If you want to try a cheaper but good option for the neve, this psu did improve bass impact and control (but didn’t allow it to really drive harder to drive headphones), had a bit blacker background and slightly more macrodynamics, and improved imaging, although it did loose a bit of timbre and slight organicness, lost some stage depth and placement accuracy, and also does bring it a bit more forward but if you wanted to try something different it’s nice
For ~$20 that looks worth a try. I dont think ill be power cord swapping like some swap pads but it seems like a good compare and contrast point and a decent backup if things do break.
I joined the cult recently and got a BF2 + RNHP (so far very impressed) but I seem to have encountered this common problem with RNHP: there is a low whine / hum in the background. I’m starting to wonder whether it is my electricity, or whether the PSU or even the unit I got (second hand from Amazon) is defective. I swear I read somewhere in this forum that someone had the same problem with the RNHP before and it was solved by a little gadget but I just can’t find it now. So far I have seen people recommending a couple of things:
The Palmer power conditioner for around £20
The Mouser PSU also for around £20
the iFi Elite power for £299
the iFi DC iPurifier 2 for £99
the SBooster LPS for around £300
Before I go on buying something as expensive as the RNHP itself (especially when I don’t know whether the unit is defective), I want to know which would be the relatively best option for me, as in, can solve the problem and not mess with the sound or even improve it. Thanks guys!
Edit: If my memory serves me right, someone in this forum got recommended the RNHP, went to the store to listen, was happy with it, then heard the whine when the unit was brought home, went back to the store again, no hum, and then realised it was dirty electricity which got solved by a small cheap gadget. I am almost sure @M0N was involved in the entire process, if anyone has any faint memory of this I would appreciate it if he/she/they can point me to the thread or section of the thread I really hope I am not imagining things here
Thank you! I tried the XLR input but it doesn’t seem to help so I am guessing it is not a ground loop issue. FWIW, if I just have the RNHP on, plug in my low impedance headphone, with no DAC or whatsoever connected, the whine is always there, and it becomes slightly louder if I turn the volume to max
Guessing you mean this thread? That palmer purifier did help in this case, personally I do think you take a slight quality hit but it’s much better than having that noise
YESSS! thank you so much. I am like almost ¼ through in this 1.6k thread lol, turns out it is in another thread. I can give this ago. What’s your opinion on the iFi DC purifier if I may ask? According to iFi, it does the same thing as the £49 iFi Power but can take 24V. But I don’t know if it does the job better than this £20 gadget.
On the more expensive side, any thoughts on the SBooster vs the iFi Elite? I know you have said it changes the sound a bit, but I am still curious whether it is worth it, like whether that ‘slight quality hit’ can be avoided by going for something £300.
P.S. I also contacted RNHP they are sending me a different PSU with heavier filtering to try
Don’t have enough experience with it to comment on it unfortunately
I haven’t heard the elite yet so I can’t say there, but I did try an sbooster and while it did improve dynamics, detail retrieval, background, and improved width, it felt like it threw off tonal balance, pushed things forward more than I personally preferred, and while it got wider and more spacious sounding it lacked accuracy in that space compared to stock
Gotcha, thanks again. I saw many recommend the SBooster but I suppose there is always a drawback for improvement. I hope the alternative one sent by RNHP would work as I prefer not to change the sound
I just started last week with the RNHP, experimenting on it with various headphones and IEMs. It’s been an eye opening experience. It seems like the characteristic of each headphone comes through more strongly. It’s not changing the headphone, just emphasizing (revealing?) more of what what the headphone already is.
One big surprise for me is how well the Tin P1 IEM’s sound on the RNHP. In the past I had a very strong opinion that more power (clean power) was key to the Tin P1 sounding right. Running them on the Asgard3 sounded very good compared to other (weaker) amps in my collection (Atom, L30, Erish, DragonFly Red, or BTR5). But the RNHP breaks this. At 20ohms the RNHP puts out approx 200-300mW. At 20ohms the A3 puts out approx 4W. More than 10x the power on the A3! And I honestly like the sound on the RNHP better - more detailed and more resolving. Additionally I don’t hear the loss in bass response that I expected. My comparison was done using some Marcus Miller for electric jazz bass, and Christian Mcbride for accoustic upright bass. And to really make them rumble I used Train Song with Holly Cole. The RNHP produced as much bass as the A3, but tighter, more controlled, and more detailed. Overall to my ear a superior sound.
Aune has the “Magic DAC”. RNHP has the “Magic amp”. Really a fun device.
It’s my favorite Solid State amp that I’ve tried so far. It’s extremely transparent, highly detailed, and holographic. The only real critique i have is of it’s lack of power for some headphones (such as the HE6se, but these are an extreme example of power requirements). It’s close/narrow presentation is part of the design since it is intended for studio/monitoring use, imo, but some don’t like that.
Hi all,
a question from a noob : is there a risk to use the RNHP with another 24V power supply with 5A or 6A instead of the 0.4A of the original one ?
→ i’m in EU but bought my RNHP in the US, so i’ve received it with the US power supply, i have to use an adapter US/EU and it’s not as secure as i like … that’s the main purpose for a replacement …
I don’t think this will be a problem. Generally the device will only draw the current that it needs. It is the voltage you need to match. I’d still double check with Neve to be on the safe side tho.
i will probably use a Computer brick like HP or another brand … just want to be sure that i won’t grilled the Amp …
i’m curious about the change of sound … is it really significant ?
it will be a standard one for beginning … but considering the RNHP power supply as the cheapest you can find on the market, i guess a good brick from Dell or HP would be a good upgrade evenb if it’s “standard” for laptop …
depending on the results but i may go for something more significant later …
Honestly I’ve tried nicer psu on the neve, and while they improved some technical performance, it actually ended up messing with organicness and tonal balance, most of the psu I have tried on it I ended up preferring the stock psu, so they definitely picked that one for a reason
I linked a meanwell above in this thread somewhere that did a decent job for a good price, better technical performance while only doing a bit of harm to organicness (still personally prefer stock though)
I really hope I am not imagining things here
Really a fun device.
