Hi All, I have an odd question. I recently began using the Rega Neo PSU as an upgrade for my Rega P3 (Hana EH > Darlington Labs MP7 phono pre > Rega Brio amp > Epos m12.2 bookshelf speakers). My first impression was very positive: increase in bass, sparkly high-end, wider soundstage, clarity of instruments, etc. But after 20 or so minutes of semi-loud listening (75db maybe?), I began experiencing ear fatigue. I'm wondering if the improvements in bass and high-end have somehow weakened my midrange, or if changing the character of my sound has revealed weaknesses somewhere in my chain: am I hearing the Brio amp's solid-statey sound? Am I hearing the shortcomings of my speakers? Am I hallucinating? I tried doing some AB testing with and without the external power, and the only notable difference was the bass being more pronounced and deeper when using the Neo. I'm going back and forth between "yeah this does sound better" and "hmm, something is wrong". Nothing else has changed with my room, speaker placement, or anything else since adding the Neo. Does anyone have any insight? Am I crazy?
Happened to me when I rolled some tubes in my old amp: heavy bass gave me listening fatigue. I think it just that you're just not used to it yet. My new amp is bass heavy but more controlled and it doesn't bother me. Takes a bit for your listening to adjust. BTW, I'm surprised using the Neo changed the sound. I was thinking about getting one.
I'd make sure the NEO is away from your cartridge and analog electronics, especially the phono preamp and cables. It isn't a very high speed digital device, I think it uses a 4mHz oscillator, but will still generate some RFI than can get into the other gear.
It only requires a short distance and if you're using MC its no problem at all and if the rest of your equipment is half way decent there won't be any problem either.
Davey makes a good point here. There may be some "hidden" high frequency junk (that you can't really hear) thar is being picked up somewhere in the phono input chain and being amplified and out your speakers. Just because you can't hear it doesn't mean that you are not sensitive to it. Don't have the power supply next to your table, move it as far away as possible. BTW, changing the power supply should not radically change your bass response, so other issues may also be going on. Is there any hum at your normal playing levels?
I also have a P3 with the Neo PS. I have it right next to my Aria Mk3 Phono Stage and there are no issues with any kind of hum or noise. The external PSU makes changing speeds much more convenient.
Thanks for this...I'm hopeful this could be the issue. I came across one user on another forum who concluded that his Lehmann Black Cube preamp was indeed very sensitive to his new Rega Neo PSU and by moving the PSU far away, it increased the "musicality" of everything. No, there isn't any audible hum or anything that sounds like interference. I wouldn't say it radically changed my bass response, I just noticed that the bass seemed to be a bit deeper when I added the PSU. A lot of users have reported sonic upgrades by bypassing the internal power of the TT, so I assumed any slight change in character would be a positive thing. Another way of describing what I'm hearing is that it sounds like I've added EQ with the high and low frequencies turned up and the middle frequencies turned down, if that makes sense. Last night I moved the PSU as far away from my TT and phono preamp as the cables would allow (about 3 feet) but haven't been able to test it due to sleeping family. I'll give it a listen today and report back. Thank you and fingers crossed!
Well, just to be more clear, we aren't talking about obvious hum or noise, it is the more subtle effects of RFI/EMI entering the system, which sometimes causes a perceived "hardness" to the sound. I like to turn off my digital components when listening to records, where possible. Obviously not possible in this case, except as a test. But it was just a thought, not a criticism of the Rega design.
Update: after moving the unit, I am no longer experiencing the listening fatigue I mentioned before. Thank you Davey, for the suggestion! Jury is still out on whether the NEO is giving me a sonic upgrade. I tried listening with and without the unit but I realized I needed to perform a blind test to really assess which I preferred, or if there was even a discernable difference. I still feel like the NEO delivers a wider, and deeper soundstage...but maybe it's in my head!
Nice to know. I’m experiencing RFI from my Rega P3- Ifi Phono 3 with the Neo. Will move things around.
