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Going Battery Powered

I have a number of components that run off of 12V DC power. This includes my DAC, preamp, tube buffer, etc. I’m looking into powering them with batteries instead of 120V AC power supplies. Does anyone have any input on if this is worth my time? Seems like DC power is the cleanest power you can get in this situation. I’ve heard batteries can have reduced dynamics but I plan on using as big of a battery as is reasonable, most likely a large sealed AGM type battery. Do I need power supplies/voltage regulators if I use a large battery and only power low draw components (no power amps); e.g. the max amp draw is probably around 1-2 amps, if that. If I do, does anyone have a link to a design for the power supply/voltage regulator? Thank you.
mkgus

Showing 5 responses by mkgus

mkgus's avatar
mkgus OP
324 posts
 
So does it go without saying that gear that can accept 12V DC will always sound better running off batteries instead of a 120V power supply (assuming you have enough capacity to not choke dynamics)?
mkgus's avatar
mkgus OP
324 posts
 
I like the idea of the inverter. Seems like that would be good for my 120V devices. For the components that run off 12V DC, wouldn’t a battery be the better option for clean power as long as you don’t mind the maintenance of charging it? Best of both worlds: battery for 12V gear and inverter for power amps/120V gear?
mkgus's avatar
mkgus OP
324 posts
 
Are there any Class-D amps with "warmer tube" SQ that can be powered with DC?

This probably isn’t what you’re after, but have you considering “higher end” class D car audio amplifiers? They can connect directly to a 12V DC battery source. Just something to consider for your situation. Otherwise, you can build or purchase DC regulators and modify a 120V piece of equipment to run off a DC power source. 
mkgus's avatar
mkgus OP
324 posts
 

It’s been awhile so I feel like I should chime in with my findings. What I’ve found is that I get better sound with the following setup rather than going direct to a 12V battery with my equipment that can take 12V DC. It seems counterintuitive because it’s adding so many extra components compared to just a battery but I swear it sounds better. 

For example, here is how I have powered my preamp which needs 12V DC to run:

12V DC 75 Ah sealed AGM battery -> 600 watt, 120V AC, pure sine wave power inverter -> 12V DC extra low noise power supply -> preamp.

It know it seems funny to start with 12V DC and end up with 12V DC but it just sounds better than plugging the 12V DC battery directly into the preamp. If you think about it, it’s not all that different than a PS Audio Power Plant, and it seems to avoid many of the problems with direct battery powered systems. 

mkgus's avatar
mkgus OP
324 posts
 

Hesitant to reply to such a negative comment, but I will in the off chance you’re actually here to learn something. There are many threads on this forum that discuss the technical aspects of battery powered audio gear, both pros and cons. I recommend using the search function. I’ll leave a quote by Erik Squires that sums up one of the major issues quite succinctly:

"The negative side of battery power supplies is the supplies themselves have inherently high output impedance compared to their AC counterparts, leading to higher cross-talk, and potentially weak bass and dynamic range."

 

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