I found the Tripp Lite isolator hospital 1000 is best for DAC and My PC which both DO NOT use linear power supply's I keep it off the circuit of the other audio equipment and all the other analog gear like pre amps and amps get their own outlet and direct line- when used this way I found the IH1000 improved only the PC sound and the DAC - wish you would tell people to never plug a amp into any kind of filter always plug direct into wall for best sound- always best to have separate circuits/breaker for your audio gear if you can afford
I do agree with most of the analysis presented here, but the difference here is the definition of the term “isolation”. What isolation transformers actually do is establish a new ground reference locally to the equipment being served. This is true in spite of tying the secondary ground to the source ground. This ensures that the “hots” and the “neutral” remain more solidly correlated to your zero reference. In normal building wiring no such claim can be made due to the inherent impedances in the many feet of wiring between source and load. On the primary the hots and neutral are allowed to “float” as normal while the secondaries remain tied to the zero reference. High energy spikes and glitches are effectively blocked at the primary as a result. It is a requirement to provide isolation transformers in critical medical and industrial applications (which by the way are tied-both primary and secondary-to the source ground). As it turns out, those honking power (isolation) transformers built into high end gear do exactly the same thing. Isolation transformers, such as this Triplite, often incorporate a shield that effectively shunts high frequency noise to our ground to prevent high frequency noise from being capacitively coupled from primary to secondary. (Nicely illustrated in the test results.). Again, another benefit of providing such devices for critical medical/industrial loads. With respect to audiophile claims, it seems that they think isolation floats their in an imaginary realm devoid of any connection to the known universe thus providing total isolation from the corrupting influences of reality. Balderdash says I. Oh, and if you use one of these things, you better make sure that all your equipment is connected to the isolator or you’ll most likely induce ground loops.
I have a nasty 50-60Hz low noise/ distortion on my AC line which is sporadic. I live in a high rise apartment with over hundred air conditioners running throughout the day & night. There are also commercial establishments in the ground floor of our building. It's probably one or more of these electrical appliances which i suspect to be the culprit. Whenever the low (but loud) hum comes on my hi-fi rig distorts like crazy and volume decreases. It's way too obvious to overlook. The problem happens in my linear power supply which powers my preamp and USB reclocker interface. I restart the LPS and the noise/distortion goes away for an uncertain period of time. It may start again in 5 minutes or in 40! Will this isolation transformer help? I have already tried the triplite isobar hospital grade noise filter & spike protector and it absolutely did nothing for me. Your inputs will be greatly appreciated.
@@Thoughtflux Without knowing exactly what your LPS make and model is I can only offer my opinion on typical LPS configuration and a potential guess at the problem cause. Typically a LPS will have a step down/isolation transformer followed by some configuration of full wave rectifier tied to a filter bank-usually large capacitors that shunt the rectifiers to a ground or zero reference. Without the capacitors the output of the rectifier will be pulse DC with a fundamental frequency of 120 Hz. In normal operation the output of the LPS will be equal to the peak voltage of the ripple DC output from the rectifier stage. An actively regulated power supply can output an output lower than the DC voltage previously described. If the filter stage becomes decoupled from the rectifier, such as a failing capacitor or a loose connection like scold solder joint, the output will be the ripple dc from the rectifier. The result will be a DC offset which is an average of the ripple voltage and Is lower than the peak DC mentioned above. I’m addition there will be a 120 Hz ac component also injected into the electronics. The lower DC component will bias the electronics in such a way as to cause compression of the output of the preamp and the AC component will likely bleed through. 120Hz can be misinterpreted as 60 Hz hum. I would have the LPS checked for bad caps or loose internal connections.
@@stephenmead5488 Thank you so much for your detailed response! After days of troubleshooting, i realized my preamp itself was damaged. It wasn't the tubes or the LPS. It's insane how i missed it. Maybe because my preamp was new and i didn't suspect it. It's mostly my own mistake as I was tinkering too much with it. I was so off that I went out and bought power conditioners, isolation transformers and new tubes only to realize that it was my preamp. Not a cheap lesson but I learnt it at last! Also I realized, controversially, that isolation transformers actually do make a lot of difference especially if you have a noisy power supply. Thanks once again!
