Uptone Audio Regen

[RichB]

All 100 sold!

Well, 97: I'm keeping one, I promised John Swenson a production unit, and one is going to be raffled off at the May 2nd CA member gathering in Berkeley (with the proceeds going to the charity of the winner's choice).

 

Here is a pic of 50 completed kits waiting to be put in shipping cartons:

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]17958[/ATTACH]

 

Everyone should be receiving a status e-mail from me shortly.

 

Thanks gang!

 

That's awesome Alex! Its a tribute to you and Johns hard work! I'm glad I getting one of those first 100.

[Freann]

Order #1009 :-)

 

Hi Alex

If I make a Y-cable, can I power a Regen plus an optical media converter from the same JS-2 outlet? The wall wart that came with the OMC is rated 9V/0.6A.

[Superdad]

Order #1009 :-)

 

Hi Alex

If I make a Y-cable, can I power a Regen plus an optical media converter from the same JS-2 outlet? The wall wart that came with the OMC is rated 9V/0.6A.

 

Yes, that should work with no problem.

[Brucemck2]

Would one of these USB power supplies (I already own it) be redundant or helpful? If the latter, would it go upstream or downstream of the Regen?

 

Power Block USB cable supply/filter

[wisnon]

All 100 sold!

Well, 97: I'm keeping one, I promised John Swenson a production unit, and one is going to be raffled off at the May 2nd CA member gathering in Berkeley (with the proceeds going to the charity of the winner's choice).

 

Here is a pic of 50 completed kits waiting to be put in shipping cartons:

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]17958[/ATTACH]

 

Everyone should be receiving a status e-mail from me shortly.

 

Thanks gang!

Hopefully mine will get to Penn by Friday.

[DZetye]

Hi Alex,

 

Should I just disconnect my IFI iUSB Power device or use it in tandem with the Regen?

[Theobetley]

Good question....that is my situation too.

[Theobetley]

One more question Alex...will we get a tracking number for our shipment?

[Daudio]

One more question Alex...

 

How about we all give Alex a break from all the questions and let him attend to building and shipping our Regens !?

 

I believe that most of the recent questions could be answered by reviewing past posts on the subject here in this thread. That, and a modicum of thought

[jtwrace]

Hi Alex,

 

Should I just disconnect my IFI iUSB Power device or use it in tandem with the Regen?

 

Good question....that is my situation too.

 

I would most certainly say disconnect.

[jtwrace]

One more question Alex...will we get a tracking number for our shipment?

 

Oh boy, good thing nobody is planning their life for their REGEN. hahahahaha

[jtwrace]

How about we all give Alex a break from all the questions and let him attend to building and shipping our Regens !?

 

I believe that most of the recent questions could be answered by reviewing past posts on the subject here in this thread. That, and a modicum of thought

 

Yeah and does everyone know the website is open to everyone? The Pre-Order for the next 100 has started.

[baddog]

Hi. I am not Alex, however given all the activity on this thread, I thought I would re-post two recent communications from Alex that were posted on this thread. Worth a read if you missed it which is understandable given all the excitement. And a link to his website where you can review and order product.

 

------Tear Here---->

 

Hello again everyone:

 

Once again, thank you for all the new orders and interest! Am now down to about 18 units left from the first 100 units we have in-house--and will be working hard to ship all those in the coming days.

 

I have already sent an urgent PO to Japan for another 100 of the milled/printed aluminum cases, but they are about to go on "Golden-week" holiday there and delivery will likely be mid-May. More PCBs can certainly be ready before then.

 

So it looks like by the time I take the password off the web site and open it to the wider world on Tuesday, I may have to put a late-May delivery date on the REGEN page. Wow.

 

----------------------------

 

I have an explanation and a big favor to ask everyone:

 

a) The ONLY list that exists for REGEN orders is YOUR ORDER ON THE WEB SITE!

 

b) The

only

mailing list I maintain for past and future communications is based on regular ([email protected]) e-mail addresses. It is neither practical nor allowed for me to conduct mailings or business via the CA messaging system.

 

b) Asking here in the thread or sending me a message to get "on the list" does nothing--especially if you do not include your private e-mail address. (Don't worry, I keep those private and don't share them, and I use s/w that does show other recipients your address either.)

 

I just finished spending 2 hours sending replies (including the early access password) to everyone above that asked--via the CA messaging system, but that really needs to stop if I am to keep up with everything.

 

My own e-mail address is pretty darn easy to find on the web, and anyone is still welcome to use the CAmessage system to send me their e-mail address to be included right away on mailings. And at least for one more day I will respond to those with the web site password.

