Supercaping my prefix for CD recording - Is it possible?

John,

yes, you can.

First, disconnect all existing canles from the SC (of course).

You will need to plug the SNAIC from the Prefix into the appropriate 5-pin socket of the SC (see the Power Supplies manual for this, I guess).

You will also need a 4-pin DIN (270 degree plug) to 2xphonos cable, which goes straight into the CD-R.

Apparently this is significantly better than going through the 52.

cheers, Martin

E-mail:- MartinPayne at Dial.Pipex.com

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Originally posted by Martin Payne:

Apparently this is significantly better than going through the 52.

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Martin,
Theorically, i agree. But is it worth it:
will the recording quality be improved enough to unpower the 52 and wait for a week to get it back.
Do you have experience with this? have you experiment between a Hicap and a Super for recording purpose?

Emmanuel

All opinions are my own, and reflect those of the organisation i work for, even if not stipulated.

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Originally posted by Manu:
Martin,
Theorically, i agree. But is it worth it:
will the recording quality be improved enough to unpower the 52 and wait for a week to get it back.
Do you have experience with this? have you experiment between a Hicap and a Super for recording purpose?

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Manu,

my dealer reported his experiences to me (with a Stageline), and reckoned it was noticeably better into an HHB CD-R.

If I was embarking on a serious session of vinyl archiving, it would be well worth re-configuring things for a week or two. Not somethig I would contemplate for a single disc for the car!

cheers, Martin

E-mail:- MartinPayne at Dial.Pipex.com

Thanks Martin/Manu

I just bought a bunch of Mosaic sets and would like to transfer them to CD to take out the alternate tracks. Assuming I can make an exceptional copy I will play just the CD and decide which sets I keep. I don't mind the 52 being down for an evening. Since I put in 4 dedicated lines the effect of down time seems to have less impact.

How do I hook up the prefix to the supercap? Can the prefix 5 pin DIN go into any 5 pin socket on the supercap? I also have a 4 pin DIN to 5 pin DIN interconnect. I assume the 4 pin end goes to the supercap and I need to modify the 5 pin DIN side for RCAs. Which Supercap socket should the 4 pin DIN go in (does it matter)? The Supercap manual doesn't deal with this.

Thanks
John

John,

check the power supplies manual (avalable form the website if you don't have one).

I reckon you need to wire it up as per the NAC82/Super diagram - SNAIC-5 to socket 1, SNAIC-4 to socket 3.

It seems a shame to hack around with the 4-pin/5-pin cable - could you knock up a short 5-pin socket to 2xphono plugs cable? NB If your cable is one of the new-style (lavender?) cables, I'm looking for one of those, but only if it's not been hacked apart!!

cheers, Martin

E-mail:- MartinPayne at Dial.Pipex.com

Yes, use sockets 1 and 3.

Emmanuel

All opinions are my own, and reflect those of the organisation i work for, even if not stipulated.

quote:

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will the recording quality be improved enough to unpower the 52 and wait for a week to get it back.
Do you have experience with this? have you experiment between a Hicap and a Super for recording purpose?

Emmanuel

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I am using a HiCap with a Stageline to send the signal to my CDR. It sounds pretty good to me, within normal CD expectations anyway.
I would also be interested to hear if a supercap would really add anything on top, especially since the limitations of the CD fromat are there whatever you do.

regards
GEOFFP

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I would also be interested to hear if a supercap would really add anything on top, especially since the limitations of the CD fromat are there whatever you do.

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A couple of years ago I burnt a CD from vinyl using different power supplies on the Prefix (self-powered 52 vs dedicated supercap vs Epona Acoustics). Given the limitations of the entry level Yamaha CD burner, the differences were still very, very obvious. The supercap on the Prefix (and probably the Stageline too) is probably the most justifiable application of power supply overkill I can think of. Shame that it is only using 1/8th of its powering capacity.

Ron
Dum spiro audio
Dum audio vivo

John: If you need a Din 4 pin to 2 X RCA I'm pretty sure I have a spare laying about. Let me know and I can send it off to you.

Arthur Bye

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Originally posted by GrahamJ:
I hva ejust put a hicap between my 52 and prefix having failed to find a supercap at the right price. I did this to improve the flexibilty of positioning the turntable due to the dhort cable out of the back.

I am amazed at the improvement and the hicap has only been on for four hours. Listening to CD has improved marginally as well, although is now not even close to the turntable performance.

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Graham,

did you move your LP12 further away from the amps, because your HiCap would now allow you to?

I have found this simple change to improve my system dramatically, the CD just as much.

A couple of years ago someone here reported that they were using a 5m lead from their HiCap to the preamp for this very reason!

cheers, Martin

E-mail:- MartinPayne at Dial.Pipex.com

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Originally posted by GrahamJ:
i now have right, 250,super,xps,hicap (positioned to the left away from prefix), lp12

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Graham,

I recently questioned Naim about installing a stack of power supplies on Fraim - XPS, 52PS, SuperCap & HiCap.

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The one thing that we all agree on is that you should place the Hicap on the
bottom shelf.

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(This is not quite so good as the other shelves on a Fraim).

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Don't be tempted to centralise it on the shelf, though. You're best bet is to place it over to the right so that the transformer lines up with all the others in the big box PSUs.

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It's a dilemma - over to the left will be best for the Prefix, but over to the right will be better for the XPS. I guess the mag field from the HiCap interferes with the regulators in the XPS.

It should be an easy demo to try, though.

cheers, Martin

E-mail:- MartinPayne at Dial.Pipex.com

Hello,

first: Supercap alone on Prefix bests Hicap dramatically so you have the best source available.
CD Recorder? In your PC or stand alone?
I did a lot of digitalizing (mainly from tape). The most important step after the source was to have a good analog-digital converter.
Today I would only go for a 96 khz, 24bit equipment (so having better sound quality than CD) but still I am waiting for the new music standard to settle ( SADC or- DVD from Naim?) before starting to archive my vinyl on big scale.
For some 2nd hand records I needed sound improvement programs (Filter noise, then equalizer to strengthen the highs, decracker). But otherwise I avoided filters as much as possible.
Have fun

There may be some advantages continuing to use the 52, as the buffer boards in it might be a better interface to a non-naim feed.

Make sure that you modify your cdr with a din plug. This is more important than a lot of other tricks. I did, and there was no comparison.

chris