Power consumption of Pulse 2
Answered
Hello!
I recently bought a second hand Pulse that is five years old. I think it works as advertised, at least having read up on some peoples issues with the standby mode causing a high pitched hiss or buzz. I've grown quite tired of listening to it and reached out to an audio engineer friend who suggested that a class D amp shouldn't really draw any real power if not playing. I hooked the speaker up through a power consumtion meter and when silent but out of standby mode it draws 13,5W. When playing at a comfortable level, just at the border of drowning out conversation a couple of meter away from it, it draws 14,5W. In standby mode it draws just under 5W.
So my idea to just turn off standby mode maybe isn't that viable considering the "always on" design.
My audio engineer friend had a few different ideas as to what may be causing he hissing, one being that an odd transistor in the amplifier design is left on in standby mode, causing the hiss. Another idea is that the DA-converter is left on and some signal is bleeding through. However, the real mystery to me (apart from a power save mode actually producing more sound than an active mode) is why the speaker draws almost as much power when silent as when playing. This is an unfortunate combination of factors as I really would prefer this unit to be silent when not playing.
The thought of just disconnecting it had occurred to me but then having to deal with the time it takes to reconnect to the network is prohibitive. Although, its not that much worse than the current 30-45 seconds it now takes from pressing play on Spotify, even when standby mode is not active. My Powernode 2i starts playing instantly as a comparison.
What is the standby mode in the Pulse actually doing? What is it turning off? And why is it making more noise whan in standby mode than when music is not playing but it is out of standby mode?
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Official comment
Hi Karl
What you are describing is not normal nor what is expected of the PULSE. It is likely defective. You mentioned you purchased it second hand so as a result you likely are not eligible for any warranty or after warranty options. Please check out www.bluesound.com/stored and click the link to view Distributors. Depending on your country, some of our regional distributors (but not all) may offer repair options. The PULSE however, being an all in one product is sealed so any possible repairs may not be worth it compared to re-purchasing.
I am sorry to hear about your predicament but this could be an example of why it may be best to stick to an authorised re-seller.
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Thank you for replying.
My hope here was to glean some actual information about the product and how the amplifier topography is arranged. My hope was that something might be done to reduce the noise, either by filtering the power input in some way or by a software fix.Bluesound products has a good reputation in Sweden where I am located and I would expect the components in them to last longer than five years, at the price point they are at. In my opinion, a good quality product should be able to handle a couple of owners and getting good quality products second hand is usually a very good option resource wise, for both consumer and from a waste standpoint. I find that most companies that do sincerely back up their products will still be helpful when issues arise, even if they have been re-sold. I had hopes of this applying to Bluesound as well, but after reading several tales of tech support interactions I'm starting to get the impression that that will not be the case.
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