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

[LewinskiH01]

Hello Alex.

 

Trying to understand if this design is meant for an application such as mine: I have a regular PC running Roon in a bedroom, my audio PC on the rack running HQPlayer and connected thru USB to a multichannel DAC. Both PCs connect thru CAT6 to the router, as does the internet service provider modem.

Is the etherRegen meant to be connected to the modem and Roon PC on the dirty side and the AudioPC on the clean side?

 

Regards

Horacio

[LewinskiH01]

19 hours ago, greenleo said:

Is your modem also a router?  For home users, switch should be connected to a router in general as the simplest solution. 

The Internet service provider's modem is set to bridged mode and connects to the router thru cat6. The Roon PC and HQPlayer PC also connect to the same router thru cat6 each. 

[LewinskiH01]

20 hours ago, diecaster said:

 

The EtherREGEN, in my opinion based on what I know so far, isn't going to be all that great in your situation. You have a general purpose PC feeding music over USB to your DAC. That PC is going to be passing along all kinds of electrical noise to the DAC over the USB connection. The noise added over the PC's Ethernet connection is minor in comparison.

 

Where the EtherREGEN will really shine is when you have a purpose built endpoint with Ethernet in, like an ultraRendu or sms200, feeding your DAC. The EtherREGEN would go in between the endpoint and the rest of the network.

I'm afraid you misunderstood. The general purpose PC running Roon doesn't feed the DAC. It streams thru cat6/router/cat6 to a purpose built audio PC (see my signature) to hqplayer, and that PC connects thru USB to the DAC.

[LewinskiH01]

19 hours ago, Superdad said:

 

You may be right, and the EtherREGEN does not preclude the need or use of optimizations of the DAC-connected computer/streamer endpoint to isolate noise and produce better USB signal integrity for a DAC.  

Yet purpose-built Linux-based renderers such as you mention are not the only way to do that.  An ISO REGEN--with its true galvanic isolation, complete USB signal regeneration, ultra-low-jitter clocking, and 5VBUS replacement--will do a great deal for a typical laptop or desktop computer.  Just ask the thousands of people using REGENs.  And a lot of those users are even adding the ISO REGEN after their "purpose built endpoints" and reporting fine results. 

 

Still, I see your point, though I might have phrased it differently.  Indeed while the EtherREGEN will be a good value for the technology and performance, it will likely give much better "bang for the buck" to those whose DAC-attached computers are already enhanced to produce  good signal integrity from their USB port.

So yes, I'd probably advise someone like Horacio to start with an ISO REGEN (at just over half the EtherREGEN's price.), or to consider a low-power endpoint device such as a Rendu. 

Post clarification of the misunderstanding above, it seems the etherregen would connect on the special side to the audio PC and the other 4 ports to router and Roon PC.

 

What's an estimated launch date? Won't hold you to it! 😀 Just to get an idea.

[LewinskiH01]

4 hours ago, Superdad said:

 

The 'A' side has four Gigabit copper ports and one Gigabit-ready SFP cage.  The 'B' side has a lone 100Mbps copper port.

 

What is the significance of having Gigabit vs 100Mbps copper ports in the context of audio transmission/reproduction such as how this unit is meant to be used?

[LewinskiH01]

32 minutes ago, Superdad said:

 

Sorry, I think you are missing the basics here.  An Ethernet DAC is not required.  In your system--as for most people--your computer is the DAC-attached device.  So you put the EtherREGEN just before that.  Thus your chain would become Switch>EtherREGEN>Server>USB>DAC.

 

Would the optimal be switch>EtherRegen>Server>USB>ISORegen>DAC?

 

I have a similar setup.

[LewinskiH01]

2 hours ago, Matias said:

That is one upgrade path I also have in mind.

 

Food for thought:

Path a): get an EtherRegen, then an IsoRegen.

Path b): avoid the craze to get one of the first batch etherRegen, go now for IsoRegen, in a couple months when the dust settles get an etherRegen. This is what I'm planning, although my location gets in the way.

 

My 0.1 cent 

[LewinskiH01]

12 minutes ago, sahmen said:

Might I ask what sonic advantages an isoRegen might bring to the table? I have always assumed that the EtherRegen would make the use of any isoRegen redundant (if not counterintuitive, but I could be wrong..., which is why I am asking)

Of course Alex and John are best suited to answer this. I don't have an IsoRegen,  but my understanding is they do different things. The Iso does impedance matching between computer and DAC, while etherRegen block DC leakage from ethernet and noise coming through it. Complementary tasks, it seems.

[LewinskiH01]

Thanks for sharing this, Alex.

 

Might the new eR be Gigabit-capable?