DC power your Traveler

[stephen1212b]

I am posting this here rather than in the hardware section because it applies to Mac and PC users. If you have a Traveler try running it off of batteries. I connected 3 * 6 Volt 4 Amp/Hour led acid Gell Cell batteries in series to get 18 Volts and connected via the 4 pin power connection. I was on location and simply trying to maximize recording time so I didn't want to drain the laptop battery faster than necessary. The sonic improvement is _______________ ! Less harsh digital sounding hi end, deeper bass, better imaging, you know the drill. Remember the power to the mics is also being improved from this and this is multiplied by the gain.

At home playing back I normally use the wall wart, but no more. I know numbers are numbers, but even clocked to an Aardsync with only the SPDIF output feeding a better DAC everything is greatly improved. I can only assume squarer waveforms thanks to the high current reserves with no AC ripple and noise provides a less jittered read from the firewire and a less jittered digital output signal that is easier to read by the external DAC.

Don't believe me just go try this yourself.

[Eleventh Hour Sound]

It would be interesting if someone from MOTU, or someone with some test gear could confirm that using batteries gives better performance, that would be great...

[cloudsplitter]

It would be interesting if someone from MOTU, or someone with some test gear could confirm that using batteries gives better performance, that would be great...

I agree.....more info needed..!!

[cuttime]

At home playing back I normally use the wall wart, but no more.

The Traveler wall wart, or the Mac power supply on bus power? How does the bus power compare to batteries?

[stephen1212b]

I rarely use buss power except in an emergency. There are too many stories of people loosing there firewire ports. Computer power is likely to be even noisier and will be affected by anything else on the buss. There are some powered hubs that might be an improvement but pure DC is hard to beat.

[cuttime]

Interesting. What kind of battery life do you get? I used to keep a couple of motorcycle batteries around for purposes like this, but the voltage dropped off quickly, and I didn't like having little containers of sulfuric acid laying around. In retrospect, they were probably a bad choice, because they are designed for quick discharges and not sustained use. However, I've not had very good luck with gel cells, either. I've had quite a few go bad after very little use. How do you charge them?

[mrbillet]

I believe many of these claims could be true. Lead acid batteries provide solid, clean power while a/c can introduce all kinds of messy crackles and hash, especially if you're at a new location. If you're doing location recording it is best to be self-contained for power.

If you have a studio then you need to get all your wiring and power sorted out, and it seems like a hell of a task.

[cloudsplitter]

Stephen, could you give us a wiring diagram and what you used as a connector to from the bats to the Traveller...?? also, how do you monitor voltage..? do you have a meter or something that shows the state of charge of the bats..?? Thanks, I am interested in trying this.

[Matcher]

I power my whole rig, including the BLA modded traveler, from a Furman power conditioner, and have been happy with it.

[stephen1212b]

I use the 4 pin locking power connection. - pin 1 + pin 4 I have 3*6 volt 4 Amp Hour sealed gel cell batteries in series but anything from 12 V through 24 V will work. I float charge the batteries from a regulated linear supply at 22.7 Volts

Matcher what did Black Lion do in terms of modifications? When I contacted them they said they didn't do the Traveler.

[cloudsplitter]

I use the 4 pin locking power connection. - pin 1 + pin 4 I have 3*6 volt 4 Amp Hour sealed gel cell batteries in series but anything from 12 V through 24 V will work. I float charge the batteries from a regulated linear supply at 22.7 Volts

Matcher what did Black Lion do in terms of modifications? When I contacted them they said they didn't do the Traveler.

Same here when I contacted them two years ago they said they didn't do travelers.....?????

[Matcher]

At the time, must've been about 4 years ago, BLA did the clock mod, and the analog circuit mod. I took them both.