MORE POWER! The iFi PowerStation Review
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- čas přidán 27. 07. 2024
- I take a good look at the iFi PowerStation to see if it slaps noise right in its face. If that's your thing, you've found your place. Welcome to the Vinyl Attack!
0:00 - Intro
1:38 - The PowerStation
3:34 - The Guts
5:24 - Any Sound Enhancement?
5:59 - Measurements!
7:32 - Upgrade Options
8:03 - Diminishing Returns?
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I recently purchased an iFi Power Station and immediately noticed that there was more clarity to my music. By clarity I mean a “blacker” background as if the music had been slightly veiled which disappeared once the iFi Power Station was deployed into my system. It was money well spent for me and I could not be more pleased. I am considering adding a second iFi iPurifier - definitely a good idea in todays RF heavy environment with all the wireless devices populating our homes.
That's pretty much what I heard. The lack of line noise is certainly audible.
Finally some critique! Excellent production and quality review as usual.
Much appreciated.
Another great and informative video!
Thanks.
Not sure if you have posted a video of this yet, But maybe do a "rig rundown" on you're TT, amp, speakers and everything you have. That would be a great video! Love you're channel. Keep up the good work!
It's something I'm considering.
Chris, another super review. Your mention of where the power station falls on "the list" brings up a great topic for a future video. i.e., Which changes are most detectable? From wall outlet through power conditioning to (analog & digital) sources to amplification to speakers & all the power cables & interconnects in between...what should an audio customer look at first? Thanks for the work you put into these videos!
A very good idea. I'll give that a think.
I have the power station en route. I don't expect to hear much difference as I already have iFi's purifiers on everything. Amazing what this company is producing.
Thanks for the review. I don’t doubt IFI Audio, but I would like to see you review the Trip lite ISObar8 ultra using these similar tools and compare them with different products like IFI offerings.
If they'll send me a unit to test, I'll be happy to do one.
I'd like to second this request, if it interests you. I'm very surprised by the improvement when I got the isobar. I also like that it's built like a tank on the outside. Thank you for your great content, as always!!
@@danieljohnson6370 I have one and like it very much! I was just curious since he has experience with this unit that he reviewed and has the tools to test.
I'm also interested in experience with Trip Lite. I have an old one I'm moving to my HiFi room and I just bought a new six outlet one to use with my system as well. I'm a retired nuclear engineer and our electronics people often used them although that doesn't suggest too much about there performance in the application we're discussing now.
Anyone have any luck with using this to remove noise from KRK Rokit G4 7 monitors? Mine have a constant hiss that is still present without any input signal and even with the volume at 0, just the power plugged in.
Thank you Chris for the review and thoughts on where this fits among priorities for upgrades. I am currently scratching my head about what upgrades I should attack on my setup. Are speakers #1 for the quality of life mod or is it the receiver? Maybe it's the turntable? I am truly wondering where I should start. There are a lot of turntable upgrades for my Rega Planar 3 I could do, but I have a Yamaha home stereo receiver and some Martin Logan bookshelf speakers, do I get more bang for my buck if I upgrade my receiver in this case? My pursuit for best upgrade for the dollar has me paralyzed in making any decision. Yep, not a real life problem....but a hobby life one.
Pick a component you like and start there. There's no wrong way to go.
Good review, I've already mentioned in previous comments I have the ISOL-8 Axis which serverly reduced the DC on the mains here. This in turn fixed the buzz I was getting from the teriodal transformer.
I'm also a radio ham and mainsborne noise is a big problem for us. A single cheap switch mode supply can generate a lot of noise which can be heard and also seen on our spectral scopes. My daughter bought some RGB strip lights for her bedroom. The included 12v supply gave off a horrific amount of noise. I soon had that replaced.
Any ways I guess even if you dont believe it will improve the aduio quality this excess noise is definitely there. Do you really want it pulsing into your expensive aduio equipment?
Cheap 12v power supplies are the bane of my existence.
