EtherREGEN: Installation, Usage, Difficulty, Questions thread

[skatbelt]

1 hour ago, Bernstein said:

Does anybody have an issue with sonictransporter as Roon Core with the ER? It disconnects very often, so I am switching back to my old switch. 
 

Router and sonictransporter connected on A side, DigiOne Signature on B side. I can access the DigiOne, but the sonictransporter is not available. Firmware needs improvements...

 

I had the same with Roon Core on a Mac mini (macOS High Sierra) on the A side with a dCS Network Bridge on the B side. The dCS stayed accessible after the Mac mini disappearing from the network. Setting the network speed in macOS manually to 100BaseTX (full duplex) seemed to cure it. It now runs more than a day without problems. I don't know if it is possible to set this variable manually with your sonicTransporter.

[skatbelt]

3 hours ago, Summit said:

 

Yes I would need to reorganize my audio system, because I don’t have any unused power outlets left on my power conditioner or on the mains wall outlet close to my audio system. I have lots of unused outlets on my other power conditioner used for my routers, switch etc.

 

I must say that I find the reaction to my question almost unfriendly. It is a thread for question and I have bought ER and read things like this below and was wondering if it was affecting SQ if using longer cables. I guess now I know better than to ask again here.

 

 The point being that what comes before the isolation--and final clocking "out" to the DAC-connected device--is what will matter much less.  But the cable from that--typically the lone 'B"-side port--will be the one that still matters.  Hence we suggest keeping the EtherREGEN close to the DAC-connected Ethernet renderer (or Ethernet DAC) and using a short, high-quality cable for that connection.

 

 

 

I understand your feelings. May be @JohnSwenson can explain - in terminology we earthy people can understand - why it is technically important to keep the clean-side cable as short as possible and of high quality. I know that Jensen transformers advises to use short cabling after their isolators. They say this about it:

 

"There is no “free lunch” in transformer design........ extremely high noise rejection unavoidably makes their output sensitive to capacitive loading. Since the cable that connects isolator output to equipment input is the main source of capacitance, it must be kept reasonably short. Capacitance up to 200 pF, about 3 feet (1 meter) of standard cable, will preserve the rated high-frequency bandwidth....."

 

Not saying that this technical explanation also counts for the EtherREGEN but a statement like the above could avoid a lot a questions and uncertainty I think.

 

My additional question would be: what is considered a cable of high quality? Is this for instance a Ghent JSSG360 (named after the famous...), a (probably expensive) cable of one of the established cable brands or something else?

 

dCS advises plain CAT6 UTP or at least a non-shielded/non-metal-connector type. For this reason (and may be as a reference for you) I use 3,5m very cheap Belkin CAT 6 UTP on the B-side until now. This is the minimum length I need. I also tried the 10m version of the same cable out of curiosity and could't hear a difference.

[skatbelt]

Updated my ER from v1 to v2 yesterday. Probably as one of the last Mohicans. Can report that there is nothing missing. All qualities are still present and yes, may be even a little more transparent. 

 

Yesterday I also posted a comparison between stock SMPS and JS-2 in the other thread and had similar experiences as @thotdoc with his comparison between stock and LPS1.2

  

 

 

[skatbelt]

6 hours ago, Avalfa said:

Perhaps anyone tried this already.

Just recently I bought a Melco Nas, just to use it as Nas. 

 

But than, how to connect it? what I did now was hoomenetwork->Melco network port, Melco playerport-> ER ,a-side( nothing else on a-side), ER b-side-->streamer.

 

Another option would be home network--> ER a-side, ER b-side--> Melco network port, Melco playerport--> streamer.

 

Or , home network--> ER a-side, Melco network port--> ER a-side, ER b-side--> streamer ( and not use the dedicated Melco player port, which seems like the worsts option)

 

I will try all three in time to listen what's sounds best to me. Just curious how others fixed this.

 

I would try setup 1 and 3 and indeed, let your ears do the judging. Setup 2, I think, is far from optimal. You want to keep noisy computer hardware away from the clean side.

[skatbelt]

On 2/20/2020 at 4:18 PM, Avalfa said:

Wel that's the point a bit why I'm confused, a Melco is not (noisy) "computer hardware" but a dedicated "Nas" ( it can also be used as a steamer itself) for audio purposes, with the player port, which only lets the audio data pass and 'filters' the network traffic in such a way. That it is re-clocked, isolated.

 

But option 2 seemed worst to me too, that's why a didn't try it so far.

 

Option 3 will probably Bypass the benefits of the Melco

 

But I will try all three ways and come back with a result. 

I would have expected more people in this group who use a Melco as a Nas and use a ER, so I was wondering what there  experience with this matter is so far.

 

Thanks for your answer!

 

I know Melco devices are especially designed for audio purposes but nonetheless, they have build in hdd/sdd's and al lot of other components that are (potential) noise-injectors. My approach is to keep the streamer hardware as minimalistic as possible. In my case a dCS Network Bridge but there are a lot of other options. I think it is more wise to invest in isolation and clocking instead of paying a lot of money for expensive servers that are so expensive because they have to fight the evil that is caused by themselves in the first place. Does this make sense?

[skatbelt]

Re: the two heatsink picture posters: those fixation brackets may not be a wise choice in the context of vibration damping...

[skatbelt]

22 minutes ago, PYP said:

In other words, the difference you are hearing now is not what you will hear after burn-in.  

 

You mean after habituation in the brain? Just kidding...

[skatbelt]

1 hour ago, Technomad said:

I'm just on the cusp of ordereing the EtherRegen. I'm running a Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC, usually via its built-in ethernet streamer, fed by a Mac Mini running Roon Core. The DAC is currently isolated from every other device via a pair of FMCs, connected back-to-back via an SFP Active Optical Cable. Reading the EtherRegen documentation, it seems that a number of configurations are possible. My primary concern is to optimise the feed to the DAC, so how best to configure the system - is the configuration shown below the best possible use of the EtherRegen or would you suggest another way to set it up? You'll note from this that the Roon Core is on the A side and the DAC on the B side, but all local devices are isolated from the rest of the LAN via the optical link.

 

TIA…

 

 

Tip: do not share the power supply for the EtherRegen with the TP-link.