The sound... of silence
Contents
It sounds crazy, but a power supply has a sound. The switch test of January 22 demonstrates this. There we clearly hear a difference between the Silent Angel Forrester F1 and the Ferrum. And it should be, considering the price difference.
Peace and quiet
There are actually two things that a good power supply can directly improve: the calmness in sound and extra space in the imaging. No extra detail? Yes: but that is a result of the calmness and lower noise floor. Oh well: it’s just how you see it. During the switch test, when we unplug the standard adapter and connect the Ferrum Hypsos to it, we immediately hear more calmness and tranquility. Ow: and refinement. The imaging also grows overwhelmingly. And all of these things make us much more engaged in the playback. We want to listen. We want to play the next track.
Neutral
Where some power supplies sound “powerful,” or bring “mildness,” with the Hypsos we hear very little timbre. And that is meant positively. The best component leaves nothing out and adds nothing.
Now that is virtually impossible. But there are components that cause less ‘damage’ than others, shall we say. This neutral sound is very clearly audible with the NuPrime switch. On NuPrime’s – or Silent Angel’s – ‘own’ Forrester F1 power supply, we hear a very powerful, albeit tasty sound. Jacques Loussier has a firm ‘bass kick’. But when we pair the Ferrum Hypsos with it, we hear more detail. The kick is still tight and firm, but more refined.
The same signature – if you can call it that – we hear on the Alpha Audio PC. With both the JCat Femto USB and the JCat Ethernet card, more calmness – darker blackness, so to say – is audible, as well as an enlargement of the stereo image. This is relative to an IFI power adapter. If we compare to a Sbooster 5 volt adapter it is more difficult, but audible. The Ferrum Hypsos has a little less grain. It is subtle, but audible on a transparent system. Is it worth 600 euros? We’ll leave that up to you. Do know that the Hypsos has an adjustable voltage and can therefore grow with another device.
A few things
Is it all super-duper? No. We do have two things that we find unfortunate. First, the short cables. While Ferrum Hypsos has included very nice cables; they are also very short. And there are only two plug sizes (although we didn’t experience any issues).
In addition, there is one output on the Ferrum Hypsos. That will be enough in many cases; we think it’s a shame, because this way we can’t use one power supply to power the entire Alpha PC, for example. In terms of power, the Ferrum can do it easily. And how cool would it be if you could power both the USB card and the Ethernet card with this wonderful device?
Despite these two – small – things, we want to conclude with an Alpha Approved Award. The Ferrum Hypsos is hopefully the beginning of a great line – and perhaps trend – of power products. The adjustability is really a game-changer.
Conclusion
The Ferrum Hypsos power supply has certainly convinced us in terms of sound and user-friendliness. The construction is also very attractive. In the test with various switches it was able to show its qualities well. Also on the Alpha Audio PC where it powered the usb and ethernet card it appeared that it adds refinement. In short: a versatile and pleasant device.There are two things we did notice: the cables are very short. This means that the Ferrum must always be near the device that needs to be powered. Tricky. Also, there is only one output. And although it can deliver 60 watts (!!!), one output on a power supply of 1000 euros is a bit of a let down. The question is of course: is it necessary to power multiple devices...
Nevertheless, we would like to put this Ferrum in the spotlight. We have never seen an adjustable output before. (Although it probably exists). This function alone is worthy of Alpha Approved. Because this function ensures that you do not have to buy another device if you want a different dac, switch or whatever. Durability. Both for the environment and your wallet. COOL.