Digital signals are vulnerable: They can be impacted by microphonic interference and RFI/EMI induced noise, degraded by poorly executed transfer standards and badly engineered connectors. Preserving their integrity means first protecting them from external influences… Isolation from spurious noise and power supply artefacts Research into the fundamental engineering parameters limiting the performance of existing streamers quickly established power supply quality and related noise as critical factors in undermining the quality and integrity of stored and streamed music files. Predominantly based on computer hardware, many servers rely on stock power supplies and regulation, even if they are fed from an audio grade transformer. The Reference Server is driven by a heavily regulated, multi-stage power supply derived directly from the supplies developed for the Reference DAC. It is so sophisticated and so quiet that the noise-floor of the DC reaching the unit’s active devices is almost impossible to measure. It’s so quiet, that during development we needed to rely on virtual modelling and to develop entirely new measurement protocols to assess advances in performance. • 3 large proprietary power transformers • 5 stages of power supply regulation • Over 200 discrete parts • Optimized for rejection of external conducted and radiated emissions while also extracting and eliminating the naturally generated electromagnetic noise inside the chassis. • Mechanically decoupled from critical circuitry to avoid any possible cross-contamination into the critical digital circuitry. • Based on the proven Reference DAC power supply topology But there’s no such thing as too much power supply, so the Reference Server is supplied ready to accept the upcoming, external Reference PSU, a full-chassis upgrade that results in almost complete freedom from AC noise, ground noise, RFI and EMI induced interference, establishing the foundation for unprecedented performance from streamed music and file replay.
