EtherREGEN: Installation, Usage, Difficulty, Questions thread

[Superdad]

46 minutes ago, electrafixion said:

I reconfigured my audio network last year with the intention of adding a EtherREGEN down the road, which I just purchased this week.  I've now discovered the TP-Link TL-SM311LM SFP's I put in my network aren't compatible (to the best of my knowledge they meet the listed requirements).  Yesterday I purchased a pair of 10Gtek ASF85-24-X2-D as they appeared to be what someone else was successfully using, but they don't work either. 

 

Try pushing the SFP transceivers in harder/deeper. Both the models you list should be perfectly compatible with the EtherREGEN. In fact that 10Gtek ASF85-24-X2-D is the one we use during final board testing on our bench with EVERY EtherREGEN unit.  I do admit that some folks have had intermittent problems with some of the TP-Link TL-SM311LM modules, but we think it is mechanical not electrical.

Beyond that I would try a different fiber optic cable for test.  And you did not say what is at the other end of that fiber feeding the EtherREGEN.  Is is a switch or router with SFP cage or is it some fiber media converter?

[electrafixion]

1 hour ago, Superdad said:

 

Try pushing the SFP transceivers in harder/deeper. Both the models you list should be perfectly compatible with the EtherREGEN. In fact that 10Gtek ASF85-24-X2-D is the one we use during final board testing on our bench with EVERY EtherREGEN unit.  I do admit that some folks have had intermittent problems with some of the TP-Link TL-SM311LM modules, but we think it is mechanical not electrical.

Beyond that I would try a different fiber optic cable for test.  And you did not say what is at the other end of that fiber feeding the EtherREGEN.  Is is a switch or router with SFP cage or is it some fiber media converter?

 

Thanks Superdad.  Network connectivity is provided by a D-Link DGS-1210-28P smart managed switch.  The listening room is fed fiber via a SFP in the D-Link and normally a TP-Link FMC which the EtherREGEN is supposed to replace.  I can use any combination of the four SFP's with my existing gear.  I don't think I can put the SFPs in the EtherREGEN any deeper without a sledgehammer, but I'm attaching a pic so you can confirm.  

 

Are there any settings I should look at in the switch?  I don't have another LC-LC cable on hand, since the one in question works with all the FMC's on hand it seems like an unlikely suspect.

[Superdad]

11 minutes ago, electrafixion said:

Network connectivity is provided by a D-Link DGS-1210-28P smart managed switch.  The listening room is fed fiber via a SFP in the D-Link and normally a TP-Link FMC which the EtherREGEN is supposed to replace.  I can use any combination of the four SFP's with my existing gear.  I don't think I can put the SFPs in the EtherREGEN any deeper without a sledgehammer, but I'm attaching a pic so you can confirm.  

 

Are there any settings I should look at in the switch?  I don't have another LC-LC cable on hand, since the one in question works with all the FMC's on hand it seems like an unlikely suspect.

 

Okay, then let's back up a little. Since there are no LEDs with SFP cages to tell you about connection, please tell us about what equipment you are connecting to which EtherREGEN RJ45 ports and what LEDs do you see above those ports when you do? Maybe the fiber connection is working fine and the trouble is something else. Since we do not know anything about your system it is hard to speculate further.

Thanks,

--Alex C.

[electrafixion]

3 hours ago, Superdad said:

 

Okay, then let's back up a little. Since there are no LEDs with SFP cages to tell you about connection, please tell us about what equipment you are connecting to which EtherREGEN RJ45 ports and what LEDs do you see above those ports when you do? Maybe the fiber connection is working fine and the trouble is something else. Since we do not know anything about your system it is hard to speculate further.

Thanks,

--Alex C.

 

Thanks Alex. When the EtherREGEN is connected via SFP/fiber to the switch the lights on it for that port do indicate a connection.  When I connect a PC or my exaSound PlayPoint to the EtherREGEN out there is an amber light on and one or two flashes from the green light.  

[pl_svn]

8 hours ago, electrafixion said:

I've now discovered the TP-Link TL-SM311LM SFP's I put in my network aren't compatible

those are the ones I'm using and they do work fine

main switch used to be a TP-Link Jetstream T2500G-10TS replaced a few days ago by a MikroTik CSS610-8g-2S+

cable, though, is 9/125 OS2 single-mode duplex LC-LC

as Alex said... first time I installed the TP-Link transceiver in the EtherRegen I had to try a few times, pushing it in harder and harder, before a connection could be established

 

 

EDIT: oh.... wait... TP-Link TL-SM311L**S** are the ones I'm using, sorry 🙄

[Superdad]

10 hours ago, electrafixion said:

When the EtherREGEN is connected via SFP/fiber to the switch the lights on it for that port do indicate a connection.  When I connect a PC or my exaSound PlayPoint to the EtherREGEN out there is an amber light on and one or two flashes from the green light.  

That sure sounds like you have a connection then.  What happens if you then attach a regular computer with display monitor to one of the ‘A’ side ports. Can you then surf the web?

[electrafixion]

37 minutes ago, Superdad said:

That sure sounds like you have a connection then.  What happens if you then attach a regular computer with display monitor to one of the ‘A’ side ports. Can you then surf the web?

