UpTone Audio EtherREGEN Listening Impressions

[rtsusc83]

Alex, many thanks!  I received mine today. Hooked up and running! Easy Peasy!  All I can say is WOW!  Even at low volume, I can hear more detail!  I can tell the difference with the music I am very familiar with.  Most definitely one of my best purchase in my pursuit of enhancing my music streaming!

Bob

[Johnnydev]

6 hours ago, rtsusc83 said:

Alex, many thanks!  I received mine today. Hooked up and running! Easy Peasy!  All I can say is WOW!  Even at low volume, I can hear more detail!  I can tell the difference with the music I am very familiar with.  Most definitely one of my best purchase in my pursuit of enhancing my music streaming!

Bob

yeah great, after a few weeks of use it will sound even better 😄

[watts]

Okay, got about 200 hours on the etherregen now. Like many have claimed, a layer of grain has been removed.  I wouldn't characterize it as "huge", as far as upgrades and sound quality improvements go, as I have done quite a few lately, but the improvement is definitely there. (Perhaps my ethernet is not as dirty as others?)

 

A quick listen and I could see someone thinking it is like detail has been lost, but that was the glare and haze that was riding on top of the detail. But I didn't think there was any grain or glare in my system! Low level details are more easily identified, as the background seems a little blacker, and perhaps dynamics seem slightly increased as a result? Definitely smoother and more analog sounding. 

 

I'll add a few choices to the many good suggestions in this thread: 

 

Fleetwood Mac- Second hand News

3 tracks of guitar, the first one in the left channel, another in the right, and a muted low level strum in the right centre. Pick any of them: All three are better resolved and more natural with the ER in the chain. There is so much going on in many of these Lindsay Buckingham produced gems. 

 

 Neil Young - The Needle and the Damage Done

One guy and his guitar. What better way to show the analog sound. His voice sounds more realistic, and the guitar sounds, well, more acoustic. And of course every file is MQA free 44.1 Khz 16 bit: thanks for coming back to Tidal Neil 😍

 

Now to hook up this Audio Sensibility Supra ethernet between the ER and the Playpoint in place of the $2 one and see if that improves anything.

 

[richard_crl032]

Huge in this no end pursue does not come at usd700 ? 😅

[audiojerry]

14 hours ago, watts said:

Okay, got about 200 hours on the etherregen now. Like many have claimed, a layer of grain has been removed.  I wouldn't characterize it as "huge", as far as upgrades and sound quality improvements go, as I have done quite a few lately, but the improvement is definitely there. (Perhaps my ethernet is not as dirty as others?)

 

A quick listen and I could see someone thinking it is like detail has been lost, but that was the glare and haze that was riding on top of the detail. But I didn't think there was any grain or glare in my system! Low level details are more easily identified, as the background seems a little blacker, and perhaps dynamics seem slightly increased as a result? Definitely smoother and more analog sounding. 

I Ditto your impressions. That's exactly what I neard, and I would characterize the improvement as significant and well worth the purchase. If you are looking to get the most from the music you love, I don't see how you can not get an ER, even if you already have done other things to improve SQ. 

 

I have come to realize power cleansing is a key issue, and it affects the performance of every component in a system. My recent addition of a PS Audio Stellar P3 has had a comparable effect on sound quality, but at a much higher price.    

[Johnnydev]

I have the same experiences with audioquest niagara and the associated power cables.
In my opinion, everything is important and clearly observable in the chain:

 

- A good grounding system and the prevention of ground loops.

- Using an LPS anywhere with proper fuses and cables.

- Modem/router also equipped with LPS and good cables and also a correct grounding system, which also prevents ground loops.

- The use of the correct filters and/or amplifiers and grounding on the CAI system which is linked to the modem/router.

- Using a good OCXO clock on the ER, also with LPS and good cables

[chungjh]

I have ER running into Lumin X1 streamer/DAC. I have seen some improvement using the fiber into Lumin X1, but I am using a cheap $150 setup from Amazon. What can I get to get a jump on sound quality in terms of the fiber connection?