@@stephenmead5488 One more question please - do you think a balanced toroidal isolation transformer is better than the usual isolation transformers? There are really 'good looking' balanced isolation transformers on Chinese website which are cheap but appears to be of good quality. I'm contemplating to return my basic isolation transformer and get a higher wattage balanced toroidal isolation transformer instead. Do you think it's a good decision?
My line power had a dc component. I have no idea how, but it caused a mechanical hum in several of my transformers. A 1kva hospital salvaged isolation transformer reduced the issue to acceptable levels. This noise didn't express in the audio, just a physical hum. I have no doubt I may have other component level issues, but this was my fix.
I found a dsp plugin called Stereo tool which claims to have lots of filters for audio, declipper, dehummer, delossifier, and more, would like Amir to test what it actually does to the signal.
This thing has been around since I started high school, and I used it a lot at the start of my audio journey to tinker with things. Would love a review, too :)
How about a review on the Tripp lite ISObar8 ultra. This product is more practical and it is something that many would be inclined to purchase for their equipment.
Are people using them to get better sound? If so, I can test that. But if not, then I am not setup to test their surge protection capabilities. The equipment for that is expensive, very specialized and dangerous to operate.
@@AudioScienceReview I would say so, it’s designed for audio and video applications. This particular model is supposed to minimize EMI and RFI. I have seen this one go on Amazon for about $70.
@@AudioScienceReview Definitely would be interested to see you give us some readouts on one.Most of my AV equipment is hooked up to them, i know first hand they eliminate display flicker or audio popping due to nearby microwaves, power tools, home hvac units turning on or off. Ive had some power strips give me power cycle issues on network equipment but never with a tripplite isobar ultra.
Just an idea to add to the testing: when you keep using the same high quality device, ppl may see that as a flaw. Also, improvements on an already good product is hard (which often is the point of course). If you could add some average device which isn't good, or has a mehh power supply, it gives you (even) more variation and validity in your tests.
The people who buy such tweaks already claim to have great "highly resolving systems." So the notion that I should test it with a sub-par device doesn't make sense. If I tested with an average device they would say that box was not good enough to show the benefits. But sure, what is a candidate for such an average device?
"Well, Amir measures things with a new calibrated ruler! He should use this ruler that I picked up off a playground! Yes, it's plastic, and I had to glue the parts back together. And it's hard to see some of the numbers and hash marks. But that's what he should use when he's measuring dimensions!"
Thanks for the very informative videos. Please if you will do a video of Periodic audio rhodium dongle dac ( it's supposed to be the best for $ 49 ). Thanks I'm buying the Hidizs s9 because of your input.
Just plug into the mains socket, you don't need anything else. There simply is NOTHING that will make your amplifier sound better. If you don't like it's sound buy a different one with the money you have save in not buying this junk.
I use a plain Tripp Lite server class power strip. No need for surge protection in them. Those things can actually dump the surge into the ground and damage other gear in your home!
I am not qualified to talk about medical use. For audio use, they don't provide any value. As I explained, many of your audio devices have linear power supplies which have such a transformer already inside them.
@20:05 I think the reason behind many people's endeavour to achieve a cleaner power input is a misconception that the audio signal is somehow frequency (and amplitude) modulated power signal. Perhaps an explanation of very basic principlnes of an amplifier and rectifier and DAC would be beneficial.
Do you hear this Entreq owners or not? If you hear this, send your precious Entreqs to Amir for measurements (and then sell it on used markets with the speed of light when you see test results).
I found your channel a few weeks ago. And as an engineer I have to say this is more or less the only channel where I see reviews from audio gear like I expect reviews should look like. So thanks for your work!
