UpTone Audio EtherREGEN Listening Impressions

[EVOLVIST]

So, I got mine today (the day before my birthday). I'm simply going from my SonicTransporter i5 into a combo modem/router from Xfinity. Then from modem/router (A-Side) into the ER then into my Linn KDS/3 (B-Side).

 

After resetting my the SonicTransporter and remounting the HD in the Roon server software, the ER came right online. 

 

I mean, I'm giving the ER the dirtiest signal that I can imagine, straight from a modem/router, right into the ER. According to what the ER is supposed to do, it should totally scrub everything upstream, so it shouldn't matter what config comes before the ER, right? 

 

I should mention that I've got all of my shit sitting on these super thick Symposium Ultra Platforms.

 

Anyway, I clicked on Roon and the first song was "Have Your Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland)." I only heard about 4 seconds of it, but my impressions was that it sounded great! 

 

I know you didn't want to hear about 4 seconds worth of a review 😜, but so that my ears won't adjust to the sound, I'm letting it "burn in" for at least 48 hours (maybe more) before I give it a real listen. Then I'll take it in and out of the system to see how the sound fares with or without the ER in the chain.

 

Does that sound fair? 

[EVOLVIST]

So, was it Uptone that recommended a "burn in" time? I mean, this thing runs pretty hot, so I fail to see how pushing bits through it is going to do anything.

 

Otherwise, I've had music running through it for near 24 hours. I haven't been listening much (because of yeah, this "burn in" thing, but there are two initial observations. Note, however, that I won't get a full grasp on SQ differences until I take the ER out of my system, and put it back in, etc., etc.,

 

#1 There seems to a be a purity of tone. Something extra pure now? I walked into some Strauss playing, whereupon I turned up the volume, sat down for a few minutes and listened to some very realistic violin and cellos. Now, mind you, I'm not as familiar with this piece as others, so I wasn't listening against audio cues hardwired in my brain, so take that with a grain of salt. It certainly was nice, though. Liquid, even.

 

#2 Could it be that the ER is accentuating some highs, slightly? My "accentuating" isn't the right word. Hearing Nat King Cole's "Welcome to the Club" with the ER running, well...with lesser systems, or before I had my room acoustically treated it's easy for Cole's vocals to get peaky. The vox is so forward juxtaposed against the music. With the ER in the system, no, it didn't get peaky again, but it didn't sound as full-bodied as it did before either. I'm talking fractions here. This is the same thing that I experienced on Elton John's "High Flying Bird" where the full analog sound of his vocals now seems a fraction lacking with the ER. By contrast, the background vocals were certainly clearer, the piano had more sparkle, and the bass guitar had that stellar growl that I like, only a tad more recessed.

 

#3 Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" - I had to turn it down a hair from my usual listening. It was definitely clear! I don't think I had ever heard Jimi's voice that clear in the left channel. BUT! - the guitar intro did seem a smidge peaky. It was as if that small area in the low-mids was no longer there. 

 

Now, none of this was necessarily unpleasant. Even when talking about Jimi's guitar in the intro, it didn't sound less real...just different, you feel me? 

 

So, in that respect, the ER is doing something. It's not just sitting there, for better or for worse; I'm simply trying to wrap my head around what I'm hearing. It could very well be that what I'm hearing is the way it's supposed to sound. But how would I know if that's the way it was supposed sound?

 

But anyway, if I'm hearing more delineated instruments, that's a good sign, yeah? You know, I need to go to some of my test tracks like Paul Simon's "Kodachrome" and "American Tune." 

[EVOLVIST]

1 hour ago, stevebythebay said:

I’ve found that the ER reveals more - warts and all.

 

And this may be what I'm hearing.

 

I just walk into my listening room and listen to whatever is playing. At one point David Bowie's "I'm Afraid of Americans" was playing, and I don't remember the song sounding so good. It still wasn't "audiophile" by any stretch, but it was pretty crystal clear. A great sound. 

 

By contrast, Ray Charles and Betty Carter were singing, "Everytime You Say Goodbye" from their 1961 album. Ray's mic sounded fine. Betty's, for the first time I hear what sounds like light distortion in her voice, as if it was recorded too hot. 

 

Revealing? Maybe that's it. The ER certainly wouldn't give off distortion. I think it's in the source. 

 

Anyway, I'm only about 27 hours in. 

[EVOLVIST]

So, I'm only 30+ hours in now. If anyone has been reading, I mentioned some distortion in Betty Carter's voice...A possible NOTE TO ROON USERS. Since I'm running a pretty straight line: SonicTransporter i5 -> Modem -> ER -> Linn KDS/3. The signal was clipping! I had the clipping indicator on in Roon, but my headroom manager was set to 0db, because I never saw it clip; I just left it on to monitor my signal. Now, when I was playing music, the clipping indicator would show in the red with the ER in. So, I went into the headroom manager and reduced it by -3db. The clipping went away. No distortion. @Superdad Could this happen with a more "open pipe?" Perhaps I'm receiving a stronger signal with the ER in? Would that sound right?

 

This morning at about 30+ hours in...wow! Any lean sound, or peaky bits were gone. Gone! I'm not even a firm believe in "burn in" or "break in," because I've experienced it with a few things, but mostly not (oddly enough, there was break in some Morrow speaker cables, but with one high-end amp, zero, ziltch, nada).

 

Anyhow, things are really starting to sound good! Maybe I'll get more, as I let it burn in through the weekend. We'll see.

 

I mean, to me, even as a general skeptic, we now put something in our system that proves 100% that you can change that ethernet signal. It's not just 1s and 0s. Now it's starting to sound like a part of my system...perhaps even a vital part.  

