UpTone Audio EtherREGEN Listening Impressions

[octaviars]

3 minutes ago, Audioclyde said:

I'm powering both the EtherRegen and USB Regen

 

If you power your etherREGEN and something on the B-side after the etherREGEN with a JS-2 you will defeat the isolation in the etherREGEN. 

This is because the JS-2 shares the -0V ground on both outputs. If I am wrong I think @Superdad can correct it.

[frederick184]

Took delivery of my Ether Regen yesterday and installed it in my system last night.  My server and router are on the top floor of my house and my i7 NUC endpoint is on the ground floor.  Until now the endpoint and server have been connected by 5GHz wifi.  I set it up temporarily connected at the server end with my router and server both plugged into the A side and a 40 foot Blue Jeans CAT6a cable plugged into the B side and run downstairs to the endpoint.  

 

Using this configuration there was an immediate and obvious improvement in sound quality.  As many others have reported, a lack of harshness is what struck me right away, coupled with a naturalness to the sound that drew me in.  I am using the stock power supply for now.  Tonight, I am going to add an additional USB NIC to my server and bridge them, connecting one cable to my router and run the other one downstairs which will allow me to relocate the Ether Regen closer to the endpoint.  

 

Very impressed with the Ether Regen.  Thanks Alex and John!

 

Colin

[Dougster]

Michel Petrucciani Trio Live in Tokyo...... Gary Burton “Libertango” ....Llio Rhydderch (Glorious Welsh triple harp player) all testing my  EtherRegen ....... and the outcome.....

[Lucie]

Some more music recommendations:

(Americana) Birds of Chicago, from American Flowers: American Flowers (voices)

(Jazz) Omar Sosa/Paolo Fresu, from Alma: Under African Skies (layers)

(Jazz) Nenad Vasilic e.a., from live in Theater Akzent: Groznjan Blue (separation of instruments)

(Jazz) Arild Andersen e.a., from If you look far enough: Svev

(Jazz) Paul Motian e.a., from Sound of Love: Misterioso (music leaps out of the speakers)

(Pop/folk) The Accidentals, from The Accidentals: Sleeve (nice young band, playing as if they were live in front of you).

(Avantgarde jazz) Sons of Kemet, from Your queen is a reptile: My queen is Ada Eastman (if this doesn’t turn into a mess, I think that proves the system is ok).

(Jazz) Bruford/Borstlap, from In concert in Holland: Game of chess (the first minute or so)

 

I can be very clear after the first month: the ER is a big big improvement in my system.

[Lucie]

Thx for your recommendation, Nick. I didn’t know Elias, but I found the recording on Tidal and Qobuz right away. These are resp. MQA ans CD recordings in Tidal en Qobuz. I don’t have access to recordings in genuine DSD format.

That triggered another question. It’s interesting to compare DSD files I do have access to to Tidal, or Quobuz before and after ER. I have one DSD recording I know quite well: Charles Mingus “Ah um”. Before ER I know the difference between DSD and Qobuz was very clear. DSD was far better, i.e. had much more intensity, as if there was more information in the file. I now have to switch several times between the formats and I still can’t tell if there is any audible difference. There seems to be, ...but difficult to grasp. The Tidal MQA is different, probably because my Naim NDX2 won’t decode it fully and plays it ‘only’ CD-format. The decrease in quality of CD as compared to DSD and 96khz/24bit is beyond doubt.

Getting a last beer as the night falls in the Netherlands, cheers!

 

[Dougster]

I like your suggestions Lucie... many thanks ... I love Omar Sosa, Paolo Fresu (and saw them in Edinburgh with Trilok Gurtu...sublime and separately Arild Anderson with Tommy Smith and Vinaccia, also very good as is their album Mira and Live at Belleville.

I deliberately prefaced my review assessment with my earlier post on musical content for reasons which will become apparent.....

 

I have followed this thread from its beginning and noted one dissenter from the positive reviews to date. I also noted the failure to find any measurable benefits in the ASR forum. This lowered my expectations of the Uptone product making any audible change.  I approached the product with caution having found the earlier IsoRegen only achieved a problem for my DAC of the time finding the input. A simultaneous problem (unrelated!) with my router means I have only recently been able to fully assess the EtherRegen, despite its arrival here in mid December. 
 

