Jump to content
IGNORED

EtherREGEN: Installation, Usage, Difficulty, Questions thread


Recommended Posts

3 hours ago, Superdad said:

 

Who said "huge impact?" Not me. 9_9 But it is better.

 

 

Almost never.  And sadly I have spent the near the whole day just replying to e-mail and to the forum.  Have not yet been able to start the blog post, web changes, direct first-batch e-mail and other steps for the public release of the new firmware. No more e-mail for me today.  Plus I am still in my pajamas! :P

Ok maybe I tend to use a fruitful expression 🤪 Pijamas? Me too, it’s Sunday 🤩

Link to comment
On 11/23/2019 at 4:12 PM, simon_pepper said:

Question to current EtherRegen users, what have you placed your EtherRegen on?

 

Mine is behind my 2 Aavik tables sat on the wooden floor, as that’s where the 5-port CISCO switch was it has replaced & there is no shelf space available & that’s where all the Ethernet cables are, however should I be placing it on something isolating? And should that be a small bamboo chopping block or a cork pad (e.g. a table place mat).

 

My UltraRendu and UltraCap have the dual faceplate, so a larger unit, plus cables only coming from the rear of these units.

 

Does anyone have any suggested isolation components for these sized components?

Does placement affect the performance?

 

Is this the right thread for this type of question/discussion?

Hi Simon,

My recommendation would be to get your ER, UltraCap and UltraRendu off the floor. The crystal oscillators in your ER and UR are very sensitive to vibration and will pick up resonances from your floor from the loudspeakers and this will be fed into these devices. So its best to provide isolation from vibration and also good mechanical grounding for these digital components. My suggestion would be place them onto a platform like a small chopping block you suggested. Ikea has one that a lot of audio folks use called Aptitlig, that is a bamboo butcher block board that sells for only $20. Its 17 3/4" x 14 1/4" in dimensions, so you can place all three devices on this board. I would get some cork & rubber antivibration pads from Amazon and place them on the floor and your cutting block on top of these: Anti Vibration Pads. The anti vibration pads are key because they isolate the board from the floorborne vibrations so they will not transmit through to the board. 

 

If you have the budget, the product I would recommend and that I use are ButcherBlock Acoustic hard rock maple boards. They are affordable, a 19" X 16" X 1 3/4" is only $88 and includes the 4 anti vibration pads referenced above. I really like these hard maple boards a lot, they provide superb isolation and a very solid foundation for mechnical grounding (I have my power distributors on them, for example): ButcherBlock Acousics. They are very affordable for the quality and sizes you can get. 

 

On top of your board, I would place each component on top of a Herbie's Audio Lab Tenderfeet footer. I use these under my LPS-1.2 UltraCap, my ER, my SOtM SMS-200 UltraNeo, and my Keces P3 power supply and they bring an audible improvement for every device they are placed under. They remove audible "smearing" and "blur & slur" from the presentation, and provide a cleaner, more "focused" image.  I use 3 per device because a "tripod" cannot rock on a surface. The Herbie's Tenderfeet work really well and at only $14/each, are considerably less expensive than IsoAcousics Orea or Stillpoints footers. Link: Herbie's Tenderfeet

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

Digital: Mac Mini/Roon Core/Optical Module->long run of fiber->EtherREGEN->SOtM UltraNeo->Schiit Gumby DAC. Shunyata Sigma Ethernet/Alpha USB Amplification: First Sound Presence Deluxe 4.0 preamp, LP70S amp Speakers: Harbeth 30.2/Power/Cables: Shunyata Everest 8000, Shunyata Sigma XC and NR, Alpha XC and NR, & Venom 14 Digital PCs, Alpha V2 ICs and SPs.  

 

 

Link to comment

Yes, but my UltraRendu and UltraCap are accommodated on a shelf, in their dual faceplate configuration and cabling from the rear of these units - so it is just the EtherRegen that is behind the racks and currently placed on the wooden floor.

 

My post was really to see if anyone found sonic advantage to placing the EtherRegen on isolation and whether there was a small isolation plinth, of the size for these cases out there, as obviously I cannot get a full shelf or an amp shelf in behind.

 

But I take on board you comment that there are sensitive clocks & crystals, so any mechanical and acoustic feedback for the EtherRegen needs to be minimised.

 

I am present looking at either a bamboo or cork block to go under the EtherRegen and a stabilisation weight on top to reduce any case level vibration & microphony effects. Though there is a small isolation table designed for desktop speakers, but I can’t seem to find a distributor and a price.

 

thanks, Simon

Link to comment

I've had the new firmware running almost 9 hours with no interrupts.  I think its amazing this little hiccup lead to the discovery of PHY      changes.  I definitely heard something different and more alive when I got the ER back online.   Great work.  I wonder are there are some additional parameters that could lead to further refinement?

 

BTW I was not able to see the ER on my Mac.  Had to fire up an old pc to update the ER.