[One and a half]

On 2/17/2022 at 2:17 PM, watts said:

Okay, got about 200 hours on the etherregen now. Like many have claimed, a layer of grain has been removed.  I wouldn't characterize it as "huge", as far as upgrades and sound quality improvements go, as I have done quite a few lately, but the improvement is definitely there. (Perhaps my ethernet is not as dirty as others?)

 

A quick listen and I could see someone thinking it is like detail has been lost, but that was the glare and haze that was riding on top of the detail. But I didn't think there was any grain or glare in my system! Low level details are more easily identified, as the background seems a little blacker, and perhaps dynamics seem slightly increased as a result? Definitely smoother and more analog sounding. 

 

I'll add a few choices to the many good suggestions in this thread: 

 

Fleetwood Mac- Second hand News

3 tracks of guitar, the first one in the left channel, another in the right, and a muted low level strum in the right centre. Pick any of them: All three are better resolved and more natural with the ER in the chain. There is so much going on in many of these Lindsay Buckingham produced gems. 

 

 Neil Young - The Needle and the Damage Done

One guy and his guitar. What better way to show the analog sound. His voice sounds more realistic, and the guitar sounds, well, more acoustic. And of course every file is MQA free 44.1 Khz 16 bit: thanks for coming back to Tidal Neil 😍

 

Now to hook up this Audio Sensibility Supra ethernet between the ER and the Playpoint in place of the $2 one and see if that improves anything.

 

200 hours is a little too short. Give it 360 hours and the ER will open up even more. The sound will plateau after that and that grain will be gone. 24/7 burn in with signal even better.

[chungjh]

On 2/18/2022 at 4:18 AM, Johnnydev said:

I have the same experiences with audioquest niagara and the associated power cables.
In my opinion, everything is important and clearly observable in the chain:

 

- A good grounding system and the prevention of ground loops.

- Using an LPS anywhere with proper fuses and cables.

- Modem/router also equipped with LPS and good cables and also a correct grounding system, which also prevents ground loops.

- The use of the correct filters and/or amplifiers and grounding on the CAI system which is linked to the modem/router.

- Using a good OCXO clock on the ER, also with LPS and good cables

Johnnydev, how does one install a good grounding system?

 

[SQFIRST]

11 hours ago, chungjh said:

I have ER running into Lumin X1 streamer/DAC. I have seen some improvement using the fiber into Lumin X1, but I am using a cheap $150 setup from Amazon. What can I get to get a jump on sound quality in terms of the fiber connection?

Lumin X1/ER user here. I have found my best sound quality to be when connecting the ER A-side optical straight to the Lumin optical. Anytime I added a conversion for fiber it degraded the sound quality. 

[chungjh]

Is there a transceiver that is better than others. There seems to be a price range.

[One and a half]

10 hours ago, chungjh said:

Johnnydev, how does one install a good grounding system?

 

Member, that topic is a very involved , out of the realm of this thread. Couple of links here for starters. No need for grounding boxes, run the AC cables from one point, short interconnects, XLR preferred, to kick off.

 

Suggest:

 

 

 

[George Hincapie]

Has anyone tried both the EtherRegen and OpticalRendu? My current Roon hardware has been in place for several years and I am considering a refresh. I'm broadly feeling that one of these solutions will be the way to go, but quite honestly I am lost as to which to choose...

 

Owner feedback would be appreciated.

[charlesphoto]

4 hours ago, George Hincapie said:

Has anyone tried both the EtherRegen and OpticalRendu? My current Roon hardware has been in place for several years and I am considering a refresh. I'm broadly feeling that one of these solutions will be the way to go, but quite honestly I am lost as to which to choose...

 

Owner feedback would be appreciated.

Do note that both products are currently discontinued and out of stock, and almost rare as hen's teeth on the used market. Personally, I swear by the oR (I have the Roon only version), but have no experience with the eR. 

[Superdad]

6 hours ago, George Hincapie said:

Has anyone tried both the EtherRegen and OpticalRendu? My current Roon hardware has been in place for several years and I am considering a refresh. I'm broadly feeling that one of these solutions will be the way to go, but quite honestly I am lost as to which to choose...

