Uptone Audio Regen

[Superdad]

BTW when I was very young my dad was working with germanium transistors and my mom had geraniums growing in planter boxes out front, this got me very confused!

 

Well I was going to make a germanium/geranium joke (something about growing transistors in the garden), but you beat me to it. BTW, I can't stand the smell of geraniums. Some were growing in the yard of our last house and I ripped them out right away. I also have an aversion to juniper bushes.

 

Sorry to be so far off topic. Now you know more about me than you might have wanted to.

 

--Alex C.

 

P.S. I was just researching overseas sources for DC cables on Alibaba, and while looking at this one (picked up on a Google image search): http://guide.alibaba.com/shop/dc-5-5-x-2-1mm-jack-male-to-5-5mm-x-2-1mm-dc-power-plug-male-extension-cable-for-cctv-cmaera-10pcs-free-shipping_5487555.html , I was alarmed by the category they had it under (see near the top of the page). It is under Health Care Supplies>Sex Products! Must be the reference in the product title to "male extension." I doubt it is very useful.

[Superdad]

if we ordered just the amber replacement pcb will we be sent some kind of notification when it ships? paid on 6/10 with pp.

thanks,

drmike

 

Hi Mike:

Only 30 amber upgrade kits went out this week. I have 300 boards coming in over the next 10 days, and when the first 100 or so arrive about the 26th, we will immediately test and send out kits to the remaining 63 people who ordered one. Thanks for your patience.

--Alex C.

[Superdad]

Hm!

Should be getting my JS2/MMK/Amber soon......

 

Final testing and packing was yesterday. FedEx just picked up your 7kg package with everything. Assuming no delays in customs you will have all your new toys on Monday.

(I love the FedEx "Great Rates" program we use; Priority to Europe and Asia is same or less than Economy, and the discounts run 65-75% off! 7kg from California to Hong Kong in 2 business days for $85!)

 

By the way, made some slight revisions to JS-2, mainly to assure that in lower voltage countries (220V and 230V are like having 110/115V versus usual 120V here in US; and then there is 100V Japan) the supply can make full 5A at 12V. Had to drop 5V rating to 4.5A, but now--at least with 120V--the JS-2 rocks 12V at up to 6.4A continuous!

 

I should revise the web page to read:

5V - 4.5A

7V - 5.9A

9V - 7.3A

12V - 6.4A

[Superdad]

To be sure I understand what to set my DC Outlet 2 on the JS-2 when it arrives (scheduled for tomorrow), to power the Regen Amber, 7V is still the correct setting? And 9V may also be permissible? Is one setting better advised to set than the other/which setting is best to power the Regen Amber for my W4S Dac2 DSDse?

 

Hi Richard:

 

You are also receiving our Mac mini DC-conversion/Linear Fan Controller Kit (MMK) to use your Mac with an external supply. It supports the optional use of the JS-2's Kelvin-sense voltage/current feedback line (via the included SMA/coax cable), and that feature is only on DC output #2.

 

So I suggest that you connect the REGEN to DC1 (set at 7V, I doubt you will hear a difference at 9V and I don't recall what if any 5VBUS power the W4S DAC uses, so 7V is safest bet). Use DC2 for the Mac mini, and if you connect the black coax cable between the JS-2 and MMK then you can set the small black slide-switch to "Sense Set." In that position the JS-2 will ignore the output voltage setting of DC2's blue rotary switch and will take its cue from two resistors on the MMK board which will tell the supply to provide 12V at all times (with this feature you could have 40 feet of cable and still get exactly 12V delivered at the load--even under transient conditions).

 

Have fun this weekend with your new toys.

 

Thanks and regards,

--Alex C.

[Superdad]

I really was hoping to get to the end of June before this happened, but I just checked the order list, and any new REGEN orders placed from this moment forward will not ship until mid-August.

 

If your order number is between 1382 and 1640, your REGEN is still scheduled to ship in July.

Circuit boards and cases for all of those will be in house by July 6th, and we will assemble and test quickly then, but we will not have enough of the 7.5V/2.93A Mean Well SMPS units on hand to ship all 250 REGENs early-July. Certainly by mid-to-late July and this may improve.

