UpTone Audio USB Regen Listening Impressions

[Superdad]

Hello Superdad,

 

This is my first substantial post on CA. I have become fascinated with improving the streaming sound on my iMac Retina for the past 6 months. As a major part of my audiophile education, I read the New Posts on CA every day.

 

Along with new speakers and a new DAC, I purchased a Regen and am happy with the SQ improvement. I want to understand more about why “bits are bits” or why “bits are not bits” so I can make wise purchasing decisions.

 

…snip...

 

Alex, have you been in communication with Mark about his test?

 

Do you agree that his test conditions are appropriate?

 

If you do not agree, how would you change the test conditions?

 

Thanks,

 

Victor Siegle

 

Dear Victor:

 

First off, I'm glad to see you posting--and glad to hear that you are enjoying the REGEN in your system.

 

With regards to Mark Waldrep and his campaign:

Both Michael Lavorgna (Editor, AudioStream) and I have posts in that Real-HD Audio.com thread "awaiting moderation," which means they may or may not get posted depending upon Mr. Waldrep's fortitude.

 

So in the meantime I will share both of our posts here:

 

Michael's first:

===========

Re. your “test”, you have already put the following stakes in the ground (these are all quotes from you):

 

“But is the REGEN going to make a difference in a truly high-end system? No, it won’t.”

“Although, I’m willing to accept that the REGEN and devices like it may work for some people that have substandard gear.”

“Over the years since I first met him [John Siau of Benchmark], he has become a friend and one of my goto guys when it comes to the technical merits of this or that system, format, or accessory.”

“Tomorrow Russ brings his friend’s REGEN box, his Benchmark DAC2 and a few other cables and such. I’ve invited a few LA and OC Audio Society friends to come and participate in the evaluation of the device.”

 

You want us to believe that you are going to provide an unbiased “test” of a device you know won’t work, played through your friend’s DAC, which, if you admit to hearing a difference with the REGEN, by your words is necessarily “substandard gear”.

 

That’s about as big a hole as any I’ve ever met. It will be interesting to see if and how you can dig yourself out of it.

 

 

 

And mine, which I wrote before Michael copied me on his:

=======================

Dear Mr. Waldrep:

 

I am the owner of UpTone Audio LLC, and thus the producer of the USB REGEN (designed by my associate, the well known John Swenson). I have followed off and on your conversations with Michael Lavorgna and your postulations about what the REGEN does or does not do. Now that you are about to "test" one for yourself, it seem prudent for me to make a few comments in advance:

 

1) As an industry professional with a web site and readership, it seems highly irregular and somewhat unethical for you to engage in a supposed objective review of a product (your bias and preconceived notions aside) without contacting the manufacturer (me) to ask permission or a single question about design or use of the device.

 

2) I can tell you right now that you will not measure any difference in the bits, and if that is, as you have stated, your only criteria for judging the efficacy of the device then you are wasting you time.

 

3) Despite M. Lavorgna imploring you to read the condensed "white paper" of ours (published at the front of the AudioStream review of the REGEN: UpTone Audio USB REGEN | AudioStream) you continue to misconstrue the mechanisms by which the REGEN works (improving signal integrity at the input of the DAC so that the DAC's PHY chip leaves its pre-processing circuits off, thus generating less ground-plane and packet-noise and fewer current/voltage spikes on the PS).

 

4) Surprisingly, you also seem to mis-understand asynchronous DAC clocking and the role (or lack thereof) played by the 24.0MHz USB clock. The clocks running the hub chip and PHY in the REGEN and the same function clock (typically 12Mhz or 24.0MHz) at the USB or Ethernet input of a DAC have absolutely no relation to the DACs master clock(s) or jitter developed inside the DAC. And NEVER do we claim the REGEN delivers a "lower jitter" signal to the DAC.

