Buy New Teradak For Mac

• Buy New Teradak For Mac

I've just bought a new Mac mini to use as a music server. I'm going to replace the HDD with a SDD but Apple have also made the job harder for me by including an internal noisy switch mode power supply. The internal power filter module can be used for the 2010 or newer Mac Mini. It uses high quality parts. The new sound stage is vital, dynamic and clean instead of the original cold and hard feeling using switching power supply. If you want to buy it, please pay us directly. Our Paypal account is teradak@teradak.com.

Apple has finally sent out invitations for its semi-annual that expects to be loaded with new products: an with USB-C, slim bezels, and Face ID. We may also see a new allegedly geared at pro users, refreshed iMacs, and a new low-priced MacBook. While an updated Mac mini will be the kind of pigs-flying release that I'll believe when I see, I'm most intrigued by the MacBook. Not since the days of the polycarbonate iBook G4 and original MacBook has Apple sold a true budget notebook. Sure, the current MacBook Air retails for $999, but there are a lot of compromises there: a non-retina screen, outdated processor, and aging ports.

And above that is the plain MacBook, which is hardly a bargain with its $1,300 starting price. IDG / Apple Remember the plastic MacBook?

And there's reason to believe that the new MacBook won't just be a cheaper version of the current MacBook. According to earlier this year, the new notebook will be a totally new model with MacBook Air stylings and beefed-up specs: The new laptop will look similar to the current MacBook Air, but will include thinner bezels around the screen.

The display, which will remain about 13-inches, will be a higher-resolution 'Retina' version that Apple uses on other products. That certainly sounds enticing. Assuming it starts at $999 (Apple's definition of low-cost when it comes to laptops), a Retina-powered super-thin laptop with skinny bezels and USB-C will be a sweet machine that's sure to fill the empty space under many a tree this Christmas. As much as I'd love to see the second coming of the affordable MacBook, I won't be buying it.

Because it'll still be running an Intel processor, meaning we'll have to wait at least another generation to see the real future of the Mac—one without Intel. But it may be closer than we think. 2020 vision for the Mac A report by oft-accurate Ming-Chi Kuo claims that Apple is designing its own A-series chip for the Mac, with an eye on the first machines arriving by 2020. As, Kuo says that TSMC has already been tapped to manufacture the new chips, with the main benefit of 'being off Intel’s processor release schedule.'

That means Apple will not only be able to control the design of the new chips, but also when they're ready. Now, there's nothing necessarily wrong with Intel chips.

The high end of Apple's lineup—the MacBook Pro, iMac Pro, and Mac Pro—all feature incredibly powerful processors that can power through anything you can throw at them. Even the aging Mac Pro is a workhorse, with up to 12-core Intel Xeon E5 chips. Leif Johnson/IDG Apple's pro machines are awesome, but the lower-end models leave much to be desired. But the low end is another story. The $999 MacBook Air features a 1.8GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor while the MacBook is powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core 7th-generation Intel Core m3 processor. Those are already a couple of years old, and it's even worse when it comes to graphics, with the Air using an Intel HD Graphics 6000 card and the MacBook running Intel's HD Graphics 615 unit.

If you're buying the MacBook for anything other than light tasks, you're definitely going to feel a major difference between a MacBook and a MacBook Pro. Granted, there should be a difference between a computer costing $999 and one costing twice as much, but as it stands, Apple's low-end notebooks are extremely underpowered. Heck, there are that are just as powerful.

And whatever new MacBook Apple releases next will likely bring more of the same. A more-modern MacBook Air chassis will look good, of course, but the speed and graphics will likely be just as crippled as they are in the current models.

It's unlikely we'll see the Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640 in a budget model, so you can probably bet on an 8th-gen m3 with (hopefully) the newer Intel HD Graphics 620 card. Anticipation is making me wait That wouldn't a bad $1,000 MacBook by any stretch, but with reports of an all-new A Series-powered laptop rumored to arrive within 18 to 24 months, I'd much rather wait. For one, we've already seen the kind of insane speeds and graphics power Apple can deliver with its custom silicon in the iPhone and iPad, and Apple fans have been salivating over the specter of a custom Mac chip for years. Now, it's possible Kuo is wrong, but considering in April, there's an awful lot of credible smoke to not have a fire. Dan Masaoka/IDG I have no doubt that Apple's new low-cost Mac will look good, but I'm not opening my wallet.