 

(I've had multiple purchase orders for large quantities with scheduled dates with several distributors for some time--and I have even flown in batches of 30-50 from Europe and Asia where I could find them. Anyone who can find me a good quantity (50-150) of real stock-on-the-shelf of the GS25A07-P1J from a wholesaler will get points and some sort of bonus from me. Don't bother looking in the USA, don't tell me about 5-10 units at some high price somewhere, and don't tell me about deals with a lead time for end-of-July as I'll be covered by then.)

 

Again, if you place an order now, your order number will be 1640 or above and your REGEN will not ship until August.

I am sorry. Could anyone really have seen this train coming so fast? I've been trying, and each month the parts and order numbers get bigger. We will continue to grow in numerous ways--especially once the next product is announced and shipping.

 

John and I thank you for all your support and enthusiasm, and we are delighted that everyone is enjoying their USB REGENs so much.

 

Regards,

 

--Alex C.

[Superdad]

How do I determine my order number?

There was no number stated on the PayPal invoice.

 

You should have received an order acknowledgement e-mail--to the e-mail you entered when you placed the order. Send me a PM with your real name and I'll look it up for you. But I am sure you are in the July batch since the sellout only just occurred. Unless there is a problem with your e-mail address and you happen to be in the June batch. In which case your REGEN is on its way to you already.

 

Best,

AJC

[Superdad]

Had someone pre-set the JS-2 to correspond with my intended use given the optional custom DC cable for the JS-2 to Regen Amber was part of the order?

 

Yup, that would be me. I try to anticipate intended use.

 

While I thank you for all your kind words Richard, I must point out that there are still two very embarrassing omissions to the otherwise complete package. As JS-2 owners have seen--but strangely none have commented upon--the supply still does not come with an Owner's Manual. I have written drafts of one, and I certainly can think of a bunch of additional tips and cautions that should go into it, but between being busy and having a bit of perfectionist writer's block (things I write for permanent publication I end up taking many hours to write and graphically lay out), it just has not happened yet. But it will.

 

The second glaring omission that will be remedied quite soon is the Installation Guide for the Mac mini DC-conversion/Linear Fan Controller Kit (MMK). As you have seen, the text booklet is very carefully written and does not leave out the slightest detail. And when used in conjunction with the excellent photos at iFixIt.com, nobody--out of well over 100 people--has had a difficult time performing the procedure. But the all-text booklet clearly is intimidating even though the process is pretty simple.

 

About two months ago I performed a complimentary MMK installation (for hifial as it happens), a service that I offer to all who purchase a JS-2 at the same time. I took start-to-finish close-up photos of the entire MMK install procedure, and when I reviewed them on my computer I realized that this photo essay could completely replace the text-heavy guide--and almost not even need ANY text at all. Clearly this will also be a great thing for those in countries where English is not their native tongue.

The folder has over 100 6-Megapixel images, so I need to pare those way down, drop the file sizes, put them in order, and integrate some text (mostly just pasting the appropriate steps from the already-written guide). Then it will go up on the web.

 

Still, I am very glad that people appreciate the packing and packaging details of the products. You might be surprised at how much thought, research, and agonizing went into both the JS-2 and the REGEN packaging. Not the least of which are the considerations of how and where they will be shipped and what the freight costs will be. If that JS-2 carton was just 1-inch larger in any dimension, the freight costs to send it overseas would be 23% higher (at least that's what the dimensional weight calculation indicated when I designed the JS-2 packing system two years ago). And I am sure glad for those spaces in-between the inner and outer boxes--they are handy for cables, MMK, REGENs, etc.

 

The REGEN's own cute little jewelry box did not arise from wanting to be fancy (though I do like making a nice presentation). It stemmed from the paucity of roomy boxes that will fit inside a USPS Small Flat Rate Priority Mail Box. Priority Mail is the least expensive, most reliable for the price method of shipping small parcels overseas, but it is much more costly in boxes other than the Flat Rate versions--of which there is only one small size.

 

I am sure the above is way more than anyone wanted to know about why the packaging is the way it is. But I like to protect the products, keep things simple and cost effective, and not have to charge too much for shipping. So there you go.

 

Enjoy your new toys Richard, and don't be shy about installing your MMK. You will do just fine. And I am always here to help.

 

Oh, I'm being called away for the balance of my Father's Day fun!

 

Bye,

--Alex C.

[Superdad]

I have no interest in organizing 3D printed cases for the 95 or so people that will have a spare "Green" board. However, if Alex approved it, I could send out the STP file for the case that you can submit to any online printing company to make one. It shouldn't be more than $20 max and you will need to supply 4 screws too.