 

5) If you would study the chips and input architecture common to all USB-input DACs, you would understand that what is input to these stages is not bits at all, but high-frequency voltages with variations that must be decoded. First by the PHY chip (a nasty beast with several PLLs and internal clocks at various phases), and then by a MAC USB protocol engine (in an FPGA, XMOS, Cmedia or other custom chip). And it is here where jitter and pernicious ground-plane noise starts. All the isolators and reclocking flops in the world can't keep all of that from reaching the master clock. The place to measure jitter is at the input of the DAC chip, but I am certain you are not set up for that.

 

6) If you wish to see tangible evidence of the effect the REGEN has on signal integrity, then you will have to get yourself a 3-4GHz scope and set up for eye-pattern testing. John Swenson has done just that, and we will soon publish such measurements showing the functioning. Yet just this morning someone sent me a link to post where well known engineer John Westlake (late of AudioLab) ran an eye-pattern test on a USB signal without and with a REGEN. He posted the graphs and talks a bit about what he saw:

MDAC First Listen (Part 00101001) - Page 46 - pink fish media

 

7) The REGEN works the same for DACs from modest to extreme. If one can hear even a slight difference with a USB cable feeding your DAC, then you should hear an even bigger difference with the REGEN--if properly used. To maintain the improved signal integrity and impedance match, the REGEN should be positioned at the input of the DAC by use of the solid USB male/male A>B adaptor provided. Putting a USB cable after the REGEN will reduce--but not eliminate--its effectiveness.

 

8) While you may consider the Benchmark DACs high-end (and thank goodness they finally moved away from the ASRC of the earlier models), they are decidedly very much in the low-to-middle range of DACs our customers are successfully using the REGEN with. Some of our clients are using reference-level DACs from Berkeley, dCS, PS Audio, exaSound, Meitner, MSB, Resonessence, Auralic, and Schiit just to name a few.

 

9) I agree that the bits are the bits. But they are not bits until they are turned into such--and THAT DOES NOT HAPPEN UNTIL THE OUTPUT OF THE DAC's USB INPUT STAGE.

 

So please do your readers a service and skip trying to measure data differences that I can tell you right now won't be there. And the trouble with trying to measure the analog output is that the ADC chips of the measurement gear are going to obscure the nature of the improvement as well. That's a whole other argument and controversy that could go on ad infinitum, but even if you measure analog variations (the magnitude of what so many hear with the REGEN really ought to be measurable), how to correlate those to qualitative differences is a separate challenge.

 

My telephone number is on our website and messages via the contact page come directly to my e-mail account. I trust you will show integrity in performing your evaluation and that you will lend an open ear and mind as well. The REGEN is not "snake oil." It is solid engineering to address a very real issue limiting the sonic performance of the USB interface.

 

Sincerely,

 

Alex J. Crespi

UpTone Audio LLC

========================

 

By the way, do check out the eye-patterns that John Westlake posted at that Pinkfish Media link I cited. Not a surprise, but it is nice to see someone else show what actually happens. Eye-patterns don't prove the susceptibility of DACs to variations in signal integrity, but they sure do support the proposition of that mechanism when combined with what you hear.

[Superdad]

Of course, he may just decide that the REGEN actually does sound better despite not being able to account for it.

 

And maybe you will look up in the sky tomorrow and see this:

 

[Superdad]

I'd mention the Trinity DAC too in the list of high-end DACs which are known to benefit, Lampis as well, correct?

 

I purposely left off a whole bunch of what Waldrep would surely consider "fringe" DACs--assuming he had ever heard of them. Metrum, TotalDAC, AMR, iFi, Chord, and others could also have been listed. I probably should have included mention of some "pro-sound" brands he would have been familiar with that REGEN users own. Metric Halo and Lynx Hilo come to mind.

[Superdad]

Metric Halo LIO is Firewire only as far as I know. I owned one...

 

You're right. Got confused because we have some JS-2 LPS owners with ULN-2 and ULN-8.

[Superdad]

Those are the same guys I saw over the Berkeley campus in the late 60's.

 

Well I did see one like this, but it was the '70s and it was a Floyd concert:

 

 

I don't remember it though ...