 

 

Link to comment

I don't go for all this nonsense about vibration control with the ER.......

Seriously though, I don't even want it in the same room as the stereo.  Though I'm running a longer ethernet cable, I prefer to keep the ER in the computer room (actually a Davinci color grading and editing suite) acoustically away and on another power circuit altogether (which has it's own basic power filter)

 

Regarding isolation control. I use 3" thick slabs of tiger maple as a top plate for modular active vibration units (like Halcyonics) under my turntable. 

 

For several years I've sat on extra pair of these wood/metal active platforms waiting to be assembled to go under my BHK 300 monoblocks.  Now that the ER has taken my system to another level, I'm now curious to try these pending tweaks, which will obviously be much more subtle improvement than the ER.

 

 

Link to comment
13 hours ago, Puma Cat said:

I think its a Roon 1.7 issue; I've been having similar issues ever since upgrading to it. It seems like Roon goes into a  "sleep mode" and needs to be woken up if its not being actively used, e.g. overnight. 

Hi @Puma Cat  Sure looks like it is Roon. Getting this from them as they troubleshoot for me:

 

Thank you for the additional info, we’re doing internal testing and working towards a solution. We do not recommend rolling back to version 1.6. Thanks again for your patience!

MAIN: Sonore Optical Module Deluxe/Farad Super 3 (7v) > Uptone EtherRegen/Farad Super 3(9v)/AfterDark Emperor Signature/Farad Super 3 (12v) > Innuos Zenith MKII SE (ER A) > ER (B) > Meitner MA-3 DAC > Ayre K-5xe MP Preamplifier > Ayre VX-5 Twenty Amplifier  > Vandersteen Quatro Woods

POWER: AQ Niagara 5000 > AQ (Hurricane)/Triode Wire Labs/Shunyata Python/Nordost Blue Heaven/Audience AU24 SE/Audio Sensibilities Sig Silver

CABLING: Silversmith Audio Fidelium Speaker/Sablon Pantela Reserva 2020 Lan/Ghent JSSG360 Cat 6/AQ Earth & Pegasus/Aurelis Deuland 75ohm

ISOLATION: Stillpoints/Symposium/IsoAcoustics/Herbie's/PS Audio Powerbase

Link to comment
18 minutes ago, Superdad said:

Should be available to everyone by tomorrow.  Hang tight! 9_9

 

Do you recommend that everyone installs the new firmware? Even those with no connectivity issues?

 

I hope not. I am with the "if it ain't broken, don't fix it" philosophy 🙂

Link to comment
23 hours ago, Jud said:


Close in terms of position in the signal chain, not in terms of physical distance.

 

Thank you Jud, may I ask if you have test this yourself, because I have read several times that Up Tone recommend the ER to be placed close to the endpoint. It even says so in their set up guide. To be honest I never really understood why that would be better. 

Link to comment
6 minutes ago, Summit said:

 

Thank you Jud, may I ask if you have test this yourself, because I have read several times that Up Tone recommend the ER to be placed close to the endpoint. It even says so in their set up guide. To be honest I never really understood why that would be better. 


Again, it seems to me they are speaking in terms of connections within the system and *not* physical proximity. My ER is directly connected to my endpoint, and I can’t really think of a possible change in my system that would connect it less directly in order to test. Regarding testing physical proximity, since I don’t think this is what they’re talking about, I don’t see a good reason to test it.

One never knows, do one? - Fats Waller

The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. - Einstein

Computer, Audirvana -> optical Ethernet to Fitlet3 -> Fibbr Alpha Optical USB -> iFi NEO iDSD DAC -> Apollon Audio 1ET400A Mini (Purifi based) -> Vandersteen 3A Signature.

Link to comment

People, leave Alex alone so he can get us the new firmware and new customers their ERs.

 

Speakers: Vandersteen Model 7s, 4 M&K ST-150Ts, 1 VCC-5; Amplification: 2 Vandersteen M7-HPAs, CI Audio D200 MKII, Ayre V-6xe; Preamp: Doshi Audio Line Stage v3.0; Phono Pre: Doshi Audio Phono Pre; Analog: Wave Kinetics NVS with Durand Telos composite arm; SME 3012R arm, Clearaudio Goldfinger Statement v2; Reel to Reel:  Technics RS-1500; Doshi Tape Pre-Amp; Studer A810, Studer A812, Tascam BR-20; Multi-channel: Bryston SP-3; Digital: Custom PC (Sean Jacobs DC4/Euphony/Stylus)> Lampizator Pacific

Link to comment
31 minutes ago, Summit said:

@SuperdadDoes it matter SQ vice how long the Ethernet cable is on the B (endpoint) side? If for example one Ethernet cable is 1 meter and the other one is 10 meter long.


Is it very inconvenient for you to have a 1 meter cable? (In other words, what would necessitate a 10 meter cable in your system?)

