Can SMPS based preamps/amps sound organic ?


Lately I have been reading about some well known companies who make amps and preamps based on switch mode (digital) power supply. Nagra, David Berning, Linn, Crayon Audio comes to mind. I have heard a couple of their products but I always seem to hear some kind of switching noise which comes through as "digital" sounding. The organic quality is somewhat robbed and replaced with some hash. I wonder if there are any designs using SMPS that can actually sound natural and organic ?

To me it seems mostly a matter of convenience to use SMPS but I would love to discuss.
pani

Showing 1 response by timlub

I don't have solid answers for you, but I do have an experience to share which I believe is a partial answer. 
I wanted a better dac that got me into better ES9018 chip.  I purchased a kit and did all the work.  After speaking to an old friend who is fairly well known years gone by as a competent designer,  he convinced me that done right, there was nothing wrong with a switching supply.  Being a beyond frugal,  okay, cheap person,  I had found a TV/DVD switching power supply that had the exact voltages that I needed for my dac.  I purchased this,  put it in,  fired it up.... IT WORKS... Fast, smooth, but had a glare that I couldn't deal with, waited for weeks to break in.  Still glare.  Took it to my buddies house,  he took measurements,  measured again and ended up building a filter network for the power supply.  Wholey Moley what a difference.  Glare is gone,  detail improved, weight/authority.  I became a happy camper quickly. 
Another friend purchased a Pass/First watt clone that Nelson offered up on DIY.com..  My buddy told him the same thing... Again, DONE PROPERLY a switching supply is fine,  even on a traditional amplifier. In his case,  he had already purchased 2 transformers and ran that direction.  I'm a speaker guy,  but I'm sure one of the amp guys out there will chime in and tell you why.