EtherREGEN: Installation, Usage, Difficulty, Questions thread

[soares]

On 7/10/2020 at 11:05 PM, kzs70 said:

 

Thanks, I have found it, the OM seems to be only 1Gbit compatible, so does not work with ER's 100Mbit port on the B side...

Use the fiber port. 😀

[R1200CL]

1 hour ago, soares said:

Use the fiber port. 😀

It’s already in use by the opticalrendu.

 

So you either need a 100MHz OM or a 1Ghz ER (b-side) 😀

 

....Or one or two more ER 🤓

[OldBigEars]

Hi guys, I'm looking forward to receiving my ER.  Order placed.

 

While I'm waiting...I'm pondering various setup configurations.  The question I have is whether my 4K smart tv should be connected to the ER (A side)?  Or should I keep my TV away from the the ER?  I stream tv with Verizon Fios Gigabit service.  The option would be to go wireless for my TV.

 

Thanks for recommendations.

[ericuco]

26 minutes ago, OldBigEars said:

Hi guys, I'm looking forward to receiving my ER.  Order placed.

 

While I'm waiting...I'm pondering various setup configurations.  The question I have is whether my 4K smart tv should be connected to the ER (A side)?  Or should I keep my TV away from the the ER?  I stream tv with Verizon Fios Gigabit service.  The option would be to go wireless for my TV.

 

Thanks for recommendations.

As a general rule, you probably want to keep WiFi devices away from you music components. That said, my question has always been do devices like WiFi enabled TV’s turnoff their WiFi capabilities when they are hardwired (Ethernet) to network. If not, then it may not matter whether you use WiFi or Ethernet because the WiFi signal is still transmitting.

 

For the record, my TV and Roku Ultra are hardwired through my music switch.

[OldBigEars]

2 hours ago, ericuco said:

As a general rule, you probably want to keep WiFi devices away from you music components. That said, my question has always been do devices like WiFi enabled TV’s turnoff their WiFi capabilities when they are hardwired (Ethernet) to network. If not, then it may not matter whether you use WiFi or Ethernet because the WiFi signal is still transmitting.

 

For the record, my TV and Roku Ultra are hardwired through my music switch.

 

Yep good point about avoiding wireless TV near my hi-fi.  I can also just add a second switch before the ER.  That's probably the best solution if ER can't do 4k TV.

[ericuco]

30 minutes ago, OldBigEars said:

 

Yep good point about avoiding wireless TV near my hi-fi.  I can also just add a second switch before the ER.  That's probably the best solution if ER can't do 4k TV.

First off, 4K TV material usually requires around 25Mbps so ER is more than capable of dealing with that level of streaming on either “A” or “B” side.

 

Assuming the ER, music system and TV are relatively close together (e.g. same room), then I would use the ER as the hub for music and TV. Adding another switch means yet another power supply to the mix.

 

Personally, I would run optical fiber from your home network (e.g. router) to the ER which would help isolate that part of your network from the rest of your network.

[mourip]

18 hours ago, OldBigEars said:

Hi guys, I'm looking forward to receiving my ER.  Order placed.

 

While I'm waiting...I'm pondering various setup configurations.  The question I have is whether my 4K smart tv should be connected to the ER (A side)?  Or should I keep my TV away from the the ER?  I stream tv with Verizon Fios Gigabit service.  The option would be to go wireless for my TV.

 

Thanks for recommendations.

  

I tried it both ways and decided that having other equipment connected through the "A" side other than just the direct connection to my music server degraded the sound noticeably, probably due to polluting the server. For a while I would unplug the other devices from the ER when listening to music but that was a pain. Since I did not really note an improvement in my video and video sound anyway I plugged those connections back into the small upstream 8 port Cisco switch which was common to all. A fiber LAN connection to the ER with only my music server on the "A" side would probably be best but I have not tried that yet. My guess is that all of these audible changes are about grounding and which devices are on an LPS and which still use an SMPS.

[Oggo]

On 7/13/2020 at 2:04 PM, mourip said:

  

I tried it both ways and decided that having other equipment connected through the "A" side other than just the direct connection to my music server degraded the sound noticeably

 

Same here.