 

I don't mind. Just send me the file too. I might have some REGEN cases made with a 3D chocolate printer. Could be the first--delicious--bit of UpTone Audio swag! (72%+ single-origin cacao of course)

[Superdad]

We should persuade Alex to sell the original Regen cases for another $45 shipped ...

 

 

Groan… It's the logistics that are a killer. I have so little time to keep up with the big stuff (and my e-mail), that while, yes, I could increase a future case order size (would have to be for September's run), by the time we are done with the processing (payments, boxes, packing, labels, etc.) of it all, we lose more than money, we lose time, which at this point is far more precious to me. So while I have a desire to give a big thank you to all our first adopters in the form of a case for their old "greens," I don't see it happening. Besides, strategically I'd rather have the "greens" stay in use naked or in a drawer than have them put in official cases and resold somewhere since they don't represent the current product and they don't have USB adapters and SMPS to go with them.

 

Speaking of which Adam, are you sure you can't find a way to use the solid adapter with your DAC? That 6" cable is really not the hot ticket. We are working on a different solution, but that is slow going right now as we have a complex project in from of it.

 

Cheers,

ALEX

[Superdad]

I do not even know what to say...

 

BTW not even a word of explanation of what it may be doing if anything at all because taking in account the speed of release it may as well be an empty box.

 

 

Hang on gentlemen:

 

Some explanation is in order. And I would not want to see an earnest engineer from another small firm bashed about in this or any REGEN thread.

 

Mr. Draaijer of SBooster did telephone me a couple of weeks ago. I believe he will be sending us two versions of his devices to try. And he was/is interested in our potentially endorsing them for use with the REGEN. I was polite and interested in learning more about what he is doing, and while I may have mentioned to him that we have our own plans for a PS add on, I did not go into any details (and what we are doing is ENTIRELY different anyway).

 

From what I understand of the SBooster/BoTW approach, he takes, in the case of the inexpensive in-line products, an SMPS and tames it with filters. Every SMPS has its own characteristic high frequency noise signature depending upon is design, and his approach is to design filters appropriate to each. He told me that he tested a Mean Well (either the exact one I supply or from a similar Mean Well series), and designed a couple of versions of filters for it specifically (though I do not believe he has a REGEN itself).

 

If you look at this page: HIFISTATEMENT | netmagazine - Auralic Aries und SBooster BOTW P&P eco

you will see the insides of both his new full supply for 250 Euros (it seems a nice linear with some inductors of both sides, I'm not sure what aspects might make it special) and two versions of his in-line filters that one feeds DC into at one end and gets cleaner DC out the other side.

 

So I withhold judgement as to the efficacy of the add-on. Perhaps Mr. Jones will have some comments when he gets one. I'll also take a listen when one arrives to me. I understand that Mr. Draaijer has many satisfied customers for his other products, and I believe that he is a serious fellow trying to offer value in upgrades to low DC-voltage DACs, streamers, and other devices.

 

Both switching and linear power supplies can be good or bad, and they both have strong points and weaknesses. Same for batteries.

I really do not want to fuel speculation about the crazy thing John and I are working on, but let's just say it will be a forth way, different from any of the above-named three.

 

Very glad everyone is enjoying their new REGENs. One young man in Southern California said this as part his comments to me in an e-mail today:

"The most beneficial gain for me was in the drums, as I'm teaching myself to play and I'm now able to hear techniques that were previously imperceptible."

That's really cool!

I hope to have time this weekend to fire up my system and listen some more myself (Pandora out in the shop is getting really tiresome; though the hand-picked tunes on the station RadioParadise.com can usually get me through an evening's work.)

 

Ciao,

--Alex C.

[Superdad]

Wait, wait, powered by chipmunks!

 

Yes chipmunks. But not just any chipmunks. Alvin!!!

[Superdad]

Release date?

 

As soon as John can herd all the chip(munks) onto the PC board and have them singing together in harmony. Looks like there will be between 130-140 parts on the board by the time all the circuits are done. So ideally mid-September, but please don't hold us to anything.

[Superdad]

How does this Chipmunk configuration help people from overseas?

In my country we have some pretty stringent Customs people.

 

Well we thought about using ferrets, but they are illegal here in California.

