AUDIO PC: Direct power to motherboad 24 and 4pin (picoless)

[Lowlands]

40w would suffice for underclocked haswell

has anyone benchmarked these against other options sq wise?

Looking at the timestamp of the pictures this is brand new stuff. Wonder how many folks actually use it...
Are the reg boards & components used the same as the BIG TeraDak ATX? (can you tell on pictures..?)

@nige: would you dare boot an untweaked haswell on one of these (assume 35w tdp), or is the general rule to tweak using pico and switch to linear after doing the tweaking.. :-)

[nige2000]

At worst it just would shut down at boot
So Yea I'd chance it :)

[Lowlands]

For the looks of it (table) these TeraDak ATX PSU’s have a -12V rail (with little / no amps) and a 5VSB stand-by... Together with the usual suspects (12, 5, 3.3) that accounts for ATX compliant mobo power I presume (I read the -5V pin20 was abandoned in recent ATX spec). What remains is a separate 12V for the CPU (i presume). That makes 6 rails total. That implies no additional rails for OS and USB Card.....

Assuming the 5VSB is always-on, would it be possible to use that to charge two 5V battery banks? One would then need a relay between batteries and OS / USB Card, that is triggered by one of the other (12v, 5v, 3.3v) rails....

Anyone done something like this? Any tips on what relay works (there’s a bunch on e-bay, no clue what is fit for purpose..?) and what rail to use as trigger...?
@nige: are there any suitable kits/aids for plugging those LifePo4 batteries in a case, or is duct tape** the way to go ?

Hans

** or is it (rubber)duck tape (I dare not open up my Ciunas....) :)

[nige2000]

For the looks of it (table) these TeraDak ATX PSU’s have a -12V rail (with little / no amps) and a 5VSB stand-by... Together with the usual suspects (12, 5, 3.3) that accounts for ATX compliant mobo power I presume (I read the -5V pin20 was abandoned in recent ATX spec). What remains is a separate 12V for the CPU (i presume). That makes 6 rails total. That implies no additional rails for OS and USB Card.....

nearly all new mobo dont use -12v

Assuming the 5VSB is always-on, would it be possible to use that to charge two 5V battery banks?

yes 5vsb is always on and you can charge several battery packs

One would then need a relay between batteries and OS / USB Card, that is triggered by one of the other (12v, 5v, 3.3v) rails....

either a relay or manual switches

Anyone done something like this? Any tips on what relay works (there’s a bunch on e-bay, no clue what is fit for purpose..?) and what rail to use as trigger...?

any rail can be used as a relay trigger

@nige: are there any suitable kits/aids for plugging those LifePo4 batteries in a case, or is duct tape** the way to go ?

all this is Diy stuff and your either just into it, or you want the best sq

i see several areas for noise cross talk on the teradak
but im terribly picky and the teradak is a great option if your not into diy

** or is it (rubber)duck tape (I dare not open up my Ciunas....) :)

JK has an audiophile Leprechaun sealed in every ciunas so best not let him out :)

you can buy the cells with tabs on them so the rest is a bit of solder jockeying

[Lowlands]

Agreed....
I don't fear a bit of DIY. Available time is a concern. I have moved last year and am still working on my dedicated listening space (&my gear is boxed :-( )....
Floors, walls & ceiling are done.. I only recently have my diffs... Working on dedicated power, LAN.. I might be running out of steam somewhere.. So a TeraDak with a DIY battery solution might be a welcome 'little bit of both' solution. I'm just contemplating build options. Presuming the TeraDak is fully ATX compliant, it does make things way more simple. I would then like to put OS and USB on seperate batteries, on continuous charge by the 5VSB.
You stated elsewhere that you had also been using 4.8V LION packs (for remote racecars), but ultimately preferred the sound of LifePo4.. Those Lion packs do come pre-wired (less soldering hassle). Do they work on a 5V SSD (Anker alternative) and does the PPA USB3 V2 sound ok off them?