[OldBigEars]

2 hours ago, Oggo said:

 

Same here.

 

Surely this is only an issue if both devices are running simultaneously - i.e. in this case, my hifi and TV?  This is something I don't expect to happen.....

[mourip]

4 hours ago, OldBigEars said:

 

Surely this is only an issue if both devices are running simultaneously - i.e. in this case, my hifi and TV?  This is something I don't expect to happen.....

When I listen to music I do not have my TV or streaming boxes powered on. I think that the issue probably comes from grounding pollution. My audio system is basically all using one unfiltered power strip connected to AC through an isolation transformer. When I plug other devices from my "dirty" side into the ER "A" side along with my audio server it probably still adds noise or introduces additional ground currents.

 

This is just a theory or guess. All I know is that in my system and with my own ears when I plug in these other devices to the ER it degrades the sound.

 

Give it a try and report back what you hear.

[LowMidHigh]

On 7/13/2020 at 7:04 PM, mourip said:

  

I tried it both ways and decided that having other equipment connected through the "A" side other than just the direct connection to my music server degraded the sound noticeably, probably due to polluting the server. For a while I would unplug the other devices from the ER when listening to music but that was a pain. Since I did not really note an improvement in my video and video sound anyway I plugged those connections back into the small upstream 8 port Cisco switch which was common to all. A fiber LAN connection to the ER with only my music server on the "A" side would probably be best but I have not tried that yet. My guess is that all of these audible changes are about grounding and which devices are on an LPS and which still use an SMPS.

 

I’d like to report the opposite. 

 

I experience noticeable picture quality improvement going ER(A) to MacMini (Tv).  No detriment to the signal quality from the B side. 

 

To be on the safe side, I have grounded both my ER’s. 

 

Speaking of which, I was so impressed with the video improvement, that I purchased a second ER, initially to feed my MacMini exclusively, but then I discovered the benefits of chaining the two ER’s. The MacMini is connected to the 2^nd ER(A), so there’s one pass through the B port. 

[mourip]

9 hours ago, LowMidHigh said:

 

I’d like to report the opposite. 

 

I experience noticeable picture quality improvement going ER(A) to MacMini (Tv).  No detriment to the signal quality from the B side. 

 

To be on the safe side, I have grounded both my ER’s. 

 

Speaking of which, I was so impressed with the video improvement, that I purchased a second ER, initially to feed my MacMini exclusively, but then I discovered the benefits of chaining the two ER’s. The MacMini is connected to the 2^nd ER(A), so there’s one pass through the B port. 

 

Good to hear. It could be that my 10 year old Pioneer Elite Plasma TV and older streaming devices(Apple TV and Roku) are not current enough to benefit. And that my audio system is pretty revealing.

 

The nice thing about this thread is that we honor subjective appraisals!

 

Thanks for the report!

[TwinPeak]

Yes!
Supra Cat-8 deliver better resolution and bass compared to AudioQuest Cinnamon Ethernet cable after only two hours of action, between EtherREGEN (B-side) and Sonore UltraRendu. I expect more in coming hours. I've also required an Ubiquiti EdgeRouter X SFP. To be ethernet connected between my Airport Extreme (DHCP & NAT) and configured Ubiquiti. Maybe a better alternative to Fiber..?

[R1200CL]

It would be interesting if 2 or 3 persons that can hear differences between Ethernet cables,  could test Ghent Belden, Supra Cat 8, and Blue Jeans. 

[Ponkbutler]

4 minutes ago, R1200CL said:

It would be interesting if 2 or 3 persons that can hear differences between Ethernet cables,  could test Ghent Belden, Supra Cat 8, and Blue Jeans. 

 

I haven't tried the Ghent cable, but I have compared the standard stranded copper Belden CatSnake Cat6a that Ghent use against the Blue Jeans cables (Belden solid copper Cat5e, Cat6 and Cat6a) and Supra Cat8 and much prefer it: it has greater bass extension and overall instrumental texture and detail with a broad and deep but natural soundstage.

[charlesphoto]

I briefly tried BJC Cat 6a vs my Ghent JSSG Catsnake on the last leg to the streamer. Preferred the Catsnake, though the differences are subtle. Will continue to use BJC 6a for the rest of the chain. 