 

[Superdad]

A tip for anyone connecting for the first time with USB cables over 1 metre:

Connect to your PC with the short USB cable provided first!!!

 

The reason for this tip is as follows, I reset my main Audio PC back to GUI mode based on advice here for Server 2012 R2 and when I connected using my 1.2 metres PPA Red USB cable I got the following:

Unknown USB Device (device descriptor request failed) with the usual window error symbol on the USB device list.

 

I then booted up my Win 8.1 laptop and tried it using an Ultraviolet 1.5 metre cable and the same problem occurred!!

 

I could not find any guidance on what to do here or on the Uptone site so after all kinds of reboots and uninstalls and attempts at generic driver installs I tried the short USB cable that came with the Regen and straight away I could see in Device Manager it picked up the device fine.

 

The tried the long Ultraviolet cable again and all OK.

Back to my main Audio PC with Server 2012 R2 and same procedure got the device recognised straight away.

 

Hope this helps, need to get back to Core mode again now and start listening to some music.

Cheers, Pearse.

 

Thanks very much for the tip Pearse! Although the REGEN is functions just like a USB hub (only MUCH better sounding due to purpose-built design details), there are indeed a world of possible little quirks in getting the DAC recognized through it for the first time--mostly with Windows. But once you s/w learns its path, it generally remembers. Not sure why some USB cables add to the confusion sometimes, but that does seem to be a pattern.

 

Anyway, glad you got it going. Enjoy!

 

--Alex C.

[Superdad]

Finally I get my Blue USB Regen. No problem with customs here, but with the rivers and dangerous jungle to reach his destination.

 

Thanks Alex & John for the pure silver DC cable.

 

I have not had time to listen but I guess that far surpass the green and amber I already had.

 

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]19387[/ATTACH]

 

 

Roch

 

You're killing me here Roch!

Pure silver DC cable indeed.

 

Besides, you won't see me putting blue LEDs in an UpTone product anytime soon. I hate 'em. And they could even be considered a health hazard (Blue LEDs: A health hazard? | Texyt).

Also, the ultra-low-current surface-mount LED series we use on the REGEN boards is not available in blue. Just red, green, yellow, and that weird aluminum indium gallium phosphide mix that nets the amber/orange as currently used. (Might knock down the brightness a bit more in a future run if I remember.)

[Superdad]

Blue Regen - have I missed something? Smurf Regen?

 

Only Roch's (elcorso's) sense of humor.

[Superdad]

I will wear all blue to keep the snakes and tarantulas at bay.

 

Wow, so that is really a thing? Blue keeps snakes away? I learn something every day. Thanks Thomas!

 

P.S. Got your e-mail about the JS-2 reservation. I'll get back to you next week. Tomorrow and the weekend I have to stay in the workshop and away from the computer or I'll really fall off schedule.

[Superdad]

Why not?!?!

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f6-dac-digital-analog-conversion/uptone-audio-regen-power-supply-add-24963/

 

Groan… I know your intentions are pure(ish) Jason, but I kind of wish you had not done that. It is a couple months too early, I don't want to answer questions while dancing around the speculation of what it is and is not, and I really don't want Chris to get ticked off with so many threads going on our products. (Though once he launches the sponsored forums section, most of these threads will move over there.)

 

Thanks for nothing--and everything!

[Superdad]

Get back in the garage!!!!

 

LOL! Thanks Jason. How did you know I am this very moment procrastinating another 10 hour marathon session making these 15awg Oyaid/Belden DC cables for JS-2 owners/buyers?

[Superdad]

I highly recommend against diversifying from a product area where you have a unique niche (the REGEN electrical matching solution) to one where you are an "also ran"...

 

Trust me, there will be NOTHING "also ran" about the next device we are bringing out (nor any we have so far or will in the future--life is too short to bother being "me too.").

People will be chasing us.

[Superdad]

More important ��--did the shipment of Amber boards arrive for the rest of us waiting for the upgrade?

 

Randy

 

Sorry no Randy. As it happens, I just posted about this over in the other thead: http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f6-dac-digital-analog-conversion/uptone-audio-regen-listening-impressions-24078/index27.html#post440050

[Superdad]

...

However yesterday, out of curiosity, "REGEN squared" experiments were conducted with various permutations. In the end, the green REGEN feeding the amber REGEN sounds the best. Again everything was connected with hard adapters….

