UpTone Audio USB Regen Listening Impressions

[Blake]

EDIT, Sorry, I see this post is for listening impressions only. Question moved to the other thread.

[Blake]

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

 

I am relieved to read that the Regen still made a difference connected to your usb/spdif converter, as I will be doing the same. For a moment there, I was questioning my purchase.

[Blake]

Hey, MusicDirect has a 60-day return policy (can return if you are not satisfied for any reason) and they sell the iPower.

 

I won't be getting my Regen for a while since I am in the second batch, but if someone who already has the Regen and wants to do a head to head battle between the stock Regen smps and the iPower.......

[Blake]

Thanks for sharing.

 

+1

[Blake]

My Amber Regen arrived a couple days ago and so far, so good. I am finding the same uniformly positive improvements noted by others with no negatives. Impressive. I will post additional thoughts in a few more weeks once I have more time with it.

 

One question/comment- with the Regen installed, I am finding that I am turning up the volume on my preamp a few clicks to get to what I subjectively perceive to be the optimal volume level (I haven't checked SPL's with my meter, but may do so this weekend... this is very likely all just in my head).

 

I am curious if others are adjusting volume up, keeping it the same, or turning it down with the Regen in the system?

[Blake]

I have found that with reproduced sound many people turn up the volume until the level of the "grunge", "harshness", "distortions" become objectionable. The REGEN decreases this grunge, so the natural tendency is to turn up the gain until what grunge that is left is just below objectionable status.

 

I have found myself doing this several times, then I think, wow, it is really LOUD now and turn it down some, and then marvel at how clean it really is.

 

John S.

 

John,

 

Thanks for responding. I am pretty much certain you are right. The Regen is probably obliterating any small remaining amounts of digititis in my system that would otherwise prevent me from listening at higher levels because the sound becomes uncomfortable.

 

Before I installed the Regen, with the filter on my TotalDac usb cable and my iFi iUSB (together with the Berkeley USB converter) I thought I could no longer detect any digititis, but the Regen has shown me that this was not the case and further improvement is possible.

 

For me, "digititis" is an unnatural sense of tension in the sound..... glassy, hard, one dimensional, etc. Digititis infected notes are like hard glass discs, whereas natural analog sounding notes are like rubber squash balls, in that the notes have a 3-D character with a sense of give or squishiness to the notes. I'm sure that makes zero sense, but its how I hear things.

 

With my Regen Amber, the sound from my system is even more like a squash ball, which for me is the holy grail.

[Blake]

DAC Recognition Issue:

 

Just a quick note in case anyone else experiences a similar issue.... I received my Amber Regen in the mail, plugged it in and my USB/spdif converter was immediately recognized. Over the last few weeks I have plugged and unplugged my MacBook Pro many times and I never had any DAC/converter cognition problems.

 

Last night, I attached my MacBook Pro and for some reason, my computer would not recognize my DAC (actually, more precisely, my Berkeley Alpha Converter) and the window on my DAC noted a loss of signal. I tried rebooting the computer, turning my DAC and converter on and off, plugging and unplugging cables, tried the foregoing in different sequences, removing my iFi iUSB, etc. Nothing worked.

 

What finally worked is this- with all my audio components turned on and all cables attached/plugged in, I unplugged the power cable going from the wall outlet to the Regen's SMPS, then plugged it back in.

 

Voila! Instant recognition.

[Blake]

Question(s): Has anyone used a Regen between the Computer and USB Convertor (S/PDIF out to Dac) with noticeable improvement?

 

Thanks,

Mark

 

I'm getting a very nice improvement in sound quality using the Regen in front of my converter. It's the biggest "no brainer" audio purchase I've ever made.

 

Many audiophiles would pay thousands to get this incremental increase in sonics.

[Blake]

Have the Green running into the Amber, and it's well into "Holy sh*t!" territory now.

 

Wait, so I go away for a bit and come back to find out that running two Regens in serial fashion is even better?!

 

 

hmmmm........... let's see.......

 

Order placed for a second Regen. See you in August!

[Blake]

With two regen's connected in "serial" fashion would you use the one power supply to feed both regens or do they need separate supply's to get the best from them (connected this way)?

 

The power supply provided with the Regen will only power one device.

[Blake]

Why is this, I thought it had plenty of overhead? That is not to say that one should run both off the same supply.

 

The supplied smps is one of those units with only one, non-removable molded cable. It has no provision to attach additional cables to the smps.

[Blake]

Ah yes, I had not considered a Y cable.

[Blake]

For most digital audio applications how a supply responds to transients is the most important aspect, the Sbooster products (particularly the more expensive ones), do help with this, and I would expect the results to be better than what any cheap linear could hope to achieve. (BTW the Sbooster products will also work with the linears too)

 

John S.

 

Hi John:

 

1. Can the future Uptone power add on device be used with an Sbooster/Cheap Chinese LPS combo?

 

2. Even if the answer to the above question is "yes", for those of us that will definitely be purchasing your upcoming power add on, would you suggest we hold off on buying an Sbooster?