Actually it's not the proper way to review audio gear. The right way is to have one guy make all the meauserments, and another guy the important listening review. If you measure before listening then you are biased.
Jay's Iyagi has been playing with speaker cable lifters and thinks at times they help. He makes mention of speaker cables being micro-phonic. That's just crazy talk. I had an issue with micro-phonics in a RF PLL circuit years ago and I know some vacuum tubes can exhibit some micro-phonics but that would rarely be a problem. The guy may need an intervention.
Now you may just have saved some lives with that info about common Earthed connection. Yikes! I own this device and purch'd it based on Amazon rating, prior (very good) experience with TL products (very reliable stuff), and to isolate my Tektronix o'scope .Didn't know about the safety mod .Wow! Thx Amir!
I just reviewed thee IEMs and more is coming. Just haven't done a video on them as I wasn't sure of the interest. Seeing your message, I will produce something on them soon. Thanks for the interest.
@@MichaelBeeny yeah, I'm not saying these videos should stop, just that it would be nice to also see other types of things. Also I'm an atheist too but there's no need to be so edgy and anti faith
Another great review participatory the earthing still looping.Any earth wiring itself picks up lots of noise acts like an antenna picking the stray 60hz field around it
Amir, thanks for this. A few questions: 1. You had mentioned to me in another video comment section that you use Tripp Lite power strips. How to they compare to CyberPower power strips of the same amperage rating? Is the build quality the same? Any differences between them? 2. Is there an advantage to getting a metered power strip as opposed to one that is not, for your audio rig? What does the metering tell the user? 3. Do you have any experience with Shunyata Research power distributors and conditioners? Thanks. Regards, RJ
Truly enjoy your detailed reviews. I'm no engineer so forgive my ignorance. Are there any power conditioners you have found that help? Additionally, is it possible that electrical voltage fluctuation in my home would affect the sound?
Awesome man! I have had so much curiosity around isolation transformers. You know many models have ground filtering technologies aswell, they usually have a G in the skew such 700AG or ABCG. Thanks again for showing those higher frequencies, as allot of my speculation around how an isolation transformer could affect audio is around how typical LC circuits including rectifiers and smoothing capacitors in power supplies are still susceptible to high frequency leakage, and transformers have high frequency leakage too depending on how the windings are gapped. They say harmonics in powerlines can cause excessive heat and failure of industrial equipment, so maybe there could be some ultra high frequency leakages that are somehow gumming up the works. Anyway when it comes to noise the isolation transformers I’ve tested with the PS Audio noise harvester, consistently have dramatically fewer blinks than all my other power filters that use LC circuits. Anecdotally I found my system to sound clearer and blacker when hooked up to my hospital grade 4amp triplite. Which could be from the tightness of the outlets, or perhaps some euphonic dynamic compression from current limiting, or maybe something to do with the power factor, or to my other hypothesis maybe the transformer takes the hit of the minute heat and standing wave impedance of the ultrasonic frequencies, allowing the device downstream to be buttery smooth, or you know placebo ha ha. Your measurements are a god send! As my research on the matter has been tough, your measurements on the topping tell a very compelling story, and I think you’ve saved future me several thousands of dollars, although I would hope we could get a Torus brand isolation transformer on your bench to see if scale and quality have anything to add to the conversation. I’m also curious is there maybe something to the texture of the noise floor, like if we were to zoom in at between 500-600hz in that window of examination, is there perhaps a more rounded noise floor? Maybe on the topping at -120db its irrelevant, but maybe on another device there may be some texture to a -90db noisefloor that who knows maybe is perceptible or has some influence on how other components behave. Like if the noise is uniform and linear, or if it has a more dynamic impulsive crackle like character. At the risk of sounding like a snakeoil-apologist, I’m always giving peoples claims the benefit of the doubt, and trying to think creatively of how such phenomenon can be explained or solved. Anyway, thanks for the great videos, feel free to poke fun at any of my misconceptions if it serves a higher purpose ha ha ha
I have a CMX-2 Precision Common Mode AC Line Filter with DC Offset Eliminator from Emotiva that got rid of transformer hum that I had in my Classe CAV150 amp. I am as snake oil averse as any subscriber to ASR but it does work to effectively reduce the previously audible and annoying transformer hum so it is doing something...whether it affects the audio I can't really tell. That made it worth the price but I wonder if there are other solutions to the hum.
