UpTone Audio EtherREGEN Listening Impressions

[MikePid]

After waiting for more than 3 months, my 3rd batch ER arrived yesterday (overnight shipping to Canada). I powered it on for a few hours to warm it up because I didn’t have time to listen right away. I’ve now done a couple of hours listening to my reference playlist. I thought I was listening to someone else’s system!

 

Even without burn in it sounds wonderful. Very natural and clear. More detail and space, but more cohesive and musical.  Something that really convinced me is that it seemed like I had turn the volume up to get it to be “loud” enough, but when I used my SPL app on my iPhone I realized it was louder than it sounded. My criteria for good sound has always been that you feel like turning it even louder.

 

I will let it burn in before trying the SGC LPS I have lying around. 
 

Mike

_________________________________________________________

Sources: Roon/Tidal, vinyl 

Digital: Roon+HQPlayer (DSD256 or DSD128 w/EC) on rMBP (mid-2012) > BJC Cat6 ethernet > EtherREGEN [SMPS] > custom Supra Cat8 w/Telegartners > ultraRendu [Sonore LPS w/ Blue fuse & Sonore DC-4 & Pangea AC 14SE MK II] > Sonore Cardas USB “tail” > ifi micro iDSD BL 

Vinyl: Denon DP790 turntable, Ortofon Quintet Blue, ifi iPhono2

Head-fi:  Sennheiser HD800 w/ Moon Audio Black Dragon Premium cable & HDVA600 [Shunyata Venom PC], HifiMAN HE-400

2-channel: vintage preamp/amp (Spectro Acoustics 217, SAE 2200), vintage speakers (Tangent RS2, Fulton Brown cables), Shunyata Venom ICs

Power: Furman PL-Plus C, ifi AC Purifier

[lpost]

Add me to the list of gobsmacked happy listeners.  My ER is about 4 hours powered on now...just sat down to listen to the very low bitrate internet stream that's been playing with the preamp off...holy sh*t.  

 

My system is no slouch but this is definitely in the component level upgrade territory.

 

!Bien hecho!

[simon_pepper]

So 2 months on after putting the EtherRegen into my system, and I am amazed how much of a difference it, on its own, has made to the presentation, scale, timing and musicality of the content being streamed from local storage.

Now I was away for the Christmas week and then hearing was affected with the regular seasonal Christmas cold (how does it know you are off work?), but this morning two familiar albums played, and there are new elements, layers not previously heard in the last 15 years of this type of playback.

How does a network switch made such a difference to packet based data transfer?

[brightonjel]

Well that was interesting.  Several days in now and was thinking that, in addition to the benefits I listed before about improved leading edge definition, etc., that there was an added high-frequency lift relative to a standard D-Link switch.  However, with a bit more experimentation then it turned out that I can now hear a very clear difference between using HQP from a Mac Mini vs. using Roon Server + HQP on the same box.  Using Roon to feed HQP vs. HQP on its own flattened out the soundstage depth and lost some timbral accuracy.  It delivered a more energetic presentation, but ultimately one that I judged to be too forward relative to HQP on its own.  Bummer.  Roon is a much better front end that the HQP client provides, and is far more intuitive to use.  Plus, it of course gives access to Tidal, radio stations, etc.  Guess I'll have to switch back and forth depending upon priorities, but the real insight here is that adding ER into the mix means anything upstream of the device is now laid bare!

[kelvinwsy]

My EtherRegen has crossed 48 hours burn in The SQ snapped into focus after 24 hours!

Bass slam, plumbing new lows are expected benefits. On George Michael's Symphonics played on Hqplayer DSD256 :

The before and after EtherRegen is like this;

1. The bass is growling thru my Abyss Ab1266 phi/cc It slams my eardrums growling from left to right seemingly Beow the level of stage George is singing from! 

Audience cheers clapping and noises just seem to expand outwards width depth height BUT each noise individually highlighted in its own airy sound bubble of realism; all harmoniously fitted into the Huge Bigger Soundscape!

