EtherREGEN: Installation, Usage, Difficulty, Questions thread

[Cable Monkey]

Not everyone is going to deal with the crisis the same. Some will be doom gloom and despair. Others may choose to take a slightly more light hearted approach. Try not to fall out over it! 
As an aside, my colleague went to Spain for his 50th and came back ten days ago. He is now isolated with severe symptoms, as is his Wife. Sometimes staying at home has its benefits.

[pl_svn]

1 minute ago, Cable Monkey said:

Others may choose to take a slightly more light hearted approach.

 

my most sincere wishes of... good luck with that! 😐

[ogs]

1 hour ago, pl_svn said:

is the reason why Alex *had to* cancel his skiing holiday?

 

Alex has already explained that the current 'situation' is the reason the skiing was cancelled. He posted this here on AS some time ago. I wrongly assumed that most here knew this. My post was obviously too contextual...

[charlesphoto]

I think most if not all ski resorts have been shut down here in the USA. I'm an avid skier and this is always the best time of the year and the family has season passes (we're a forty minute drive from the slopes here in Seattle). I went a couple of days before they closed. Felt a bit sheepish doing it as people lay dying elsewhere. Plus it's not time to be doing risky activities as the hospitals don't want/need you there. Saw a skier have to get hauled off the mountain that day by ambulance. 

[jjraffin]

On 3/18/2020 at 1:31 AM, PYP said:

  

connect these two:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VSDTVVX/

https://www.amazon.com/StaticTek-Adapter-Universal-Connection-Unbreakable/dp/B071J61CSV

 

then connect the spade to the eR (see eR instructions) and connect the plug to any outlet.  listen for a few days, then unplug and listen for a while.  can also try different outlets.  

 

I'm in Aus, and I can find one of these to replace your second item

https://www.mektronics.com.au/clipsal-grounding-plug.html

 

I can't find a wire that has a ring terminal at one end and a spade at the other for my eR. Any hints?

[PYP]

1 hour ago, jjraffin said:

 

I'm in Aus, and I can find one of these to replace your second item

https://www.mektronics.com.au/clipsal-grounding-plug.html

 

I can't find a wire that has a ring terminal at one end and a spade at the other for my eR. Any hints?

 

Then using solid core wire stripped at both ends would be my suggestion.  Stranded wire works too, but the solid is easier to wrap around the screws of the plug and eR.   

 

Amazon US sells the solid wire already stripped for a no-tool option.  Something like:  https://smile.amazon.com/PHAT-SATELLITE-INTL-Electrical-Protection/dp/B07M8PKZFD/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=solid+core+grounding+wire&qid=1585231755&sr=8-2

 

 

[ASRMichael]

I really wish the EtherRegen had two SFP ports! ☹️

[Superdad]

10 minutes ago, ASRMichael said:

I really wish the EtherRegen had two SFP ports! ☹️

Sorry, that would require a much different design, including a different switch chip.

[Flashman]

Last week, basically on the strength of the spot-on review by @austinpop, I decided to go the fiber-optical route with my eR.  I know I paid more by going full-bore Sonore (opticalModule w/included transceiver, extra transceiver for the eR, and their branded fiber-optical cable) vs. assembling a more generic system but, frankly, I didn't want to experiment.  Perhaps more to the point, I felt the ground-up development of the opticalModule would give me better SQ (a leap of faith but also based on some reviews).  Hats off to @JohnSwenson, @vortecjr and the rest of the Sonore team for creating an easy path for fiber-optical adoption, especially as they also recommend alternatives to Sonore that fit within their recommended ecosystem.

 

My path: Router>Ethernet cable>opticalModule-in>fiber-optical cable-out>etherREGEN-in to "A" side fiber-optical cage.  In addition, on the "A" side, I have an Ethernet cable connecting my Roon Nucleus.  On the "B" side, I connect by Ethernet cable to my Devialet Expert 220 Pro.  I have a SOtM dCBL Cat 7 Ethernet cable connecting my Nucleus and a DH Labs Reunion Ethernet cable tethered to my Devialet.  I make no claims about my Ethernet cabling.  I am powering my devices with a three-way Keces P8 LPS (19V/Nucleus, 12V/etherREGEN, and, via the USB 5V output, the opticalModule).

 

Cut to the chase: I'm really glad I made the change.  Was it a night-and-day difference vs. pure Ethernet cabling?  Not quite.  Did it enhance my listening pleasure?  Absolutely.  I am terrible at describing differences but it's clear that the fiber-optical route gives a better coherence to the sound stage and I have significantly more "a-ha" moments than I did previously.  What's more, when one's spouse says the system is playing better than ever, without knowing about the change, one can only smile appreciatively.