[Blake]

You may want to try changing the totaldac usb cable. It's a stock usb cable with a single common mode choke on the datalines, a series capacitor between the shields and a filter on the ground/+5V. I could see it do more harm then good when used together with the regen.

 

The TotalDac D1 sounds wonderful with the Regen. I prefer it to my LH Lightspeed 10G with the Regen.

[Blake]

Then you may still want to try a normal usb cable as what the totaldac does most on (power) is being disconnected in the regen

 

Yes, I compared to other usb cables. I have several to choose from.

[Blake]

Thanks for the head's up Janke! What is it with these problematic usb cables lately? First the Corning, now the Supra....

[Blake]

I would suggest that people hold off buying cheap ebay Linear PSUs for the Regen and wait to see what the new "Mystery" 1A PSU, using the existing +7.5V SMPS plugpack does for the Regen .

 

Alex

 

Thanks for the impressions Alex. One point regarding the above, I believe Alex (Crespi) mentioned that the upcoming mystery power add-on from Uptone won't care about the quality of the power source (stock smps or linear power supply). In other words, the quality of the power supply to the Regen will be irrelevant with the new device installed. So, I think your point is well taken.

 

However, I bought my Ebay Cheap-O LPS to avoid having smps in my system, as Alex mentioned that even with the new power add-on installed, users that have systems that are sensitive to smps will still be adversely impacted.

[Blake]

I am running two Amber Regens in serial fashion (2 Regens are definitely better than 1 in my system- each Regen being powered with its own El Cheapo LPS). After a fair bit of experimenting I am finding that I prefer the TotalDac D1 usb cable over the solid adapter for connecting the two Regens. I am still using the solid adapter from the last Regen into my USB/Spdif converter.

 

So my final setup is:

 

MacBook > Lightspeed 10G split usb cable > Regen 1 > Jitterbug > TotalDac D1 > Regen 2 > solid adapter > Berkeley converter

 

[Blake]

but I also feel sounds becomes globally *very slightly* "thinner"

 

To some extent I have a similar finding. Two Regens are an improvement, more details/clarity, even better sound staging, but the sound was a touch "light" and "ethereal". Adding an AQ Jitterbug to the output of the first Regen made the sound a bit more solid/robust and overall more pleasant over long listening sessions. Two Regens still sound damned good even without the Jitterbug though. YMMV.

[Blake]

Blake, have you tried the AQJB at the host end of the first USB cable rather than after the REGEN? That is working great here.

 

I need to explore that option. Note that I am only using the data leg of the first usb cable in the chain so my results may be slightly different than those who are using a standard usb cable (versus split cable design).

 

First though, I need to finish burning in my Curious Cables usb cables (including the 200mm version designed specifically for the Regen, replacing the solid adapter). Once I get a handle on the Curious Cables, I will start mucking about with the placement of the Jitterbug.

[Blake]

I know it's probably been linked before, but can someone repost the "el cheapo" link?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

30W DC9V HiFi Linear Power Supply Regulated PSU for DAC Amp Digital Display | eBay

 

This seller ships very fast.

 

As a side note, with respect to the upcoming mystery power supply add-on, it should probably be restated that Superdad confirmed the Mystery Add-On:

 

(1) will not cure any negative sonic impacts or smps nastiness of using the Meanwell smps on your Regen, and

 

(2) won't care about the quality of the linear power supply that feeds power to the Mystery Add-On. In other words the sound quality from a Regen + Mystery Add-On will be the same whether it is powered by a fancy/expensive Uptone JS-2 power supply or the $60 Ebay "El Cheapo" LPS. So don't waste your money buying an expensive LPS if you will be buying the Mystery Add-On.

[Blake]

For those looking to experiment a bit, you might want to consider the new Curious Cable usb cable. They make a specific short version for the Regen for $120, to use in place of the hard adapter or short usb cable that comes stock with the Regen. See this link (and scroll down to the bottom):

 

Buy

 

 

I was using the hard adapter but really prefer the Curious Cable. The cool part is that there is a no questions asked return policy, which includes free shipping, so it truly is a "no risk" opportunity to try it. I actually preferred the Curious Cable to my $1,000 Light Harmonic usb cable.

[Blake]

Do I profit from all gains in SQ in this set-up as well? Or can I spend my 120 bucks wiser? Thanks for all advices.

 

The only way to find out is to try for yourself. Since there is no shipping charge and you can return the Curious Cable, it is painless and free to experiment. Let us know your findings if you decide to try it.

[Blake]

edit

[Blake]

Your observations mirror my experience with the JitterBug.

 

When I had the REGEN in the chain, on the other hand, SQ was significantly improved.

 

Eventually, I went to the Sonore microRendu, moved the server to my upstairs office plugged into my router (where it belongs), and experienced yet another substantial improvement.

 

Of course, all of this stuff is system dependent, subject to individual preferences, and quite subjective. Different impressions have been reported, which is not surprising.

 

Ditto