UpTone Audio USB Regen Listening Impressions

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none delivered yet or... are you all just busy listening?

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: popcorn :

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Regen delivered minutes ago

 

already connected and playing

can't use the "solid" connector (Alex has a picture of my messy setup and might guess why)

 

all I will say for the moment is... it definitely makes a difference even though I'm using it to feed an Audiophilleo (with PurePower battery PSU)

more later

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ok... a couple of hours later:

 

must confess the very first impression has been... everything is sounding "leaner" :-/

 

so I unplugged the Regen and re-listened to the very same track (from an almost forgotten cuban compilation, "Made in Havana", with recording quality going from "mediocre" to "just fair") and... yes: there was indeed more "stuff"

back again to the Regen and once more the same track: I immediately realized that that "more stuff" actually was just... "more fluff"

 

so I let the whole album play, listening "casually", and getting my ears used to this "new sound"

 

 

I'm not at all into with/without comparisons: I either like what I'm earing and let everything as it is or not

suffice to say I couldn't find anymore the faintest reason to even try pulling the Regen from my chain

 

the change it makes, in my system, is of the same nature (but, obviously, to a lesser extent) as when I moved from a "traditional" sigma-delta DAC connected via USB to a pure NOS one connected via s/pdif by means of the Audiophilleo

 

it's at the same time a "subtle" *and* "very patent" change

it makes for sure a difference. and one that I deeply like and enjoy

 

can't say I'm now hearing "never heard before" stuff but... everything is definitely *c*leaner (not "leaner"! sorry Alex and John: forgot that "c" at first ) and goes right in the direction I'm aiming at since I started putting together this (messy) system

(plus the usual sharpest focus and soundstage, better control and definition on deep basses, finer details blah-blah-blah)

 

 

shhhhttt now: let me enjoy once more this astonishing 'cello and piano album

("Chants, Hymns and Dances" by Gurdjeff, performed by Anja Lechner and Vassilis Tsabropoulos)

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Yes, then I found myself going the other way. 

 

... and I'm not even thinking about touching the volume knob

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... oh... Jud: piano you said? look for Nils Frahm's most recent album, "Solo", available as a free Hi-Res download from a dedicated website

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Regen day two

 

something pretty challenging today: Jacob's (controversial but extraordinary) version of Bach's Matthäus-Passion

 

always thought the issue with large orchestras/choruses was... my (Don Garber's) *entry level series* 6922 pre and 2A3 stereo ampli could not handle that much stuff so "fullest" passages resulted in a sort of "tutti-frutti marmalade" (albeit a pleasing one )

 

boys how wrong was I!

 

 

 

forgot to mention I'm powering my Regen from a JS-2 PS

tried yesterday using his stock SMPS and... it still makes a difference (remember I'm using an Audiophilleo, not a USB DAC?) but not a so impressing one as when powered by a (excellent) LPS

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... might cancel the order I placed a few weeks ago for his "state of the art" pre and monos

 

 

 

just kidding... unfortunately

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bought almost all of his works, after hearing that one

 

there's another album of his available as free Hi-Res download

(can't remember if from publisher's, Erased Tapes, website or somewhere else. think a link can be found on author's website )

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(cough, DAC, cough)

 

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had the "slowdown" sensation when I changed connection between NAS and Macmini from wifi to ethernet

it also came with a *huge* improvement in every other aspect

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ok... talking about cables...

 

never been a "believer" on this matter and always only picked "a couple of steps up from plain just good" ones (Kimber, mostly)

I still (want to ) think it's just placebo effect what I'm hearing but... replaced, a few minutes ago, the Wireworld Ultraviolet I've been using for a couple of years with a Wireworld Starlight 7 and... wow! (meaning more body, fine detail and greater transparency. maybe, and surprisingly, a little warmer overall. but just a tiny little bit)

 

let me say it again: I still *want to* think it's only placebo effect

but whatever it is... I'm leaving everything as it is *now*

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You may take the blue pill... watch out: it's a deep rabbit hole.

welcome

 

 

 

lol

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Edit: Sorry for the OT.

