EtherREGEN: Installation, Usage, Difficulty, Questions thread

[Superdad]

2 hours ago, hemflaw said:

@Superdad Any help on this? 

Please contact us directly—with details on your setup and connections. Via the Contact Us form on our web page (not via this forum’s PM system). Thanks!

[GryphonGuy]

On 11/8/2020 at 7:11 AM, hemflaw said:

Yessir. Immediately. That's the confounding part. 

 

🤣🤣🤣 

 

Very confusing that an included power supply meant for the device would make it work first time, every time .

 

You are too funny.

 

Regards

GG

[hemflaw]

I've done so - thanks.

[dstubked]

Are there any issues running the Etherregen from an LPS that does 9V and 2A?

 

Have a spare one lying around and would like to test it.

[Superdad]

16 minutes ago, dstubked said:

Are there any issues running the Etherregen from an LPS that does 9V and 2A?

 

No problem at all. But please do read both pages 5 and 8 of the User Guide as you might then have cause to utilize the Ground screw of the EtherREGEN.

What power supply are you considering using?

[dstubked]

3 hours ago, Superdad said:

 

No problem at all. But please do read both pages 5 and 8 of the User Guide as you might then have cause to utilize the Ground screw of the EtherREGEN.

What power supply are you considering using?

 

Thanks @Superdad.

 

I am going to use with this:

 

https://www.plixirpower.com/products/elementa-dc-power-supply-2a-4a-6a

 

I have a spare that is lying around.

[Brucemck2]

If you use a CAPS to power the EtherRegen, do you need to ground the EtherRegen?  If “yes” what’s the best grounding point to use?

[Superdad]

10 minutes ago, Brucemck2 said:

If you use a CAPS to power the EtherRegen, do you need to ground the EtherRegen?  If “yes” what’s the best grounding point to use?

Hi Bruce:

Nice to hear from you (just received your e-mail with the same question).

What is a "CAPS?"  Are you referring to some brand/type of 3rd-party linear power supply? Or even our UltraCap LPS-1.2?

 

In any case, if:

a) The power supply used for the EtherREGEN has a "floated" DC output [Where its -VE/0-volt "ground" (the outer barrel of the DC plug) is not common to AC mains ground.]

AND

b) You are making more than one RJ45 wire Ethernet connection to the EtherREGEN's 'A'-side ports;

THEN

c) It would be appropriate for you to run a wire from the Ground screw of the EtherREGEN to a known AC mains ground point. 

 

If you are un the USA and want to order items that will make such grounding safe and easy, then get one of each of these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071J61CSV/

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

 

All the best,

--Alex C.

[Brucemck2]

Yes, UltraCap LPS-1.2

 

And to complicate things, everything in the system, including the LPS-1.2 and everything connected to it, is powered from a Richard Gray balanced isolation transformer (240v in and 120v out).

[Superdad]

8 minutes ago, Brucemck2 said:

Yes, UltraCap LPS-1.2

The UltraCap LPS-1.2 is of course a completely "floated"/isolated supply, so the guidelines I wrote above apply.

 

8 minutes ago, Brucemck2 said:

And to complicate things, everything in the system, including the LPS-1.2 and everything connected to it, is powered from a Richard Gray balanced isolation transformer (240v in and 120v out).

No worries, that is not relevant to the EtherREGEN or grounding. 

[ikemi]

Hi Superdad,

 

Quick question for you——if I were to hook up two etherregen’s in series A side to B side first etherregen then B side first etherregen to B side second ER to A side second etherregen to my linn klimax exakt dsm, would I need to power both etherregen’s from separate power supplies and would I need to run a ground wire from both etherregen’s to house ground or would grounding only one etherregen work (assuming the power supplies being used to power both etherregen’s are JS-2s). Thanks! 
 

Ron

[Novice2012]

okay I have tried to read as many comments and questions as possible to see if I could find an answer to my question but could not so forgive my amateur question but here is my setup and am just want to confirm where in my link I would put the EtherRegen? and confirming you all see no redundancies here?

