After the first part of the review, we finally get down to business : It's time to listen. In addition, with part 2 we provide you with the updated technical data at the end of the article. So you can compare yourself with the old data in Part 1 to see by how much the HEM team has exceeded its original calculations.

As I mentioned, I already know the power supply unit as a pre-release version. But you should be more than curious by now. Even during my first listening test before the official product release, I was unbiased towards the technology of the hybrid power supply. I first compared it with the internal switching power supply of the Brooklyn DAC+ and identified the changes in sound. A comparison with other linear power supplies active in my system was only made later, in another listening session. Nothing has changed now and I choose the same song to start with as I did before.

Peter Gabriel's "Secret World" from the album Us in FLAC format at 96/24 bears Gabriel's unmistakable signature - as a musician and producer. Thus, the listener can expect a work of sound art in which effects and mixing were used more as a means of expression and less as a technical aid to achieve the most natural sound possible. Toni Levin's bass playing can be heard on both the left and right channel at the beginning of the piece. Quite exceptional, the bass is usually mixed into the centre of the recording. Guitars and keys form a diffuse sound carpet, which is rounded off by Manu Katché's song-serving drumming. Gabriel's voice, which as usual is mixed somewhat unconventionally, takes up the stereo centre of the recording. With the HYPSOS, an unfamiliar depth of reproduction is noticeable from the very first second. The instruments are projected more emphatically and at the same time much more naturally into the room. The bass lines sound more solid, more tangible and at the same time reveal more micro details. Likewise, Gabriel's voice sounds more natural. The smallest nuances and the individual organic component of his singing stand out much more. In short, the singing seems more intimate and at the same time more emotional. Especially at the beginning of the piece, the greater independence of the instruments is also noticeable. Not only do both bass and vocals seem more powerful, but they also stand out better from each other without losing the musical context. The special stereo effect of the bass and the central mix of the vocals create a particularly interesting tension, which was clearly less energetic without the HYPSOS. The entire piece of music develops more liveliness with simultaneous precision. The effect of the HYPSOS power supply on my DAC is much greater than expected, above all many factors are influenced at the same time. I really have the feeling that I am listening to a revised version of the DAC, because of such clear differences.

While drummer Manu Katché kept himself rather in the background in Peter Gabriel's composition, in his solo work Neighbourhood he can become more prominent - as to be expected, nevertheless very sensitive and serving the piece. The opener "November 99" offers more unadulterated sounds and gives me the opportunity to examine the HYPSOS a little more intensively. Moreover, the album fits thematically into this test, because three of the musicians on this album come from the Polish jazz scene. Already the piano intro reveals a greater brilliance of the overtones. The sounds seem more floating, more detached, simply more realistic and believable. By the way, there is also a Marcin at work on the keys. The cymbals used for ornamentation sound more spacious and assert themselves even more. Manu Katché's special style and very individual playing dynamics are unmistakable: very supple, often almost as if in slow motion, but with a constantly present focus and clear accentuation, which discharges powerfully in the flow of the playing. How tastefully and sensitively, but equally emphatically and determinedly the power supply and DAC make the microcosm of the smallest dynamic explosions in drumming come alive is a blessing. The drum set literally breathes. And that's not all, after all, the piece has other fantastically played instruments to offer. At the beginning, the low-pitched bass drum and the double bass caress each other; later, with the main motif of the piece, the double bass clearly sets itself apart from the rest of the musical action. The playing dynamics of the bassist Sławomir Kurkiewicz are just as effortlessly comprehensible as those of the drummer before. The low bass of the double bass seems to merge even better with the overtones, which is very good for the organic component of the instrument. Switching off the 4T-sensing in no way serves to turn the sound signature of the HYPSOS upside down. Although the sound image seems minimally more relaxed and the detail resolution is somewhat scaled back, a high level of detail still remains the sound core of the PSU. A rather smooth and earthy sound will not be achieved with the HYPSOS. Switching off the spectrum mode does not result in any significant sound differences in my system.

Dirk Sommer tested the power supply in his system on other components and shares his listening experiences with you and me in the following: "Since Helmut Baumgartner, whom I used to think of as belonging more to the CD player than the streaming faction in the Hifistatement team, has recently become more involved with music files and their playback, the Aries G2.1 is missing from my chain for the first tests with the Ferrum HYPSOS, because it is currently in our photographer's living room, just like a G1 and the Melco N1A/2EX-H60. For the time being, the Waversa Wrouter, which is also active as a switch, takes over the function of the streaming bridge in my system. One of its USB outputs then goes to Chord Electronics' M-Scaler, which is powered by its standard external switching power supply and processes the signals for the DAVE, which is now powered by a linear power supply. In this configuration, Patrice Heral's 'Improvisation' from Michel Godard's album Le Concert Des Parfums, for example, sounds a little less thrilling than usual. Also, I'm sure I've been spoiled by a touch more bass pressure before. But if I really want to treat myself to the highest level of musical enjoyment, the M-Scaler is not powered by its mains adapter but by battery packs: the upsampler reacts quite sensitively to its power supply.

This is immediately confirmed when the HYPSOS delivers around 13 watts to the M-Scaler: The soundstage now seems much wider and deeper. In terms of dynamics, emotionality and punch in the low frequency range, no wishes remain unfulfilled. Thanks to the rumbling timpani in a large space and a shakuhachi - a Japanese bamboo flute - even "Raijin" from Arild Andersen's album Mira becomes a musical and sonic delight. This does not change when one of the Poweradds instead of the HYPSOS power the M-Scaler from rechargeable batteries: The probably imaginary soundstage retains its impressive dimensions, the fine resolution is at least as good as with the Ferrum, which, however, has a little more to offer in terms of dynamics than the battery pack. From now on, I don't need to worry about charged power packs. The HYPSOS provides more comfort and also a touch more pressure and speed. Great!

