Hi,
I just purchased a S30, it’s amazing.
I guess I am already getting ready to add a s60. I got help about DC cable questions through this forum. I have more questions and will list them under this topic. Thanks!
2x DC cables included, both 50cm in length
What type DC cables?
a dedicated HSL50 in the S60
Very interesting powering router etc from the S60, this would likely be beneficial
In the meantime I found a picture on 6moons review (referred here by Antipodes ) of s30/s60 showing a dc cable with two oyaide connectors and canare 4s8 4 x 16awg Star Quad. Maybe that’s included with s60?
The plug size is 2.5mm in size
The small form factor Antipodes S60 is a HSL50 power supply that can be used with any Antipodes music server that is externally powered. Not only will it transform an Antipodes S20, S30 or Antipodes S40, but it will also dramatically upgrade legacy Antipodes DS, DSGT, Core or EDGE music servers. The improvements in refinement, resolution, dimensionality, dynamics and musical expression are dramatic.
It is important to note that the S20, S30 and S40 have been tuned for optimum performance with a very fast power supply. For low cost, an smps power supply is suitable. For much higher preformance, an S60 is ideal. While you can power an S20, S30 or S40 with a third-party linear power supply, you will lose some of the speed and excitement compared to using the S60.
https://www.volume-audio.com/product-page/antipodes-s-60-alimentation-séparée
@MarkCole . I have difficulty finding all information about the S60, but I am getting there. I thought it could be useful to share here (see above). I am still not decided.
S60 has two outputs @ 12vdc – 4A Total
HSL50 power supply 50VA.
Could you please explain when I connect S30 and S40 to S60 is it like connecting both with an Y-splitter? They do not seem to be separately powered, although Sonic Purity claims so?
S40 being more demanding (I think I read up to 30 Watts vs. 10Watts max for S30) the shared PSU could penalize the S30?
For comparison I found this:
“The Antipodes K30 integrates two separately powered and isolated computation engines”
In pictures I found the K30 has one HSL80 power supply providing for both S30 and S40. How are they separately powered with one HSL80? Also for a reason there is 60% more power to share. I noticed K30 has one 12V output though.
I hope you (or other members) can shed some light on the optimal way to use S60.
- is there separate power in S60, two independent 12V outputs @ 2A each?
- is 50VA in S60 for S30 and S40 sufficient to get same performance as K30 that runs both with 80VA?
With this information I hope to know what compromise I make if I go the separates way; S20/S30/S40/S60 (2x?) vs. K30.
Thanks!
You may or may not be aware of this but there use to be a page on the Antipodes site that explained the differences, but I can’t seem to find it now. I did find a review that quotes it. Following is a link and a pic of the section that discusses the S series vs K30.
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Hi Greg,
Thank you. Yes I was aware of that review, it’s one of the more informative with technical details. The information I found seems to contradict the idea that purchasing modular gets you an equivalent to K30 or K50 specifically regarding the power supply units. K30 is using one HSL80 and K50 two HSL80.
So with one S60 with HSL50 you do not come close to the same power output (5/8 or just more than half) and that should have consequences for the sound quality considering the credit Antipodes gives to the role of the hybrid PS in that regard. (Of course this applies only when you use the S60 second output).
Still hoping Antipodes will chime in at one point. Maybe they introduce a S70 with one HSL80 soon? Or S80 with two HSL80 ;-).
It’s a single power supply powering two outputs. The current draw will be a function of the load, with the more powerful S40 drawing more of the current than the S30.
The S60 is of course powerful enough to power both the S30 and S40. It was designed exactly for that purpose.
Given that the server board in the K30 is the same as the board used in the S40 and the player board in the K30 is the same as the board in the S30, in theory they should have comparable performance. In practice the K30 might have an advantage though because of lower impedance losses due to having the power supply directly wired. Those barrel connectors aren’t actually the lowest impedance option.
Adding a second S60 so that both the S30 and S40 get their own dedicated power supply should bring further improvements though once one spends that much they might as well go with a K50.
I think you should just purchase an S60 directly from Antipodes so you can take advantage of their 30 day return policy. The specs tell you very little about how well it’s going to work relative to what your ears will tell you.
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Might also be worth considering one of these: HDPLEX 300W Linear Power Supply Multi Rail Output
I have one, it used to power and NUC i7 10th Gen, a QNAP TS-251+ NAS with 8GB RAM and 4TB SSD’s and a Netgear POE 8 power Switch. It’s a very versatile PSU
Hi,
Thanks for your input. And sorry for the long reply.
I know HDPLEX makes good linear power supplies. But I also understand there is a major difference between LPS and and the S60 ‘hybrid’. And that is what helps distinguish the K30 and K50 sound quality thanks to their build in hybrid PSU.
I would expect a hybrid PSU like the S60 can lift up my S30 to that level of excitement and tension of real music by combining speed of an smps and the low noise of a linear power supply. I am currently using a Farad S3, that improved the cheap standard SMPS but probably does not have the speed and timing I am looking for.
quote :
‘‘an smps power supply is suitable. For much higher preformance, an S60 is ideal. While you can power an S20, S30 or S40 with a third-party linear power supply, you will lose some of the speed and excitement compared to using the S60.’’
quote :
‘‘One of the biggest challenges and biggest influences on sound quality in digital audio is the power supply. Some manufacturers use smps power supplies, and the result is musically lively sound but timbre and tone that is not natural.
An smps has the speed needed in digital audio but its high frequency noise is its weakness. Some manufacturers use linear power supplies, and the result is ‘pretty boring’ – pretty tone and timbre, but boring delivery of the music due to poor presentation of the speed and timing that preserves the excitement and tension of real music.
This is where the S60 (and the much larger power supplies used in the K Series) are unique – delivering the speed of an smps and the low noise of a linear power supply. The result with digital circuits is a critical part of the performance of Antipodes Music Servers.’’
Hi Kenny,
You are right, I need to listen. Ideally S60 vs. Ferrum Hypsos. I am working on that. In the meantime I am greatly enjoying my Farad S3 driving the S30 but it seems there is always something to improve.
And as you figured, I really like R&D around these devices and to share experiences.
Cheers
Agreed, also in my opinion the ‘overkill’ with HSL80 (assuming you do not use the 12v output) vs. the HSL50 could make a difference, specially when doing heavier upsampling, HQ player etc.
We allready discussed the better silver DCcables. I intend to try once I have a Hybrid PSU, I think they also should be as short as possible.
You are very lucky you can hear all that good stuff! Honestly you are also lucky there is not much to fine tune, except the AC cord (aye).
The automobile engine metaphor works well. Increasing horsepower increases the top speed and increasing torque increases how quickly the car gets from 0-60. We want a power supply that gets the load up to the required voltage and keeps it there (horsepower) and we want a power supply that is able to meet instantaneous current demand (torque). With power supplies, the former comes easy. The latter is the real difference-maker with digital gear. And of course on top of all that it should be very low noise.
And fuse and footers and…
Everything matters.
what? did you…? wonder if S30 has a fuse…I guess I have to Google again. Probably the S60 has a fuse.
(my S30 sits on 3 mig 2.0 footers, oh well…)
that’s exactly what S60 and Ferrum Hypsos promise (and ‘ordinary’ SMPS)