A analogy on the Sound Stage Change is that Now you have everything expanded with a wide  angle lens and a microscope to zoom into each and every detailed sound image! UNCANNILY REALISTIC

The better clocking gives precise control over each sound's starting and ending impulse. 
Eagles Hell Freezes Over Glenn Frey on Tequila Sunrise and Don Henley on Hotel California can hv slightly raspy vocals. On a badly setup system sibilance is heard! I did not hv this in my system b4 the Etherregen . But after the EtherRegen both their voices now retain their high notes start and finish w/o Zero hardness in the SQ! Fantastic tight control. Every vocal on every Album I can hear the singer pronounce each word of the lyrics. Realism enhanced!

My System( No internet connection to my ISP Broadband modem needed!!)

I run my Network Asus Ac86 stand alone to a Netgear GS105 to the A side of the EtherRegen  with JSSG360 cat6 cables fitted  with Ferrite Chokes. Each switch/modem has its own high current Linear DC PSU! Sotm Ultra Neo is on B output of EtherRegen on its own Linear PSU thru a JSSG360/Ferrite choked/end connector lacquered CAT 8 cable. Hqplayer is on A side thru same modded Cat 8 cable

DAC is SMSL VMS D2 DAC thru LPS 1 powered ISOREGEN to the SOTM ULTRA NEO!

 

[kelvinwsy]

To continue my EtherRegen On my systemMids are sweet; Soundstage is Wide Deep and has good height info..  Live albums that are s life like. Full of ambence . With  the EtherRegen in the chain extreme left and right sounds gain prominence and image solidity; Central vocals and instruments gain clarity with Air and Smooth Smooth image solidity and Depth Info in the SoundStage! 

Really impressive how reduction of phase noise and low noise clocking has improved te SQ

Thanks to John and Alex

[markus46]

Got my FedEx tracking notice last Thursday.  Received in Australia on Monday morning!

As impressed as I was with FedEx's performance I am way more impressed by the improvement in SQ the EtherRegen has made to my ROON Rock NUC PSAudio DirectStream DAC system after only 1 hour of warmup.

 

At this stage, the improvement is most noticeable in soundstage and imaging.  kelvinwsy nails it in his posts above.

 

Very happy!  Thanks to all concerned

[kelvinwsy]

Markus46 - Hi there. Thx for your kind words. Just wait till you cross 24 hours and then 48 hours burn in. THe bass line on bass guitars, congas, kickdrum is INSANE. Deep Impactful and has starting impact and then the decay!

The Sound stage just seem to gain depth. WIDTH and HEIGHT.

You should try Michael Franks OLD LIVE CD - Live with Cross Fire.

Just in the Intro speech by Michael Franks on the Track 'THE LADY WANTS TO KNOW' = There is microphone hum/feedback sound. 

When I started digital audio streaming, it sounded like a buzz, vague, illdefined in frequency, and location - Someway on the right channel it sounded like a BUZZ!

As I went to Isoregen and HQPlayer with upsampling to DSD256, it was clear heard on my Headphones that it was a microphone feedback.

Now with the EtherRegen, I can hear the microphone hum decrease in volume and frequency and became almost inaudible as Cross Fire Band members kicked in with their instrument intro.. (I guess the Sound Engineer caught the hum and turn down the TrimPOT or some knob on the mixing desk). UNCANNY !!

Kelvin

[Nikko1960]

I just got home to the UK from a trip to Orlando where my ER unit was waiting for me at my hotel, courtesy of Alex.  It's been in my system for an hour and the improvement is not even subtle.  So much more detail is produced than before, timing is better, sound is more organic.

 

Thanks John & Alex. You really knocked one out of the park with this product.

 

Nick

[incus]

Hi guys - just a heads up - I just listed an etherRegen on USAudioMart (along with some other goodies). I'd love someone here to get it, as I know you all "get it."

I have two but one is enough - daytime it feeds the opticalRendu at my desktop, nighttime I can swap SFPs and feed the ultraRendu in my two-channel rig.

Since I never listen to both at the same time I realized two was overkill (and I heard no benefit from daisy-chaining them...)

Saving up for a new DAC... Thanks - sorry if I'm not supposed to cross-promote here. Cheers.