[Horse Tea]

44 minutes ago, Ponkbutler said:

 

I haven't tried the Ghent cable, but I have compared the standard stranded copper Belden CatSnake Cat6a that Ghent use against the Blue Jeans cables (Belden solid copper Cat5e, Cat6 and Cat6a) and Supra Cat8 and much prefer it: it has greater bass extension and overall instrumental texture and detail with a broad and deep but natural soundstage.

Do I understand correctly: you prefer the Ghent Belden CAT 6a over the rest?

[Ponkbutler]

2 minutes ago, Horse Tea said:

Do I understand correctly: you prefer the Ghent Belden CAT 6a over the rest?

 

As I wrote, it wasn't the Ghent, but the same cable they use: Belden 1303E CatSnake Cat6a - in my case made up DesignaCable in the UK.

[TwinPeak]

15 hours ago, TwinPeak said:

Supra Cat-8 deliver better resolution and bass compared to AudioQuest Cinnamon Ethernet cable

Later in the evening, I continued listening to Supra Cat8 (eR B-side > uR) and now it seem to affect imaging and sound stage in a positive way - Pat Metheny's "What's It All About" and Michael Manring's "Selene" (live) sound more organic and natural. The speakers "disappeared" completely. Strange that a 20$ ethernet cable can have such an impact...

[Pokey77]

@TwinPeak

 

I too think the Supra 8+ is pretty good. But it is $49 for 1M. If you can get it for $20, please share the link. Thanks

[Bazza13]

There was a time when I thought like some others that Ethernet cables couldn't make a difference but then I started researching to find that digital data is positively affected by silver in the metallic structure.  I ended up with Diamond and Vodka.  Then I acquired the EtherRegan and decided to eliminate wi-fi in my home in order to protect my brain from it's radiation.  The manufacturer of my tube gear convinced me to use power adapters to transport data from my main floor to the second floor where my audio room is and the sound quality improved using CAT8 cable from Amazon.  After reading the many posts here regarding Ethernet cables, I went searching again for better cable and discovered Pangea Premiere SE that uses Cardas copper wire with 6% silver and triple shielding. 2M was about $80Cdn so I bought 2 pieces and one comes from the power adapter to the EtherRegen A side and the other from the A side to my laptop that I use to connect to Volumio.  After 72 hours of burn-in they actually bettered the Vodka.  The moral of the story is to use as much silver content as possible.

[bailyhill]

Bazza13--Small quibble with your conclusion.  Maybe use some silver content, but until you test 90-100% silver cables, you conclusion over-reaches the experiment you have performed.  It would be interesting to try higher content/other cables.  But with so many variables, hard to do.  Does Pangea make a similar cable with Cardas with higher silver content?

 

[MartinT]

On the other hand, I would never put ethernet through my power lines.  I do all I can to eliminate mains-borne noise so I'm not going to inject more noise in.  I use two regenerators and a lot of filters to reduce the noise in my mains power.

[Bazza13]

34 minutes ago, bailyhill said:

Bazza13--Small quibble with your conclusion.  Maybe use some silver content, but until you test 90-100% silver cables, you conclusion over-reaches the experiment you have performed.  It would be interesting to try higher content/other cables.  But with so many variables, hard to do.  Does Pangea make a similar cable with Cardas with higher silver content?

 

Pangea has only 2 models, both with 6% silver and the SE model uses the Cardas wire and is a bit more expensive.  I have 100% silver HDMI cables and have never been able to duplicate the performance with any copper cable. I think that solid core wire is also important to higher performance over multi-strand wire and in digital, triple shielding is needed. 

[Bazza13]

41 minutes ago, MartinT said:

On the other hand, I would never put ethernet through my power lines.  I do all I can to eliminate mains-borne noise so I'm not going to inject more noise in.  I use two regenerators and a lot of filters to reduce the noise in my mains power.

I initially thought the same as you - that power lines must add noise.  I was proven wrong after testing SQ from wi-fi vs power adapters.  Perhaps it is because digital data is not affected as much as a analog signal.  I also use a regenerator because mains power is usually corrupted and that affects power supplies in components.