One never knows, do one? - Fats Waller

The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. - Einstein

Computer, Audirvana -> optical Ethernet to Fitlet3 -> Fibbr Alpha Optical USB -> iFi NEO iDSD DAC -> Apollon Audio 1ET400A Mini (Purifi based) -> Vandersteen 3A Signature.

Link to comment
32 minutes ago, Superdad said:

Now, to call FedEx and find out why the heck the carton of 117 EtherREGEN boards--which were supposed to be here Friday--are supposedly now in Litha Springs, Georgia after getting as far west as Oakland, CA. Ugh, this is throwing us off schedule during a holiday week!

😱 One of it may be mine.

Francisco

 

Aries Cerat Kassandra Ref. MKII / Melco N1ZH60-2 / Audio Research Ref. 5 SE / Gryphon Essence Stereo / Rockport Atria I / Göbel XLR and RCA Cables / Göbel Ethernet and USB Cables / Sablon Ethernet Cabe / MIT Magnum MA Sepeakers Cables / Shunyata Everest 8000 / Shunyata Omega XC (1), Sigma NR V2 (3), Sigma NR V1(1) and Alfa NR V1 (2) / Paul Hynes SR7T for Melco S-100 Pink Faun Upgraded / Farad Super3 for IPS Modem-Router / Center Stage2 0.8, 1.0 and 1.5

Link to comment
23 minutes ago, Jud said:


Is it very inconvenient for you to have a 1 meter cable? (In other words, what would necessitate a 10 meter cable in your system?)

 

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.

 

 

Link to comment
11 minutes 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.

 

 

In my experience, a 1 meter Ethernet cable sounds better than a 10 meter Ethernet cable and in some cases a 1 meter lesser quality cable sounds better than a 10 meter higher quality cable... So yes length matters in my experience, however if you can't make it work in your setup then don't fuss about it too much 👍

Link to comment
1 hour 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 would advise you to place the ER in the room where you have enough outlets, I did this too. I noticed no difference in sound between 8 and 0,5 meter, so my utility room was an obvious place to put my ER close to my glass-modem and router. I used an 8m Supra cat8 cable to my ultraRendu under the floor. In mine opinion the cable can even be longer, just what you need in your particular situation.

Link to comment
2 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.

 

Sorry, I was unclear on your question previously - I thought I saw something about the "A" side, or perhaps I was mistaken.

 

I think the advice to not worry about this too much is good. But if you can manage to free up a receptacle temporarily on the closer power conditioner, do try it out for yourself (I do not have different lengths to experiment with - all of mine are 1m). If you hear a big difference in favor of the shorter cable, let us know, and also please provide details of your system configuration so we can perhaps try to help figure out a way to have the ER close by your system.

One never knows, do one? - Fats Waller

The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. - Einstein

Computer, Audirvana -> optical Ethernet to Fitlet3 -> Fibbr Alpha Optical USB -> iFi NEO iDSD DAC -> Apollon Audio 1ET400A Mini (Purifi based) -> Vandersteen 3A Signature.

Link to comment
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.

Streamer dCS Network Bridge DAC Chord DAVE Amplifier / DRC Lyngdorf TDAI-3400 Speakers Lindemann BL-10 | JL audio E-sub e110 Head-fi and reference Bakoon HPA-21 | Audeze LCD-3 (f) Power and isolation Dedicated power line | Xentek extreme isolation transformer (1KVA, balanced) | Uptone Audio EtherREGEN + Ferrum Hypsos | Sonore OpticalModule + Uptone Audio UltraCap LPS-1.2 | Jensen CI-1RR Cables Jorma Digital XLR (digital), Grimm Audio SQM RCA (analog), Kimber 8TC + WBT (speakers), custom star-quad with Oyaide connectors (AC), Ferrum (DC) and Ghent (ethernet) Software dCS Mosaic | Tidal | Qobuz

Link to comment
4 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.

 

 

If you have an inkling to test cables without paying too much for the ability you might want to check out https://www.thecableco.com/lending-library or if you have a local high end dealer, see if they have some quality Cat6 level UTP of varying lengths that you can try.  If you've a dealer that sells Shunyata products, their most recent Ethernet cables, though not inexpensive, are incrementally less costly than most as you go to greater lengths than standard 1.5m and have additional technologies that help SQ above and beyond what nearly all others offer.

Steve Schaffer

Grimm MU1 / dCS Vivaldi Upsampler - APEX DAC - Clock / Spectral DMC-30SV preamp / Spectral Anniversary monoblocks / Wilson Audio Alexia V /  Wilson Lōkē subs / Shunyata Everest / Shunyata Omega interconnects, power cables, Ethernet / Shunyata Altaira / Uptone EtherREGEN switch / Cybershaft OP21A-D / Uptone JS2 LPS / HRS racks - Vortex footers - damping plates

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



×
×
  • Create New...