 

[Jud]

I re-jiggered my system a bit (details in the cable experiments thread), and listened to my collection on shuffle. The song Warning Intruders from Rostam's album Half-Light came on, and it was just astonishing. It's available on Qobuz in hi-res, at least here in the US. Well worth a try. (Alternative rock genre.)

[magnuska]

So now it was time for me. Received it today.

Thanks Alex.

It was an instant improvement. I listened to Bob Marley Redemption song when changing from old to new switch. 

Its only song and vocals with a short delay on this track. This delay was now more easy to hear and it felt like thin veil around the vocals was removed and it was easier to hear. 

I have some experiences with a few of uptones earlier products and my hunch is that the etherregen could be their best product so far in terms of hearable and effective sonical improvement.especially for the buck. 

 

Regards Magnus

[incus]

Thought you all might like to know that my etherRegen and LPS 1.2 combo sold for almost full retail price within minutes of listing. The market knows what we all know about these two incredible products! Now back to listening!

 

[Bazza13]

I have about 4 hours listening time on my EtherRegen and am still stunned by what it has done to my system.  After treating my small 10 x 10 listening room and buying the best electronics I could afford, including a power regenerator, this is the largest difference maker I have added to my system in many years.  The ISO Regen is good but pales by comparison to this switch with the standard PS.

The soundstage now begins a foot back from the speakers. It is larger and better defined without any edge. Even early ripped CDs lack the "fingernails scratching a blackboard" that they had before.  Bass is crazily defined and more powerful. I may need to adjust my subwoofer after the ER's break-in. I can't get over the accuracy of the snare drum and how there is a more musical and engaging sound. And to think I was worried about spending this kind of money on a switch. Now the price seems a bargain.

[Bricki]

I received my Etheregen in Australia on Monday via FedEx. Very fast shipping 👌. It has now been in my system for 30 hours.

 

To accommodate the Etheregen in my system I needed to find another way to power my roon core...it was powered with a jssg360 "y" cable from a sps500 with a very nice furutech ac cable with fi50 NCF IEC connector. This also powers my Audiolinux nuc roon endpoint, so in order to not cross the moat, I needed another PSU for my server. I didn't have the budget for a good PSU so I had to settle for a mean well GST60A12v SMPS. So as you can see, I am taking a sound quality hit to begin with. I also had these 2 computers bridged with a USB Ethernet adapter. Upstream of these 2 I had an LPS1 powered GS105 switch. 

 

To install the Etheregen, I removed the LPS1 and GS105 switch and the ethernet bridge. I also couldn't accommodate my heavily shielded JSSG360 x 2 Supra cat8, I couldn't get it plugged in behind my nuc and Etheregen and in the process knocked over my dac and I now have a loose connection on my curious USB 😧. After fiddling with the connection I can get it to work, but as soon as I bump it, it will not recognize my dac. I'm not sure if this is effecting sound quality. Instead of my JSSG360 x 2 cable on the b side I am now using a cable matters cat 8.

 

So my current working system is: 

 

The Etheregen is powered by the uptone SMPS.

 

On the Etheregen A side I have 2 devices both powered by their own mean well GST60A12v SMPS. My Audiolinux roon core and my ISP modem/router. Supra cat8 for both runs on the A side.

 

On the B side a 1m cable matters cat 8 to my Audiolinux nuc powered by sps500. 

 

There is nothing else plugged into the entire network.

 

So after making so many changes I didn't know what to expect. Fortunately, when I played the first track I was immediately aware of a richness that wasn't there before, followed by an increase in depth and acoustic space.

 

After the first 30 hours I would say that the Etheregen has brought a saturation of tonal color to my system, coherence, ease, solidity, dynamics, presence and an uncanny ability to be able to listen into a recording that reminds me of listening to tapes on a Walkman when I was a kid - except MUCH higher resolution 🤣.

 

 

The additional acoustic space and depth is amazing however in some ways it's the smaller things that are almost more meaningful... like the character of a vocal or instrument becoming less robotic and more personable and full of idiosyncratic nuance, or the incredible resonance of a piano that decays so naturally and has so much more emotional impact. These smaller things are so hard to get right and they have such a massive impact for me personally and connect me more with my music and keep me listening longer. The Etheregen has brought these things to my music better than any other device I have tried previously. I now consider the Etheregen the center of my digital playback, I feel that it's that important to my system. Whatever changes I make to my system in the future, it won't be to remove the Etheregen 🤣.

