UpTone Audio EtherREGEN Listening Impressions

[pas]

Just now, Pokey77 said:

Loving my ER very much, especially with the recent Paul Hynes SR4T LPS added.

 

Congrats Alex & John.

The EtherREGEN with the Paul Hynes Design SR4T is a great match, I have been enjoying this combination for a few months.

[PYP]

21 hours ago, lwr said:

Congratulations!  Superb product indeed.

 

To me, long-term listening pleasure is the best way to determine whether gear artificially enhances any frequencies, which may sound good at first but not over time.  Having had the eR for more than one year, it is clear it enhances listening pleasure.  UpTone done good, as we say in the Southwest.  Thank you, Alex and John.  

 

I'm always grateful when my wife enjoys the changes I make to our system.   Lately, she has been making Roon playlists for her favorite albums.  That is my favorite example of why the little eR is a keeper.  

[Johnnydev]

I've had the paul hynes SR4T here, together with the Farad super 3, both with the orange fuses
On the Etherregen in my setup, my preference is clearly for the Farad super 3

[Savolax]

6 hours ago, Johnnydev said:

I've had the paul hynes SR4T here, together with the Farad super 3, both with the orange fuses
On the Etherregen in my setup, my preference is clearly for the Farad super 3

Are you able to describe more thoroughly what made you prefer Farad3 more? This is interesting since I own two Farads, but not EtherRegen, at least not yet :)

[Johnnydev]

4 hours ago, Savolax said:

Are you able to describe more thoroughly what made you prefer Farad3 more? This is interesting since I own two Farads, but not EtherRegen, at least not yet :)

Actually on the entire spectrum.
Tighter and more layered low tones, full bodied nice middle (not extra colored) voices and   piano etc. better.
More detail and resolution and nice high.
Great placement, with wide and deep soundstage.
Basically what you hope to get with high end.
The build quality of the Farad super 3 is superb. They are very sensitive to DC and power    cables.
I have experimented with AQ powercables. The Z3 works well, the Blizzard doesn't, 
the monsoon is the best combo here. I have not tested other powercables.
I liked the Farad super 3 so much that I also bought them for my modem and router, with good results. Modem gives the least upgrade, but still worth it.
Before this I had 3 S-boosters BOTW MK2, also on the EtherRegen,but was not a good match with the EtherRegen in my situation.The included Uptone SMPS was much better in that combination
Do take the time to play everything in, say 1 month, at least 3 weeks, including the orange  fuses.
Every change I now make to my system, up to and including every cable, is now clearly audible. Thanks to the EtherRegen and the Farads!
Sorry, but i use google translate

[Johnnydev]

I will try to explain a little better what my experiences are with the EtherRegen and various power supplies. Below you will find my review to Mattijs from Farad Super 3. (using google translate, sorry)

 

 

Dear Mattijs,

 

As promised I would let you know how I like my Farads Super 3.

 

To summarize: great, the best upgrade I've done in years, the farads are in the more expensive segment, but well worth it.

 

Years ago I started using ifi IPowers on modem, router and Tp-link switch. That improved. Then to 3 pieces of S-boosters BOTW MK1, which was certainly another step forward. This replaced by the MK 2 versions when they came out and again a small improvement.
 

At the time the EtherRegen came out, i ordered and had it from the first deliveries. This replaced the Tp-link switch with exceptionally good results. The original uptone smps switch supplied with the EtherRegen, however, sounded better than the S-booster MK2, even when it was upgraded with a synergistic research orange fuse.
 

So for the EtherRegen after reading the reviews, i bought the Paul Hynes SR4T. That was a big step forward and with the orange fuse in it, even better.
 

However, it kept gnawing whether the Farad super 3 could be even better, so ordered the farad 12V with level 2 DC cable and put the orange fuse in it to make the comparison with the SR4T. The difference was immediately apparent and after anticipating the choice was ultimately clear for the farad super 3. The tranquility, the beautiful full middle, beautifully layered and tight lows, detailed highs and great resolution, together with the live feeling were the deciding factors. Actually the “high-end” feeling that everyone strives for, but this is difficult for me to describe.
 

The build quality of the farads is also top. You just have to look at the fuseholders. Then also for modem and router, bought the Farads super 3, placed orange fuses in it, with a step up there (router the most) compared to the S-boosters BOTW MK2.

 

I also had the opportunity to test 3 different Audioquest powercords on the farads for a long time. They make significant differences. The Z3's sound great, the Monsoons the best, and Blizzards didn't like the farads in my system. (The blizzard sound very good to my niagara 1200.)