Cleaner power and better mains cable have improved my stereo system no end so happy with it.didnt notice it as much with the full atmos system ive got. Probably because its a better sound stage that you don't notice as much with more speakers.and AVRs are noisy in the first place.i just hate the term snake oil and people claiming other people are stupid for thinking different to them.
Could the noise your meter is reading be the “second sound wave” you reference in your video. The one you say fights fire with fire as part of the active noise cancelling process? 🤔
It's quite possible, yes.
I paid about $150,- for my vintage Luxman L210 amplifier, so yes a $600,- power strip to plug it in to is not on my shortlist.
And in my book this falls squarely in the category of diminishing return on investment. But to each their own, I guess if you have a $30'000,- system, an other $600,- is just a rounding up error.
Fair enough.
Had me an L-450 with matching tuner and graphic equalizer that I bought used from a HiFi shop. On consignment and totally gone over by a tech. Wish I never sold those pieces. Such a sweet sound.
I am happy for your 150 usd amp
Something like this is on my “eventually” list. I can hear a thump thru my speakers whenever an appliance in the kitchen turns on.
It's a tad pricey, but it may be just what you need.
LOL, come to think of it, my next upgrade for my HiFi set up should be a new fridge.
Chris, great video. I have a dedicated line 12ga and the PS Audio receptacle, and recently purchased the iFi purifier and the trifield meter. I also have a monster cable HTS3600 MKII power conditioner. Unplugging everything my mV was around 150mv, plugging in the iFi purifier increased the mV to 420mv and it showed a voltage drop to 98vac from 123vac. The voltage drop wasn’t real but that’s what trimeter showed. Then I plugged in the monster cable HTS 3600 MKII and the trimeter and got a mV reading of ~100 sometimes 95. My conclusion to this is the iFi purifier has a negative affect to my AC line. Do you know why this would be occurring? I’m leaning towards returning the iFi purifier and just sticking with my Monster Cable conditioner that lowered the mV noise from 150mv to less than 100mv. Thoughts from the group?
I would ask the iFi guys directly. I have the same problem when stacking their iPurifier into the Powerstation. I asked at Axpona, but for the life of me I can't remember the discussion well. It was a loooooong weekend.
@@thevinylattack Thanks Chris, given my noise level is pretty low at 95-100mv I’m thinking I don’t have much room for improvement. I guess 50mv would be optimal but I don’t have a high end enough hi-fi to focus my attention on ac noise. I’m just glad I tested it and now know what I’m working with. I might get in touch with iFi to understand why it resulted in higher noise and a perceived voltage drop. Thanks for your response.
@@dexhome_2010 Let me know what they say if you do contact them.
The W-Audio 3900 is a more affordable alternative to the power station. It was a noticeable upgrade in the soundstaging capabilities of my system.
I haven't heard it, so I can't comment to a comparison.
Ouch that $600 price tag (the same I’ve invested in my turntable and speakers combined) only leads me to a more simplified cheaper reduction. A possible ferrite bead at the power supply and a ferrite bead at a good quality ground wire may be enough for my amateur ear. Thank you for the inspiration to dig in further🙂
It is a bit pricey.
Thank you for the review.
I don't know.. it is impressive that you can hear a difference.
I have the little white ifi unit and I also have similar mV measuring device. Trying here and there and seeing noise offender like a led light panel that generate/pollute a lot of noise on the mains.
Have EMI filters also and so on. Trying this and that but I could never tell a difference whatsoever despite having a very good setup.
Anyway I love to see any video of you doing a blind test and getting ≥8 of 10 right.
When you can hear the difference then that would be a easy task to do. THAT in it self should be golden content!
When nobody has done that what I know of.
I guess I have to wait for a while until someone can do that when there is not so many that has your preconditions to do that test as you have. So it would be nice to use those while they are there. When changing one component in your system may alter that reveling setup!
Anyway have a nice weekend!🎼🎶🎶👍
It's tough to do anything blind around here as I work by myself.