 

One unexpected benefit: albums via Roon now load much more quickly and access from one album to another happens at light speed.  I admit to being a bit confused as to why this should happen, as the speed of my network did not increase by adding fiber-optical.  On the other hand, the change to fiber-optical is clearly increasing the through-put to the Roon Nucleus.  Go figure.

 

 

[simon_pepper]

58 minutes ago, Flashman said:

What's more, when one's spouse says the system is playing better than ever, without knowing about the change, one can only smile appreciatively.

That’s our control, in the great scheme of things!
 

58 minutes ago, Flashman said:

One unexpected benefit: albums via Roon now load much more quickly and access from one album to another happens at light speed.  I admit to being a bit confused as to why this should happen, as the speed of my network did not increase by adding fiber-optical.  On the other hand, the change to fiber-optical is clearly increasing the through-put to the Roon Nucleus.  Go figure.

Don’t understand this bit, as you start in copper, break to fibre into the A ports. If it was fibre all the way into the A port cage, then that’s a different medium for that connection, but the connection to the Roon Core is still copper.

 

However could be that the optical transceiver is working faster than the transformer based isolation for the Ethernet cabling.

[bailyhill]

Sounds like a JS question.

[jjraffin]

As a budget option instead of going down the Sonore optical path, would these components work for using the SFP cage of the ER?

 

Media Converter

https://www.fs.com/products/35334.html

or

https://www.tp-link.com/au/business-networking/accessory/mc220l/

 

SFP Module (Single Mode) x 2

https://www.fs.com/products/12674.html

or

https://www.tp-link.com/au/business-networking/accessory/tl-sm311ls/

 

And If I picked these, what would be the right Fiber for a 10m run?

[kennyb123]

8 hours ago, jjraffin said:

As a budget option instead of going down the Sonore optical path, would these components work for using the SFP cage of the ER?

 

Media Converter

https://www.fs.com/products/35334.html

or

https://www.tp-link.com/au/business-networking/accessory/mc220l/

 

SFP Module (Single Mode) x 2

https://www.fs.com/products/12674.html

or

https://www.tp-link.com/au/business-networking/accessory/tl-sm311ls/

 

And If I picked these, what would be the right Fiber for a 10m run?

 

FS sure is affordable.  Their SFP looks like a good choice given that it's 1000BASE-LX.  Their FMC looks good too - but you can save a few more bucks by picking the one with only a single RJ45.   I can't tell you how good these will be sonically though I doubt highly that they'd be as good as the Planet Tech SFPs plus the Optical Module.  Worth trying though.

 

This was the fiber I selected:

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0099S4UTQ/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_f3LHEbPSYTPRJ

 

I appreciate you sharing these links as I will likely purchase one of the FS FMCs myself.  I want to isolate the segment going to my home theater system.  

[Frojo]

Come in Houston........

For reasons which escape me I cannot connect/ play to my ultra Rendu  from the ‘b’ side of my EtheRegen anymore! The ‘A’ side has Macmini/Audirvana into one port and my network connection to the sfp. If I switch the ultrarendu cat 6 to the A side , it all works seamlessly. 

Any ideas gratefully received.

[ASRMichael]

What speed is your ultra ethernet set to? Should be 100mb. 

[Frojo]

5 hours ago, ASRMichael said:

What speed is your ultra ethernet set to? Should be 100mb. 

 

Thanks ASRM, I know that the 'B' port is 100mb and would assume that the Ultrarendu can 'negotiate' at/to  that rate.

[soares]

9 hours ago, Frojo said:

Come in Houston........

For reasons which escape me I cannot connect/ play to my ultra Rendu  from the ‘b’ side of my EtheRegen anymore! The ‘A’ side has Macmini/Audirvana into one port and my network connection to the sfp. If I switch the ultrarendu cat 6 to the A side , it all works seamlessly. 

Any ideas gratefully received.

I don’t have a single clue but I can confirm it works eR can feed an uR trough the b side. 

[Superdad]

12 hours ago, Frojo said:

For reasons which escape me I cannot connect/ play to my ultra Rendu  from the ‘b’ side of my EtheRegen anymore! The ‘A’ side has Macmini/Audirvana into one port and my network connection to the sfp. If I switch the ultrarendu cat 6 to the A side , it all works seamlessly. 