 

not that much, IMHO

 

my point was that, I believe, *with* the Regen I can now pick even the (pretty subtle) difference a cable can make

but looks I still have a looooong way to go, on cables

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Can the Regen be powered from the 9V output of the HDPLEX LPS?

 

just ordered one (HD-PLex)

my question is... will the Regen sound as good as when powered by a JS-2? answer coming in a couple of weeks

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The opening of Pinball Wizard has been a milepost for me ever since I heard Eric Clapton play it (just the beginning) as kind of a joke to open a 1974 concert. If that frantic acoustic strumming followed by the mother of all power chords raises the hair on my arms and the back of my neck, the system is doing something right.

 

OTOH... been a couple of days at a friend's countryside. his sister is a professional, classical, 'cello player and she was studying for her next concert (Brahms 1st symphony)

 

the very instant she started playing... I asked myself wtf are we after: no way the best gear I ever heard could come even close to what I was hearing :cry: (and, btw, room's acoustic was really, really, really bad)

 

we're just talking about... pictures of maquettes of real stuff, right?

 

 

end of pointless and very sad OT

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how's the colour compared to the JS-2 led?

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Alex,

 

Take a look at HTTrack: HTTrack Website Copier - Free Software Offline Browser (GNU GPL)

 

It is free software that allows you to download webpages (or forum threads) to a local folder. I've used it in the past to create backups of "expired" threads/forums.

 

It is Windows only.

 

since I believe Alex uses a Mac... SiteSucker for OS X

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amber... wait... *dark orange* Regen upgrade delivered minutes ago and already playing

 

air, air, air, air air. a lot more air. dynamics. punchier bass. not sure about increased micro detail, the green already was sooo good. but I'm still only into second track

oh... did I mention air?

 

thank you John and Alex: you did it once more

 

 

btw... reading about many cranking the volume up. first thing I did, as soon as it begun playing, was... turning it down

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ok... went back and forth a couple of times from green to... orange and all finer detail is there

can't still say, though, the orange brings out more. but, to me, it sounds slightly "darker" (warmer) than the green (which might explain why details are less "in your face")

 

someone mentioned "brightness" if not even "harshness". can't get there, on my system, even playing the brightest violin solos (which... I'm not sure is good: violins actually are, or can be, nasty nagging buggers )

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yup: forgot to mention I'm powering mine from a JS-2

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USB out from a Mac mini and into an Audiophilleo on battery power (it's in my signature )

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weird: the whole day I kept feeling the need of going back to the green Regen then, once I did, the more I did, the more I felt the orange is overall an improvement indeed. it sounds cleaner, more in focus, there's so much more "air in between" from low mids to highs and it's overall punchier (btw: each time I go back to the orange Regen I turn the volume slightly down. and the other way around)

 

the "punchier" part, though, on really bass heavy tracks brings maybe up my system's "weakness": these 15", and ultra sensitive, woofers that, in these situations... there's still excellent control but I feel... a tad too much "boldness" there. which seems to carry some detail loss, as if every "empty space" was overfilled :-/ (talking just about deep basses)

 

though whenever I go back to the green Regen I immediately feel I'm missing something :-/

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Wanting to turn down the volume to me indicates 'strain' or a 'fatigueing' sound. If there's no/little noise and distortion I find I can listen at relatively high levels without noticing or wanting to turn down the volume/getting tired.

 

... nah: it's just a matter of (old) age

 

the cleaner the sound the lower I want the volume to be and, on the contrary, if I turn the volume up is because something is missing and I need to compensate

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If Supra can not be bothered to test prior to sending out there product ... then they deserve to be given a big miss.

 

again: here (EU) Supra are just the cheapest, but "branded", cables you can find. really nothing "exot(er)ic"