 

Thanks for being understanding about this.

 

Kindly,

 

Alex C.

And to everyone else:

 

My apologies for not yet replying to your various special notes and requests.

I assure you that I have been seeing ALL of them--from the Special Order Notes field on the order page, to the messages from the contact page, and also from your direct e-mails to my private e-mail address.

 

I promise that nobody will be overlooked. The process of sorting out and replying will start in the next day or two as there are a few logistical matters I have to work on first (the REGEN "Owner's Booklet" today, the order and address export/import tomorrow, etc.).

 

Please do not use any forum threads for order logistics or requests.

That way leads to madness for me (

) and distraction from general discussion.

 

Thanks again,

 

ALEX

 

 

 

 

[jtwrace]

Hi. I am not Alex, however given all the activity on this thread, I thought I would re-post two recent communications from Alex that were posted on this thread. Worth a read if you missed it which is understandable given all the excitement. And a link to his website where you can review and order product.

As noted above, "order" is Pre-Order with a May delivery. Just so nobody gets their panties in a wad. ;-)

[Superdad]

Would one of these USB power supplies (I already own it) be redundant or helpful? If the latter, would it go upstream or downstream of the Regen?

 

Power Block USB cable supply/filter

 

Should I just disconnect my IFI iUSB Power device or use it in tandem with the Regen?

 

 

For best signal integrity and impedance match, the REGEN should be allowed to generate its data signal as close to the DAC as possible (hence the very small case and solid USB adapter it comes with).

 

Any devices before the REGEN that are there just to make a better 5VBUS will no longer have an effect on the 5V received by the DAC because any pin 1 power coming into the REGEN is disconnected and replaced with power regulated by one of the unit's two best-in-class TPS7A4700 ultra-low noise regulators.

 

As for the continued benefit of any "filtering" or "signal conditioning" performed on the data lines by the range of other devices, the answer is that I really have no idea. We have never tested the REGEN in combination with other units. That's what all you guys are going to do and report on.

 

We have been very up front about the fact that even though the REGEN does, by virtue of its hub chip (that's all it is really, no secret "snake oil") create a new signal to drive the DAC's input, upstream changes (USB cables, computer PS, OS, etc.) do still make a difference. USB cable differences may not be as dramatic as before, but they are still there.

 

If we built a device that provided true galvanic isolation of the USB line--and still had it right at the DAC input--then maybe cables would matter even less. But the design for such a device would require a small FPGA, PHYs on both sides of it, and two power supplies (though maybe we would let the input side run on VBUS). A much more expensive proposition.

 

So the one item that I am interested in trying with the REGEN is the Corning USB cable, since:

a) that does galvanically isolate;

b) the REGEN will disconnect/ignore the Corning's low amperage, copper wire VBUS;

c) the lesser quality clocking/signal of the Corning's own hub/transceiver chip (there is one in there, certainly at the receiving end--it is just tiny and specialized as an optical receiver>USB PHY) is replaced by the REGEN's own signal generation.

 

 

Lastly, I'd like to emphasize that we believe the REGEN is helping the DAC as much or more than it is helping the computer. While I suppose when we are talking in general about better signal integrity (see John's writings for why this matters--the whole poor incoming-SI modulating PS and clocking inside the DAC thing), it is hard to separate the factors, everything upstream that is.

 

But what we have found is that the REGEN helps most on DACs whose USB input is very sensitive about what comes before. I guess that would be kind of obvious. To put it plainly, we have had some decent or good DACs with crappy USB inputs be transformed by the REGEN.

Yet even on DACs (or USB>S/PDIF converters) with really good USB implementations, we hear a striking difference. Not sure what my point here is. Things are, as always, a system--and should be looked at that way.

 

Hope the above makes some sense and clears things up a little.

 

Thanks for the diversion from dinking around with importing 100+ orders and addresses into my accounting s/w so we can start shipping in the morning.

[jtwrace]

b) the REGEN will disconnect/ignore the Corning's low amperage, copper wire VBUS;

I contacted them asking if they were planning on 1m lengths. No was the answer. 10m sucks!

 

Thanks for the diversion from dinking around with importing 100+ orders and addresses into my accounting s/w so we can start shipping in the morning.