Before I move the Ferrum to the system in the living room, I allow myself one more attempt that makes a mockery of any rational consideration: I exchange the SBooster power supply, which feeds one of the two 10Gtec media converters for the fibre optic connection to the router, for the HYPSOS. The SBooster is already grossly disproportionate to the price of the converter - we're talking about a factor of ten here - and yet it made a decidedly positive impact in terms of sound. Unfortunately, it's the same with the Ferrum: it's several times more expensive than the SBooster and yet provides a more solid bass foundation, a more intense groove and more air around the instruments.

But now to a more suitable playing partner for the HYPSOS, the Auralic Aries Femto, which receives the music files in the living room via WLAN and forwards them to the Mytek Manhattan II for conversion. Some years ago even the high-quality power supply unit in a metal housing that was supplied with the Femto didn't stand a chance against a first-generation SBooster power supply unit in terms of sound quality. In the meantime, the Femto receives its power from an SBooster MKII. Here, too, the HYPSOS does what one can expect for three times the price of the SBooster: it raises the spatial presentation, the richness of timbre, the energy flow - especially in the bass - and the rhythmic precision to a significantly higher level. Neither with the M-Scaler nor with the media converter were the improvements through the Ferrum HYPSOS as serious as here: I know of no better external power supply. Of course, this quality has its price. But for that, the Hypsos is also universally applicable!

Finally, I would like to compare the HYPSOS with the other active power supplies in my chain. Each of the different power supplies has an individual characteristic: the Keces P3, for example, sounds very dynamic and, like the HYPSOS, very lively. In direct comparison to the SBooster of the first generation, however, a little fluttering. The SBooster power supply sounds more grounded, more stable. Conversely, however, one could say that the SBooster PSU sounds a little bit boring. But perhaps a certain calmness of playback is exactly what the stereo system in question lacks. So often the choice of power supply is a question of point of view and personal taste. Which variant do you find more suitable and which power supply harmonises better with the intended device? For my taste and the Brooklyn DAC+, the point clearly goes to the HYPSOS. It offers both a solid foundation of reproduction and an impressive detail that I had never experienced before. In view of its significantly higher price, however, this additional performance in no way means a devaluation of the other two power supplies in my system. Admittedly, the comparison with a completely new type of power supply is not entirely fair. Furthermore, as far as I know, there is currently no real competitor for the Ferrum HYPSOS with similar technology. The flexibility of this power supply is unparalleled. Once again, it offers every conceivable voltage between five and 30 volts, accurate to a tenth of a volt, with up to 80 watts output power. This makes it a no-brainer for listeners who like to try out different devices or use frequently changing devices in their chain. You almost always have a suitable, high-quality power supply unit at hand to upgrade your equipment. The 4T Sensing Design, the precise monitoring and stabilisation of the voltage at the device via the four-core supply cable, is also a feature that should not be neglected. Ferrum's first step to the hifi market is not only a success, but also an incredibly good advertisement for the new brand.

HYPSOS' Presets (12th of January 2021):
432 EVO Essence, Alpha Design Labs: GT40alpha, Stratos, Apogee Mini DAC, Arcam: airDAC, irDAC, irDAC II, rBlink, rDAC, rHead, rPlay, SonLink DAC, Audioengine: D2 24-Bit Wireless DAC, D2D Add-On for D2, Bel Canto: DAC1.5, CD2 CD Player 24/96, FM1 FM Tuner, Beresford CAIMAN SEG TC-7535, Cambridge Audio: DacMagic PLUS, DacMagic 100, iD100 Dock, Chord: Hugo M Scaler, Hugo TT2, Qutest, Creek: OBH-11 Mk2, OBH-15 Mk2, OBH-21 Mk2, Denon DA-300USB, Dynavector: P75 Mk3, P75 Mk4, Elac Discovery Music Server, exaSound: e22 DSD256 DAC, e28 DSD256 m-ch, Playpoint, e12 DAC, e20 DAC Mk III, FiiO QOGIR-E09K, Fram MIDI 120, Graham Slee: Accession, Elevator EXP, Reflex C, Reflex M, Revelation, Solo, iFi Audio: Pro iCan, iTube, iUSBPower, iCAN SE, iPhono2, iPhono, Pro DSD DAC, ZEN MINI, innuOS Wave Music, M2TECH: Marley MK2, Evo DAC Two, Evo DAC Two Plus, Young MK3, hiFace EVO, Martin Logan: ElectroMotion ESL, ElectroMotion ESL C9, ElectroMotion ESL X, ElectroMotion Theos, McIntosh: MB50, MS500, Melco: N100, S100, D100, E100, Meridian Audio: Media Core 200, Audio Core 200, Meridian Prime, Moon: 180 MiND Streamer, MOON 110LP, Mytek: Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn DAC+, Brooklyn DAC, Liberty DAC, Brooklyn ADC, Nuprime CDP-9, Paradigm PW LINK, Pathos Acoustics SRL: Aurium, Converto, Converto EVO, Ripstreamer PLAYER 64BITS ROON, RME -Audio Solutions: ADI-2, ADI-2 PRO FS, Roon Nucleus, Sonore: microRendu, ultraRendu, ultraDigital, SOtM: sHP-100, sMS-100, sMS-1000 A/D/U, sMS-200-ultra, sMS-200-ultra Neo, sMS-200, dx-USB HD, sDP-1000 DAC, Stax: SRM-212, SRM-252S, Uptone Audio REGEN, Wadia: di112, m330 media server, YULONG: A800 Class A, U100 USB, U18