Theoretica Applied Physics BACCH

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He is going to call me after the Capital Audio fest ends.

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The M2 MacMini is $499 at Best Buy right now. $100 off.

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And at Costco.

The $499 Mac Mini is the 8gb version. That won’t do.

I ordered my BACCH4MAC system today.
I am so psyched!
Can’t wait!

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Hope it comes sooner than Edgar originally promised. What DAC are you going to use that accepts USB? I highly recommend the LPS upgrade for mini and running the babyface off a 9v LPS. And the Inakustik pure silver air USB if you’re ready to tweak. And of course the little 3M absorger patch over the ribbon cable input and part of the processor chip. Of course Edgar thinks that tweak stuff is BS but I can hear differences.

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That’s easy to upgrade. Works great as a Roon core.

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I will need details on the LPS Upgrade for the Mini. I have a supply for the Babyface.
I am going to take my BACCH-SP adio out of the system and ship it back to Edgar for the MK3 upgrade. In the meantime I will use the Gryphon Ethos as my DAC. I also have a Tambaqui on loan that arrived today. I also have other DACs. Edgar informed me today that the Babyface has a nice DAC in it. Did you ever listen to that? I will use my single Tuner Stealth USB cable. It seems nice. (There may be a dual tuner Stealth USB cable in my future)

The fun thing is the reason I reached for the BACCH4Mac is the Room Correction add on will be available for the B4M long before it is available for the adio. Edgar said I can use the B4M to make the Room Correction filter and he will transfer it to the adio. So two birds with one stone.

I just love the Interface the B4M has. Plus, I want to be an expert in both the adio and the B4M. I have BACCH on the brain.

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Here is what you need.

It takes a 12v high current LPS of around 10 to 13 amps . Teradak sells one. I just use one of my HDPLEX300 high current buses

Here Is video on disassembly of mini just slide out The SMPS and slide in the interface for LPS. Kind of like your streamer mod.

Okay, I bought both of those things. Does the internal power supply mod come with instructions? And does it come with a mounting plate for the 12v power inlet?

It looks as if you could leave the antenna cable in place, being careful of course. Then take out the three screws that hold the power supply in place and yank it out. I suppose the same three screws hold the new internal power supply board in place?

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The new power supply board has power input barrel With a nut fits perfectly through one side of the ac power inlet binocular shaped hole. I just put copper tape over the unused side. It just stuffs inside with a snug fit. No need to screw it dow.n there is a-silver slide clip you need to take off power inlet of the SMPS to yank it . You might want a better power cable than the teradak LPS supplies Either a Ghent Gotham or the Silver Gold Dueland from Ghent. Plus an M-1 Fuse in the LPS. You will also want to run a good USB between the mini and baby face. I use a 350 dollar Inakustik Referenz since it does head tracking filter. Or digital back snd forth if you use Baby face DAC. The one Edgar supplied is a bit harsh and adds harsh hash noise. You may have two stealths by then for USB.

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The instructions are modest. Better off following the video.

With the new Mac Mini architecture, you need to pick your RAM up front. So very wise to get 16 or more gig in the base order. Even the old Mac Mini made it complicated to upgrade RAM. The whole thing needed to be disassembled. First the power supply and then the board needed to be slid out the side so as to access the screws for the cage over the RAM.

At least with just an LPS transplant, the SMPS is the first / easiest thing to remove once the case is open. Depending on which model Mac Mini they send, though, small things like the LED connector to the case may be placed differently. Also, the power supply connector may not be the same. So, if looking at an old video on how to load the LPS, it may help to look as well at a different video on how to open / close up the specific Mac Mini type itself.

Haven’t been around for a while, but I successfully completed the LPS upgrade on my M1 Mac Mini two weeks ago and must say that the details I got from @Carousel have been helpful.

I think I can also complete the loop on the questions around the HDPLEX 300W. Talking to the people at Uptone about their conversion, even 7A is enough juice to power any legacy version of the Mac Mini. The HDPLEX comes with barrel plugs that are unusually short at 10mm. I sent an email to the folks at Kamaudio, who sell the Teradak Mac Mini module before purchasing the LPS, and they confirmed that a 10mm barrel plug was too short to deliver power.