[Superdad]

Thanks guys. I did just now post a polite reply to the review. There seems to be a 1 hour lag for posts to "await moderation," so I'll paste what I wrote here for expediency and posterity:

 

Mark:

It is not clear from your diagram how you connected the USB REGEN to the input of the Benchmark DAC. Did you use the supplied solid USB A>B adaptor, or did you run another USB cable from the REGEN to the DAC? Although you may not believe in USB cables making a difference, impedance and signal integrity are very real, measurable parameters (see links in my longer reply in your article of September 5th), and the addition of a USB cable after the REGEN does reduce, but not eliminate its effectiveness.

 

I promise that as the months go by you will begin to see a number of similar products from other well known firms beginning to address the serious shortcomings of the USB inputs of DACs as it relates to signal integrity. There will also be a few DAC designers attempting to correct this inside their DACs, though I can assure you that almost none are doing so presently (not even your favored Benchmark DACs).

 

Dial the calendar back to a time when DAC designers and studio engineers dismissed jitter as concern, and then forward as a number of firms addressed the issue with reclockers of all sorts–to the cheers of many and the jeers of others. And nowadays proper clocking and low-jitter designs are the norm.

 

As I mentioned in the other thread, the bits are the bits, but not until after they have been decoded into such by the PHY and MAC of the DAC’s input stage. And the purpose of the REGEN is to allow that to happen in such a way that less ground-plane noise, packet-noise, and current/voltage spikes are generated inside the DAC itself as that stuff is pernicious and makes it way through to the master clock(s).

 

We are on the right side of history with the REGEN, and time will prove that out.

 

Thanks for the review.

 

Sincerely,

 

Alex Crespi

UpTone Audio LLC

[Superdad]

So after all the dust-up over Mark Waldrep's pre-biased test of the REGEN (he pretty much said gong into that there would be nothing to hear or measure--and he didn't), we now have a short article from his guest Russ Stratton that pretty clearly states what he and his friend Chip heard--even under blind conditions. Russ Stratton Shares His Notes on The Regen Session | Real HD-Audio

 

Statistical significance/validity aside, I am tickled that despite funky conditions (who uses analog cable switchers?; and that LH 1G USB cable is, to my ears very harsh--two came with my Geek Pulse if someone wants one), he heard and reported much along the lines of everyone else here. And Mr. Waldrep had the integrity to publish it.

 

As I said in yesterday's comment to the review: The issue of signal integrity (with USB and Ethernet for that matter) are real, but our being among the first to address it is a lot like the early pioneers tackling low level jitter issues a decade or more ago. There were cheers and some jeers, but in the end the matter became a standard consideration of most DAC designers. The same with happen with this, and we will proven to be on the right side of history.

 

Anyway, here is Russ Stratton's quote"

 

"At this point we inserted the Regen into the USB input of one of the DACs and played some tracks from Mark’s AIX recording library. We started with sighted switching between the Regen DAC and non-Regen DAC to get a feel for the change in sound between data/signal paths (if any). I’m speaking for myself, but I heard a difference. With the Regen in place, I heard denser textures, clearer harmonics, and increased soundstage height and depth. The difference was subtle, but it was there. This was confirmed when Mark conducted a blind test where Chip and I listened to the same track twice for two minutes but did not know which track was “regen’d” and which one wasn’t. I was pretty sure I could tell which one was regen’d, but knew I could very well be wrong. Like I said, the difference was subtle. Both Chip and I guessed correctly."

[Superdad]

I thought I would weigh in even though I probably don't have much to say that hasn't already been said.

 

I had the opportunity to hear the regen on a friend's system. He had the regen running into his PS Audio DS Dac via the short solid extension supplied with the regen. He also has a Decware Mystery amp running into Decware 944s. We listened to a few different artists, but our A/B tune was primarily Jersey Girl by Holly Cole. I think a 24/96 version.

 

I thought it was fairly easy to see that there was a difference with the Regen in the system. Better focus/positioning on the instruments for me (I was in the sweet spot) and more detail.