 

a standard ethernet box is in the basement with a very long Ethernet cable (20 feet?) coming up to my living room---> sonore optical module---> sonore opticalrendu---> sonictransporter i5----->Benchmark DAC2----> Primaluna Evo 300 power amp---Goldenear T1s.

 

is it as simple as the ethernet cord from downstairs going directly into the etherRegen which then goes out to the opticalmodule and the rest stays the same?

[André Gosselin]

1 hour ago, Novice2012 said:

a standard ethernet box is in the basement with a very long Ethernet cable (20 feet?) coming up to my living room---> sonore optical module---> sonore opticalrendu---> sonictransporter i5----->Benchmark DAC2----> Primaluna Evo 300 power amp---Goldenear T1s.

IMHO, sonictransporter should go right after your router, and sonore opticalmodule -> sonore opticalrendu should plug right into your Benchmark DAC2

[R1200CL]

2 hours ago, Novice2012 said:

is it as simple as the ethernet cord from downstairs going directly into the etherRegen which then goes out to the opticalmodule and the rest stays the same?

No. With the ER in the chain, you may prefer a switch upfront if you have other consumers. If not you can go direct to ER, and optical out. No optical module in the chain. 
Since you have a Sonictransporter, you need to find a place for it before the ER, and preferably not connect it to ER, but you can test if you notice a difference. 
 

If you like a switch upfront the ER, I like to suggest the Cisco 2960G (on eBay).

Then you can use optical module from Cisco to Sonictransporter as one possibility. 

[R1200CL]

44 minutes ago, André Gosselin said:

IMHO, sonictransporter should go right after your router, and sonore opticalmodule -> sonore opticalrendu should plug right into your Benchmark DAC2

And what about his ER ? 😀

[Novice2012]

OK - great info and thanks!! and I got my layout wrong as one of you pointed out. so in fact, with the ER added as I believe you are saying, here is what I would have:

 

switch box in basement sending 2 ethernets, one to sonictransporter, one to optical module, which then goes to the opticalrendu etc. - so to add the ER I would go on one Ethernet from stitch to ER, THEN to optical module, etc. - I do not see, given the optical connection, that I could go directly from ER to optical rendu? do I have it right? (finally?)

[ericuco]

33 minutes ago, Novice2012 said:

OK - great info and thanks!! and I got my layout wrong as one of you pointed out. so in fact, with the ER added as I believe you are saying, here is what I would have:

 

switch box in basement sending 2 ethernets, one to sonictransporter, one to optical module, which then goes to the opticalrendu etc. - so to add the ER I would go on one Ethernet from stitch to ER, THEN to optical module, etc. - I do not see, given the optical connection, that I could go directly from ER to optical rendu? do I have it right? (finally?)

AFAIK, you cannot connect the “B” side of the ER (100Mbps) to the original oM (1000Mbps) unless it is a recently released oM that now supports 100/1000Mbps.

 

If you are connecting the oM and sonic transporter to the “A” side of the ER and the “B” side to your router, then not sure how much improvement you would see unless you are streaming music (Tidal, Qobuz, etc). I guess you could connect “B” side to the sonic transporter to take advantage of the “A” to “B” side “moat”.

[Haimsh]

Guys, I  have a problem....

 

I use Etherregen  in mode of external clock. It is connected by BNC cable to MUTEC REF-10. 

Today the EtherRegen ceased  to work (green and yellow leds stopped to light). When  I disconnect it from the MUTEC and switch to mode of internal clock, it works OK.

I changed cable and changed  output of MUTEC  and still problem persists. The MUTEC also  is connected to IFI PRO IDSD DAC  and to Sotm SMS-200Ultra network bridge and works  flawlessly.

An idea   what  went wrong?

thanks

Haim 

[R1200CL]

@Haimsh

You need to have an active clock signal connect to etherRegen before powering it up. 

[Haimsh]

I always verify it before powering up... 

[richard_crl032]

Hi,,

 

I run wireless mesh node powered by zerozone 12v for ethernet to my Antipodes ex+cx stack via acoustic revive tripleC lan cables.

Will added ER between the node to Antipodes CX used as server improves the SQ for what it does and how so ?

Many thanks in advance.