WOW, hope I have mine for the weekend. I need something to do that's productive. lol

[reverendo]

So the one item that I am interested in trying with the REGEN is the Corning USB cable, since:

a) that does galvanically isolate;

b) the REGEN will disconnect/ignore the Corning's low amperage, copper wire VBUS;

c) the lesser quality clocking/signal of the Corning's own hub/transceiver chip (there is one in there, certainly at the receiving end--it is just tiny and specialized as an optical receiver>USB PHY) is replaced by the REGEN's own signal generation.

Now I get it. Just might re-buy the Corning out of curiosity, depending on the results I'll get with the Lightspeed + REGEN.

[hifial]

Quote Originally Posted by Superdad View Post

b) the REGEN will disconnect/ignore the Corning's low amperage, copper wire VBUS;

 

I contacted them asking if they were planning on 1m lengths. No was the answer. 10m sucks!

 

Jason, while I agree with you that it would be nice if Corning made a "short" length it makes no sense for them. From what I understand the none optical USB usable length is about 15 +/- ft. In order to go longer one would need a "repeater/booster" to add another 15 +/- ft for a total of 30 ft. So for Corning 10m/30ft is the logical starting point. Most USB optical buyers are thrilled that there are much longer lengths. Now one can have long runs from room to room or floor to floor, and longer.

 

Also keep in mind that because the Corning USB Optical Cable is just that, Optical, it can be wound-up tightly, placed on/near/next to any other type of cable with NO signal problems unlike a conventional copper cable could have.

 

I received my Corning USB cable a few days ago and plan to try it in my system in a day or two. With and without my TotalDAC USB Cable.

 

Then when I get my Regen I will try the Regen with and without the TotalDAC USB, with and without the Corning USB and then I will try them "All together now", oy.

[Le Concombre Masqué]

for what it's worth,here is a reprint from the Corning thread of the power tree on my Mac. For the record, my Corning failed after 10 days, I'm struggling to get it replaced because of a strike (not in France , in Germany, gentlemen !) and of a distributor insisting on testing before sending a replacement). I wish I had be more patient and rather ordered a REGEN (though I liked the Corning + required (cheap in my case )powered hub combo ; guess I'll order a REGEN when money to spend (my next purchase will be a new surfboard ; spring is here ; let's not forget to step out !) and the probable reports of much better results with the REGEN than with a cheap hub will come.:

 

So the one item that I am interested in trying with the REGEN is the Corning USB cable, since:

a) that does galvanically isolate;

b) the REGEN will disconnect/ignore the Corning's low amperage, copper wire VBUS;

c) the lesser quality clocking/signal of the Corning's own hub/transceiver chip (there is one in there, certainly at the receiving end--it is just tiny and specialized as an optical receiver>USB PHY) is replaced by the REGEN's own signal generation.

 

 

[Duke40]

So the one item that I am interested in trying with the REGEN is the Corning USB cable, since:

a) that does galvanically isolate;

b) the REGEN will disconnect/ignore the Corning's low amperage, copper wire VBUS;

c) the lesser quality clocking/signal of the Corning's own hub/transceiver chip (there is one in there, certainly at the receiving end--it is just tiny and specialized as an optical receiver>USB PHY) is replaced by the REGEN's own signal generation.

 

Alex, I do not have a Corning USB cable ... though I do have a Vaunix USB Hub which I believe will provide galvanic isolation (separate power and digital grounds, physically and electrically).

 

If you like, I can post it to you to borrow for a month to try with the REGEN.

[drmike]

wondering if I could use the SB Touch with the regen, and what would be the proper hookup sequence? I am using the power supply that john Swenson designed a few years ago for the touch, would that be appropriate for the regen?

thanks,

drmike

[JohnSwenson]

wondering if I could use the SB Touch with the regen, and what would be the proper hookup sequence? I am using the power supply that john Swenson designed a few years ago for the touch, would that be appropriate for the regen?

thanks,

drmike

 

The regen works great with the touch, that is primarily how I use mine. Use a decent cable between the regen and the touch, plug the regen directly into the DAC.

 

If you are powering the touch you must have a 5V supply, as has been mentioned before this is problematic for the regen. It is fine for the regulator that powers the hub and clock, but not good for the 5V VBUS reg. If your DAC does not use VBUS in any way, then this will be fine. If you don't know it is best not to feed the regen 5V.

 

If your supply was a DIY creation you can add another regulator set for a higher voltage. (see previous posts for how to choose a voltage).

 

In my house I have an early version of the PS design powering the touch and a prototype JS2 powering the regen and one of my DAC creations.

 

John S.

[Superdad]

Hi Gang:

 

The past 24 hours had been frustrating--and now sad. All the REGENs are snug in their cut little boxes, and today was the day to begin shipping them around the world. But that did not happen!