 

For example, there is a tambourine that is in the Jersey girl song. With the Regen, it sounds more like a real tambourine where you hear the multiple "clinks" (for lack of a better word). Without it, you hear it as more of a single clink and it just wasn't as real. Some people say more air with the regen. I didn't necessarily hear that but it was a relatively short session.

 

Another song was Wailin Jenny's Summertime which can have a bit of an edge to it. I felt the regen helped in this regard as well.

 

We A/B'd but didn't do any blind testing. Still, I believe I could pick it out 100% of the time in a blind test. The focus was just that much better.

 

I have read here about a 20% increase in SQ (subjective I know), but my friend and I independently put our own subjective rating lower based on what we heard on his system. He said 10%, I said 10% to 15%. Most of the tweaks I've experienced in that neighborhood or above have been related to power or room sound treatments. Definitely worth the investment.

 

Anyway, after getting a listen, I bought a regen and will try it out with the supplied SMPS and a small Teradak linear supply I have that puts out 5-8v. I hope to have the Regen in October. I also run USB into a USB/SPDIF converter so it will be interesting to see what I get. I can go direct usb into the DAC so I will try it both ways.

 

Hi Palomino:

 

Thanks for making your first post on CA such a nice and descriptive report on what you heard with the REGEN! I hope you will become an active poster around here and not just a "lurker."

 

Sounds like you and your friend have some terrific gear. I am embarrassed to say that even though I've been in high-end audio for decades, I was not aware of the Decware brand until just recently. And just now looking at their web site I see they've been at it for 20 years! Will have to look for them at RMAF next month (assuming they will be there).

 

Best,

 

--Alex C.

[Superdad]

Nicely said

"Irresistible tweak bait."

 

Do you have a trademark on that phrase yet Dave? Could be useful.

[Superdad]

I was simply surprised since the Regen is meant to clean up the AC noise and packet stuff. I run the Regen(s) off the JS-2, but I suppose could try a rather nice LPSU I have (on the desktop system) into my BADA USB Alpha. Hadn't even thought of it, so I asked.

 

Just as reminder to those just joining, the REGEN performs 2 completely separate functions:

 

1) For the data it produces a entirely new USB signal of high integrity (that's rise-time, amplitude, edge-jitter, noise, etc.--all the stuff seen with an eye-pattern test) and proper impedance match--right at the input of the DAC so that the DAC's own USB input PHY chip and processor stay "calm" and generate less ground-plane and packet-noise INSIDE the DAC. This is the big thing that differentiates the REGEN from all other current devices.

 

2) For the USB power side we completely ignore the 5V coming in on pin 1 of the USB cable and use the best-in-class 1A ultra-low-noise regulator, the TI TPS7A4700 along with a ultra-low-ESR 220uF capacitor, etc. to provide clean 5VDC to DACs that require it.

 

I like the AQVOX folks, and indeed they were one of the first to commercialize a PS with a hand-made USB B>B adaptor to "inject" cleaner 5V between the cable and DAC at the input. While I do not know what style of linear regulation they are using in the USB 5V supply they offer, and noise specs absolutely do not tell the whole story of PS performance, for comparison they state a noise spec of 0.1mV and the regulators we use in the REGEN (two of them, one at 3.3V for the hub chip, the other at 5V for the VBUS) are rated at 0.00417mV noise (from 10Hz to 100kHz).

 

And fed by the also exceptional JS-2 as you are doing Saurabh, I think you have it pretty well covered.

[Superdad]

Regards that WBF testing:

 

a) This is the Listening Impressions thread. Please move such discussions over to one of the other REGEN threads;

 

b) J-test 12KHz signal is a flawed way of testing (maybe John will post one of his usual rational and thorough explanations on the topic (in some other thread);

 

c) It would be nice if once in a while one of these pseudo-objective test people (Waldrep, WBF, etc.) would have the common courtesy of contacting me to: 1) Let me know what they are planning; 2) Ask for input in appropriate use and theory of operation.

