Thanks to everyone for the input. I confirmed that my Anker battery creates a pure sine wave. It also has a maximum output of 1800 W, and my system on average draws about 175 W. @erik_squires thanks for the suggestion, I had not put everything in the system on the battery. Once I did the buzz basically went away. Thanks again!
Battery-Powered Audio System Buzzing?
I’ve seen many people proclaim the merits of powering one’s audio system with a battery, rather than from the wall AC power. I purchased an Anker SOLIX BP1000 battery as a household backup in case of power outages. I figured why not give it a shot on the audio system.
Well, it powers the system just fine, however, there is a buzzing that comes through the speakers when using the battery as the power source. When plugged directly into the wall (or rather through a Zero Surge unit), there is no buzz. It is silent as can be.
Does anyone have any ideas as to why the buzz might be happening when powered by the battery? Any insights would be much appreciated! For reference, I am running a Macbook -> Schiit Yggdrasil OG ->Don Sachs preamp -> Schiit Tyr monoblocks -> Tekton Encore towers.
- ...
- 24 posts total
@sid-hoff-frenchman , do you hear an improvement when using the battery versus plugging into the wall?
|
If you are going to use a battery in hopes of hearing the effect of quieter power, it makes sense to try to use the batteries power directly without interposing an inverter. What I mean is that a battery supplies direct current. The interior circuits of all hi-fi equipment Use direct current. Why bother changing to alternate current only to have to convert it back to direct current? The easiest way to do this is to use hi-fi components that employ an external DC power source (the infamous wall wart) generally, these will be less expensive but nonetheless high-quality sources, Dacs , and amps such as a raspberry pi based streamers, topping dacs, and Fosi amplifier just as one set of examples. You will need to find separate lithium ion batteries for each component that match. It’s voltage and amperage requirements, but this is not too hard to do and considerably less expensive than the large battery solutions already discussed. I have done this and have been very pleased with the results. |
| Post removed |
@immatthewj I am trying this setup with both my upstairs and downstairs systems, the difference being the downstairs setup has the Schiit Aegir going into Tekton Impact monitors. For the downstairs setup, yes it is a dramatic improvement. The sounds was great to begin with, but on battery there is a wider soundstage, more holographic presentation and for lack of a more clinical term - an intoxicating musicality. On the upstairs system with the Tyrs and the Encore towers the difference is harder to tell. Now that I have it setup on battery I will try A-B ing between battery and wall-power to listen more critically for differences. While I appreciate the other suggestions, this experiment is already into as deep technical waters as I feel comfortable wading through. And yes, originally when I posted I still had 2 subs and the DAC going through wall power. Once I put everything on the battery the buzz disappeared. |
- 24 posts total