UpTone Audio EtherREGEN Listening Impressions

[MartinT]

My system is as shown in my signature and the diagram.  The EtherREGEN is inserted between my TP-Link 4G router and the Asus Tinker Board S single board computer running Volumio.  The feed into the A side is via an Acoustic Revive RLI-1 LAN isolator and 3m MeiCord ethernet cable.  The feed from the B side is via a very short 12cm Cat6 link cable.

 

The EtherREGEN is powered from a Chinese 12V 50VA linear power supply via an MCRU PC-OCC carbon loaded shielded DC cable.  It sits on two Black Ravioli Pads and there is a granite coaster on top.  A Black Ravioli Eflos grounding box is connected to the spade terminal.

 

Burn-in

At first listen, from brand new and stone cold, there was not much difference that I could ascertain.  Things were left to warm up and burn in.  The ER runs warm but not too hot to touch, even with the coaster on top, which rapidly comes to the same temperature.

 

After 24 hours, I swapped the short B side SFTP Cat6 link for an unshielded Cat6 and there was an immediate lessening of the slight hardness I could hear. This was probably connecting the chassis of the ER and Asus together, defeating the moat.  Everything was smoother yet still detailed and dynamic.

 

After 48 hours, I swapped the stock SMPS for the LPSU. I could hear the LPSU immediately respond to a Cleanwave from the P3.  I was rewarded with a darker background, more vivid contrasts, greater depth and authority.  This was most likely due to the effect of removing the SMPS from my regenerator, the rest of the system using ultra-quiet power supplies.

 

After 60 hours, I added the Black Ravioli Eflos grounding box to the ground terminal. This gave an even lower noise floor, more rear stage detail, deeper soundstage. Greater impact.  There is considerably more depth, reverb and decay. It sounds very vinyl-like but without the downsides.

 

Listening Impressions

This is after 100 hours of continuous music through the ER.  I noted the enhanced fine detail in the opening to Lou Reed – Walk on the Wild Side, followed by the change in quality of the faded in female backing singers later on. Listening to Anna Ternheim – Bow Your Head, the mandolin throughout the song is startling in its tone, string sound and vividness.  There is tremendous immediacy and impact in Joan Armatrading – Willow, as well as the reverb on the drum, a quite stunning song recorded back in 1977. The opening atmosphere in two Juliette Commagere songs The Big Middle and Plantsong are both notable.

 

The drive, impact and sheer intensity, not to mention the huge dynamic range of Alt-J – Dissolve Me. From thunderous synth chords to near silence and back again, the stage behind solo voice could be clearly heard.  Rick Wakeman – White Rock has a very busy mix that can sound murky on lesser systems. Every strand is revealed, the bass kept tight throughout and his finger dexterity on the keyboard showcased.

 

There is amazing reverb down to silence on Mimi Parker’s voice in Low – Lullaby.  Plastic Cup, another Low song, also features the incredible sound of Mimi's voice, made to sound more dimensional and real. In Massive Attack – Angel, the soundstage atmosphere at the opening brings out the foreground beat more starkly, again deep bass remaining as tight as ever.  Finally, Van Morrison – Into the Mystic, has a delicate acoustic guitar in the opening against a gentle backdrop, everything beautifully placed in the soundstage and far clearer than I’ve ever heard it before.

 

Conclusions

The ER, in my system, lowers the system noise floor and brings out soundstage, depth and fine detail to a notable degree.  By enhancing the contrast between foreground instruments and the sound of the recording space, dynamics if anything are made even starker.  Very deep subsonic bass comes across with greater texture.

 

The addition of an LPSU and a grounding box both released even more performance from the ER.

 

Double reclocking (ethernet and S/PDIF) benefits are additive.

 

[MartinT]

49 minutes ago, PYP said:

 

Perhaps you are pleased enough to just leave it as is now, but you might try removing the LAN isolator.  I ended up taking mine out of the chain.  Just a thought....

 

Thanks, I will try that out once the sound has really settled down.

[MartinT]

I am still getting burn-in improvements after about 170 hours of constant music through the EtherREGEN. Christina Pluhar's All'Improvviso sounds like a new recording, such is the ambient detail coming through.

In wildly different music, Portishead's Roads sounded equally stunning with the backdrop behind Beth Gibbons' voice.

[MartinT]

10 hours ago, Vule said:

Bass and Drum Intro - Nils Lofgren Band Live - Nils Lofgren

How does it sound in your system?

 

Very live sound - while the audience in the opening are a little thin, the bass guitar is exceptionally vibrant with extreme plucking sounds and leading edges. The drums have impact although the stereo spread is a little old school. A good example of a live recording.

 

Try also Keith Don't Go from Lofgren's Acoustic Live.

[MartinT]

I haven't posted here about the EtherREGEN since my mini-review but it now has well over 300 hours on it, almost completely with music running through it. Those who said it needed at least 250 hours to reach its peak were not joking. This one takes its time to burn in. Reminds me of my old Sony SCD-1 SACD player.

In that time the key area of performance improvement, and pretty much the only area where I heard the changes quite clearly, are in the soundstage background, ambience, trailing edge of notes, room decay and all the low level details that make a performance real.

I was reminded of Kate Bush's Waking the Witch where my friend likes to listen for the clarity of the church bells. The thing that startled me was the chanting/praying section, which jumped out at me from the background. The bells are clear, too. My old favourite, Joan Armatrading's Willow, has a startling opening consisting of acoustic guitar and percussion with fantastic ambience and decay. I've really never heard it like this before.