 

Owner feedback would be appreciated.

 

Lot's of folks have and have reported about it.  Here is one:

 

[Superdad]

1 hour ago, charlesphoto said:

Do note that both products are currently discontinued and out of stock, and almost rare as hen's teeth on the used market.

 

Indeed.

Thankfully, the Sonore opticalModule Deluxe (redesigned with parts more readily available) should be available again within about 2 months;

And at UpTone we are making good progress on EtherREGEN Gen2--with a number of internal technical improvements as well as Gigabit capability on the 'B' port. Have already invested about $30K in chosen chips for production--so that we do not get skunked once we are through design/test/beta and ready to produce boards.

[TimF]

 I own an Er and have done for some time. Is powered by Sean Jacobs DC3. Can’t hear any improvements with it in. Maybe v2 will be better. 

[Pokey77]

26 minutes ago, TimF said:

 I own an Er and have done for some time. Is powered by Sean Jacobs DC3. Can’t hear any improvements with it in. Maybe v2 will be better. 

I have the ER with Paul Hynes SR4T and it makes a huge improvement for me. I totally get that you have your own experience, but it seems that maybe you are the outlier as most report a fairly decent uptick in SQ with the ER and even more once a quality LPS is added. I couldn't live without the ER+SR4T!

[Pokey77]

1 hour ago, Superdad said:

 

Indeed.

Thankfully, the Sonore opticalModule Deluxe (redesigned with parts more readily available) should be available again within about 2 months;

And at UpTone we are making good progress on EtherREGEN Gen2--with a number of internal technical improvements as well as Gigabit capability on the 'B' port. Have already invested about $30K in chosen chips for production--so that we do not get skunked once we are through design/test/beta and ready to produce boards.

This is good and interesting news!

[TimF]

1 hour ago, Pokey77 said:

I have the ER with Paul Hynes SR4T and it makes a huge improvement for me. I totally get that you have your own experience, but it seems that maybe you are the outlier as most report a fairly decent uptick in SQ with the ER and even more once a quality LPS is added. I couldn't live without the ER+SR4T!

Maybe, although I do have a £1000+ psu on it, good cables and a decent system. Who knows!?

[Superdad]

1 hour ago, TimF said:

 I own an Er and have done for some time. Is powered by Sean Jacobs DC3. Can’t hear any improvements with it in. Maybe v2 will be better. 

Interesting as you wrote this last year:

Perhaps take the EtherREGEN out of your system for a week, listen a bunch, and then put it back in to see hear if you still feel the same.

[Iving]

2 hours ago, TimF said:

 I own an Er and have done for some time. Is powered by Sean Jacobs DC3. Can’t hear any improvements with it in. Maybe v2 will be better. 

 

Why have you kept it in your system for "some time" if you "can't hear any improvements with it in".

[TimF]

11 minutes ago, Iving said:

 

Why have you kept it in your system for "some time" if you "can't hear any improvements with it in".

Because I like the comfort factor, I have just left it there along with mains cables and fuses. I like to experiment with things that people recommend. I hope this doesn’t offend you. 

[Iving]

Just now, TimF said:

Because I like the comfort factor, I have just left it there along with mains cables and fuses. I like to experiment with things that people recommend. I hope this doesn’t offend you. 

 

Mortally offended

[Iving]

1 hour ago, TimF said:

Maybe, although I do have a £1000+ psu on it, good cables and a decent system. Who knows!?

 

That's a lot of power supply on a null component ... would you post your "decent system"? Not on your profile.

 

My eR is in an offline system - between PC and RedNet DDC - serving as both noise mitigator and optical/copper switch. I was one of the first to own an eR. Have always been able to hear a good delta even in primitive configs. of my system. I have a Farad Super3 12V on my eR. I just wouldn't be without it.

 

afaik production of the original eR was thwarted by parts shortages. So it will be interesting to read "listening impressions" of the eventual v2 - particularly whether it is better than v1.