Would you get a clean power supply like this ifi unit or good power cables first?
If I had a system that was resolving enough for good cables, I'd probably start there. While clean power is essential in my opinion, good cables can connect components without power requirements (like speakers and interconnects).
@thevinylattack great. Having done the interconnects (just 2nd level audioquest) and Danny's fantastic speaker cable kits, outboard power for my streamer - and still hearing a little noise through my freshly serviced tube amp, I'm wondering about a power cable from GR Research or a power conditioner like the ifi unit.
It looks like the noise went up when you plugged that ifi filter in. Just bought one and it's doing the same thing
It seems in some instances that is the case. The noise floor fluctuates a great deal over the day for me though, and the PS seems to keep it very steady. Overall, I think it's a benefit but not perfect.
EMI / RFI filtering isn't electrically complex. There is a valid difference between what you get on a quality power strip designed with that in mind vs. a ten dollar special, but you don't need to spend $600 to get it. Yes, there are "power conditioners" that do even more to mitigate the line noise, but in audio, EMI / RFI filtration with good polarity and ground with a nice little LED that tells you what is going on is probably as good as it's going to get in a blind test. A $40 APC unit gets you there in most typical situations, unless... You are in a recording studio with ton's of audio equipment that all generate hum, or perhaps even a club DJ, then there are specialty units say from Furman for those applications, but for home audio, I'm just going to say it, "power conditioning" is just a clever way to separate good folks from their cash. Not to say you don't want a quality unit there, I'm just saying you can get those in less sexy non audiophile packages for way less and they are doing the same stuff, just not bragging about it on the package.
Would a Faraday cage around the listening room work ?
I don't even want to think about what that would cost to make if it did work.
@@thevinylattack I'm honestly considering it for my new house's living room 😇
I take it you need to add your own power cord as well? If so, what were you using?
It comes with a power cord.
@@thevinylattack Good to know. Thank you.
I use a Monster Power HTS3500 which I purchased on the used market. They can typically be had between $60 and $120. The difference was noticeable when put into my system. Would I spend $600 for the same effect? No. No I wouldn't. It was a noticeable change to me and I'm glad I have it, but there are other things in my system i would upgrade first for that amount of money if that's what it would cost.
Having not been able to measure an HTS 3500, I wouldn't be able to compare the two so I appreciate your sharing the experience.
When the air conditioner kicks in the lights flicker. LOL
Always a good time.
I remember so many people saying power conditioners are all snake oil.
@@ichigobankai2343 Apparently everything is snake oil now.
The place to obsess over line noise is in the design of your component's DC power supply. I have been so obsessed (i.e., I have modified an amplifier power supply and designed and built another). Any decent DC power supply is made to filter out everything down to 60 Hz or less. Power conditioners just don't address any problems that the designer of the DC power supply didn't already solve. And you will always hear a difference, until you switch back and forth several times with the same attention to detail. Then, the difference will disappear. Unless the laws of physics don't apply to hi-fi gear.
I feel like any dirty line noise is a good place to show concern, but power supplies are certainly a sticking point.
@@thevinylattack When I restored a Dynaco SCA-80, I added a capacitance multiple to the preamp power supply. I was going to add regulators, but they introduce noise. Cap multis are extraordinary measures that physicists use to lower the noise floor to listen for aliens (not kidding). The cost? I dunno, hard to say exactly; I had to make my own little PCB, but aside from that, a couple of 50-cent transistors, and a couple of bucks worth of capacitors and resistors. The point is that the cost of virtually eliminating noise in the preamp power supply was on the order of $10. I had already added capacitors to the AC mains line in to eliminate high-frequency spikes, but those caps are standard in modern equipment. And cost about $1. (Although the fancy IEC AC input sockets with power filters built-in caps can cost, like, $7! Power conditioners are fancy goo-gaas designed to part you from your hard- earned cash and supposedly deal with a problem that the DC power supply designers already solved.