My setup is DrayTek router > Audiostore Nova 2019 SSD LPS > Bridged output > Ether Regen A > Ether Regen B > Simaudio 780D streamer DAC > Moon P8/W8 analogue amp >  Martin Logan Spire 

Electrostatics and Velodyne DD+ 12 subwoofer eq’d below 200Hz

 

I have noted the following changes in the music since the ER - with stock power supply- was inserted into my system.

A delightful overall sweetness of tone, a broader palette of tonal colours, more accurate rendition of spatial cues and more prolonged reverberation (where present on the recording, obviously!). It also more accurately responds to micro dynamics in the music. Furthermore it presents the music in a way which is significantly purer and requires the brain to do significantly less processing to separate the music from the totality of the sounds emanating from the loudspeakers. This results in significantly more engagement in the musical intent of performers and composers - the beauty of the music and its meaning is thereby revealed for you to enjoy.

 

This description whilst as clear as I can make it also is addressing areas both profoundly related to musical enjoyment and at the same time prone to modification by higher perceptual functions than those such as frequency response, for example. It therefore is necessary  in my view to listen over many sessions, ( as I have done before coming to the above distillation) in order to control for alterations in mood skewing one’s assessment. But I am clear that the above findings are consistent in my system (and in spite of a top line DAC which has femto clocking advanced circuit design, meticulous attention to power supplies and measures extremely well).

 

And so...the changes brought about by the Ether Regen whilst in some ways are subtle.......profoundly alter how comprehensible, enjoyable and fun is the music that flows from your speakers.

 

Sorry for long post..... Buy one and enjoy....

[Lucie]

Appreciation for the refinement of your observations and choice of words, Dougster!

Couldn’t agree more.

[Discopants]

To all the new users who are pleased with their initial SQ improvement with the Etherregen, it only gets better--smoother and more rounded after a week or 2.

 

My one is powered via an isotek sigmas gii choke filtered power supply, whats the opinions on likely SQ improvements if I put an LPS in the powerchain feeding out of the sigmas? I already achieve very musical 3D soundstage from the system.

[Lucie]

After one if my first post I have retried the sBooster LPS one or two times with the same disappointing results I reported before.

 

But there may be more to say about ER and power. In the end of year sales, I had the opportunity to buy a power regenerator (Isotek Evo 3 Genenis One) which I decided to use for feeding the digital side of my system (ER, Nucleus and modem). The Isotek reports bringing the THD down from around 5.8 to around 2% (depends, it fluctuates). My mains pollution is really high.

 

With the the original SMPS connected to the Isotek (via an Isotek EVO3 Polaris) the sound got (even) more detailed, cleaner, the soundstage opened up even more and the music came (even) more loose from the speakers. Connecting the LPS sBooster (gave it another try) had the negative effect I noticed before (dullness).

 

In my system the original PS is a winner so far. But to me it’ s also clear that clean power is an important factor and can improve ER. I would therefore guess that a good LPS could improve the ER, but in the same time I’ve gotten a bit reluctant of even thinking about it, because of my disappointing experience with sBooster (not the last model, no ultra). Looking forward to reports of people who may have tried LPS 1.2, Teddy Pardo, CHC, Paul Hynes, Keces, Farad, or any other LPS with ER, compared to the original SMPS.

[kennyb123]

On 1/10/2020 at 4:24 PM, Lucie said:

In my system the original PS is a winner so far. But to me it’ s also clear that clean power is an important factor and can improve ER. I would therefore guess that a good LPS could improve the ER, but in the same time I’ve gotten a bit reluctant of even thinking about it, because of my disappointing experience with sBooster (not the last model, no ultra).

Try grounding the ER when using the sBooster.  It might not be providing the shunt to ground that the supplied SMPS provides.  It’s my understanding the effectiveness of the ER is diminished without that.

[PYP]

1 hour ago, bailyhill said:

I wonder if the PS issue requires a different direction?  