I have read the EquiTech 1.5RQ Balanced Power Review, it seems as same result from the TL IS250. The balanced isolation transformer is useless eeven worse for the sonic effect.. I am glad to see this before purchasing an expensive 3kV BIT for my power amp. Many Thanks.
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I was lite p100 power regenerator user in china, best things ever heard!!Now im in Bulgaria,without regenerative power, sounds good, i miss my p100, for testing.Sound still good , but............not as good i think.
Paul's illusion has been thoroughly destroyed. Unfortunately a lot of reviewers react subtle and not so subtle with giving people the idea you shouldn't measure...... ye right
Tripp Lite makes great UPS products. Absolutely love them. But no company gets my loyalty. If they come out with something new or revise it, I immediately switch to objective mode instead of brand loyalty mode like so many others. Great UPS ...... doesn't mean they'll make anything else that's good. People think Sony, JBL, Harmon, etc. make 100% awesome products but all of these companies know their brand sells and they take advantage of that to make a nice profit.
I use this one for my tube preamp where I had 2 issues: 1. A pop when the AC or hear kicks on and 2. Radio interference. It solved both issues. I doubt it would help in any other way.
I always enjoy your reviews. I have a $32 Furman power conditioner/strip. It has more than 4,000 reviews averaging 4.8 on Amazon. Used to have an annoying hum with a Technics 1500c turntable but not anymore with the Furman. All RCA’s. My integrated amps, Denon pma a100 or a Dodge 10 are plugged direct in the wall, everything else to the Furman.
I have a nasty 50-60Hz noise on my AC line which is sporadic. I live in an a high rise apartment with over hundred air conditioners running throughout the day & night. It's something i suspect to be the culprit. Whenever the low hum comes on my hi-fi rig distorts like crazy and volume decreases. It's way too obvious to overlook. The problem happens in my linear power supply which powers my preamp and USB interface. I have to restart and the noise/distortion goes away for an uncertain period of time. It may start again in 5 minutes or in 40. Will this isolation transformer help? I have already tried the triplite isobar hospital grade noise filter & spike protector and it absolutely dif nothing for me :(
Well... this is a year old but yes. However, you MUST bond all your gear on the other side together and choose a single earth (multiple earth's cause a loop) if all the chassis are at the same potential you will avoid this. If you do not choose a single earth you will float everything thats 3 prong (energized chassis/ SAFETY HAZARD)
Have you ever measured any device that allows for great power burst? Like for a subwoofer or amplifier? Because if these types of line conditioners, power conditioners have no impact, I want something that can give me more on-demand power. Know of any? Niagra? Does it give you more on-demand power?
Amir, I have a question. I use a Triplite battery backup. I plug my Amplifier and DAC into the uninterrupted battery AC power output. Does that provide cleaner AC power? I do this for extra protection from lighting. I am prone to power spikes during lightning strikes. I have have had a whole house ground and surge protector installed by an electrician. I just use the tripletes for extra insurance. Not for sound improvement. When you’ve lost thousands of dollars of equipment to lighting you get paranoid. Lol. Thanks for all your work. It’s about time we have some independent empirical data to go along with all these subjective reviews out here on you tube. They both have their place.
I plan to test UPS units to see how good they are. But even they are not, I am not worried about it since your audio equipment doesn't care. And at any rate, typical UPS passes through the incoming AC until power goes out.