 

And of course none of the rather inconsequential, extremely low level little spikes that showed up (probably due to hook up, connections, PS, etc.) have any meaning in relation to the sonic benefits 1,800+ people hear with the REGEN in their systems.

 

--Alex C.

[Superdad]

The device does work hard and is a must have for all serious audio users.

 

Wow, thanks for adding your ringing endorsement to the chorus Al.

Having read your posts for years and seen all the very high-end DACs you have owned, I know that you are not easily impressed.

[Superdad]

I'm one of those in the minority. My Regen with Chinese R Cor LPS has not show any SQ difference one way or another. I've had the Regen for a while and my opinion has been consistent with testing right after I received the Regen and after extended time frame (I think it has been about 5 months now from arrival). I will say I have sensed no deterioration in SQ either.

 

I wish I would have the results that many here have heard but in my case no such luck. My current plan is to evaluate once again with mystery PS. If there is improvement, great. If not, I will sell it. The Regen is obviously in demand so I don't see any down side.

 

I don't have a horse in the race but wanted to comment so those with a contrary opinion know they are not alone. My evaluation is done exclusively thru listening and I while I follow the measurement postings with interest I do not make purchase decisions based on graphs.

 

I am disheartened with the almost childish degree of venom I often see spewed on Regen posts (both sides). In the realm of audio, the Regen is a very inexpensive accessory. No harm in trying it and seeing if you like it. I don't know why people on either side of the fence would expect uniform reactions. This is a subjective hobby and I would expect Regen opinions to be as varied as most other equipment. That the opinions are more favorable than not is actually a good thing as it may be shedding light on an area of Computer Audio that needs additional attention/focus.

 

Anyway, Regen did not do much in my system. My world did not end and I don't feel the need to denigrate any of the customers who have heard SQ benefits. Carry on..

 

I really appreciate your post and your level-headed assessment of the current state of commentary regarding our product. While the majority of purchasers are exceedingly happy having the REGEN in their system, we never expected it to thrill everyone. And since we do offer a 30-day, money-back guarantee on the product (which I would even extend to your longer-term piece given your rational tone), there is not much risk for anyone (not that it is an expensive device in the first place--I do not believe in price gouging or "whatever the market will bear" tactics).

 

I do admit to feeling a bit down in the past week, though given the recent ringing endorsements from Paul McGowan, Arnie Nudell, and Bascom King, not to mention the Stereophile reviews hitting the newsstands, I have no rational reason to feel this way.

Yet, the vitriolic attacks (over on What's Best Forum and PinkFishMedia)--on both the REGEN, myself, and on John Swenson's engineering prowess--have become quite out of hand. Half the measurements taken have already been shown to be false or misleading (many thanks to the esteemed engineer John Westlake who has had more time than our own John Swenson of late), and those with some mysterious axe to grind against us continue to focus on measuring the wrong things--as the REGEN's action and audible benefit are with transient signals (just read all the listening reports).

 

As I recently wrote here at CA (and cross posted to the other forums), the REGEN measurably works in the digital domain and outputs a USB stream with greatly improved signal integrity (and impedance match) as shown in the eye-pattern tests. And inside a DAC John has measured lower ground-plane noise with a REGEN feeding it. What is proving elusive right now are the measures at the analog output showing how that results in better fidelity. (And as mentioned, he is playing with some dynamic tests designed to show that, and he thinks he knows where to look; hint, it may come back to power spikes and the USB packet rate.)

 

But what at all is new here? Analog measures quantifying and correlating to significant differences people hear between all sorts of gear (amps, preamps, DACs, cables, software) are elusive all over the industry. So why all the attention focused on the REGEN? Is is because it works well for DACs from $250 to $50,000, and therefore threatens their oft stated notion that "any properly designed DAC should be immune"? Is is because admitting the REGEN is effective for many is a slippery slope that would lead those same folks to admitting that USB cables can sound different?

 

Anyway, I wish to say thanks to all the people who buy and try the REGEN in their own systems and make up their own minds about the efficacy of it and whether or not it brings them more musical pleasure. That's what counts, and I hope you all continue to post about what you do or don't hear with your own ears--good or bad.