 

A massive Thank You to the genius of John Swenson for the incredible engineering and also to Alex for his tireless enthusiasm and brilliant communication skills. Also, thank you for making the product as affordable as you could, so that more of us could enjoy this fantastic device👍.

 

Highly recommended from me 😁

 

[Ed Sky]

I'm also one of those who also received the EtherREGEN in Australia on Monday.

 

The EtherREGEN has finally fixed the problem I've had with my system since I initially bought B&W 804D3 speakers two years ago. The issue was that these speakers are extremely transparent (possibly to a fault) and as soon as I installed them it exposed all the weaknesses in my components. I've since upgraded amplifier, source, cables, even installed a power regenerator. All have made substantial improvements but I'd been frustrated, that with all these upgrades things still weren't sounding completely right. Sure, the system as a whole was sounding very good but there was subtle distortion and unnaturalness to the sound that would irritate me on some days. I thought perhaps the speakers were just too bright.

 

I'd only recently discovered the impact on Ethernet on the playback chain. Just a few months ago I was streaming over WiFi. I actually started up a thread on another forum asking why people recommend Ethernet over WiFi. The thread eventually got shut down (due to the usual activity that happens on these types of threads). Fortunately it did motivate me to try stream over Ethernet, then to try a better Ethernet cable and then to try a Baaske isolator (which a kind forum member lent me). I was pretty surprised at what the Baaske did to the system and that then opened my eyes what the EtherREGEN may do.

 

So now I sit, with about 24 hours on the EtherREGEN and the following descriptors come to mind: clear, alive, holographic, realistic, impactful and detailed bass (which is quite addictive I must warn) and a sense of space between instruments and voices. It's definitely elevated my system and I think completely removed the issues I've felt I had, though I'd need more time with it just to be sure.

 

What's also great with the EtherREGEN is it's such an easy tweak to install. Was up an running in a few minutes.

 

My system specifications are as follows: tp-link modem/router-->EtherREGEN-->Simaudio Moon 390-->Simaudio Moon 860A-->B&W 804D3 (with PS Audio P20 PowerPlant).

[simon_pepper]

1 hour ago, Ed Sky said:

So now I sit, with about 24 hours on the EtherREGEN and the following descriptors come to mind: clear, alive, holographic, realistic, impactful and detailed bass (which is quite addictive I must warn) and a sense of space between instruments and voices. It's definitely elevated my system and I think completely removed the issues I've felt I had, though I'd need more time with it just to be sure.

Just wait to see what happens after a couple of weeks once the EtherRegen is burnt in, and stabilised - based on the 2 months I have had an EtherRegen the initial improvement is doubled again, and everything just gets even better.

[Confused]

10 hours ago, Ed Sky said:

I'm also one of those who also received the EtherREGEN in Australia on Monday.

 

The EtherREGEN has finally fixed the problem I've had with my system since I initially bought B&W 804D3 speakers two years ago. The issue was that these speakers are extremely transparent (possibly to a fault) and as soon as I installed them it exposed all the weaknesses in my components. I've since upgraded amplifier, source, cables, even installed a power regenerator. All have made substantial improvements but I'd been frustrated, that with all these upgrades things still weren't sounding completely right. Sure, the system as a whole was sounding very good but there was subtle distortion and unnaturalness to the sound that would irritate me on some days. I thought perhaps the speakers were just too bright.

 

I'd only recently discovered the impact on Ethernet on the playback chain. Just a few months ago I was streaming over WiFi. I actually started up a thread on another forum asking why people recommend Ethernet over WiFi. The thread eventually got shut down (due to the usual activity that happens on these types of threads). Fortunately it did motivate me to try stream over Ethernet, then to try a better Ethernet cable and then to try a Baaske isolator (which a kind forum member lent me). I was pretty surprised at what the Baaske did to the system and that then opened my eyes what the EtherREGEN may do.

