Best means of isolating digital equipment i.e. DACs, CD transports, wall warts etc.


Is it better to route these digital noise polluters through a conditioner, isolation transformer or both in series?  Is a "digital" power cord sufficient by itself or could it be used with any of the above without negative side effects?  There are a lot of anecdotal observations in many old threads.  Can anyone help clarify based on what they have found?  I'm getting ready to add a dedicated circuit for my audio system and will be reconfiguring power cable connections.
jc4659

Showing 6 responses by jc4659

I have two dedicated digital power cables.  A shunyata alpha digital and a Signal Cable digital power cable.

@erik_squires I'm sure i read this once before and found it helpful though does not directly answer all my questions.  In your article a DAC is considered a noise emitter and I would agree.  Why then do you show it plugged in on the "clean side"?
@tomic601 I don't have the luxury of 3 dedicated circuits; I will only be able to add one.  Right now I have my analog plus ayre codex DAC plugged into a hydra 2 conditioner (clean side).  I use a distributor to gain extra outlets since the hydra only has two.  All devices which use a switching power supply are plugged into a power strip which is plugged into a MGE 250VA isolation transformer.  I am assuming this prevents noise from going back into the circuit.  Please correct me if I have this wrong.
@tomic601 I did that swap and and my system sounds more clear with the analog going into the hydra.  A few years ago, different equipment and different room, the best I obtained was when the preamp was plugged into the iso tranny by itself with the digital feeding the hydra so totally opposite to how I have it set up now.  You would think having an isolation transformer at the front of everything would be ideal.  Once I have a dedicated line installed with outlets closer to my equipment I will be more judicious about using anything other than the cords themselves initially, then systematically try the conditioner and iso tranny.
@williewonka I would think that your power cords are making more of a difference than avoiding the daisy chain since they are all tied together at the wall but I'm not an EE.