An A-Series Mac would raise the bar considerably for what Apple can do with the Mac. There's performance, obviously, but there's also battery life, seamless cross-compatibility with the iPhone, AI integration with Siri, Face ID, AR—the list goes on. And that's not even to speak of what it means for. Sure, Apple can easily tick off many of those boxes using Intel's chips, but again, it seems unlikely that it will bother if it's already hard at work on a post-PC PC. So unless Apple shocks the world with an A13-powered MacBook later this month, I'm gonna sit this one out.

And probably next year's refresh too. I'd rather wait a year or two than be stuck with a slow machine when the real revolution arrives.

More correctly, I tried a few linear power supplies. To skip the details, you can scroll toward the bottom to Listening Results I modified my Mac Mini to accept +12VDC from any external power source by removing it's internal switching power supply and replacing it with an inline filter module from TeraDak.

I also have the TeraDak +12VDC / 10-Amp linear power supply. I bought them off eBay for $300 USD. One side of the filter module has a 2.5mm diameter power input jack and the other end connects to the logic board within the Mini. This module looks very similar to another one that I have by Core Audio Technology. Of course each power supply has their own internal filtering but these modules provide additional high frequency filtering right at the logic board.

They are essentially LC filters with multiple LC sections. They are not absolutely necessary as at least a couple 'audiophile' power supply makers for the Mini provide only a straight through cable to the logic board from the 2.5mm power input jack. I won't bore you with more oscilloscope screen shots showing power supply generated wide band ripple under 1-Amp load, and transient noise inflicted upon the power supply output from the computer. I will summarize by saying that all power supplies below vary in ripple from about 1.5mV Peak to Peak up to about 8mV P-P, measured w/o enabling the 20MHz BW limit on the scope.

I've seen some 'audiophile' power supply makers spec measured ripple from 20Hz - 20,000Hz. How convenient to restrict the measurement bandwidth to such a narrow range. You can convert my Peak to Peak measurements to RMS if you wish to compare against other power supply manufacturers that spec RMS. The TeraDak measured 1.5mV P-P under 1-Amp load.

Which is just over what my Mini draws while playing music. The Mac Mini switching power supply (black) was removed from service. The white TeraDak filter module is installed in it's place to accept 12VDC input via the 2.5mm jack. $29 13.8VDC 6-Amp power supply I bought about a decade ago trimmed back to 12VDC. This one uses the classic LM723 regulator chip and 2N3055 NPN series pass transistor. I recall seeing this design from as far back as the 1970s supplying upwards of 50-Amps or more, using a darlington stage and several heat sinked 2N3055s.

A very common design. General purpose bench linear power supply rated 0 - 30VDC / 10-Amps.

I think I paid about $175 for this one a few years ago. No-name Chinese 12VDC 7-Ah AGM sealed lead acid battery. I use this for extra run time power with my Moultrie game camera for photographing night critters in the backyard. Fully charged the battery powers my Mac Mini for over 6 hours. Measured noise on this battery was about 3mV P-P under 1-Amp load. TeraDak 12VDC linear power supply bought new off eBay from HK. Mac Mini i7 quad-core 2.6GHz 16GB RAM SSD & HDD.

PS Audio NuWave DAC. TeraDaK linear power supply. AIFF 24/96 music files. Audirvana Plus. IPad visual remote controller.

Listening Results: While I heard, or thought I heard very slight differences between the Mac's built-in switching power supply and the external linear power supplies and battery, I cannot say with certainty that these differences were real or just differences in mood over the course of my listening sessions. In other words, none of the power supplies stood out as being a night and day improvement or disappointment. None were perceived as being 'better sounding' than another.

I gave it an honest try, and I'm sure some will say that my system is simply not resolving enough. That's a common response here so I expect it. However, I can say with certainty that I have heard very noticeable differences among $1000 Benz-Micro vs Dynavector cartridges, phono preamps ranging from $150 to $4000, interconnects, and 6 different USB DACs that I've had in my system.