Careful with using UPS for powering audio equipment as they often use modified sine inverter for the power. Since its basically a square wave with some dead time, its filled with harmonic content. If your device is using an SMPS it wont care, but with conventional transformers there will be loads of harmonic currents and it can damage stuff or cause excessive heating. Might be better to just use a good surge protector, or a pure sine inverter if you are worried. But I would check the UPS' datasheet carefully to see what it actually provides when its in backup mode (unless you already know its pure sine). If you want good protection, best bet would be to install some hefty gas discharge or varistor based lightning arrestors at the panel to clamp any incoming surges. Sounds like you have that, so as long as the lightning doesn't flash over the surge arrestor it will provide some protection. But I've personally seen lightning blow lightning rods apart, burst water pipes, etc. so its quite destructive.
@@AudioScienceReview Thanks for the quick reply Amir. I figured as much… I use UPS for protection, I trust battery backups more than power strips. I don’t have any evidence just seems like more protection. Looking forward to your analysis. Thank you for sharing your knowledge, time, and money to help us all make sense of the wild world of audio electronics. It’s Awesome! 👍
No offence here but that Triplite battery backup is line Interactive with Automatic Voltage Regulation, which is nothing more then a then line voltage on an auto transformer with multiple taps. It feeds the wall AC right to the units outlets in normal use. Their surge protection is inferior compare to dedicated equipment properly installed. When on battery they produce large amounts of switching noise. UPS's have NO use on stereo system and offer little or no protection. Spend UPS on good lightning arrestors installed by a competent electrician (which believe me most are not, they'll sell you "snake oil" faster then audiophile companies)
If you are really paranoid, get an online ups from APC (there are other brands too) marketed for servers or medical equipments. I used one for my pc due to my psu's low holdup time. Online ups converts ac to dc and then to ac removing most of the "junk" behind. This part is always 'online'. The problem with it is that they are less efficient compared to normal offline ups. But mainly they are used to ensure very minimal change over time when a power failure occurs. But, lightning strikes are an another story altogether!
Thank you Amir for another thorough review. Not to beat a dead horse here, but what are your thoughts on isolation devices using a battery such as the German made Stromtank? Is there any merit to the principle to using a pure sinewave inverter from a battery source to eliminate A/C noise that an audiophile device with a power supply might benefit from?
I think it is a waste of money. Stromtank itself is way too expensive for so little capacity it provides anyway. And once you have an inverter to convert battery voltage to AC, you have lost that DC source.
@@scadaguy09I'm not suggesting this product is useful nor that it does what is says. Only meassurements will tell you for sure. However, lets not jump to any conclusions based on loose generalization terms such as "most". Stromtanks specs suggests THD less than 2%.
why does he says that balanced audio solves the ac hum (50 or 60hz)? when i plug my source in a 2 pin ac plug (without the 3rd pin for ground as it often happens in old houses ) i get this hum and balanced audio does not solves it (btr5 and es100)
But noise (and this particular implementation) aside, aren't you protecting equipment against major spikes, by using galvanic isolation ? (I just realized you provide an element of explanation in the video)
Any major strike will below this box and a ton of other things in your home. The level of energy in a lightning strike is almost infinite. But sure, you get a bit of protection. In exchange you are wasting power and potentially inducing hum into your gear.
Is this thing intended to be hacked? I can not think of any application where you want an isolation transformer but the ground is common for both the input and output. Does anyone has any legitimate application suggestions for this configuration?
I'd also like a practical example of what this is actually meant for, in unmodified form. Someone above said the following, but I still haven't come across a practical example of what it's doing for them in such settings: "It is a requirement to provide isolation transformers in critical medical and industrial applications (which by the way are tied-both primary and secondary-to the source ground)."
Well explained been using a isolation transformer for years with my test equipment. Often useful to find the offending ground loops. So this is a non isolating isolation transformer hmmm.
I use this for my PA system. Sometimes you go to a venue and other equipment in the building is making your speakers buzz or hum, this fixes that. But for home hifi use, there's no difference in sound. The ISOlator will eventually get really warm and I'd rather not have that as part of my hifi, especially if it's not protecting my equipment and may be doing harm in the long run. Instead just use a Tripp Lite line conditioner which protects against surges, spikes, and RFI/EMI line noise wear.
