Might be your poison oh...

Let’s be fair, not every brand would suit anyone and be the only one solution available. I started of with Transparent’s power treatment solution, PowerBank 8, and was happy with it for a while.

Transparent, as many would put it, has a vivid hue leaning towards the romantically gold-ish sound. It ain’t a bad thing when you strike the right balance and it could be your all time solution. What’s respectable is that Transparent is able to retain such house-sound in all the products family.

My PowerBank 8 was replaced by Richard Gray RGPC 400MKII, what about PowerIsolator 4 that I am going to present to you today? Placed at higher range than PB8, PI4 employs noise isolation technology rather than filtration as in PB8.

One such difference that I could notice is when PI4 powered the whole of my setup, there seems to be lesser degree of current impeding nature of PB8. There seems to be no lack of power and no congestion what so ever.

The background is pitch black with minimal static noise while not compromising the musical information. It did not bring ail effects like harsh highs nor compromised speed. Indeed, the unit was spot on in rhythm and I would say visceral at times.

The mids came across openly, with no hint of veil. In fact, the mids was very detailed and quite focused, albeit the slight thinness when compared to RGPC. To say the least, the mids was one of the purer ones I have heard so far.

The soundstage was expansive, open and carried admirable width and depth. Imaging, though with slightly thinner and flatter nature, was rock solid. I was not too sure of whether the thinness was the effect of noise isolation, but definitely, it lagged behind RGPC in presence and tonal richness departments.

The highs, as usual, carried Tranparent’s goldish signature. However, it did not go as far extended as I wished and slightly lacked sparkles as associated with copper hi-hats. This made the hi-hats slightly plastic-y. The lows, though fast and taut, was a bit lean. I wish it could go just a bit lower to lend a more substantial body to the overall presentation.

If your setup suffers from overly bright upper regions or obese lower registers, I can’t see why Transparent PI4 isn’t the solution for you!