 

You might want to check out this thread, including the last few posts:  

 

 

[bailyhill]

Thanks--this might be the beginning of an up tic reported in SQ due to external/linear power supplies.  This is the first one that I see.  Perhaps others, but lots have tried various supplies (maybe a couple of dozen) and I don't remember seeing a clear consensus.  I would think by now, that there would be half a dozen folks with a particular power supply with very positive results.  Perhaps this post shows the way how to get an up tic?  Does this regulator board/power supply provide isolate power to two devices, which from the posts, seems to be a requirement to even maintain SQ--I have one ER now, but am thinking of using two in cascade along with an optical Module--and there I think you need the isolation.

[BigAlMc]

6 hours ago, bailyhill said:

So far those who have tried other power supplies have not got an up tic in SQ.  Perhaps the money is better spent on a very high quality Power Cable with the supplied SMPS?

 

Sorry but I disagree with this statement. I've read quite a few people posting positive experiences with better PSUs on the ER.

 

Also whilst I'm generally a fan of better power cords isn't there also the risk that you inadvertently remove the ground shunt that Alex & John incorporated into the stock SMPS?

 

My head starts spinning quickly with this stuff but presumably you need a better power cord, with active ground pin, plugged into the wall to keep the ground shunt active or you need to consider grounding the ER in order to really gain the benefit of that better power cord.

 

Ditto for plugging the ER into a power transformer rather than the wall.

 

Cheers,

Alan

[bailyhill]

Hello Alan

 

So if that is the case, what is the consensus on power supply?  I am ready to buy if I read that its the case.  I follow the Naim Forum, and there there was a clear consensus for the past couple of years that a Cisco 2960 gave a positive uplift in SQ.  Now they report a positive uplift with 2 Ciscos in cascade.  Almost all who try it reply in a positive manner.  The same here with the ER.  Most are very pleased.  I have posted there about my positive experience with the Cisco and ER in cascade in my system.  Unfortunately, the ER has not caught fire there like it has here.  A couple of positive reviews and a couple of serious evals going, but results appear to be coming sooooon.

 

What are the Power supply or supplies that most folks are going to to report positive SQ?  It seems that the power supply is very important, but most are happy with the SMPS and several have removed power supplies back to the SMPS.  I am looking for consensus, not just 1 or 2 here or there.  I open.

[sahmen]

Okay, Okay, okay:  I can't put any of these into appropriate words yet, since I have not been listening to the ER for more than 5 minutes, if that, so no technical audiophile sq lingo here :  I just want to say that since the ER started working, I have not been able to wipe a wide smile off my face, nor can I stop my head from bobbing nor my right foot from tapping... This is just my immediate reaction to the impact of the Before ER to After ER effect.  

 

That's all I am going to say for now.  I have a feeling that if I say anything else, I'd probably be jumping the gun.  I'd follow up with more elaborate impressions after a few days (at least) of burn in.

 

In the meantime, thanks and congrats to Alex and John already... This really sounds like a hit, yes, even after 5 minutes or less of listening.😀😀😀

[sandervdp]

@sahmen happy to hear you're enjoying the ER so much! As a fellow Ambre owner, I can confirm that the EtherRegen has a very positive effect on it  It gets even better after burn-in.

 

The Ambre should be able to run from the B-side without problems. I have it running that way, without any trickery. Have you tried taking the power off of the etherregen? When Roon didn't see my Ambre/Adagio combo, just unplugging the DC cable from the etherregen and putting it back in solved it..

[Priaptor]

Kudos Alex.
 

Received mine on Thursday. Plugged the LPS-2 at 12v into the ER, let it warm (heat up) for a day. Today is my second day listening. 

Either my previous switch was broken or the ER is just awesome. I know there will be doubters but I’m thrilled with another awesome UpTone product. 
 

Listening on a fairly esoteric system, with CH M1.1 amp, CH L1 pre into an MSB Select with V2 renderer into Gobel Aeon Epoque Fine (small one) with all Gobel cables. Don’t want to piss off the doubters but I’m extremely impressed with the ER. 

 

AND while my system is esoteric and yes expensive these types of upgrades are by far my favorite. 
 

Once again congrats Alex. 

[Confused]

I had some free time this morning and finally got around to trying a "with and without" comparison with the Mutec REF10 providing the 10MHz reference clock.

