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

[elan120]

8 minutes ago, austinpop said:

 

Perhaps an impedance selector like this?

 

Or go with 50 ohm impedance as standard and use something like this for the 75 ohm impedance cable?

 

[elan120]

1 hour ago, HumanMedia said:

 

Im perhaps naively assuming that the EtherRegen should be placed as the last link before the player/renderer(?)

 

Also assuming that upsampling would be done on the server and not in the client, and that the upsampled data would be passed through over the network to the last link with the EtherRegen?

(HQPlayer and LMS are like this, Roon?)

It can be done either way.  Some are using server to upsample the music file, others will stream native files to DAC and let the DAC do the upsampling.

[elan120]

26 minutes ago, Superdad said:

 

No, that is not a certainty yet.  It likely will be very close, but there is still a chance that the EtherREGEN will come in under the 1.1A-continuous limit of our UltraCap supplies. We can't defy physics, but we do have a few tricks up our sleeves. 

 

Remember too that the EtherREGEN is not only filled with the best available voltage regulators (and carefully planned power networks around each), but that by design the whole unit is to be highly effective at blocking AC leakage--the primary evil of SMPS.  So while I am sure some will wish to power the EtherREGEN with a linear PS, it is as yet a complete unknown what if any sonic benefit will be gained versus using the SMPS brick that will be included. (Same UpTone-branded 36W, internally ground-shunted unit that is supplied as the charger with the UltraCap LPS-1.2).

Will the upper input voltage be 12VDC?

[elan120]

16 minutes ago, Superdad said:

Okay gang:

After many days and nights of John's painstaking--and mind-numbing--labor, along with a few last critical surprise part changes based on availability (for the better), the final layout and routing of EtherREGEN is done!!  And the pre-production boards are on order.

 

Below is the board (remember this is a 6-layer board so not everything is visible); The wide grey line that cuts across is the moat between the 'A' side and the isolated 'B' side.

365 parts total (though 300 of them are tiny, but specially chosen capacitors and resistors).  That's a lot of parts for a board that is just 100mm x 106mm.

 

Now we wait a few weeks for the boards to be produced--and hope that they work perfect or need only a few tweaks.  I am paying in advance for procurement of all the PCB parts for the first 250 unit run.  About $60K up front.  Color me excited and nervous...

 

This is no ordinary Ethernet switch!

 

 

Next up: A dear friend and industrial designer/architect is doing the CAD work for the milling and silkscreening of the casework.  We'll be collaborating to get all the openings and labels just right so that I can get the enclosures on order shortly.

Congradulation Alex, this is indeed an exciting milestone.

[elan120]

24 minutes ago, Superdad said:

a) UpTone policy is to never take customer money for orders without quoting a firm date of shipment (That also holds true for existing products, including our popular, 25 per-month, hand-built JS-2; It boggles my mind that some firms take money for products which don't get delivered for months or even years!)

A clear sign of credible company - should be a top purchasing decision above all others.

[elan120]

18 minutes ago, jcn3 said:

 

i'm thinking it's going to have to be around the size of an 8 port switch.  a ubiquiti us-8-150w is 9 inches wide.

 

18 minutes ago, R1200CL said:

The exact size as the Ultracaps 😀

With each RJ45 port is 15.24mm wide, and EtherRegen has 4 ports on A side, technically, it is quite possible to fit all 4 ports to a case as wide as Ultracap at 110mm.  My speculation would also be the size of Ultracap or something very similar to this size.

[elan120]

4 minutes ago, owldiscourse said:

So what does the clock output connect to?

I assume you mean "clock input" instead.  That is the 10MHz reference input, made available for people who has an external reference clock to connect to.

[elan120]

5 minutes ago, soares said:

Meanwhile just a word, pleaseeeeeee!!!

A simple word...excellent!  With EtherREGEN installed, the sound is, right away, improved over the previous setup.  More detail will forthcoming.