the virtual/software controls are mapped to the hardware controls of the Devialet. So when you set the volume in Windows, it is as if it would be done using the remote. This is really as "Bit Perfect" as "Bit Perfect" can be!

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It is said that linear power supply is very effective for improving sound quality of PC/Mac based transport. I am wondering whether linear power supply is effective for AIR. Does sound quality improve if PC/Mac is supplied with linear power supply? Has anyone tried this?

I *think* it matters more for USB than for AIR (wireless or ethernet) but as a ethernet AIR user I'm going to experiment as well with a LPSU now that I am building a new PC that'll become a fully dedicated music server.

Teddy Pardo, TeraDak, Red Wine Audio and Keces are some of the well known brands that produce external audiophile power supplies. You can read a lot on this subject on computeraudiophile.com

I myself will probably order a Keces dc-116 supply or a Teddy Pardo one. It'll depend on how much power my new system is going to use.

[Umetaro]

I used to use USB or AES/EBU via Stello U3 DDC as I experienced frequent dropouts with AIR. Recently I retried AIR wifi with iTunes and found no dropouts and sound quality is superb. I also like simplicity of AIR with no need for cable.

Only downside would be I need to turn on AIR App when listening. As I use headless Mac mini, this is an additional procedure compared with AES/EBU. Also Apple remote is less convenient than Jremote.

Now that AIR is stable, what is a rationale to get Aries or other players? Any advantage for such separate players in terms of sound quality or usability?

[Georgethesixth]

I used to use USB or AES/EBU via Stello U3 DDC as I experienced frequent dropouts with AIR. Recently I retried AIR wifi with iTunes and found no dropouts and sound quality is superb. I also like simplicity of AIR with no need for cable.

Only downside would be I need to turn on AIR App when listening. As I use headless Mac mini, this is an additional procedure compared with AES/EBU. Also Apple remote is less convenient than Jremote.

Now that AIR is stable, what is a rationale to get Aries or other players? Any advantage for such separate players in terms of sound quality or usability?

Under Windows, you can select 'always stream ... Etc.'. This solves the issue that you have to logon to a headless device. If music is played, and the AIR or Ethernet source is selected, you hear music. I hope you have the same functionality on MAC OS

You could have a look at the Auralic Aries topic. One of our 'colleagues' mentioned a review that asked exactly the same question as you did : what is the rationale for a dedicated player ?

[Kunter]

I have a Mac Mini which was doing the server duties for AIR.

I did not try to convert it to Linear Power Supply (too much trouble) but comparative listening, my MacBook Pro, when used on battery (charger disconnected) and screen off, sounds much better than the Mac Mini... Adding the charger and turning on the screen takes the sound back, making it grainy and less focused especially on base. It also takes the AIR away

Cheers...

[Vivialet]

AIR via WLAN or Ethernet ?