 

Thanks to the 3 pieces Farads super 3 with level 2 cables, orange fuses and the EtherRegen, I can now immediately observe and place every change of ethernet and power cables etc., absolutely great. I am very happy that I took that step, thank you also for your kindness and good advice. With friendly greetings

[Flashman]

Just saw this on The Absolute Sound, Jan 2021.

 

[stevebythebay]

6 hours ago, Johnnydev said:

I will try to explain a little better what my experiences are with the EtherRegen and various power supplies. Below you will find my review to Mattijs from Farad Super 3.

What equipment are you using in your system, including streamer, DAC, other electronics and speakers?

[Superdad]

@Johnnydev: While I truly appreciate your enthusiasm for the EtherREGEN and enjoy reading about your experiences with upgraded power supplies (even those not produced by UpTone), such reports really belong in the thread dedicated for those discussions:

We would prefer to keep this current thread focused on user experience and use of the EtherREGEN itself. Thanks!

 

On that note, and coming on the heels of The Absolute Sound Product-of-the-Year award, we are pleased to report a lovely review and similar award from a French web site:

https://www.threshold-lovers.com/2020/05/25/uptone-audio-etherregen/

and the follow-on and award:

https://www.threshold-lovers.com/2020/11/24/uptoneaudio-etherregen-part-2/

 

And yet another French review just posted:

http://patatorz.com/2019/12/21/uptone-etherregen-deballage-et-decouverte-au-fil-des-jours/
 

If only I could travel to France to thank them in person. Actually had plans to take my wife (we have never been to France)but of course the world changed...

[hifiveharry]

I am ready to copy my 8 tb of music from my old music computer to my new SGC i9 with internal storage. My question is what about sending my files out of the old computer thru my  ETHERREGEN, then to the new SGC i9? Anyone think my files will benefit from this?  Thanks in advance.

[stevebythebay]

2 hours ago, Superdad said:

@Johnnydev: While I truly appreciate your enthusiasm for the EtherREGEN and enjoy reading about your experiences with upgraded power supplies (even those not produced by UpTone), such reports really belong in the thread dedicated for those discussions:

We would prefer to keep this current thread focused on user experience and use of the EtherREGEN itself. Thanks!

 

On that note, and coming on the heels of The Absolute Sound Product-of-the-Year award, we are pleased to report a lovely review and similar award from a French web site:

https://www.threshold-lovers.com/2020/05/25/uptone-audio-etherregen/

and the follow-on and award:

https://www.threshold-lovers.com/2020/11/24/uptoneaudio-etherregen-part-2/

 

And yet another French review just posted:

http://patatorz.com/2019/12/21/uptone-etherregen-deballage-et-decouverte-au-fil-des-jours/
 

If only I could travel to France to thank them in person. Actually had plans to take my wife (we have never been to France)but of course the world changed...

The first two reviews are current, and net: "incroyable!"  Certainly they'll be even more surprised if they use something better than stock Cat 6A Ethernet cables (e.g. Shunyata).

 

The one at patatorz.com appears to be from late 2019.

[Superdad]

30 minutes ago, hifiveharry said:

I am ready to copy my 8 tb of music from my old music computer to my new SGC i9 with internal storage. My question is what about sending my files out of the old computer thru my  ETHERREGEN, then to the new SGC i9? Anyone think my files will benefit from this?  Thanks in advance.

I would not think there could be any benefit--though there certainly would be no harm.

The electrical mechanisms by which the EtherREGEN is of benefit (blockage of leakage and phase noise which in turn affect ground-plane noise and clock threshold jitter) are all real-time factors that ultimately pass through to the DAC at play-time. It is not about the data bits.

[kennyb123]

13 hours ago, Johnnydev said:

However, it kept gnawing whether the Farad super 3 could be even better, so ordered the farad 12V with level 2 DC cable and put the orange fuse in it to make the comparison with the SR4T. The difference was immediately apparent and after anticipating the choice was ultimately clear for the farad super 3. The tranquility, the beautiful full middle, beautifully layered and tight lows, detailed highs and great resolution, together with the live feeling were the deciding factors. Actually the “high-end” feeling that everyone strives for, but this is difficult for me to describe.

Thanks so much for sharing this.  My ER has been powered by an Super3 (also 12V) but I had wondered about the SR4T.

[kennyb123]

10 hours ago, Flashman said:

Just saw this on The Absolute Sound, Jan 2021.

 

Congratulations @JohnSwensonand @Superdad!!

[Pokey77]

43 minutes ago, kennyb123 said:

Congratulations @JohnSwensonand @Superdad!!

ditto!

 

Natural sound that can now fully rival an analog setup - now that is praise. I know I wouldn't be without my ER.

[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 !

[Bernie]

Hi all,

I have moved from an Aqvox SE to the Etherregen which is a BIG step up in SQ. Another noticable update is using my REF10 as external clock reference. I'm also using a TP-Link optical transmission from my router to the Etherregen which is also sounding better than cable.