Wonderful review like usual Amir. I'd be fun if someone sends you one of those big and expensive isolation transformers from companies like Torus Power or Equi=Tech. Of course it may be a bit less fun for your back...
I tested an Equi=Tech already: www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/equitech-1-5rq-balanced-power-review.24948/ The effect on my back was exactly as you are predicting. :)
What you're talking about when you disconnect the ground wire in any appliance, electronic component or device is called a "ground fault". While it's true that if the ground wire is disconnected and left to float, when the hot wire touches the chassis it won't trip the circuit breaker, it does not mean that when you touch it you will get shocked or worse case, electrocuted. If you are ungrounded, ie. not touching a ground, nothing will happen. And that doesn't matter what voltage your working with. I am speaking of one live wire, ie. one phase or leg in a 120/240 volt system (or 277/480, etc.). Case in point, the Los Angeles Dept of Water and Power found that their linemen working on high transmission lines (50,000 volts and up to over 100k volts), had fewer accidents working barehanded than the linemen wearing gloves. That's because they're more careful.. (my question was "what kind of accidents????)... but I digress.. Anyway, where the problem lies when you disconnect the ground, is that electricity seeks a path to earth and should you touch an energized electrical component or appliance, etc. with a floating ground aka has a ground fault and then at the same time, touch something that is grounded, the electrical current will immediately flow through you to ground (because you have in a sense, used your body to complete a circuit) and you experience a shock or can be electrocuted (where you can't let go of whatever your holding that is electrified) which will lead to death if you can't release your grip. The whole point of a grounded system is to provide a safety mechanism to turn off the electricity by causing a short circuit which overloads the circuit breaker and shuts it off. How many times have I heard of people complaining that they touched their refrigerator or some other appliance and then touched the sink of another (grounded) appliance and felt a light shock, tingle or "buzz". That's because there is a ground fault occurring.
Does those 5.1 hdmi decoder with dolby works? I already have an Aiyima a07 and instead of buying an dac with remote(dx3+) those showed up in ali with a remote as well and cheaper, should I try it or should I stick buying the dx3+ and upgrade for a receiver later?
i power my amps w/ the sun's photons, separate solar panels/batt packs for each channel for zero noise and cross talk... stupid jokes aside, the participants in this hobby are like any other 'sensory experience' hobbyists: we like to pretend we care about physics and numbers but most of us don't :} great effort in educating the public, take care everyone, be nice have fun.
Perhaps this is a stupid question,but what is the intended purpose of this device? Also have you tested surge protectors/power conditioners? I realized mos cheap surge protectors are a one time deal and usually react too slowly to save your equipment. After my son in law lost a HTR due to a surge, I suggested the "Brick Wall" device, but I admit electricity is a mystery to me, and my recommendation was based on marketing claims.
I think this is yet another shining example of manufacturers providing expensive solutions to fictional problems. Thanks to Amir for logically, scientifically and non patronisingly dismantling the claims of these manufacturers.
Power your gear with batteries, no AC, no linear power supplies, no switching power supplies. Do it now, before Elon gets a stranglehold on Lithium. Or, lead acid batteries will do.
I don't understand all the technical details, but i've certainly learned some things from your reviews. And it's saving me a lot of money too lol. Did smash some illusions and added annoyance towards some companies. But that's their fault.
May I suggest to those who are really paranoid to get an online ups? I thought with the ac-dc-ac 'conversion', the supply would cleaner? Any thoughts? I personally use an APC server ups not for this purpose but for low change over time. But I guess it could work.