 

So now I sit, with about 24 hours on the EtherREGEN and the following descriptors come to mind: clear, alive, holographic, realistic, impactful and detailed bass (which is quite addictive I must warn) and a sense of space between instruments and voices. It's definitely elevated my system and I think completely removed the issues I've felt I had, though I'd need more time with it just to be sure.

 

What's also great with the EtherREGEN is it's such an easy tweak to install. Was up an running in a few minutes.

 

My system specifications are as follows: tp-link modem/router-->EtherREGEN-->Simaudio Moon 390-->Simaudio Moon 860A-->B&W 804D3 (with PS Audio P20 PowerPlant).

Some interesting comments.  I too have suffered a little from a system that nominally sounds great, but does have those tiny irritations.  A bit like a luxury car with a tiny squeak or rattle you can't find.  In my case it is mostly perceived distortion in the HF and presence range.  Regarding the EtherRegen, I wrote this back in December "There was one track in particular with a snare drum that annoys me a bit, it just adds a touch of harshness that is almost heard direct from the tweeter. With my quick listen Sunday it sounded like a snare "in space", directly between the speakers. Now, I could be imagining this, it could be that some earwax fell out of one ear during the night, I am really not sure. It was, to me at least, and running from aural memory, a small but distinctive difference."

 

So maybe for both of us the EtherRegen is doing a good job of removing the annoying digital distortion / artifacts?  Small stuff in absolute terms, but it can make a huge difference by making a listening session enjoyable, rather than frustrating due to annoying niggles.

[Bazza13]

Like some of you, I fought trying to make solid state electronics sound right in my system for too many decades and then I switched to modern tube based equipment.  I find that the tubes in a modern single ended design minimize any glare and etch and it is fun to roll tubes to get the exact sound I like.  Until inserting the EtherRegen I doubted that the sound quality could get any better but I was wrong!

[Dougster]

There is only one change that is worth it in the final analysis.... does the music become more engaging and fun.....with the EtherRegen not only does it pass that test .... it seems to be its signature across all sorts of musical styles! 
 

I’d planned to read my book tonight... well that’s gone!!

[bailyhill]

What is pretty amazing to me is that the positive reaction to the ER seems to be almost universal.  I cannot remember another product with such high acceptance.  Great Job John and Alex.

[lpost]

My ER is about 150 hours powered now.  It just keeps getting better or rather my enjoyment of music keeps increasing.

[Trabb]

Hi !

I got mine and, like all of you, I’m happy with the results.

Needless to say, you need to give it some time to settle. There are a lot of electronic parts and they need time to start run in a smooth way. If you wish to elevate performance, the resonance adjustment is a thing to do. Its good to adjust resonance in both; the EtherREGEN and the power supply.

If I would build my streaming source now, I guess it would only consists of the streaming device, EtherREGEN and stock cables. Although I still use two expensive cables (USB and Ethernet) I would probably not spent money on them now. Surprisingly, I prefer cheap stock ethernet cable instead of another fancy one I kept to connect router with EtherREGEN.

 

In the end, those audio cables are all filters and some of them have really strong influence. I found myself looking for ease and analog-like naturalness and could hear nothing but compression with this mythical black background. Instead of pleasure.

 

Today I would not buy linear power supply either, at least not at the beginning. First I would try to squeeze the performance of impulse p.s. by adjusting its resonance. They actually tend to sing quite well when you do this. I use UpTone LPS-1 with stock power supply and I’m happy with the results.

Now truth is, with EtherREGEN I’m not interested in any kind of further improvements within my streaming source. I find signal so clean, that making it cleaner would only make my system sound worse. It is almost too clean now. I know John and Alex have plans for another devices. Well, we will see.

Cheers, Greg

[Bricki]

I am up to 72 hours now and things are starting to get more silky smooth.

 

I've just been listening to some Milt Jackson on the vibraphone... This album is normally full of irritating treble glare but the Etheregen has made it beautiful and relaxed. 

[Vule]

Received mine.

Streaming from Tidal never sounds better. It simply unleashes naturalness of music.

I want to thank to the creators of that lil' thing for their sincerity.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.