 

The test was performed as described here:

 

As I mentioned in the linked post above, I thought that there would probably be little to be gained by adding the REF10.  However, I was surprised, there was noticeable improvement, to my ears at least.  With the REF10 the sound was cleaner, the highs more resolved and just a general sense of things being more lifelike and coherent.

 

From about news year's eve onwards, I have been using my system with the REF10 feeding the EtherRegen and have been thinking just how good everything is sounding, now I think I know why.

 

Of course, the Mutec REF 10 is a  £3.5k product, and I am not sure if I could recommend anyone buying a REF10 just for use with an EtherRegen, but for anyone who already has a REF10 (or similar) the fact that the EtherRegen has a 10MHz input allows you to get steller results for very little money.  This pretty much sums up my position, I couldn't be happier.

 

Out of interest, has anyone else tried the EtherRegen with the REF10, or similar 10MHz clock?

[auricgoldfinger]

2 hours ago, Confused said:

I had some free time this morning and finally got around to trying a "with and without" comparison with the Mutec REF10 providing the 10MHz reference clock.

 

The test was performed as described here:

 

As I mentioned in the linked post above, I thought that there would probably be little to be gained by adding the REF10.  However, I was surprised, there was noticeable improvement, to my ears at least.  With the REF10 the sound was cleaner, the highs more resolved and just a general sense of things being more lifelike and coherent.

 

From about news year's eve onwards, I have been using my system with the REF10 feeding the EtherRegen and have been thinking just how good everything is sounding, now I think I know why.

 

Of course, the Mutec REF 10 is a  £3.5k product, and I am not sure if I could recommend anyone buying a REF10 just for use with an EtherRegen, but for anyone who already has a REF10 (or similar) the fact that the EtherRegen has a 10MHz input allows you to get steller results for very little money.  This pretty much sums up my position, I couldn't be happier.

 

Out of interest, has anyone else tried the EtherRegen with the REF10, or similar 10MHz clock?

 

I am running my ER with the REF 10.  Like you, I hear a cleaner sound with more resolved highs and better dimensionality.  I also found the REF 10 removed a bit of harshness that I was previously not aware of, resulting in a more liquid sound.

 

EDIT:  At the moment, I am using a Blaxius^2 to re-clock my ER.

[KHA]

Yes,

this is also my expression that the MUTEC REF 10 and the ER  do a cleaner sound with better clarity .

 

 

[russellbobby]

+1 on Marseilles. 

I have had my ER in my system for 3 days   Xfinity modem/router >ER>Cary DMS 600 >Odyssey Kismet Extreme Monos. Ethernet cables are Supra and I did swap out the stockPC for a Audience Au24Se cable I had laying around 

Simple  as it gets and I wondered if I would benefit as much as the computer gang 

Wow. Everything has already been said. Texture and low level detail. I swear I can hear the note on a few songs with horns actually moving out from the instrument.  I wish I could explain better. My new listening room will be ready in 6 weeks or so and can’t wait to hear it in a  29X18x10 room with a swarm sub system and an Isomax wall system. Going to real treat listening to the ER in a  proper room

Already satisfied so any more improvement is icing on the cake!!

 

[nonesup]

In the month of March (and when I was thinking of updating my AQVox to the SE version), it will be two years since Alex made the announcement that they were working on a new Switch designed entirely from zero, and based on the separation by means of a "pit" of the incoming RJ45 ports and the outgoing RJ45 port, in order to "totally" isolate the devices downstream from the EtherREGEN, from those that were upstream.  I liked what I read and in an act of faith (like so many of us) I decided to wait, which in the end has been almost two years.
 Unlike some installations that have been explained here, mine is really very simple:

 

 Router with LPS Kenneth Lau.
 AQ Cinnamon RJ45 cable
 AQVox Switch (EtherREGEN) with LPS Kenneth Lau
 Göbel RJ45 cable
 Melco N1ZH60-2
 Göbel USB cable
 Kassandra Reference MKll

