iFi iPower X Low Noise Power Supply DC Adapter – Upgrade Your Audio/Video/Electronics (5V)

Really worked well for my DAC magic 200m .. better sound stage and cleaned up the bass to the point I can hear basslines that were buried in the mix before. Def worth the $$ .

This power supply does perform as intended. You should keep in mind that how effective this will be depends largely on what gear you intend to use it with. If you have a system that is resolving enough, you will notice an improvement. It doesn't add audio quality but instead cleans up the supplied power to allow device to perform optimally. I decided to try this with the Massdrop Arist R-1R DAC. I felt that this fairly affordable mutibit dac had potential but something was missing. In order to manufacture it within the price pint, some sacrifices had to be made. Usually one of the most expensive parts of high end gear is in the power supply. Arist compromised in this area by using a switching power supply. Granted, this results in a introductory price point for this dac but I am not aware of any high end multibit dac that takes this approach. This iFi power supply is a definite upgrade to the supplied switching power supply provided with the Arist. Using the Beyerdynamic DT1990 I can certainly hear a difference. Warmer midrange, more space and depth. It actually comes closer to the Schiit Bifrost. It does have a slightly more diffuse sound field than the Bifrost. I have been fooled a couple of times where I removed my headphones to make sure the loudspeakers were not on. The alternative would be to upgrade this dac by spending over $800 at a minimum. That makes this a good buy. I wish iFi made one for 24v demands. I'd replace the power supply to my Cavali Tube Hybrid and LCX+SDAC. When I switch back and fourth between the Arist and SDAC, the SDAC while very clean has a definite wall of sound compared to the large, spacious sounding ARIST. The iFi power supply really makes this immediately obvious where before you could tell it was there but not as apparent. A recommend buy for this setup.

Pretty much everybody who purchases an iFi supply will be using it in the context of an Audio-video system.I recently added a $20 DLink switch to put before the Bluesound Node streamer, and was more than a little surprised how beneficial it was, even with it's ultra cheapo wall wart supply.I happened to have an older model iFi 5V supply that I got about 4 years ago for around $50, so I tried that one out on the switch, and sure enough the sound quality improved by at least as much again.This only whetted my appetite for what a much better supply could achieve. So I got this PowerX supply to see if any incremental gains were to be had. I plugged it in an hour ago and was rewarded with a sound quality I did not think was possible...voices floated in a 3 dimensional space with great artication and clarity. The low bass became much faster and more in tune, as well as usefully deeper.And all this from powering a network switch that does not carry any analog audio.It makes me wonder what the $300 Elite would do for this humble switch! Imay just pull the trigger and find out for myself!But for the price, the PowerX is the real deal!

I was using a 12 volt power supply made by Pyramid that supplied 13.8 volts probably for about 10 years. I was using it to power the Apogee Mini DAC back in its day. I am no longer using that DAC. I had no idea how good the Pyramid was. I had nothing else to compare to. The cost was reasonable and it is linear. I had no instruments to measure how low the noise was. It still can be had for $45 on Amazon. Then when I got the Zen stream, I repurpose the power supply for the Zen Stream. I keep hearing how good the iFi switching power supplies are. They are more efficient and I have one less switch to power on and off. I did not want to spend $300 for the Elite. All the 15 volt Power X had to do was to beat the Pyramid. Well, it did not. The sound with the Power X had less body as if the sounds were floating. There was also a slight bit of glare. The Pyramid with the Zen Stream produced sounds that is smoother and better rooted. You will have to make a cable and a plug for the Pyramid. Thus if you are looking for a better power supply for the Zen Stream, you should either look possibly at the Elite, another linear power supply, or try your luck with a Pyramid universal compact bench power supply.