I am kind of at a loss staring at relays....
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/AudioWind/Rela ... 1577642012
Any buying tips?

Thx for all the great info..
H

[nige2000]

Agreed....
I don't fear a bit of DIY. Available time is a concern. I have moved last year and am still working on my dedicated listening space (&my gear is boxed :-( )....
Floors, walls & ceiling are done.. I only recently have my diffs... Working on dedicated power, LAN.. I might be running out of steam somewhere.. So a TeraDak with a DIY battery solution might be a welcome 'little bit of both' solution. I'm just contemplating build options. Presuming the TeraDak is fully ATX compliant, it does make things way more simple. I would then like to put OS and USB on seperate batteries, on continuous charge by the 5VSB.

im sure the teradak is fine more separation would be preferable though
its just when i look at the teradac i see something i can build for a fraction of the cost and allows more flexibility

You stated elsewhere that you had also been using 4.8V LION packs (for remote racecars), but ultimately preferred the sound of LifePo4.. Those Lion packs do come pre-wired (less soldering hassle). Do they work on a 5V SSD (Anker alternative) and does the PPA USB3 V2 sound ok off them?

yep the nimh 4.8v work fine for all 5v devices but the lifepo4 does sound a little better

I am kind of at a loss staring at relays....
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/AudioWind/Rela ... 1577642012
Any buying tips?

i havent even put relays in mine yet still working of manual switch, but you can get relays from mouser,farnel digikey etc possibly for less money
probably use singles that operate on 5v switching and rated at least 12v 3amp

[randytsuch]

So I was able to remove my Pico today :)

I am using two Astron Linears for +12, and built +5 and a +3.3 power supplies over the last couple of weeks, finished the +3.3 today and wired it in.

I will put the gory details in my blog in the near future for anyone interested.

One thing I learned in this is that it seems like the Linear PS's that are sold for PC's seem to be overkill.

I have to measure +12 and +3.3, but I was only drawing maybe 1.2 A on +5. Pretty sure +3.3 is less.

So for a bare bones music PC, I think you can get away with much less than what is out there. It makes it much easier and cheaper to build.

I did have a problem with +5 at first, at power up I think there are large variations in the current demand on +5, and my PS couldn't keep up, and it would reset. I added a couple of lifepo4 cells, discharged down to 5V, and that fixed the problem.

EDIT
I updated my blog with the details of my power supply, here is the link
http://randytsuch-audio.blogspot.com/20 ... -2014.html

Randy

[sima66]

i see several areas for noise cross talk on the teradak
but im terribly picky and the teradak is a great option if your not into diy

Anything what can be done now to improve/fix those weak areas on TeraDak?

[nige2000]

i see several areas for noise cross talk on the teradak
but im terribly picky and the teradak is a great option if your not into diy

Anything what can be done now to improve/fix those weak areas on TeraDak?

You need to test for potential sq increase
This can be some by getting some lifepo4 cells
Trying them in different places
I'd be surprised if there wasn't increase in sq in regards noise floor, dynamics, bass control and detail
All those things we love :)
http://e-greenmotion.com/index.php?rout ... duct_id=53

Delivery is slow though
Best to get at least 8 cells

[sima66]

i see several areas for noise cross talk on the teradak
but im terribly picky and the teradak is a great option if your not into diy

Anything what can be done now to improve/fix those weak areas on TeraDak?

You need to test for potential sq increase
This can be some by getting some lifepo4 cells
Trying them in different places
I'd be surprised if there wasn't increase in sq in regards noise floor, dynamics, bass control and detail
All those things we love :)
http://e-greenmotion.com/index.php?rout ... duct_id=53

Delivery is slow though
Best to get at least 8 cells

Batteries are my next project and I will need your butt to make them work! ;-) You can run, but you can't hide! :))))
The question is what would you do different in Teradak at this stage (beside adding batteries)? :)))))