@@thevinylattack Frigging auto-spell! Capacitance multiplier.
Can you demonstrate the difference between what comes out of the speakers with and without the device , I'm pretty sure every one can agree that what comes out of your speakers should be most important. Such a change in the sound should be audible.
You see the lower number in line noise on the meter? That's the difference in what's coming out of your speakers.
you still cant prove that it effects the overall sound quality that comes out the speaker so no I wont take your word for it on a $600 product like I guess you expect us to do....How did you A/B test them anyways? Was it blind or did you just switch them real fast?
@@gregoryhardesty6522 You can't prove that it doesn't so I guess we're even.
@@thevinylattack hahah that's the funny and beautiful thing about this is I don't have to prove it to anybody but myself ,I'm not trying to tell people how to spend there hard earned money, if you cant make that distention then you might be doing the wrong job. The burden is on you to prove what you say. I guess we will have to wait for prof
@@gregoryhardesty6522 I don't tell people how to do anything. I simply report on what I see, hear, and measure. If that's not good enough, this clearly isn't the place for you.
After 20 years of listening/tweaking and all things hifi... Power upgrades to me personally usually fall under the category "psycho acoustics". Meaning: you payed for it, so you really want to hear some difference. I'm gonna make an even bolder statement here: to me, it's pretty much the same as a religion. If you feel you need it in your life, go right ahead. I won't judge you. For me personally: I don't need it in my life right now. Don't judge me for it 😉. Keep up the diversity of content man!
Well, considering it makes a measured difference, there's nothing psychoacoustic about it. I appreciate your stance though.
For that price, nope! Several years ago I did buy 3 Thurman conditioners since I don't have the best AC around in this house built in 1969. One for my living room entertainment system, one for my computers monitors and external HDs, and one more for my turntables. Both in my listening room are connected to a APC, which actually helped the Thurmans. Both of my turntables and Schiit Manis are plugged into a LiveWire power strip that actually reduced a lot of noise out of my AC connections. I couldn't justify $599 for that iFi Powerstation no matter how well it may work or not work by your demonstration.
That's why I do these reviews. To help you determine if a product is a good fit. I'm glad you found it useful.
I just connected 2 power conditioners from Furman and at 40 bucks each, I am firmly within my budget systems range and it’s not bad. I honestly didn’t notice noise before but it couldn’t hurt. I needed to update my power strips so why not go crazy lol
If it's working and you're happy, I'd call that a win.
Feels more like a $250 purchase vs. 600. I paid $450 for my Ortofon Blue and $700 for my turntable. I can't see spending something in that same ball park that could reduce the tiniest fraction of noise. Still, the science behind it is absolutely solid but it's just too much money.
I suppose it would depend on how much line noise you have. For me, it works great with my older power lines.
The last 3 percent always costs the most. IMHO, 95% of the people in audio won’t want this. This is a product for a subset of a subset of a subset.
I don't know that I'd put this in that 3% bracket.
600 nope not for my budget lol
I hear ya.
all wire is continuous cast that's how they make wire. through molten process and putting it through a die. that's just nonsense, the purity of copper what is yes what is 99.9999 hopefully
99.9999% pure is called six nines. Four nines is 99.99%
It was four nines after the decimal point.
@@thevinylattack Okay, I get that. I'm just relaying what normal convention is when referring to "six nines copper" or "four nines copper."
I’ve seen less executive producers on a $100M Hollywood blockbuster, lmfao.
Disappointing, that you're going down the snake oil rabbit hole. I know you're honest, and not being paid to push this, but this is a prime example of the placebo effect, or confirmation bias. I was an early subscriber, but am now unsubscribing.
I've just found this channel last week and he is now my fav reviewer to watch so I guess it goes in roundabouts.
You're unsubscribing because he has an actual opinion? By the way, I've done blind AB testing on line conditioners - they absolutely make a difference.
Not even measurements can stave off the people who simply don't want their world to change.
Rabbit hole lol