 

Have a nice weekend,

 

--Alex C.

[Superdad]

You may want to wait till you actually receive it, as that short cord plugs into a step-down box, which is connected to a longer cord that connects to the actual regen.

 

I'm not sure how long that cord is; I've never used it. But I'd guess between that & the 18" cord you'll have at least 3'.

 

Correct. The DC cord "tail" of the SMPS is 48 inches, so total distance from the wall (including the 18" AC cord and the 3.5" length of the SMPS) can be as much as 68 inches.

 

BTW, we are finishing preparations for tomorrow's REGEN shipping day. It is a big batch--180 units--and will fill up through order #2643, that's pretty much everyone who ordered up through September 24th. (If you are in that batch you will receive a notice with tracking number at 2:00 p.m. Pacific time tomorrow.

 

So after tomorrow there will be just 71 October-promised orders to fill (from #2723 onward people are being promised early-November). Sadly, we are waiting for some parts that won't be in until the very last days of October, so next Friday, October 23rd is not going to happen for those of you in that final 71 (order #s 2644 to 2722). We are doing our very best, but it can't be helped this time (unless some back-ordered parts come in sooner).

 

Thanks for your patience everyone.

 

Regards,

 

ALEX C.

[Superdad]

If the Regen is providing power to my DAC (which does requires external power) does this mean any USB cable upstream of the Regen no longer needs to carry power? If true (which is what I'm seeing) this means the noisy power from the Macbook doesn't need to enter the Regen at all.

 

Preventing the power from entering the Regen appears to be a good thing and further the Regen lets me use a Vbus isolator at the Macbook port (which I couldn't use without the Regen).

 

Hi Barry:

 

The REGEN ignores any incoming voltage on USB pin-1--it is not connected to ANYTHING on the board. So any audible benefit of having a USB cable with no 5V coming down its length is NOT from keeping 5V out of the REGEN. Rather it is that you are reducing any capacitive coupling of the voltage to the data pair along the length of the wire.

 

So yes, you can use an Sbooster VBUS isolator (or just tape over pin-1 in the 'A' plug at the computer end) and thus have a data-only cable.

[Superdad]

I tried this, but when I insert the plug into a USB port the tape bunches up, it won't stay stuck on flat. How do you overcome this?

 

I don't use tape for exactly that reason. I take a business card (those are slightly thick and stiff) and cut about a 3mm wide strip off one end (so the strip length is the height of a normal name card, about 1.5 inches).

Then I insert it to cover pin-1, fold the excess back over the USB plug and hold it in place with my fingers on the grip of the cable's plug (if you get it well-aligned over pin-1 you might even be able to put a strip of Scotch tape on the card strip at the finger-hold spot).

 

Make sure the strip is straight over pin 1 when you go to insert the plug into your computer's USB jack. It will be a tighter fit than usual, but I view that as a good thing.

[Superdad]

Photonblur and Gonzbull (and everyone else here for that matter): Thank you both for your kind words. I don't often remove the REGEN from system (frankly I've been too busy to listen much lately at all), so I forget what a big change it is. Nice to be reminded, especially amidst the barrage of defacement and belittlement that continues to go on over at that other forum (which I am trying hard to ignore as John and I focus on cool new projects--both well under way and those still in the conceptual stages).

 

Best to you,

 

--Alex C.

[Superdad]

P.S. Meant to give a shout out to Dyson too. Great report!

[Superdad]

Re: power filters

 

I note many here use a brick wall filter for their noisy stuff. I use a parallel filter.

 

Blue Circle x6 Sillycone

 

Here is a demo that suggests it helps to lower noise:

 

Gilbert (Blue Circle) always cracks me up (was nice to run into him at RMAF last month). He loves his silicone. Did you ever see his Music Pumps? Of course there was a matching purse that went with them!

 

[Superdad]

Good grief. Will you guys please knock it off already? This isn't even a power supply thread anyway.

