UpTone Audio EtherREGEN Listening Impressions

[so-no-mah]

Eight hours in. I'm a happy boy....

[so-no-mah]

You don't know what you have until it's gone! I'm 30 hours in and the improvements wrought by the ER are consistent and obvious. It's like a really clean window on the performance. The sound stage grew in all three dimensions. The front of my room disappeared. As other have noted, bass definition, weight, and transient quickness are all improved. The texture and timbre of instruments and voices are startlingly clear. You can listen at lower volumes without losing information. At the same time, you can listen at high levels without fatigue (careful there!). For lack of a better way to say it, it just sounds more like a live performance with the ER in the chain.

 

All this comes on top of some recent and very positive changes to my system. I added an ISO REGEN powered by an LPS 1.2 to the USB output of my JS-2 powered Roon Nucleus+ into my PS Audio Directstream DAC (a huge improvement). I also grounded the LPS 1.2, my internet switch and the DS DAC to to my Synergistic Active Ground Block.  My systems is star grounded and powered by two twenty amp circuits on the same phase.  I had a second ground rod added at the breaker box and the system is dead quiet.

 

My current setup is copper from the switch into the A side of the ER with the B side connected to the Bridge II input on the PS DAC for streaming Tidal MQA files. The Nucleus+ is connected to the A side. This seemed to perform slightly better than the B side into the Nucleus+ and the Bridge connected to the A side.  (Perhaps I need another ER?!?!) On Tidal MQA material, so far I seem to slightly prefer the Bridge II input over the DAC's USB input (more testing needed here--also more comparisons to ripped files stored on the SSD in the Nucleus).  The ER is powered by an HD Plex and is grounded to the SR Active Ground Block.  All Ethernet cables are AQ Cinnamon.

 

I anticipate another late night of very pleasurable listening.

[so-no-mah]

I'm also at about 100 hours now and the sound is considerably better balanced than even 30 hours in. Good stuff! Thanks John and Alex!!!

[so-no-mah]

Ralph Waldo Emerson said that one should “cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously."”

 

Those of us in the Uptone Audio "family" are thankful for all the great products your intrepid venture has produced and shared.

 

And yes, the firmware update is for the better--more transparent, detailed and live-sounding still....

[so-no-mah]

10 hours ago, mikeg said:

Alex, I so appreciate the time and value you add to this forum.  Not many manufacturers would go the extra mile like Uptone Audio.  

 

Wouldn't a good system ground for the ER ground screw be the SR Active Grounding Block given that in my audio system I have all components and cables grounded to it?

+mikeg That's how I have mine set up and it sounds great. And Alex, the SR ground block is a star grounding scheme that is connected to the earth ground of the house AC. I my setup I have added a second ground rod at the breaker box in an attempt to further lower AC ground impedance. I'm a believer!

 

As for others seeking to experiment with grounding the ER when using a JS-2, rather than trying to kludge a ground wire to the JS-2 case, maybe try connecting a wire from the ER to the ground pin of a 3 prong male AC plug and connect it to an unused AC outlet?

[so-no-mah]

For me, after introducing the Ether REGEN between my router and my Roon Nucleus+ with internal SSD holding my music library, I have become agnostic as to whether I play tracks from Tidal or the SSD....