Audioquest Jitterbug vs Uptone Regen?

[Pepsican]

It is a filter for 5V. There is noise from power supply and main board.

 

Which probably means the Regen and Jitterbug would work well together. As USB ports tend to be coupled in pairs you could put the Jitterbug on the one port, while having the Regen on the other port. Seems to me the Jitterbug only cleans up power, while the Regen tries to isolate the DAC USB from interference by taking over some of the DAC's work.

[firedog]

How do you know which USB ports are paired?

[ginetto61]

Hi does anyone know if the Regen provides galvanic isolation between pc and the usb dac ?

If so maybe a usb power filter upstream is redundant ?

Thanks, gino

[firedog]

Hi does anyone know if the Regen provides galvanic isolation between pc and the usb dac ?

If so maybe a usb power filter upstream is redundant ?

Thanks, gino

 

it doesn't

[Jud]

How do you know which USB ports are paired?

 

OS X system info tells you; Windows I haven't had reason to look, so I don't know.

[ginetto61]

How can i delete a message ?

Thanks, gino

[ginetto61]

it doesn't

 

Thanks a lot, gino

[Superdad]

Hi does anyone know if the Regen provides galvanic isolation between pc and the usb dac?

 

In-line, USB2.0 high-speed galvanic isolation is a much taller order than most people realize. I wrote about this elsewhere (and also explained about how DACs that tout galvanic isolation are all isolating AFTER their USB input processor). It can be done, but would be much more expensive (An FPGA with USB hub core, two power supplies, etc.; We set aside the project once we heard REGEN "amber"--BTW, shipments start Monday )

[ginetto61]

In-line, USB2.0 high-speed galvanic isolation is a much taller order than most people realize.

I wrote about this elsewhere (and also explained about how DACs that tout galvanic isolation are all isolating AFTER their USB input processor).

It can be done, but would be much more expensive (An FPGA with USB hub core, two power supplies, etc.; We set aside the project once we heard REGEN "amber"--BTW, shipments start Monday )

 

Hi and thanks a lot for the very helpful advice. A challenging task i understand.

I assume that very few if any dacs provide it. maybe it is not so impacting on overall performance ?

and i understand there are now other ways to approach the issue

Still i wonder if keeping the usb cable short (< 3ft), using a high quality usb cable and a decent usb power supply could work reasonably well.

I am not talking about chip isolators because i have also the feeling that they add jitter in some way. Just a disconnection of 5V and ground from the pc and using an external low noise power supply ...

Thanks a lot again. gino

[satfrat]

Which probably means the Regen and Jitterbug would work well together. As USB ports tend to be coupled in pairs you could put the Jitterbug on the one port, while having the Regen on the other port. Seems to me the Jitterbug only cleans up power, while the Regen tries to isolate the DAC USB from interference by taking over some of the DAC's work.

 

 

How can the Jitterbug do anything to complement the Regen when all the Jitterbug does is clean up the dirty 5v USB from the computer that the Regen completely disregards by creating it's own 5v (if the USB dac even needs it) from it's own cleaner power supply? With the Regen in line, buying a Jitterbug seems to me to be a waste of $49?

 

Without a Regen, the Jitterbug's a bargain for what it does at $49 but that's only a small fraction of what the Regen offers and in my mind is also a more BANG for the buck bargain at $175.

 

But alas, I'm only relying on what I've read on both products as I've actually heard neither. I've already made my choice, my Regen is currently in the mail, 2 days from delivery.

[fmak]

Hi and thanks a lot for the very helpful advice. A challenging task i understand.

I assume that very few if any dacs provide it. maybe it is not so impacting on overall performance ?

and i understand there are now other ways to approach the issue

Still i wonder if keeping the usb cable short (< 3ft), using a high quality usb cable and a decent usb power supply could work reasonably well.

I am not talking about chip isolators because i have also the feeling that they add jitter in some way. Just a disconnection of 5V and ground from the pc and using an external low noise power supply ...

Thanks a lot again. gino

 

You are assuming that the the TPS regulators work all the way up the frequency range

and that the Jitterbug does not change ground loops or help filter out high hf better.

 

The TPS regs are good, but compared to better discrete regulators, are not that great.

It is sensitive to mains pickup and when powered by a smps, who knows ???

[ginetto61]

You are assuming that the the TPS regulators work all the way up the frequency range

and that the Jitterbug does not change ground loops or help filter out high hf better.

The TPS regs are good, but compared to better discrete regulators, are not that great.

It is sensitive to mains pickup and when powered by a smps, who knows ???

 

Hi and thanks for the reply

My point is that if very good sounding usb dacs non isolated galvanically do exist then " may be " this feauture is not a conditio sine qua non for good sound. Even just one very good dac is enough to break the rule.

However i would prefer a usb dac that takes only data from pc and not power.

