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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.

 

sid-hoff-frenchman
richardbrand's avatar
richardbrand
529 posts
 

@goldenways

Strictly, the OP is not using batteries to directly feed his equipment.  He is using an inverter to convert the battery DC to mains-like AC.  Almost certainly the inverter will contain a switched mode power supply, especially as it is a "pure sine-wave" inverter.

I have a set up like this in my motorhome.  Interestingly the 2000-Watt sine-wave inverter I use will synchronize to mains frequency within a couple of cycles if mains is connected.

My lithium batteries are nominally 12-Volt but the actual voltage ranges anywhere from 14.7 if the sun is shining on my solar panels to about 11 just before the batteries shut themselves down.  I hate to think how many switched mode power supplies are used inside my components to deliver the various voltages actually needed!

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sid-hoff-frenchman OP
61 posts
 

An update for any who are interested - I heard back from all the manufacturers of my gear.

- Don Sachs said no concerns for the preamp. It draws at most 150 W. Only issue would be if voltage drops. "You won't hurt the preamp. The preamp will run on 100 volts, but the regulated supplies will not regulate and it will not sound good.  As long as it sees 113 volts or more then it is fine."

- Schiit said that in theory their gear should work without issue to use battery power, as long as the batteries are supplying the recommended power. But they can't officially endorse it.

- Rythmik said "Keep the voltage within spec. For instance, 120V 60hz is better than 120V 50hz for the transformer." 

So my takeaway is that with a quality battery that provides appropriate power, there is no concern about using it to power audio gear.

Additional update: My basement system indeed does sound better on battery power. However, since my Yggdrasil OG DAC remains powered on all the time, the nervosa of constantly watching and recharging the continually draining batteries got to be overly annoying and not worth it to me. I'm now back to wall power both up and down.

erik_squires
16,818 posts
 

Hi OP:

I'm curious if you watch your incoming house power.  Do you find the voltage keeps fluctuating or do you think it's more of a noise issue?


Best,

 

Erik 

sid-hoff-frenchman OP
61 posts
 

@erik_squires That's a great question. I don't watch my incoming house power. I'm not sure how to do so, but that would be interesting to learn.

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