 

With the green REGEN feeding the amber vocalists became more 3 dimensional, as though they stepped forward a few feet out of the instrumental backdrop. On several tracks mumbled starting lyrics are intelligible for the first time. On well mastered albums there is an increased level of presence of the vocalist which includes head movements in an somewhat spine-tingling and uncanny type of way.

 

Thanks for the interesting report Larry. Glad you are liking the "amber."

You seem to be in agreement that the new version of the REGEN does as we said and replicates what we think people were liking about having a Corning optical in from of the REGEN--oh that bass detail! So funny that it really was all about the extra resistance in the Corning's ground line from 10 meters of 28awg wire (though we did go a bit higher with the "amber" than just the 3 ohms or so that John calculated as added by the Corning). With the "amber" in place, I found it easy to pick out the sonic negatives of the Corning's complicated transceiver circuits and think that the optical conversions on each end may not be a necessary or good thing.

 

Your report seems to imply that you put both "green" and "amber" units right into one another as opposed to putting the green at the computer end with the long USB cable in-between REGENs. Although the latter would have been my first instinct, I can see why yo put them together.

 

And speculation on WHY you got such positive results is easy:

 

As John has said, the reason USB cables and computer end stuff still make an SQ difference is that although the REGEN generates a signal of very high integrity and proper impedance for the DAC (thereby allowing the PHY and USB processor in the DAC to work less hard decoding the data from the noise/voltage and thus passing along less packet/ground-plane noise and current spikes--much of which sails right through DAC designers' post-USB isolation attempts), the REGEN's own PHY is susceptible to what is upstream.

 

So cascading 2 REGENs obviously improves the SI for the DAC-connected REGEN, which in turn improves things a lithe at its output.

 

If John and I didn't have 2-3 other exciting products already in the works, I'd bug him to consider a double-REGEN board. But we would want it to have separate power domains and there would be other considerations. So the really hard-core REGEN lovers just have to buy more than one (a surprising number already do, but I've been assuming they are for multiple systems).

Good grief, at this rate all I can think of is that great line from JAWS: "I think we're going to need a bigger boat."

[Superdad]

The regen is a greenfield solution, little competition. Others are already out there for power supply manufacturing with deeper pockets and an existing distribution chain. iFi is now entering the after market power supply upgrade market.

 

But we intend to upend the audio power supply market with ENTIRELY new thinking and new techniques never before offering in PS for audio. A number of aspects will be patentable or licensable (the latter being the more profitable choice).

As I said, we have zero interest in doing "me too" products.

 

As for economies of scale and distribution networks, I'm not worried as this is not my first rodeo. Besides, the low key approach we have taken so far--letting "grass roots brand zealots" do all the word-of-keyboard marketing for us--seems to be working quite nicely. The introduction of the tech we will be using could have gone into any number of PS products (and will later on), but it makes more business $ense to get an affordable add-on out quickly since the base of enthusiasts with REGEN be approaching 2,000 by the time we ship the little wonder.

[Superdad]

All of my obligatory wall warts are now plugged into Tripp-Lite isolation boxes so they don't play mischief with my power mains anymore.

 

Hi Nicholas:

Do you have actual isolation transformers from Tripp-Lite? Something like this one? Medical Grade Isolation Transformer 250W(IS250HG) | Tripp Lite Or some other product type entirely?

And if you do have one of their current model isolation transformers, can you tell me which model and if it has much mechanical hum? Big 1:1 transformers that are quiet are hard to find.

 

Thanks,

--Alex C.

[Superdad]

Prior to reading it, I had assumed that the only people who had stacked two Regens were those in possession of one green and one amber. Is that the case or do we already have some fans with two ambers?

 

Hi Mike:

 

Yes, quite a few people have ordered more than one, but I don't know if they are for one system or more.

But there is no reason for a green/amber to sound any better than an amber/amber pair. And the resistance on the ground and shields of the "amber" (the only thing that makes it different form the original "greens") is not large enough to bother anything. Besides, only the cable coming in sees it; and the interface between 2 REGENs could care less.

 

That gets me thinking:

Larry, can you go ahead and try your green/amber units in the other order--so amber>green--and let us know what you hear?

That way the USB ground line from your computer/cable will encounter our added resistance in the first REGEN. So that might end up being the better sounding order for a green/amber cascade.