 

Here's what did:

The last few days, in between coordinating final assembly and testing--and getting parts on order for the next batch--I have been wrestling with and learning about exporting orders and customer data, addresses, payments etc. from the Shopify e-commerce service I use. Figuring out how to first import it all into my accounting software, and then back out to a shipping label service or USPS itself.

With this many orders and with easily half of them bound for overseas destinations, there just was no way I was going to be able to copy and paste my way through that mountain. I always knew that, and, having identified the tools to automate it I figured the whole process would take perhaps 6 hours or so.

That turned out to be wishful thinking. And boy was I wrong about it being a smooth process.

 

The AccountEdge bookkeeping system (which we ran Hovland on for 10 years, and which I update almost every year) supports only Shopify with its web store "Connector" app--something I did not know when I chose to host there, but which seemed like a wonderful coincidence. But after activating it and figuring out how it's supposed to work (not terribly well), I hit the "sync" button to discover that it will only sync orders and clients cards for orders that are placed AFTER one connects the two services! Which does nothing for my order stack.

 

Undaunted, and being pretty good with importing/exporting CSV files with fields of data, I marched on and downloaded all the transaction data from my Shopify store. That's when I discovered what an inconsistent, unstructured mess it was--especially on all the international addresses. Bill-tos and ship-tos, odd country abbreviations and postal codes, plus special diacritical marks that got tuned into gibberish symbols, along with 30 other fields that duplicated some address data. Yuck.

 

I attacked it by reformatting and focusing on the critical ship-to data. I also separated out all the orders from you nice people who had bought from me before (a JS-2 or MMK), since you were already set up in my system. But all that still had to be cross-referenced since a lot of people used a different mailing address than before.

 

Anyway, you can see where all of this was going. PayPal and credit payment reports and fees, sales tax, ship methods and charges, blah, blah, blah. The hours of bleary staring and clicking just flew right on by! I finally had all a mostly audited and trimmed spreadsheet with all the orders and details--even got all the new customers imported into my accounting system--12 hours later, after an all-nighter that ended at 5:30 a.m.. Woke back up at 7:00 to take kids to school and to get back at it. Cranked for another 5 hours, even enlisting my assembler assistant (who had nothing to do since all the good are ready) for help transferring some order data between some pages, saving me considerable time when I get to actually entering the product orders into the now accurate customer records.

 

Since most of you opted for the economical and fast Priority Mail service, the next task was uploading all your addresses and e-mails (so you will receive tracking notification) onto the USPS site. Fortunately that went VERY smoothly--in large part because I had already spent all those hours standardizing the address fields and formatting.

 

I was feeling pretty good at that point. Well, as good as one can feel after sitting at a desk, with no sleep, feeling anxious to get all those boxes out the door so some of you (at least those in the USA) could play with them this weekend. The clock was telling me I had about 2 hours left to enter some labels, print some invoices, seal up a few boxes, and jet to town to make the 4:15 post office cut-off.

 

But as soon as I tried entering some labels, the USPS site stalled, then gave cryptic timeout errors and then finally just shut down and gave me this:

 

Now you know what I had plenty of time to tell the sad tale above. I don't use curse words on an open forum, but for a new reason today it was a good thing I have a soundproof office.

 

Anyway folks, I'm taking a break and will continue latter on tonight and in the morning. Some REGENs (and Udis' JS-2) will leave here tomorrow, and the larger flood of them on Friday and Monday (except for those who ordered extra of my custom DC cables; I'll work on those AFTER all the REGEN-only kits have shipped).

 

I hope none of you think I am complaining about what is truly good fortune and an exciting time for me. I just don't like to disappoint people when I set a target date for shipping, and though I pulled out all the stops to make it happen, I hit a wall--and a dead web site. (It's probably back up now.)

 

Thanks and regards,

 

ALEX

[baddog]

Alex - While I can't match you word for word, at least from my end I appreciate the update, share the heartbreak, and wanted to let you know that life is short and a delay on a new toy can certainly wait, even one as hotly anticipated as the Regen. Hope you can take a break tonight and just kick back for a while, I am fine if you kick back my order a few days.

 

Barr

 

p.s. plus I can use the extra time to make the "post it note stack" for my Regen.

[jtwrace]

I pulled out all the stops to make it happen

Thanks and regards,

 

ALEX

I have no doubt about this. This is certainly who you are. Relax, get some sleep, it's just an audio product that can wait. Oh, I forgot to ask, when does mine ship?!?!! LOL