From the Etherregen B-Side I'm using an Aqvox Excel Ethernet cable (0.5m) to my Devialet amp.

Now I have replaced the original SMPS with an ifi iPower X 9V which is another small upgrade in SQ.

Now I have 3 places for a possible update: replace the TP-Link optical module with a Sonore optical module, replace the ifi iPower X with a Farad 3 or upgrade the Aqvox Ethernet cable with something else.

Has someone any experience what makes most sense here ? Maybe some of you have also tried and compared the ifi with the Farad.

 

thanks,

Bernd

 

[soares]

14 hours ago, Bernie said:

Hi all,

I have moved from an Aqvox SE to the Etherregen which is a BIG step up in SQ. Another noticable update is using my REF10 as external clock reference. I'm also using a TP-Link optical transmission from my router to the Etherregen which is also sounding better than cable.

From the Etherregen B-Side I'm using an Aqvox Excel Ethernet cable (0.5m) to my Devialet amp.

Now I have replaced the original SMPS with an ifi iPower X 9V which is another small upgrade in SQ.

Now I have 3 places for a possible update: replace the TP-Link optical module with a Sonore optical module, replace the ifi iPower X with a Farad 3 or upgrade the Aqvox Ethernet cable with something else.

Has someone any experience what makes most sense here ? Maybe some of you have also tried and compared the ifi with the Farad.

 

thanks,

Bernd

 

Hi Bernd. Try first an opticalModule with a decent LPS first (please note that accordingly to my experience it sounds best with 7 V than 5 V). You will feel the difference. 

[Johnnydev]

On 12/21/2020 at 10:47 AM, Bernie said:

Hi all,

I have moved from an Aqvox SE to the Etherregen which is a BIG step up in SQ. Another noticable update is using my REF10 as external clock reference. I'm also using a TP-Link optical transmission from my router to the Etherregen which is also sounding better than cable.

From the Etherregen B-Side I'm using an Aqvox Excel Ethernet cable (0.5m) to my Devialet amp.

Now I have replaced the original SMPS with an ifi iPower X 9V which is another small upgrade in SQ.

Now I have 3 places for a possible update: replace the TP-Link optical module with a Sonore optical module, replace the ifi iPower X with a Farad 3 or upgrade the Aqvox Ethernet cable with something else.

Has someone any experience what makes most sense here ? Maybe some of you have also tried and compared the ifi with the Farad.

 

thanks,

Bernd

 

I just can't imagine ifi ipower sounds better than uptone SMPS

[Bernie]

57 minutes ago, Johnnydev said:

I just can't imagine ifi ipower sounds better than uptone SMPS

 

it is the new iPower X, but the difference is indeed very small (compared to what the ER is doing). But if you read through all discussions regarding PS for the Etherregen there is no final conclusion if any PS is better. Some say Keces P3 or P8 is better, some say the original SMPS is better than these, some say the Farad 3 is the best, some others are not sure if it is really better or more different.

If the differences via different PS are so minor then I will skip this option and stick with the ifi.

[jos]

5 hours ago, Bernie said:

 

it is the new iPower X, but the difference is indeed very small (compared to what the ER is doing). But if you read through all discussions regarding PS for the Etherregen there is no final conclusion if any PS is better. Some say Keces P3 or P8 is better, some say the original SMPS is better than these, some say the Farad 3 is the best, some others are not sure if it is really better or more different.

If the differences via different PS are so minor then I will skip this option and stick with the ifi.

Agree, and Superdad was telling us from the beginning: it doesn’t make a lot of difference in sound quality. I have the same ifi iPower  x too. The Farad 3 could be best, but to expensive in my opinion, so I am happy with a little bit better.

[Ponkbutler]

1 minute ago, jos said:

Agree, and Superdad was telling us from the beginning: it doesn’t make a lot of difference in sound quality. I have the same ifi iPower  x too. The Farad 3 could be best, but to expensive in my opinion, so I am happy with a little bit better.

 

On the other hand a big high-quality traditional linear power supply with big transformer and large current reserves makes a surprisingly large difference, but also costs more than the ER itself.....

[Pokey77]

I know this isn't the right thread to discuss LPSs and other tweaks to the ER, but I can say that adding a quality LPS (the one I refer to and purchased is approximately the same cost as the ER) and I think I got near or the same sound-quality improvement by adding it. So, for me, it was well worth it. If you look at the "The EtherREGEN thread for various network, cable, power experiences and experiments", you'll see many posters talking about significant improvements from well-built LPSs.

[Bernie]

Thanks for the input, if the difference with a good LPS is as big as with the ER (or only half of it) I will definitly add one.

[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.