 I have to say and this is important as you will see later, that all devices, except the Router (which is in the kitchen) are connected to a Shunyata Denali 6000T.
 I also have to say that I have powered EtherREGEN with its SMPS, with LPS 1.2 from Uptone and with LPS from Kenneth Lau.  And also that the only device Router that I have “upstream” of the ER, I have tested it with its Shunyata Alfa NR cable, with an Isotek Optimun cable and I have switched between the SR Blue fuse I had and the new SR Orange.  All these changes in order to check if the objective of total isolation through the pit had been met.
 My conclusions are as follows:

 1.- If you have a normal Switch or an AQVox, changing it to an ER produces an increase in the SQ?  The answer is a big YES, even if you use the Uptone SMPS and even better with a good LPS.  Which shows that that pit or ADIM as Uptone calls it, is doing a great job.

 2.- Does ADIM isolate “totally” both sides of the pit?  My answer is a big NO.  Absolutely all the changes made to the Router resulted in a change in the sound of the system.  This can be positive because it indicates that there is still room for improvement for the future.

 3.- Although my Kenneth Lau LPS has the floating output, and since I only have one entry occupied on the A side (the one that goes to the Router) in principle connecting the ground screw of the ER to the ground of the power grid  I should not improve the system's SQ.  As testing costs little, I took an Entreq Apollo Infinity cable that I had unused and connected the ER screw to a socket on the wall.  Immediately the sound changed, not necessarily better, let's say different.  Then I remembered that the Denali had a free socket and I connected the ground wire to it.  "Clinck" is as if all the pieces of the puzzle suddenly fit into place.  With this change, I was perplexed.  How did the sound change? (I'm a lousy descriptor):

Clarity, organic sound and reduction (even more) of digital stress.
 The violin masses of many orchestral recordings, which are my
 authentic "bête noir" sounded natural now, or at least much more natural, than I had ever heard.

Why unify the earth of the ER plate to that of the rest of the system, produces this effect ?, I have no idea, but in my system it is evident.
 Is it worth the ER?  Absolutely and for $ 650 it seems the biggest "bargain" in history.

[HumanMedia]

Thermal issues, or non-issues, aside, do people find that specific voltages sound different/better? From the same supply even?

I seem to remember John mentioning that different voltage/power supply combinations could sound better. Maybe that was a microRendu thread? Or was it the EtherRegen, or both?

 

One poster indicated a feeling that a 7 volt Farad supply had a slight edge over the 12v Farad. Has anyone else noted a audio quality preference for difference voltage inputs?

[JohnSwenson]

11 hours ago, HumanMedia said:

Thermal issues, or non-issues, aside, do people find that specific voltages sound different/better? From the same supply even?

I seem to remember John mentioning that different voltage/power supply combinations could sound better. Maybe that was a microRendu thread? Or was it the EtherRegen, or both?

 

One poster indicated a feeling that a 7 volt Farad supply had a slight edge over the 12v Farad. Has anyone else noted a audio quality preference for difference voltage inputs?

Higher input voltages produce lower currents which produce smaller voltage drops across cables and connectors, which MIGHT give slightly better performance. The lower current can also significantly affect the power supply output, but exactly what happens is going to be very dependent on the particular supply.

 

So again as with pretty much everything else, no cut and dried universal rule.  If you have the option, try it your self and don't worry.

 

Just remember that say you want to buy a model X 12V supply, but it costs many hundreds of dollars, so you try a model Y 12V supply, if Y sounds better is not a guarantee that the 12V X will also sound better. 

 

John S.

[sandervdp]

With regards to John's post above, I'm actually having the opportunity to try the Farad power supply at different voltages.

I originally ordered a 12v, based on John's recommendation because of the lower current.

 

Then there was a post here that the 7v was sounding better, after which Mattijs of Farad very generously offered to send a 7v and 9v to compare against the 12v. So currently having three Farad's lined up. 

 

First thoughts are that I do tend to agree that 7v seems to be slightly better sounding, a bit more micro-detail/texture. But that might be because of the Farad's design. And these are very small differences. Will do some more listening and will post in the other thread later.

 

The EtherRegen is a huge improvement. Feeding it with a high quality power supply brought a lot extra for me. But I think it's more about the quality of the power supply itself than the specific voltage. Hope that helps...