5 volt Caiman SEG?

[meBob]

Hello All,

I have USB cable with a power barrel/jack plug on the other end and tried plugging it from my PC into the SEG. Surprise Surprise it worked and sounds ok!

It's a bit late now to do any listening comparison at higher volume, I'll try tomorrow.

Having thrown "USB output voltage" on Google, it came back as a definite 5V, this is a hefty drop from 12V me thinks.

Has anyone else tried this?

[Sherwood]

Hello All,

I have USB cable with a power barrel/jack plug on the other end and tried plugging it from my PC into the SEG. Surprise Surprise it worked and sounds ok!

It's a bit late now to do any listening comparison at higher volume, I'll try tomorrow.

Having thrown "USB output voltage" on Google, it came back as a definite 5V, this is hefty drop from 12V me thinks.

Has anyone else tried this?

Are you sure that the cable is not a usb 5v to 12v converter cable?

[meBob]

Hello Sherwood,

I’ve tested the cable at the barrel end with a multimeter and it is definitely 5 volts.

I’ll use what (little) common sense I have and come to the conclusion at 5v the dac must be “limping” along with a 7v drop, although it still sounds good to my ears.

Infact when I pull the plug out the SEG dies immediately, but with the stock PSU it runs on for a few seconds and also the lights look a little dim at 5v.

A thought occurred to me though, and it is to bypass the motherboard and go straight from the PSU to the SEG.

My PSU is an expensive Corsair with ripple only from 4mv – 10mv. I wonder if anyone has tried this?

I’m thinking my PC PSU has to be better than one of those cheapo Chinese linear supplies and also better than the stock PSU?