 

Richard

[MartinT]

1 hour ago, richard_crl032 said:

Will added ER between the node to Antipodes CX used as server improves the SQ for what it does and how so ?

 

Yes, wi-fi creates a lot of jitter (phase noise) in the line and the ER should reduce this, with resultant sound quality improvement, before being decoded.

[richard_crl032]

Hi Martin,

 

Thanks for the advice.

 

Against conventional thinking, I found that the 25m supra cat 8 cable that I bought (now kept in my hifi cupboard storage) sounded worse directly from my router to the Antipodea stack than the Airties 2500Mbps 802.11AC mesh node and hence held back installing it into the false ceiling. 

 

Cheers.

 

Richard

[JohnSwenson]

2 hours ago, richard_crl032 said:

Hi Martin,

 

Thanks for the advice.

 

Against conventional thinking, I found that the 25m supra cat 8 cable that I bought (now kept in my hifi cupboard storage) sounded worse directly from my router to the Antipodea stack than the Airties 2500Mbps 802.11AC mesh node and hence held back installing it into the false ceiling. 

 

Cheers.

 

Richard

Hi Richard,

the ER addresses two very different things that affect audio gear through a network connection. Leakage current and phase noise from clocks in network equipment.

 

Leakage current comes from power supplies attached to network equipment. There are two types of leakage current, one which occurs with all power supplies, and one which is just from SMPS. Traditional Ethernet connections blocks the first type but not the second. BUT most shielded cable (such as CAT7 and CAT8) don't block either and both types can go right through the connection. The EtherRegen blocks both types no matter what the cable type. The SMPS in most residential equipment use the cheapest supplies they can find, which have lots of leakage current.

 

The second is the phase noise from clocks in the network gear. The clocks in these devices are usually just barely good enough for the device to work. The ER prevents most of this clock noise from getting into your audio equipment.

 

Using a WiFi device obviously blocks leakage current from the rest of the network equipment, BUT the power supply feeding it will be generating its own leakage, but this can be quite a less than the contribution of leakage from upstream network equipment. The WiFi interface will also create its own phase noise, which frequently greater than what you would get out say from a simple switch.

 

The ER will deal with both the leakage current issues and clock phase noise issues of either configuration.

 

John S.

[richard_crl032]

1 hour ago, JohnSwenson said:

Hi Richard,

the ER addresses two very different things that affect audio gear through a network connection. Leakage current and phase noise from clocks in network equipment.

 

Leakage current comes from power supplies attached to network equipment. There are two types of leakage current, one which occurs with all power supplies, and one which is just from SMPS. Traditional Ethernet connections blocks the first type but not the second. BUT most shielded cable (such as CAT7 and CAT8) don't block either and both types can go right through the connection. The EtherRegen blocks both types no matter what the cable type. The SMPS in most residential equipment use the cheapest supplies they can find, which have lots of leakage current.

 

The second is the phase noise from clocks in the network gear. The clocks in these devices are usually just barely good enough for the device to work. The ER prevents most of this clock noise from getting into your audio equipment.

 

Using a WiFi device obviously blocks leakage current from the rest of the network equipment, BUT the power supply feeding it will be generating its own leakage, but this can be quite a less than the contribution of leakage from upstream network equipment. The WiFi interface will also create its own phase noise, which frequently greater than what you would get out say from a simple switch.

 

The ER will deal with both the leakage current issues and clock phase noise issues of either configuration.

 

John S.

 

Hey John,

 

Thanks !  Both my router, main mesh node and mesh node that connect to the Antipodes stack are powered by 2 units of zerozone lps albeit do not know its leakage current performance.

 

Noted on the phase noise aka jitter from inevitably inferior consumer level clocks used in the router and 2 mesh nodes. Questions are then:

 

1. Wifi would also effectively blocked noise/jitter from main mesh node to node connecting the Antipodes which leaves only the phase noise/jitter from latter node into Antipodes ?

 

2. Will phase noise/jitter be affecting the audio signals permanently at each stage of router, main mode and node to Antipodes or indeed removable with the ER ?

 

About to order the ER but thought I should seek further advice before doing so.

 

Thanks again and would be great to receive further advice/comment to above.

 

Cheers.

 

Richard