 

Thanks,

--Alex C.

[Superdad]

I haven't seen any explanation for why this (2nd largest) Regen thread is NOT in the UpTone Audio(sponsored) forum ????

 

Alex C ??

 

Hi Dave:

 

I purposely chose to leave this Listening Impressions thread in public area for a variety of reasons. Some of those reasons may or may not make sense to anyone else. The primary two are:

 

a) I like having this one active thread appear for any user browsing the DAC forum--as opposed to someone needing to know the UpTone Audio name to look for a thread about the REGEN;

 

b) Although I have yet to use my powers of moderation in any of the threads in the UpTone sponsored forum--and don't really foresee a need too--I would rather this thread be entirely above any possible suspicion that I have or would ever delete less than favorable experiences (with the REGEN) people might express.

-----------

 

As for discussions of other power supplies and accessories used with the REGEN: Yeah, I'd prefer that seemingly endless topic of fascination (and often frustration) spin about elsewhere, but as is clear, I am not the moderator in these parts and even if I was about all I would expect is that the discussions wander about in a civil manner.

 

And don't worry, when our crazy new 1A, 5/7V supply comes out (or when I finally spill the beans about it once boards are heading into production in January), there will be LOTS to yak about and ask questions about.

 

BTW, today the last of the October-promised REGENs and the first few of the November-promised units shipped out to long-patient buyers around the world. Another few hundred and we might approach being caught up (famous last-month's words).

 

Ciao,

 

--Alex C.

[Superdad]

Whilst (that sounds so British!) I agree that proper proportions of value and priority should be maintained when purchasing enhancement components and cables, I and many others have heard the REGEN do remarkable things for very inexpensive DACs--some costing no more than the REGEN itself.

Most of these little "dongle DACs" (e.g. Dragonfly, HRT, Geek Out, etc.) or DACs like the $299 8-ch miniDSP are underserved by their USB inputs--and the laptop computers often used have pretty poor USB outputs. People write to us all the time to tell how the REGEN transformed their modest DACs, helping them punch well above their price class.

Given our 30-day money-back enjoyment-guarantee, there is not much risk in trying…

 

Best regards,

--Alec C.

[Superdad]

Thank you very much for your reply! It really is amazing that the owner of a company takes the time to respond to things like this. I will definitely take the 30-day guarantee into consideration. Regardless of whether I decide to upgrade my DAC first, you have my business!

 

Thank you,

-Kenji

 

You are most welcome. My wife says I put my customers before our family. She is only half wrong.

But come December 18th she and our kids will have to put up with me full time as I am closing the office and taking us all on vacation until the 31st.

 

Every last new REGEN order placed up until 6:00 a.m. (California time) on December 14 will be shipped that Wednesday, December 16th. New orders after the morning of the 14th will be held until after the first of the year (have not yet picked first January batch shipping date).

[Superdad]

Order numbers around 3005 getting close to shipping?

 

Thanks!

 

This Friday! Should get up into the 3100s this Friday, with just a last 150 or so going on the 16th.

This place is a madhouse this week. I just finished testing and burning in the last batch of the year of a dozen JS-2 LPS--and those all will go this Thursday. Quitting time is midnight tonight and tomorrow--if I'm lucky.

[Superdad]

Hopefully, you're talking about burn in, not impending burn out. Talk about becoming a victim of your own success!

 

Don't worry Esau. Adrenaline and that beach in Kaui, Hawaii (where we will be from the 19th to the 30th) is keeping me cheerful and energized.

It has been a great year and I am very grateful to the entire audiophile community--especially those here at CA--for their support and enthusiasm. The success of the JS-2, MMK, and REGEN are fueling (both financially and excitement-wise) development of the next series of Swenson/UpTone breakthrough products. 2016 should be a blast--especially once my staff and I can move into the new production shop I am designing and building in the spring.

(I am also making numerous charitable donations both locally and globally as such feels good and right.)

 

Wishing everyone a lovely holiday season and New Year.

 

--Alex C.