Online UPS mean they are always online..so you are always getting what the inverter in the thing makes whether you have power or not. ALL inverters active introduce things anyone looking for "clean" would tell you there is no way they would ever use something like that to muddy their pure grooves. And before you type it, pure sine wave inverters are popular with audiophiles for the same reason as this isolated nirvana of musical bliss. Pure, clean, isolated, better than the others. If you told them to get that oh so pure (but not really) sine wave you have to take the square coming out of the inverter and smack it around till its curved they might actually figure out not to believe everything they do...or don't...or actually don't...hear.
Amirm's hundredth contribution, with the epoch-making realization that plugs, cables and transformers do not affect the transmission of periodic sinusoidal signals through audio equipment. We find the same stagnation in its previous field of activity, audio signal processing by Windows, which after 25 years was still not as far as Linux was after 5 years.
Seems like you are pretty confused about both topics. Your audio gear doesn't "know" what is a sine wave, and what is not. It is all varying voltages to it. Regardless, that step response has tons of harmonics and in no way is a sine wave. As to your Linux comment, I don't know what folklore you are running with. The requirements for Windows is completely different than what Linux lives with. PC OEMs are strongly resistant to changes in Windows and put up huge fight as we set out to re-write the audio stack. Prior to my arrival, we had the awful kernel mixer in Windows which produced distortion if you just changed the volume! Under my watch we created WASAPI to get you exclusive access to audio device. This has been there now for 15+ years. So not sure what angle you are going after there.
Doing all the testing with a Topping A90 that is already "perfect" without any tweaks is kind of pointless? you simply can’t improve on perfect so whats the point?
The notion of spending money on a tweak to fix a poorly engineered audio product is non sequitur. That aside, we still had noise and distortion in the output of Topping to see the effect of this device.
Do a power isolator as a inductor impact power factor so it goes towards/closer to 1.0 ?? I got rather bad power factor at 0.76 and want it be closer to 1.
@@AudioScienceReview So that is maybe a small benefit then when it will in some rare cases improve PF. Yes it is capacitive because I connected a capacitor on the power line and the PF dropped even lower. I am looking at those power cube messurments that is done on amplifiers. If a bad designed power amplifier its power output is affected by the PF. And the conversation to DC is somehow affected also when PF is out of wack. But probably all that is just academia. I just wish that I had better PF when mine level is bad.
Thinking back to 1978 when i was taking electronics at Algonquin college we would use isolation transformers as a safety measure. I was told that they isolate the neutral from the secondary providing a balanced 120 VAC. The Ground would then not be connected to the neutral at secondary because of the AC being balanced. By the way whose brilliant idea was to butcher the balanced 240 and chop it into noisier 120 and attach the neutrals to each other with the ground.
I think the issue was that they worried about 240 being too dangerous to have in households. Sadly we are now stuck with too little power capacity in our outlets for a lot of things we do. I am amazed when I go to Europe and electric waterpots boil so much faster that ours do with half the available power.
I’m pretty sure that the “butcher” would be Thomas Edison. His 120V DC system was pretty well adopted when the AC system started to take hold. In order to ensure backward compatibility of older products to the new system it had to develop 120VRMS (167VPK). A simple way to do that one a 240VAC system was to put a center tap on the transformer, and set that point as the common terminal (neutral) to the other two (L1, L2) leads. Splitting the voltage also reduced the shock risk in the event of accidental contact with a “hot” lead. The neutral lead is earthed, to give the system a ground reference. The neutral normally carries current, just as the hot lead does. The safety ground is carried back to the breaker panel, where it is tied to the incoming neutral lead. The safety ground lead is never supposed to carry current, except in the event of a fault. In the event the user equipment is damaged (e.g. neutral comes loose) then the case of the equipment is still kept at earth potential. If the hot lead comes loose, and touches the case, then a large amount of current is drawn, hopefully enough to trip the circuit breaker (this brings up the concept of ground "bonding"). The isolation transformer does not isolate the earth (creating a safety hazard), but instead isolates the hot & neutral legs from the mains hot & neutral. This adds some protection during testing in that if you momentarily touch a grounded probe to the isolated hot out of the transformer only a momentary zap will occur as the hot output is snatched to the ground reference. Compare this response to accidentally connecting the mains hot to a grounded probe; you end up with a bright flash, melted bits, and busted equipment (not to mention raising the ire of your family while you find, and reset, the circuit breaker). Remember though, connecting anything (like yourself) between the hot and neutral leads of the isolated side of the transformer is just as dangerous, and potentially deadly, as doing so across the mains power.
