EtherREGEN: The long development thread. [Some Gen2 dev. pics and update starting on page 92.]

[skatbelt]

I thought I read somewhere in this thread that the etherREGEN would be launched in the first quarter of this year. No signs of this yet. Alex (@Superdad), can you give some insights, planning wise?

[skatbelt]

On 4/28/2019 at 1:23 PM, nonesup said:

My experience with an EMO 70 HD, is that it "kills" the emotion of music

 

So not my experience! I have a Emo Systems EN-70HD between Roon server (Uptone LPS-2 modded Mac Mini) and dCS Network Bridge and it only changes things for the better.

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13 hours ago, Bones13 said:

Only half way through Q2. They still have a while. At this point, no news is good news. I figure when it’s ready, they will announce/send emails for pre-order. I’d be more concerned if they were here talking about difficulties in the development process.

 

Well, there is a saying that no news is good news but it is extremely quiet in this corner of the Uptone forum lately. I get the impression that there are some non disclosured hiccups..

[skatbelt]

8 hours ago, Superdad said:

 

Not at all!  Things are moving quickly now.  The recent set of prototype boards is working perfectly--with data (and music!) going end to end, through the 3 Ethernet chips, through the 600MHz isolators and the 10GHz-capable differential flip-flops, and with the clock synthesizer.

This is quite exciting for us, as it means Pinocchio will be a real boy soon! 

 

Now it all about the power networks and the final board layout.  The 13 data and clock devices on the board need a total of about 22 voltage lines (several chips require 3 different voltages).  There will be at least six LT3045 regs on the 'A' side, and four on the 'B' side--plus step-down pre-regulators for at least half of those. Not counting all the select X7R output caps for those regs and the rest of the passive parts for the power networks, we are already well about $50 just in premium voltage regulators! (And that's at 2,500 piece pricing for the regs--which sadly Linear Tech charges near the same for 100 pcs. as 10,000 pcs.)

 

John is pretty tied up this week, but he will be starting on the final layout next week.  We expect that to take at least 10 days, giving a good deal of time for triple checking and also working with me on the spacing of the jacks and switches at the busy edge of the board.  Depending upon our degree of confidence, we will then run somewhere between 3-10 pre-production boards (for such a small run those will likely cost us $800 each, so 3 if we are unsure and 8-10 if we think the will be useable for a small beta-test group).

 

As soon as all the jacks/switches/LED/ground screw positions are at production spots on the layout, a lifelong friend of mine (former CEO and Chief Industrial Designer from my Hovland years) will do the CAD and lettering files for the casework--as he has for all other UpTone products--so I can then get the enclosures on order.

 

Please don't ask for an availability estimate.  To me the above looks like 2 months--assuming no issues or parts shortages.  But the days do go by quickly.  You can be I'll keep everyone up to date here whenever there is news to report or pictures to post. 

 

Cheers!

--Alex C.

 

 

Thank you Alex. An update like this, once in a while, will put our minds (certainly mine) at ease.

[skatbelt]

@Superdad, I have a question about the EtherREGEN after a discussion with @vortecjr in the optical module thread: I have my audio components (streamer, DAC and (pre)amp) on a dedicated power line and behind an isolation transformer and I want to keep everything else out of this domain/cluster in electrical/noise injecting terms. My understanding is that this can be done with the EtherREGEN. More specific, that the RJ-45 output of the EtherREGEN is completely galvanic isolated so no leakage current can go from one power domain to the other. My streamer is a dCS Network Bridge and this device can only accept RJ-45 so optical into the 'audio power domain' is not an option for me if I want to keep this domain 'as is'.

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6 hours ago, octaviars said:

 

I have a similare setup and I will use the etherRegen in my "audio power domain" and feed it fiber optic LAN from my Ubiquiti router. From one of the RJ45 LAN on the etherRegen I will connect my Roon ROCK server and the single isolated RJ45 port will go to my streamer.

 

It will look something like this when I am done, might be some changes on the PSU as that is stuff from my system I have today and that might change. The purple line shows the seperation of my power supplys as the ethernet going to my audio is over fiber.

 

 

 

Thx for your input but my goal is yo keep the EtherREGEN (or any other solution) outside the 'audio power domain'.

[skatbelt]

2 hours ago, JohnSwenson said:

The power supply for the EtherREGEN goes into the A side, there is an isolating DC/DC converter between the A side and the B side. This converter has extremely small capacitance across the moat. There are a bunch of 3045 and 3042 regulators that take isolated output from the isolating converter and drive all the circuitry on the B side. You have a VERY high degree of isolation between the A side and B side for both data and power.

 

So you have an audio PS system and a non-audio PS system. If you power the EtherREGEN from the audio PS side and use RJ45 connection  to the A side, B side to DAC, you MIGHT get some leakage current through an electrical A side connection and the power supply on the audio PS side. IF the A side is connected with optical, that cannot happen.

 

IF the EtherREGEN is powered from the non-audio PS any leakage coming in through the PS or A side input will be blocked from the getting to the B side RJ45.

 

So it seems to me powering the EtherREGEN from the non-audio PS side is the safest no matter how you hook up the A side. There is no path for any leakage in the non-audio PS domain to get into the audio PS domain. With EtherREGEN power from the audio PS domain there is a small possibility of getting leakage from the non-audio PS domain, through an A side RJ45 through the EtherREGEN power supply and into the audio PS domain. If the A side connection is optical that cannot happen either.

 

I hope that makes sense.

 

John S.

 

 

 

Thank you John, exactly the answer I was hoping for!

 

[skatbelt]

On 9/4/2019 at 1:12 AM, Superdad said:

 

I'd attach your Ethernet-input DAC to the 'B' port of the EtherREGEN.  That's most important.  Then plug your Mac mini into one of the 'A' side ports; and of course the line from your router to one of the 'A' side ports.

The Ethernet bridging of the Mac mini will no longer be necessary.  Use the Mac mini's internal Ethernet port and skip the Thunderbolt>Ethernet adapter.

 

By the way, what DAC with Ethernet input do you have?

 

This is more or less the same setup I have. Would it be wise and advisable to power the Mac mini and the the EtherREGEN both from the JS-2 or is it better to the keep power supplies separated Alex?

[skatbelt]

From the User Guide:

 

"If you are going to hear a difference with an Ethernet cable, it will more likely be with the ‘B’-side cable. This is also a good one to keep short."

 

@Superdad what is the definition of short in this regard? What would be the maximum length without a compromise to SQ?