Thanks again. gino

[blownsi]

How can the Jitterbug do anything to complement the Regen when all the Jitterbug does is clean up the dirty 5v USB from the computer

 

I can see it how they would compliment each other. The Regen cleans up the power going thru the usb cable to the dac but does nothing to impact the PC itself. The jitterbug should quiet noise down within the pc theoretically making for a cleaner signal coming out of the pc into the usb cable. Not to get into the old debate but alot of this is based on the theory that there is tons of noise generators within a pc and that these all in someway impact the sound output. So if the digital signal coming out of the pc is cleaner from the jitterbug and the regen cleans up the usb power then your dac should have a much better shot of producing the best analog signal possible. This is of course assuming that your dac cannot already provide this sort of isolation on it's own. This also assumes that the end listener can actually hear a difference. Now I probably sound very skeptical and I am but for the prices of $175+$50 I'd certainly risk the small investment to find out for myself if I can hear a difference.

[TommyCat]

Yes, it does really improve SQ, plugged in next port.

 

Ok, I just ordered two of these to give them a try. Still confused on the placement of the second jittbug (first one obviously connected to usb cable >dac).

 

i will be using on a Mac mini (late 2012) with four usb ports on back. I run my dac out of the second USB port. Should the second jitterbug be plugged in next to it (either side of it) or could it be plugged into the last port? (Leaving a gap in the middle - third port). I shot an email to AQ and the response was that it doesn't matter. Ok, that might be the answer but not sure why it doesn't matter. Can anyone enlighten me?

[johndoe21ro]

Any news, folks? Did any of you actually tried the 'thing'?

[TommyCat]

Any news, folks? Did any of you actually tried the 'thing'?

Not yet - ordered, but looks like a 2-3 week wait. Also have the Uptone Regen on order for August shipment. Going to try both of them together. From my understanding looks like they do different things and a different areas of the signal chain.

 

will be a lot of sound tests in the near future!

[kennyb123]

Any news, folks? Did any of you actually tried the 'thing'?

 

I'm still waiting for mine. My dealer said the following: "AQ revised their shipping estimate for the JitterBug from the 13th to the 24th".

 

So hopefully I will see it soon.

[Abee_V]

Just read Jitterbug review on Audiostream site.

Interesting comment by Michael - 'Initial listening impressions suggest that a combination of JitterBug/Regen offer additive improvements.'

 

Read more at http://www.audiostream.com/content/audioquest-jitterbug-usb-data-power-noise-filter#MWCmFrO4SfasS9tg.99

 

Very interesting!

[satfrat]

Just read Jitterbug review on Audiostream site.

Interesting comment by Michael - 'Initial listening impressions suggest that a combination of JitterBug/Regen offer additive improvements.'

 

Read more at AudioQuest JitterBug USB Data & Power Noise Filter | AudioStream

 

Very interesting!

 

IF all the Jitterbug does is clean up the 5v USB current which is blocked from the Regen anyways, I don't see it making any difference. But if it's actually cleaning up the USB signal itself, it could be $50 well spent. I'm looking forward to the actual listening tests to come or better yet an actual review that compares the 2 products, both separate and together, thou I doubt that would ever happen.

[Abee_V]

In his current review on the JitterBug he does talk about a future review on the Regen, as well as more detailed listening impressions when using these in tandem, etc.

[johndoe21ro]

Just read Jitterbug review on Audiostream site.

Interesting comment by Michael - 'Initial listening impressions suggest that a combination of JitterBug/Regen offer additive improvements.'

 

Read more at AudioQuest JitterBug USB Data & Power Noise Filter | AudioStream

 

Very interesting!

 

Thanks for the link, Abee! Looks like we have a winner!

[YashN]

Just read Jitterbug review on Audiostream site.

Interesting comment by Michael - 'Initial listening impressions suggest that a combination of JitterBug/Regen offer additive improvements.'

 

Read more at AudioQuest JitterBug USB Data & Power Noise Filter | AudioStream

 

Very interesting!

 

Yes, very cool, it means that this little device is useful in filtering out noise upstream at the computer-side. I am experimenting with filtering the computer USB with my short DIY USB cable too so I hope to get some meaningful results SQ-wise.

 

I am still a little intrigued by the addition of another jitterbug on an unused port causing yet another improvement, but it sounds a lot like the results people are getting when they experiment with chassis-grounding and signal-'grounding'. Makes you wonder when it will ever stop.

 

It would be interesting to see now how one Computer + JitterBug + Regen + USB DAC compares to, say HQ Player with NAA configuration in terms of SQ.

[YashN]

In his current review on the JitterBug he does talk about a future review on the Regen

 

That's going to be awesome to read and should provide great additional visibility to the product (Regen)!

[Abee_V]

It would be interesting to see now how one Computer + JitterBug + Regen + USB DAC compares to, say HQ Player with NAA configuration in terms of SQ

 

Sure would!!! Hopefully someone can try it out.

 

Have a feeling Alex is going to get a flood of orders once Michael's review of the Regen gets published!!

[theppd]

Guys, any news?