UpTone Audio EtherREGEN Listening Impressions

[d_elm]

1 hour ago, Confused said:

I have had my EtherRegen for a little over a week now.  First to say that it works flawlessly.  I have tried it upsampling with HQPlayer, in Roon Ready mode, feeding both my SOtM sMS-200Ultra and my Devialet direct via its Ethernet input, everything works as it should, and not one single dropout or stutter.  So it works.  As an aside, some Devialet owners experience issues using the Devialet in "Roon Ready" mode, getting stuttering or an "audio file is loading slowly" error message when running 24/192 or 24/176.4 material.  I have this issue, but with the EtherRegen in place the issue is gone.  I think this is an unintended result of the fact that the EtherRegen runs 100BASE-T.  Another interesting quirk is that SOtM's firmware for the sMS-200Ultra has a 100BASE-T mode, which never worked for me when running HQPlayer.  By comparison, the 100BASE-T EtherRegen works fine with HQPlayer, in my case upsampling to 24/192, which is the maximum PCM input rate for the Devialet via AES/EBU.

 

Another point to note, is that I am powering the EtherRegen with a SOtM sPS-500 set to 7V.  Recently the sPS-500 has been sat on the shelf unused, so it the best thing I have for power at the moment.

 

Yesterday I had some free time to try some listening tests with the EtherRegen.  Previous to having the EtherRegen, my preferred set up was running a standard TP-Link switch, which then feeds my SOtM modified D-Link switch.  This is a set up that I found preferable to either the standard TP-Link switch or the SOtM modified switch on its own.  I only had about an hour spare yesterday, so I thought I would try the quick Ethernet cable swap method, to take the EtherRegen in and out of the chain. This method works surprisingly well, no need to worry about volume levelling, and the streaming set-up remained stable even swapping cables between the EtherRegen and the SOtM modified switch.  This test was a little inconclusive. I did have a slight feeling that things sounded better with the EtherRegen in place, but at the same time, it was not a big enough difference for me to be sure that I was not kidding myself. At this point I ran out of time yesterday, and other seasonal related tasks had to take precedence over further experimenting.

Reflecting on the above, it occurred to me that in a way the above test was not entirely fair. Consider that without the EtherRegen, I was running a standard switch, then a SOtM switch, which is effectively running off the Mutec Ref 10. So even without the EtherRegen I have a degree of noise isolation from the upstream kit, plus I am running switch with a decent clock signal.

This takes me to this morning. I thought I would try the following:

A) TP-Link switch, SOtM modified switch versus TP-Link switch, SOtM modified, EtherRegen
B) TP-Link switch versus TP-Link switch, EtherRegen

I chose the above over the more obvious comparison of simply substituting the TP-Link switch for the EtherRegen, because A and B above can be done with a single Ethernet cable swap, and furthermore, the EtherRegen is supposed to make everything before the switch irrelevant, so why should it care if the TP-Link switch is there or not.

Anyway, the conclusion is not far off the one I reached yesterday. Yes, I do feel that there is a very slight improvement from having either the SOtM modified switch or the EtherRegen in the chain, but the difference is very subtle indeed. Could it be imagined? I really am not sure, it is in that strange zone where you go from thinking yes, I can here something, then after a few swaps either way, you become less sure if it is real or imagined. If I have to come off the fence and commit, I would go with an improvement, but very small. What do I think I am hearing as an improvement? It is a sharpening of the sound stage, a touch more focus and resolution to the details, and a general feeling of things being more relaxed but more natural.

For now, I will be leaving the system as TP-Link switch, SOtM modified switch, EtherRegen. This seemed best to me. My overcomplicated system gets yet more complicated. One thing to try in the future will be to use the REF10 to provide the clock reference to the EtherRegen.

Whilst in the mood for confusing A/B swaps, I thought I would try the EtherRegen feeding the Devialet via Ethernet direct using its built in "Core Intelligence" board Roon RAAT mode, and compare to feeding the Devialet direct from the standard TP-Link switch. Curiously, or perhaps not curiously, the results were pretty much the same as when feeding my SOtM / Mutec kit. I could detect a small difference, but perhaps at the margins of what might be imagined. Same thing as before, the sound seemed a little more focused, tidier if you like, a fraction sharper with more resolution. 

So no jaws literally hitting the floor, but I think a very small improvement.  To provide a little context to all this, I actually preferred my system with the standard TP-Link switch to the old SOtM modified switch on its own, and the TP-Link switch is one that I used in the past for a comparison with an AQVOX switch, which I ultimately sent back for a refund, I just could not find any difference between the two. So this is very marginal stuff, at the edge of what might be messing with your mind, and I think my old TP-Link switch might be quite good for what it is, but I would take the EtherRegen over the AQVOX, and sit down and enjoy the music happy that the EtherRegen might just be adding that touch of polish to the sound.

The next step for me is to see how I find the system in normal use over time, then perhaps try feeding the EtherRegen with the REF10.

 

Sometimes these first impressions hold, sometimes other things become apparent in normal use with a range of music. Time will tell.

 

I do not want this post to sound too negative, I have a very complex front end, with a sMS-200Ultra Neo feeding a tX-USBultra feeding a Mutec MC3+USB, all fed from a Mutec REF10, so I already have lots of signal "cleaning" and "reclocking" going on, and yes, the improvement is marginal but I think it is there.  Unlike the AQVOX that went back for a refund, I'll be keeping the EtherRegen

Please try the EtherREGEN with the REF10 as the only switch in comparison to the other two switches in series.  I have an EtherREGEN on order and plan to use an LPS 1.2 and Cybershaft OP13 with it.  In my temporary setup I can hear the OP13 effect as you describe.