ISO Regen Issue at "I" Switch Position

[RamDawg]

I purchased and recently received an ISO Regen purchased from Uptone's website. I am having an issue that I hope you can get fixed. My setup is as follows:

 

Windows 10 laptop Core i5 - Curious USB Cable - ISO Regen (with standard power supply) - Curious USB Regen Link - Concero HD DAC - Audioquest Water RCA cables - Schiit Jotenheim Amp - Audioquest Nighthawks/HD 800 headphones.

 

When I have the switch on the Regen in the "I" position, I will lose power to the DAC after 2-3 songs.  After 5-10 minutes, power will come back then go out again. I am unable to use the Regen in the "I" position. I tried replacing the DAC by using the Jot's internal DAC and am having the same issue consistently. 

The only way I can use the Regen with either DAC is when it's switched to the "NO" position which is in effect turning off the galvanic isolation. 

 

I just purchased an LPS-1 power supply yesterday from the site as well in hopes it will fix the issue. 

 

Please help!  I would hate to have to send it back for full refund. 

 

[One and a half]

3 hours ago, RamDawg said:

I purchased and recently received an ISO Regen purchased from Uptone's website. I am having an issue that I hope you can get fixed. My setup is as follows:

 

Windows 10 laptop Core i5 - Curious USB Cable - ISO Regen (with standard power supply) - Curious USB Regen Link - Concero HD DAC - Audioquest Water RCA cables - Schiit Jotenheim Amp - Audioquest Nighthawks/HD 800 headphones.

 

When I have the switch on the Regen in the "I" position, I will lose power to the DAC after 2-3 songs.  After 5-10 minutes, power will come back then go out again. I am unable to use the Regen in the "I" position. I tried replacing the DAC by using the Jot's internal DAC and am having the same issue consistently. 

The only way I can use the Regen with either DAC is when it's switched to the "NO" position which is in effect turning off the galvanic isolation. 

 

I just purchased an LPS-1 power supply yesterday from the site as well in hopes it will fix the issue. 

 

Please help!  I would hate to have to send it back for full refund. 

 

Have you tried a different USB port?

[RamDawg]

On my laptop?  I've only used 1 port so far. I have 3 total though and will try the others. Worth a shot. Thanks. 

[asdf1000]

Alex has mentioned this can happen due to the Silanna isolation chip used and some iFi iGalvanic3.0 owners have the same symptoms. It seems to be an EM/RFI sensitivity thing with that chip and like many things, is very system/environment dependant. Alex has already mentioned this though, so I'm not adding anything new here.

 

I was losing connection with my DAC every 1-2 hours or so and the timing is the same time an office bar fridge compressor switches on (or off). I made sure there was proper grounding both upstream and downstream of the ISO REGEN but still no luck with the DAC losing connection every 1-2 hours or so.

 

I picked up a used Intona Industrial which now goes before the ISO REGEN and that combination works well, with the ISO REGEN's isolation switched OFF. It's possible if I move into a different setup (i.e. different environment) that I wouldn't need the Intona and could just use the Iso Regen but now now the combination is working well, essentially an Intona + Uber Regen.

 

But there are a few things you can try before you need to add something like an Intona (to block leakage currents from the PC). Check out the main Iso Regen thread for Alex's tips of things to try - it's worked for some and worth a try (costs little to try).

 

[asdf1000]

Check this out (including posts before and after):

 

 

 

[One and a half]

Also thought about using a hub in front of the regen as sometimes audio and internal devices within the laptop conflict. A powered hub if you can.

[Allan F]

I was also experiencing the signal to the DAC dropping out every one or two hours with the ISO Regen switch in the I position. The problem disappeared with the switch in the O position. I am happy to report that, applying Alex's suggestion of connecting a ground wire from the USB A input of the ISO Regen to a ground screw on my preamp, has resolved the problem with the switch in the I position. I have now been running continuously for over 12 hours without a single signal dropout.

[mikey8811]

I have the same issue with the ISO Regen with the switch set at "ISO" that is with galvanic isolation activated.

 

@Em2016 I remember you mentioning the issue on the PS Audio DS forum but didn't notice it so much then - it was powered by an iFi iPower 9V at that time - it is now powered by a LPS 1.

 

It is getting irritating now and I have had to either restart my Auralic Aries and/or PS Audio Directstream DAC quite frequently for the USB connection to be seen again.

 

I am going to try it with the switch in the "ON" position tomorrow ie. with galvanic isolation defeated to see if the problem persists. If the same thing happens then I am getting rid of the ISO Regen. if it doesn't and I still like the sound then I'll keep it but would advise anyone against  buying one for use with the PS Audio Directstream if they wish to use galvanic isolation, one of the advertised virtues of the device. Certainly, the W4S Recovery I had before the ISO Regen didn't have this issue with the USB connection dropping frequently.

 

While it may well be an issue with the Silenna chip, Uptone should have tested it thoroughly before rolling it out. After all, they are the manufacturers of the device. If it does indeed require a special grounding wire/ attachment to work with the galvanic isolation activated, said attachment should have been supplied with the ISO Regen rather than requiring further tweaking on the part of the user to render a supposedly "finished" product usable in their systems.

[Superdad]

13 minutes ago, mikey8811 said:

If,it doesn't and I still like the sound then I'll keep it but would advise anyone against  buying one for use with the PS Audio Directstream if they wish to use galvanic isolation, one of the advertised virtues of the device.

 

There are plenty of Directstream DAC users using the ISO REGEN with the galvanic isolation enabled.  But everyone's systems are a bit different.

 

13 minutes ago, mikey8811 said:

Certainly, the W4S Recovery I had before the ISO Regen didn't have this issue with the USB connection dropping frequently.

 

Well and ISO REGEN with the GI defeated is still a technically superior USB REGEN/Recovery.  If we had not spent an extra year fussing with the Silanna chip to add galvanic isolation as a feature, then we would have released this as an uberREGEN 18 months ago.

 

13 minutes ago, mikey8811 said:

While it may well be an issue with the Silenna chip, Uptone should have tested it thoroughly before rolling it out. After all, they are the manufacturers of the device. If it does indeed require a special grounding wire/ attachment to work with the galvanic isolation activated, said attachment should have been supplied with the ISO Regen rather than requiring further tweaking on the part of the user to render a supposedly "finished" product usable in their systems.

 

We did test a ton before release--that's why it took so long to come to market--and that is why it has the switch.  You will note that iFi Audio's competing iGalvanic also has a GI defeat switch (and based on my own testing and posted reports of their piece I venture that far fewer are able to use the iGalvanic in full isolation mode--that's with their switch in the center position).

 

We are confident that even if one is unable to reliably use the ISO REGEN with full GI enabled, that our unit musically delivers beyond similar devices in a great many ways.

And of course there is our 30-day money-back guarantee (with no restocking charge).