UpTone Audio EtherREGEN Listening Impressions

[ogs]

1 hour ago, Superdad said:

This thread is on its 7th page--with detailed and insightful first-hand reports from many people with extremely refined (and expensive systems (looking at you @stevebythebay). And there is also an active 7-page thread going on over at ASR where they can't figure out what this device could possibly do and are just bouncing around being dismissive and insulting.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/uptone-etherregen.9260/page-5#post-266563

Oh well. 

Jason seems to have gone to the 'other side'. I remember him from the regen thread. I think he even made CAD drawings for 3d printing a cabinet for the green regen card after the amber came out

[ogs]

8 hours ago, Superdad said:

While I am sorry that Amir is unable to measure it with his beloved Audio Precision system

Imagine what will happen in the minds of Amir & Co when Audio Precision adds measurements that reveal what etherRegen (and similar devices) does. Time to throw out Audio Precision I guess... 🙄

[ogs]

@desert38 So this is the ER straight into the ethernet port of the 250? Are you using Roon RAAT or some other software perhaps?

[ogs]

Your report is the first I've seen on the ER+Devialet Expert. Thanks!

[ogs]

3 hours ago, Superdad said:

Wonderful, thanks!

 

 

I will comment cautiously () as follows:

The EtherREGEN's Active Differential Isolation Moat and reclocking is very effective, and rather few people have indicated hearing much if any difference between feeding the 'A'-side of the EtherREGEN via optical or copper.  But in the case of using an EtherREGEN with an opticalRendu you would turn it around and feed copper into the 'B'-side and then fiber out the 'A'-side SFP cage to the opticalRendu. In which case it would be better to avoid use of the other 'A'-side copper ports so as to keep the optical feed "pure." Using just one-in-one-out reduces the EtherREGEN to a very elaborate--and highly effective--FMC.

 

As for your other question regards the ultraRendu versus opticalRendu:

They are both VERY fine products. And while it is not my place to reveal technical details about Sonore components, I can tell you that yes, the opticalRendu incorporates a few refinements over the ultraRendu--beyond just having an optical input. And what it takes to create that optical input also results in benefits to the unit. That is really all I am allowed to say.

That said, per John Swenson's personal listening tests, pairing an EtherREGEN with an ultraRendu does get you quite near the performance of the opticalRendu (with or without the EtherREGEN).

 

I hope that helps--and I hope not to see us divert too far down this path. 

Cheers,

--Alex C.

I have also taken the plunge and ordered an ER. Not that I doubted the ER in any way, just waiting for a convenient time for me...

 

I have posted a couple of questions in the installation and usage thread:

 

[ogs]

I'll get my EtherREGEN beginning of March. My own listening will tell me all I need to know

[ogs]

On 3/17/2020 at 2:07 AM, LowMidHigh said:

 

The chips in the Cybershaft products--at least at the entry level--are reclaimed (read, used). Further, the enclosures have limited number of outputs (1-3) and require a convertor from 50hz up to 75hz in order to perform, an approach known to be suboptimal (50z ER would be a good match of course). The owner takes a cavalier is approach to the impedance conversation, which should tell you quite a bit about the design and the product itself.

 

I would do a thorough research before spending money with that company. 

 

 

I guess you mean '50 ohm up to 75 ohm' The BNC connector is part of the transmission line so an ER with 50 ohm clock input must also have a 50 ohm BNC to terminate a 50 ohm output properly. 50 ohm is not an unusual impedance in this context, but I believe 75 ohm is more common today.

 

EDIT: the Mutec REF 10 has both 50 and 75 ohm outputs

 

[ogs]

7 hours ago, GryphonGuy said:

 

Ravenna appears to be a similar AOIP protocol to Dante and I use Dante across the moat on ER very successfully. The biggest issue I have is that after every windows update, windows somehow turns on network throttling which i then need to turn off to allow Dante to operate glitch free. The only way i know that network throttling is in use is that 192kHz signals played back on Roon sometimes stutters if I do ANYTHING on my PC that requires a network packet. I then run a special utility in Dante have Dante tell me the problem and then have it turn network throttling off, reboot my PC and all is well again until the next windows update.

 

Maybe something similar is happening with your Ravenna network protocols? Unfortunately I don't know how to permanently turn off network throttling but the Dante software identifies it and does it for me.

 

Regards

GG

Your network speed observations are correct. Dante, as you experience yourself, works on 100baseT  and Gigabit speed. Audinate has specs for Dante hardware on their web site that confirms this.

 

For Ravenna this is the theory. From the ravenna-network.com web:

 

"Network infrastructure - since RAVENNA is based on IP, virtually any network infrastructure supporting IP transport can be used. Thus, transport speed and latency numbers scale directly with the performance parameters of the underlying network infrastructure. Although Fast Ethernet is supported, the use of Gigabit Ethernet (at least for the backbone links) is recommended. As faster network technologies get available, RAVENNA can gain direct advantage from them."

 

If the Ravenna hardware in question does not work on 100baseT it might simply be because the network interface (chip) does not support Fast Ethernet. Not unusual these days.