Even comparing iTunes alone or with Audirvana Plus, Pure Music, or BitPerfect were more noticeable to me than the Mac Mini power supplies summarized above. One Additional Thought - There is one power supply that I wanted to try but I can't seem to find at the moment. It's buried somewhere in the basement in a box since our recent move this past summer. It is a general purpose adjustable switching power supply with a patent-pending Noise-Offset circuit to minimize the pulse-noise of the switching circuit relative to a received radio signal in a shortwave receiver. This power supply is intended for use with radio equipment like HF - UHF radio receivers and transmitters. The ability to 'shift' the noise may shift a switching harmonic from interfering with a desired radio signal.

I thought it might be interesting to deliberately 'shift' this switching noise across it's range to determine if it's effect could be heard via the computer music server. Maybe next time. Similar to my switcher that I can't find at the moment. Note #7 in the drawing. DSG 07:07:05 08/14/15 (0) - aljordan 06:12:24 12/29/14 (0) - skinzy 17:22:18 12/28/14 (0).

Posts: 2085 Location: SF Bay area Joined: February 6, 2005 'Listening Results: While I heard, or thought I heard very slight differences between the Mac's built-in switching power supply and the external linear power supplies and battery, I cannot say with certainty that these differences were real or just differences in mood over the course of my listening sessions. In other words, none of the power supplies stood out as being a night and day improvement or disappointment. None were perceived as being 'better sounding' than another.' Where's the entertainment value in this result? My blog: RE: So I'm listening to the Mac Mini on a linear power supply., posted on December 27, 2014 at 11:21:39. Posts: 12894 Joined: June 1, 2002 when he puts 2 EM sources next to each other; sticks his computer directly on top of his dac; uses external supplies without decoupling at source and at termination; measures voltages with a 20 MHz band limiter on a wide band scope; do nothing to minimise computer activity etc etc. I am not surprised he heard little difference.

Then there is the question of type of music and the resolution of files. If CD quality is used, differences are masked. Can't read or can't comprehend?, posted on December 27, 2014 at 16:21:09. Posts: 859 Joined: December 1, 2014 What kind of system do you have were all you can nit pick are these obscenely miniscule or non existent events? That is a genuine question, I'm sure will be met with the typical hostile response, but it is not meant to be offensive. I'm sure there has got to be some lower hanging fruit in your system you can improve upon with more substantial, tangible change.

That is the issue I myself have with abstract topics. △This message will self destruct in 10 seconds△ RE: True True-if, posted on December 27, 2014 at 18:39:26. Posts: 31814 Location: USA Joined: June 22, 2001 Contributor Since: February 2, 2002 Hello Garg0yle, just for grins please read my comments again about the scope setup and the 20MHz BW limit (hint it's not enabled). As you can see, fmak is confused again, but that's not unusual.;-) See the paragraph in my original post beginning with: I won't bore you with more oscilloscope screen shots. Also.

External supplies ARE decoupled via the filter network, at the source and termination. I don't think he gets it. 20MHz BW limiter on scope is NOT enabled.

I clearly mentioned it in the body of my post. He either can't read, can't comprehend, or tends to read things that are not there. Several computer services are disabled via Audirvana Plus, and many other services are manually disabled. Computer activity is minimized except for playing music.

Resolution of music files used for testing ARE greater than CD quality. I stated in my post that I used AIFF 24/96 files. Again, he can't read or can't comprehend what he reads. BTW, he probably won't tell you that he smoked his oscilloscope by probing around where he shouldn't. He didn't realize the dangers of the probe ground clip being earth ground referenced. RE: So I'm listening to the Mac Mini on a linear power supply., posted on December 27, 2014 at 21:06:42. Posts: 13629 Location: Vermont Joined: November 12, 2007 'To give it an honest try, you would need a modified Hynes supply.'

This is just a variant on the usual audiophile excuses, 'Your system isn't sufficiently resolving,' or 'You haven't heard X' where X is particularly expensive. Coming from a person with technical abilities, as evidenced by the (M) moniker, I would expect more, namely some technical characteristics of power supply performance that can be used as a surrogate for brand name unobtanium or unafforium. Tony Lauck 'Diversity is the law of nature; no two entities in this universe are uniform.'