 

Hi Frojo:

Aside from removing/reapplying power to both your EtherREGEN and ultraRendu, let's also check to be sure you have data crossing the moat. Try attaching your Mac mini--or other standard computer with a monitor--to the 'B' side port and check to see that you can get onto the internet.

I would suggest that you also try a copper network feed to the 'A' side (to run out some SFP transceiver issue) except that you report the ultraRendu gets network connection with the same setup if you just move the cable to the 'A' side.

 

Let us know what you discover.

Best,

--Alex C.

 

[Frojo]

Thank you Mission Control  (Alex- Uptone)

Fully operational again.

In order to test connections as suggested, i removed everything from the EtheRegen and started again.

Using the UpTone smps every permutation allowed throughput (in either direction A->B , B->A).

However, I had been using an SBooster 9-10v Mk1, which was powering my netgear switch and therefore (having checked with Sbooster via Email that it was suitable) continued to use it for my EtheRegen. This has worked since day one, until recently. I had introduced a FMC /cable to accommodate my network connection using the sfp port (to good effect) which worked for a few days until my connection problems started. It would appear that with the sfp module inserted (with or without rj45 attached) I could not 'cross the moat', i.e. use the B port. Switching to the uptown smps has resolved this issue.

It does raise questions for me regarding why this has occurred, and whether it would be expected in the circumstances i have described.

Is the Sbooster faulty/underpowered or is the sfp module faulty/drawing too much current?

 

i am off to listen now......

[Superdad]

2 hours ago, Frojo said:

Fully operational again.

.... the Sbooster faulty/underpowered or is the sfp module faulty/drawing too much current?

i am off to listen now......

 

Glad you got it working again!  Doubt that it had much if anything to do with power supplies. Suspect your SFP module was not well seated. Sometimes the simplest explanation is the most likely.  

[Frojo]

1 hour ago, Superdad said:

 

Glad you got it working again!  Doubt that it had much if anything to do with power supplies. Suspect your SFP module was not well seated. Sometimes the simplest explanation is the most likely.  

 

Hi Alex, 

Thanks for your response, i will re attach the SBooster and see, just out of curiosity. 

Please may i reiterate that whilst using the SFP module /sBooster, it would work/connect to the ultra rendu with an A side connection but not the B side..... if the module wasn't seated ,surely it wouldn't work with either. 

Is there any possibility that the sfp module would just tip the sbooster over its current supply capacity?

 

P.s. i was wondering which of my organs to sell to acquire a JS2 😧

[Superdad]

9 minutes ago, Frojo said:

Is there any possibility that the sfp module would just tip the sbooster over its current supply capacity?

With 9V input the EtherREGEN draws about 1A (with some Gigabit copper connections). And an SFP module really does not add much to that.  So I would be surprised if your original SBooster was not up to that. Still, one never knows. I am always surprised at how may power supplies are not able to reliably deliver to their rated current capability.

 

9 minutes ago, Frojo said:

P.s. i was wondering which of my organs to sell to acquire a JS2 😧

 

LOL.    And speaking of current, a JS-2 will  be glad to crank out 7A at 12V all day long--while not even breaking a sweat (seriously, it gets barely warm at that load).

[PYP]

35 minutes ago, Frojo said:

P.s. i was wondering which of my organs to sell to acquire a JS2 😧

 

A less permanent solution would be the equivalent number of rolls of toilet paper.  Not sure of your location's exchange rate. Good luck.  🤨

 

20 minutes ago, Superdad said:

And speaking of current, a JS-2 will  be glad to crank out 7A at 12V all day long--while not even breaking a sweat (seriously, it gets barely warm at that load).

 

That is what I'm finding using the JS-2 to power both the eR and the oM - barely warm on the left-side (looking at the front) heat sink only.

[Superdad]

8 minutes ago, PYP said:

A less permanent solution would be the equivalent number of rolls of toilet paper.  Not sure of your location's exchange rate. Good luck.  

 

Oh man, don't tempt me! We are down to just 2 rolls--with a household of 4 people--and there is none to be found anywhere in our town. Even told my assistant that we are now operating on a BYOTP basis. 

[PYP]

17 minutes ago, Superdad said:

 

Oh man, don't tempt me! We are down to just 2 rolls--with a household of 4 people--and there is none to be found anywhere in our town. Even told my assistant that we are now operating on a BYOTP basis. 

 

Alex, does that mean that the "buy an eR and get a free roll of toilet paper" marketing campaign isn't happening?