Theoretically yes but ultimate proof is in measurement of the output of the device. It doesn't matter what they use as long as they make sure the output is clean.
I use an isolator without knowing about any benefits (thanks for the review) and the main reason was for lighting protection (the house has a surge protector also go figure). Now , I heard about it inducing noice thru magnetic field interaction. Something I’ve done for years is to magnetically isolate my gear. I use a small compass ( from a crackerjack prize, not really) to visualize and separate my components from each other’s magnetic field. Just another tweak from the “grave vine”. My 2 cents Thank you. PS : Could that high frequency noice be from the billing data stream that the utility company is using now days to “read your meter?
Just my 2 cents, there is no surge protector that will protect you from a lightning strike. Not as a small seperate little box in any case. The only thing you can do is what i did yesterday, physically taking the plug out. Lightning is crazy strong in a crazy short time
@@CyberBeep_kenshi i've even seen unplugging not help. if its close when it strikes the most useful thing you can do with your time is call insurance company and pray you paid the extra for such coverage.
I have indirectly measured it. See: www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/review-and-measurements-of-topping-d50-dac.2403/page-2#post-68196 It couples the AC mains from input to output so causes some mains leakage on its own.
Thanks Amir. We need more objective and engineering based reviews to balance things out and keep the marketing people honest. Hate to admit it.....but I wasted my hard earned money on these type of devices many years ago (AC filters, noise cleaners, isolation, power regeneration, etc....). Finally came to the conclusion that these type of devices always made my system sound worse that going directly into the wall regardless of brand or cost. They just sucked the life out of the sound and restricted dynamics - particularly micro dynamics. Once in a while I will see someone else online say the same. Not an engineer, but is there an objective explanation for what I have subjectively perceived as worse sound from using these type of devices?
Ah another misunderstood product. Reminds me of a physicist at my last job that bought a 10 kVa (!) isolation transformer for a test station. They thought it might have helped, but I couldn’t get over the fact that there was now a 300 lb transformer in the middle of the lab that I constantly had to walk around. I have one from Hammond and they work great for safety where you want to isolate something, but it’s just as bad as a wall wart for noise isolation. Although from the data it does seem to block a little at higher frequencies, which is maybe why it might have helped on the test station, albeit I don’t think it was worth the astronomical price the physicists probably paid for it.
I want to thank you. I have based most of my system around your reviews. It sounds amazing. You see everything you measure and state that you can not recommend is exactly what I buy. So thanks for helping me choose.
Dear Amir, thank you for your test, solve a lot hi-fi mist. I have two questions for you. Ques 1: Will a balanced isolation transformer useful to eliminate the AC noise induced to the secondary wing? The balanced secondary is working by coil forward and reverse direction to have a +55-0 V and 0 to -55V section to cancel out common mode AC noise transformed from the primary side. The differential mode noise still has to be reduced by induction coils as used by many power conditioners. It the secondary wing 0 serves as a new ground for the following Hi-Fi instrument, how about connect it to the primary ground? destroy the isolation? The hi-fi instruments mostly use regulated DC , so AC noise has no effect on the sonic effect. But most of the power amp has not use regulations but rectification only. This balanced effect is proposed by all the makers now for Hi-Fi DIYER. Does it work? I understand Amir suggest it on signal interconnection but AC noise has no effect on DC circuits. Ques 2: Will two parael rectification bridges setup works better in sonic effect than a single bridge ? I use twin bridges and Schottky diodes both in pre-amp and power amp. All so any sonic difference on many small condenser than small big ones? Thanks