Sarkar RE: So I'm listening to the Mac Mini on a linear power supply., posted on December 28, 2014 at 10:01:52. Posts: 13629 Location: Vermont Joined: November 12, 2007 The Mac Mini (and most if not all motherboards) use switchers to do their DC-DC conversion.

Buy New Teradak For Mac

(An example would be generating a CPU core voltage around 1.0 volts from a 12 volt bus.) Switchers work by disconnecting the source supply from the load (e.g. Through a flyback circuit) for significant portions of the switching cycle.

Given that the load is disconnected from the source much of the time, why is system performance determined by the 'speed' of the regulation of the source power supply? Tony Lauck 'Diversity is the law of nature; no two entities in this universe are uniform.' Sarkar RE: Here's a question for you., posted on December 29, 2014 at 09:20:14.

Posts: 5948 Location: Oregon Joined: April 12, 2001 Power in the Mac is improved because no regulators are perfect. All of these switching regulators need good power supplies feeding them in order to achieve good regulation and low noise. Even the Hynes regulator, which has superb input noise rejection will improve a little if driven by a linear supply versus a switcher. Nothing in this world is textbook perfect. Regulators are not perfect, decoupling capacitors are not perfect. RE: Here's a question for you., posted on December 29, 2014 at 09:25:53.

Posts: 2851 Joined: June 9, 2000 Tony, Thanks I totally agree with you. I keep saying this but I guess nobody is listening. There are at least 12 DCDC converters on the mother board past what the supply is carrying.

As Tony said what specifics has anyone done to see that these are really applied in the correct way. Tony I am not sure what the xPIN BERG connector is supplying to the mother board, but I would assume there is a number of 12V, 5V and 3V3 supplies. Which you could do with really good linear regulators and good bypass caps. Obviously if the supply is 12v then they are probably just putting some inductors or common mode chokes on those and then (hopefully) dropping that voltage down.

All, but remember this is going to have varying results depending on how you are setup. If you have an isolated DAC then results will probably be pretty low. If you are using an Ethernet DLNA or WIFI setup this will probably have little to no increase in resolution. Think smart about how you spend your money! Thanks, Gordon J. Gordon Rankin RE: Here's a question for you., posted on December 30, 2014 at 09:27:58.

Posts: 13629 Location: Vermont Joined: November 12, 2007 You are still stuck in generalities. Regulators attempt to compensate for variations in the load and variations in the supply. Like anything else they are not perfect. The issue is the extent to which regulators are imperfect and the significance of the imperfections in the larger system framework.

Tony Lauck 'Diversity is the law of nature; no two entities in this universe are uniform.' Sarkar Generalities Stuck in?, posted on January 2, 2015 at 17:22:10. Posts: 3 Location: New York City Joined: July 16, 2012 Abe, Hi there.

I just came across this thread and wanted to say thank you for your work. You have just saved me a lot of money, as I was budgeting for linear power supplies for an Opp 103D, MacMini, and external drive subsystem. An application note posted by John Siu @ Benchmark Media yesterday included side-by-side tests on the DAC 1 & DAC 2. Although the DAC 2 uses a switching power supply, it is definitely quieter than the DAC 1 linear power supply. Also I realized Bruno Putzeys had designed a switching power supply specifically for his Ncore amplifiers.

Bruno is a no-compromise engineer, would certainly have used linear if it wer better, and the Ncore measured & audible performance is superb. These got me thinking and googling which is how I found your post. Regarding Paul Hynes, these are probably very good but are they uniquely so? I was planning to acquire a multi-output lab bench supply from Agilent / Keysight as these are the supplies for the gold-standard of precision measurement equipment (and detailed performance specs are available on the websites). Both firms now offer linear, hybrid, and switching supplies, with obvious implications. BTW, a linear power supply from these folks costs a fraction of a Paul Hynes model.

I'm going to google Oppo linear power supply to see if anyone has done experiments with measurements similar to yours, however I'm guessing the result will be that I can re-budget from power supplies to more music. Thanks again, Terry RE: So I'm listening to the Mac Mini on a linear power supply., posted on August 14, 2015 at 07:07:05.