[EVOLVIST]

1 hour ago, Dutch said:

The ‘music’ itself encoded in the ethernet stream is 100% identical (bit perfect, the etherREGEN is not a DSP or otherwise manipulating the data) and with the same Roon settings will have shown digital clipping before and after you using the etherREGEN. I would eat both of my shoes if it wasn’t and make Alex and John do the same! 

 

What could be happening is you listening with more focus, now noticing the clipping and/or the EtherREGEN giving you ‘a clearer window to look through’. 

 

Putting it that way, yeah, what I wrote sounds silly.  On the same token, though, I've had the clipping indicator for the last couple of years and never saw so much as a blip in the red. It's always in sight when I'm listening to music. Moreover, I'm not talking about brickwalled recordings either. We've got nice, easy wavs with peaks and valleys.

 

Anyway, it's probably a non-issue. There's nothing wrong with a little added headroom, anyway. My question was more like, "That can't be happening, can it!?" 😵

[EVOLVIST]

38 minutes ago, Dutch said:

@EVOLVIST, I understand!  But if you’d like to convince yourself or me/us a simple experiment could do that; just remove the etherregen for a while and go back to your previous setup and settings.

 

I may, when the ER finishes its burn in. After all, I would remiss if I didn't do a before and after comparison in my system. 

[EVOLVIST]

30 minutes ago, charlesphoto said:

 

Well he does live across the bridge from me.... but I would expect nothing but a Trumpian routine from that guy. It could be the most dramatic change one could ever hear and he would say there's no difference and give you some kind of song and dance why. Definitely not to be trusted. 

 

But, playing devil's advocate here, you can see where they are coming from, right? They want to use the scientific method to be able to replicate something in audio, again and again, only proving to be fact upon repeated replication. Well, I don't find anything wrong with that. It's how shit gets done. Things get discovered. But it's just one approach to things. There are people on his side - people in the business  - who cannot fathom anything other than bits being bits, packets are packets, etc. I understand that. 

 

I think issues occur when people don't want to understand the the people other side of the tracks. 

 

Now, I just found out about this guy a couple of days ago. I have no idea of the backstory, but it seems to go back aways. Moreover, I don't want to get into the science of things. That's not my bag. I simply want a return for my dollar. If I don't find it, I take action. 

 

I simply wonder if on that forum, they really care about the people who getting fleeced as rubes by the audio manufacturers, or if it's simply a matter of being "right". I mean, there are snake oil salesmen out there. That's a fact. They exist. But is the snake oil any more prevalent than the beer commercials that promise we won't get fat off of their product, or the illusion that if a woman wears a certain girdle she'll be more attractive, or fish oil will protect you from cancer? There's a lot of stuff out there floating around that people accept as facts.

 

Even more, the mind is very powerful, even to our own detriment. We can convince ourselves of almost anything. But, I guess if you think that you're Napoleon Bonaparte, yet you harm no one else in the process of you delusion, what's the harm in it? I say nothing. What's more, people are simply seeking comfort. It's a survival mechanism. Sometimes the money that buys peace of mind can go along way. 

 

I'm not saying that's the case with the EtherREGEN at all. I'm merely throwing out an alternative to this current battle, using a knife that can cut both ways. 

 

I don't believe I want too many things to be black and white, especially when the gray matter is much more fun.  

[EVOLVIST]

Okay, so after 100+ hours of "burn in," I got to spend all afternoon with the ER in and out of my system. I invited my wife to come and hear the difference. I invited my audiophile buddy to come over and hear the difference.

 

Everyone's jaws dropped...when I told them I had paid $640 for something that nobody could detect a difference in SQ with.

 

I mean, that's just the way it goes sometimes. I guess it can be chalked up to system dependency - as a lot of things are in this goofy hobby - but at least now I have further confirmation that there is little wrong with my system, especially with my room treatment, DAC/streamer and speakers; it's sounds just as natural and musical as it did before I got the EtherREGEN on Tuesday. (I may shop for other amp alternatives soon.)

 

But hey, I have a feeling that the EtherREGEN is going to make a lot of people happy. I mean, people are already happy...and that's what matters. That means a lot.  I'm happy. Are you happy? 😃

[EVOLVIST]

 

On 11/14/2019 at 3:04 PM, Dutch said:

@EVOLVIST, I understand!  But if you’d like to convince yourself or me/us a simple experiment could do that; just remove the etherregen for a while and go back to your previous setup and settings.

 

On 11/14/2019 at 3:46 PM, EVOLVIST said:

 

I may, when the ER finishes its burn in. After all, I would remiss if I didn't do a before and after comparison in my system. 

 

6 minutes ago, Superdad said:

 

Hi: 

I guess I’m a little confused about how went from the above on Thursday to the below tonight. 

 

Glad to hear you say you are happy. But if the EtherREGEN does not make your socks go up and down (as my wife likes to say), please allow us to refund your purchase. This is why we sell our products with a 30-day satisfaction guarantee. 

Thanks,

—Alex C.

 

I think the key part is the above quoted exchange between me and Dutch. Trying the ER in and out of the chain was imperative to get a full grasp of what the EtherREGEN was, or was not, doing. We often hear our own systems at first, yet slightly skewed by expectations, when really we are simply praising the merits of what we've already established.

 

I'm not saying that's the case with the EtherREGEN, but I am saying, what I perceived as the EtherREGEN settling in, curiously corresponded with me setting the headroom in Roon to -3DB. 

 

I really don't think it goes any deeper than that. What matters is that everyone is happy. I wouldn't dare comments on any other person's system or the thought process that goes into their listening. I can barely keep up with my own processes.