The Oyaide plug that terminates the Ghent audio wire @Vmax uses is 14mm. Most barrel plugs you find in the wild are closer to 12mm in length. I did my own testing and found that 12mm does work, so after doing some searching I found this adapter that could be used with the HDPLEX wires to get it to work as a stopgap:

Also, if anybody (in the US, at least) orders anything from Ghent audio, be prepared to wait a whole month to receive anything from them. Whatever courier they use to complete the delivery once it enters the US takes their sweet time.

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I don’t know how good you are with tiny things, but be prepared for some challenges. The videos make it look like you can get this done in five minutes, but it took me more like 2 hours. This is coming from somebody who is very comfortable with building PCs. I wouldn’t say that any of it requires special skills, but I’ve never dealt with connectors this small before, so it took some time.

  1. I was finding that the main ATX-style power connector was a huge hassle to get into the socket until I realized that I could just plug it in before fully seating the motherboard. I would suggest plugging it in with the motherboard out by an inch or two before sticking the wire into the channel and pushing the motherboard back in.

  2. The DC input wire at first appears as if it will not fit inside the Mac. it is a bit awkward, but you just kind of have to force it into an S-shaped curve to get it through the hole. Regarding the nut on the input barrel, do remember to remove it along with the washer before sticking it through the hole.

  3. Plug in to power and make sure the Mac Mini is able to be switched on before screwing the fan back on. This will not cause any thermal damage and helps to avoid a huge hassle in case you need to double check any of the connections.

  4. If you buy a new LPS, please test it with some other known equipment first. I had a brand new HDPLEX 300W that turned out to be dead on arrival. I did not know this, so I reassembled and disassembled the Mac Mini three times like an insane person before I realized what was going on.

Also, I found one other video that has some great close-up shots of some of the connectors that none of the other ones have:

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Thank you!!!

If you pay for upgrade shppiing it takes 3 Day tor Ghent Audio products.

Oh! That is so ironic. While waiting for upgraded DC output power cables for my HDPlex 300W PSU to be delivered this Summer, I pulled the trigger on getting the dedicated high-amp 12V LPS for the Mac. This was because my power-hungry old Intel Mac would not start up using HDPlex cables. I just went back and tried the longer-tipped, upgrade cables… which arrived eventually… and everything works! The HDPlex is powering both the old Intel Mac and my 19V-consuming HQPlayer machine at the same time. Oh well, at least I got a great deal on the high-amp 12V LPS and cable. I can probably eBay them for more than they cost me. Or I can use them for my NAS…

As mentioned much further above somewhere, Larry at HDPlex can also do a version of the LPS with two high-amp 12V outputs, instead of one 19V and one 12V… plus the two lower-amp outputs in both cases of course.

BTW, at half the price of the Gotham cables… though maybe not having the John Swenson shielding… while also having long tips… are these cables that also take a while to come from China: Oyaide DC plugs DC 2.5 DC2.1 to Neutrik XLR(F) HIFI DC Cable for HDPLEX 200W | eBay

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Well, I guess that whole issue is really settled now. It kind of gave me pause when I saw that you were having problems with the HDPLEX, because it was the only cost-effective option I had to power my multiple devices.

Mine was not producing power on any of the outputs. Larry had me send it back for repair and I was just told today that of all things, it was just a faulty fuse! I feel a bit dumb now, given that all I needed to do was pop the cover and stick in a new fuse, but he never suspected it and the thought never crossed my mind. I’ll probably be upgrading the fuse at some point; I asked Larry for fuse specs, and he advised that you could use a 6A or 10A fast blow 5*20mm fuse.

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I use a 10A Audio Magic M-1 Masterpiece fuse. It had a 10A originally. It is the fuse that sounds most natural and images with incredible space between images.

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You use that fuse in the TeraDak DC 12V 15A power supply? I can see buying another M-1 fuse.