Hi guys. Same setup around here and the same problem as well: first impressions are kind of positive (wider & deeper soundstage, better timing, etc) but then I've experienced some listening fatigue after 20 minutes or so due to a very strong bass response that overrides the upper mids and high freq. sparkle that were present before the upgrade. I’ve just got the NEO a couple of days ago and tried many things since then, with no success: - Different belts (Rega, Edwards Audio, TangoSpinner) - Clamp/no Clamp - Different mats (felt, leather, cork) - Several Antiskate & VTF settings The problem go away when using just the PS1 plugged directly into the turntable, bypassing the NEO (which is off). All the sparkle and musical emotion of my beloved records comes to life again. My audio chain comprises of: NAIM Supernait 3, NAIM HiCap, iFi Zen Phono, Rega P3, PMC Speakers, Furmann power conditioner, Van Den Hul interconnects. My system has always been more on the “bright” side, so what I’m experiencing when using the NEO is kinda weird.
Hi @judasgoat, how far from the TT did you move the NEO? And how long have you been using the unit? I’ve come to think that maybe mine needs more break-in time… Thanks in advance for your answer.
On a friend's P6, there was an improvement going from the TT PSU to NEO. Apparently a Planar 3 owner, who had recently added a 24V motor kit, was really pleased with that s/h TT PSU too. Win / win and both had significant upgrades for less than the cost of some people's monthly cartridge wear! @judasgoat, are you using an EBLT belt, either advanced, or reference? If not, worthwhile sonic improvement (and measurement).
Yes, it uses a crystal oscillator. The DSP part is a bit nebulous since in modern times that would usually imply the use of a large scale integrated digital signal processor and software, but in this case it just means that it uses digital signal processing techniques implemented with a PIC processor and digital synthesizer chip to generate the sine wave at a specific frequency, followed by an analog driver stage for the motor. http://www.turntablepsu.com/images/Neo Schematic.pdf
The site is in the link, turntablepsu.com, he has a few of them listed with circuit details, schematics, and measurements where available. I'm not sure the source of the Rega schematics.
I got a neo for my P3 and I honestly heard no upgrade in sound quality. Being able to change from 33 to 45 was why I bought it though. Best upgrade I ever did to my P3 was change the belt to a Reference belt. That changed the TT a LOT ! Everything sounded better, had to adjust the speed, but that's easy with the neo. Enjoy you set up !
I use a Heed Orbit Power Supply for my P3 and its the best upgrade i have made. Perfect speed control and a press of a button changes 33 to 45. Second hand and cheap. My P3 with all its upgrades sounds great. The Heed was the best upgrade by a mile.
Thanks, that sight provides interesting and useful detailed information about the Neo, specifically what sized and type driver to use with the encoder since Rega neglected to include one in the box with my turntable. Not that I'll ever use it.
Hi everybody. Eventually, moving my NEO away from the TT was not necessary, since the treble “fog” and listening fatigue has gone now and all the sparkle that was initially lost is now back again. Finally I can say there is a deffinitive improvement in timing, dynamics, sonic authority and toe-tapping thanks to the NEO PS. It seems it was just a matter of break-in time (30 hours aprox, in my case). Weird, but true. I must say I had to do just one last fine tunning to further improve the already great sound: increase the rotational speed, by playing as a reference the same album on CD while adjusting and matching the speed of the turntable. I did this instead of using the iPhone app, since it was not accurate enough. The factory settings of the NEO produced a slower speed than expected. I hope this experience can help anybody else, during those confusing initial hours using a brand new NEO PSU.
I moved it a few feet away...basically as far as the included cable would allow. I'm using the stock EBLT belt that came with the P3 (purchased in January 2022). I feel like I had the same experience. After a week of obsessing over component isolation, possible RFI, speaker placement, VTF, and even room treatments, eventually my system just sort of corrected itself and now sounds better than ever. Is it possible that the NEO requires break-in time? How could that be?