Live performance benefits tremendously, too. Nils Lofgren, Jackson Browne and my old favourite Hawkwind live albums are all better performances within their envelope than before. Rickie Lee Jones' cover of Under the Boardwalk is an amazingly insightful recording and needs to be played loud.

[MartinT]

2 hours ago, Meridimac said:

Question: Does reversing the ER to serve two endpoints from the "A" side compromise SQ?

 

The most obvious thing that comes to mind is that you'll have no moat separating one endpoint from the other, so they could influence or interact with each other, share ground noise etc.

[MartinT]

5 hours ago, PYP said:

 

What brand of clock cables are folks using to connect to the eR?  Thanks. 

 

Short 0.5m Canare LV-61S 75 ohm cable, tested and found to be very decent.

[MartinT]

10 hours ago, PYP said:

 

I'm assuming this was DIY.  If not, could you provide a link?  Haven't seen any terminated 0.5m Canare.  Thanks.  

 

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32840161272.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.2c574c4dA25TM8

[MartinT]

Apologies to @Superdad but I thought it best to answer here.

[MartinT]

7 minutes ago, MichaelHiFi said:

But the bass. WTF. Bass was already stellar coming from the 11" Eaton woofers hidden inside the lower cabinets of the Ushers, but this was something different. Again, hard to describe but the bass was fuller yet tighter and more defined. It pressurized the room.

 

I get exactly the same effect with the ER through my Ushers and, as you say, they're not exactly lacking in the bass department.  There's another sizeable gain to come in extension and tightness by using an external clock.

[MartinT]

2 hours ago, MichaelHiFi said:

 Interesting Martin. It looks though that you're using a Mutec and a BG together.  Don't fully understand how that works. Is there a good result just using the BG? One left on EBAY.

 

I'm using two reclockers: the ER and Mutec.  The BG OCXO simply supplies both with an external clock.  The benefits are doubled but even just an ER gets a good uplift from an external clock.

[MartinT]

4 hours ago, Discopants said:

@scolley I did not notice the high res correlation on my system , I listen to lots of Spotify and you tube on my system and all media sees the same uptick in SQ. I also have qobuz for high res.

 

I also hear an across-the-board uplift in performance from standard 16/44 material right up to 24/192 on Qobuz.  I'm using two reclockers and the rhythmic timing and detail in music is incredible.

[MartinT]

I would almost say it's in reverse with 16/44 benefitting the most. Yes, 24/192 sounds awesome but actually red book material can sound almost as awesome.

[MartinT]

I've been saying that my system far outperforms any analogue system I've heard for a good while now.

 

Congrats to @Superdad and @JohnSwenson !

[MartinT]

You can't judge relative worth of a PSU like that. I am using a supercap PSU for my ultraRendu which cost 50% more, and an LPSU which cost the same as the EtherREGEN. In both cases, the PSU has made a very significant difference to sound quality. The next best things are the grounding boxes, one each for the uR and ER. They cost about the same as an ER each.

 

You have to judge sound quality by how much it is uplifted, and cost it up as a whole.

[MartinT]

I'm assuming the ER is placed before the computer and, since computers are a huge source of noise, this isn't going to do you any good. You need a dedicated low noise streamer (such as a microRendu or similar) on the clean side of the ER and use the computer only as a controller on the dirty side.

[MartinT]

The DAC is reviewed here in the forum:

Chinese Brand L.K.S. Audio MH-DA002 ESS9018 * 2 - DAC - Digital to Analog Conversion - Audiophile Style

[MartinT]

43 minutes ago, xllms said:

fibre optics cable (service provider) -> service provider dedicated router -> cat7 network cable -> eR -> cat7 network cable -> signature renduSE -> USB cable -> DAC -> int. amp -> speakers

 

Is the above correct? Where does the Mac mini source go to?

 

Yes, that looks right.  The Mac can connect to either the service provider's router or the EtherREGEN 'A' side.  Preferably the former to keep it far away from the delicate audio electronics.

 

Being a user of an ultraRendu with supercap PSU, I know you're going to love the sound quality uplift!

[MartinT]

Yes, my router is powered by a Paul Hynes PR3iEHD 12V LPSU and it definitely improves the sound, as does the MeiCord Opal from it to the ER.

[MartinT]

2 hours ago, chungjh said:

How is your router connected to the modem? Wifi or ethernet?

 

It's a TP-Link MR6400 4G router/modem in one.  Mobile data works better for me than the landline-based broadband (better sound quality).

[MartinT]

2 hours ago, chungjh said:

When you say mobile data, what do you mean?

 

I'm trying to think what you call it. Cellular data? 4G.

[MartinT]

1 minute ago, chungjh said:

I still don't understand how your access cellular data into your system. How do you connect it to ER?

 

With a 4G cellular router that takes a SIM directly.

[MartinT]

41 minutes ago, chungjh said:

Wow, I never thought of doing that. Do you pay a fee, like roaming charge?

 

I pay a flat contract of 20GBP for 100GB per month, which satisfies all my music streaming needs. For reasons that I don't fully understand, it sounds better than FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) or FTTP (Fibre to the Premises).

[MartinT]

8 hours ago, R1200CL said:

This sounds odd. Same router, and option to chose between WLAN and 4G.

 

No, different routers.  I shall discontinue this discussion here to respect Alex's wishes.

[MartinT]

Try Paul Simon's One Trick Pony or Graceland. Good tests for sibilance.