I did test with a PC.  I don't get any connectivity through the Ethergen w/ SPF & Fiber.

[Superdad]

9 minutes ago, electrafixion said:

I did test with a PC.  I don't get any connectivity through the Ethergen w/ SPF & Fiber.

Can you confirm connectivity with an RJ45 wire feed to the EtherREGEN?  Are you sure you have the Clock switch in the INT position?

Please describe your network system more fully.  Or telephone me.  Really difficult to assist you in small Q&A bits here on the forum.

Thanks.

[electrafixion]

On 4/8/2021 at 9:17 AM, Superdad said:

Can you confirm connectivity with an RJ45 wire feed to the EtherREGEN?  Are you sure you have the Clock switch in the INT position?

Please describe your network system more fully.  Or telephone me.  Really difficult to assist you in small Q&A bits here on the forum.

Thanks.

Thanks for taking the time to troubleshoot with me over the phone yesterday, I appreciate the great customer service.

 

The issue turned out to be a setting in my smart / managed TP-Link switch.  The EtherREGEN wants the duplex setting on its port to be  "auto" instead of the default setting of "full".  The EtherREGEN is now working great and made a meaningful improvement in my digital playback.

[Duckworp]

Found a small heatsink on Ali Express which just does the job of slightly reducing the temperature as one of my ERs is not in a huge amount of space and was running hotter than my other one in a ton of free space. 

[PYP]

2 hours ago, Duckworp said:

Found a small heatsink on Ali Express which just does the job of slightly reducing the temperature as one of my ERs is not in a huge amount of space and was running hotter than my other one in a ton of free space. 

 

Another solution is something like this:  https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MZ6T8VF/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Even though my audio cabinet has ventilation on front and back, our generally warm environment doesn't help the heat problem.   This little fan works well (plugged into wall).  

[Urs]

My ER and my PC are both connected to a Furman power conditioner.

The ER has three LAN cables attached: A-side: main switch (Cisco) and PC. B-Side: DAC.

I use the Furman as the main power switch. This means: once or twice per 24h everything is completely powered off (also the ER).

 

If I use the Uptone standard power supply (as included with the ER), then everything works reliable. This means all connections are available for my PC (LAN and Internet).

If I use a Farad Super 3 (9V) power supply instead, then it becomes rather unreliable. This means in more than 50% of the cases when I turn the system on (Furman main power switch, PC power switch), the desktop gets no connection (no LAN, no Internet).

 

Maybe the Farad does not deliver enough stable power to the ER during the first few seconds, when it's switched on... ? So the ER does not start-up properly and remains in a faulty state?

 

Any ideas? The only thing which I cannot do (for other reasons) is to keep the ER powered all the time (24/7).

  

[MarkusBarkus]

10 minutes ago, Urs said:

Maybe the Farad does not deliver enough stable power to the ER during the first few seconds

...I think this may be the case. If you manually turn off the devices you have managed, but then turn on just the F3...and then a minute or so later, other things, it may well reveal that dependency. Good Luck!

[Horse Tea]

I have the same problem as Urs with a different power supply (Zerozone). I suspect the EtherRegen as (only) part of the problem since it was much more severe with an (old, grey) Cisco 2960, which boots extremely slowly. Even if I switch on the EtherRegen last before switching on my Linn ADS2 it happens quite often 😬. When it happens, removing the DC cable from the EtherRegen is helpful but not always. The Linn is extremely sensitive to its ethernet connection probably bringt the root cause.  I solved the problem over time to only about 80% with various tricks. Thus, I am curious to get help for further improvement.

[JohnSwenson]

2 hours ago, Urs said:

My ER and my PC are both connected to a Furman power conditioner.

The ER has three LAN cables attached: A-side: main switch (Cisco) and PC. B-Side: DAC.

I use the Furman as the main power switch. This means: once or twice per 24h everything is completely powered off (also the ER).

 

If I use the Uptone standard power supply (as included with the ER), then everything works reliable. This means all connections are available for my PC (LAN and Internet).

If I use a Farad Super 3 (9V) power supply instead, then it becomes rather unreliable. This means in more than 50% of the cases when I turn the system on (Furman main power switch, PC power switch), the desktop gets no connection (no LAN, no Internet).

 

Maybe the Farad does not deliver enough stable power to the ER during the first few seconds, when it's switched on... ? So the ER does not start-up properly and remains in a faulty state?

 

Any ideas? The only thing which I cannot do (for other reasons) is to keep the ER powered all the time (24/7).

  

The first thing that comes to mind is to see if there is a delay in the Farad when turning on. You can test this by looking at the power light on the ER. Try this with both the original supply and the Farad. If there is a visible delay with the Farad then this MAY be part of the problem.

 

Another thing to test unplug what is connected to the ER, power on the ER, wait 20 seconds or so, then power up the rest. If this does not work it is most likely the your suggestion that the Farad does not have enough juice to properly power up the ER. If it does work this is leaning more towards ER power up delay.

 

John S.

[Johnnydev]

7 hours ago, JohnSwenson said:

The first thing that comes to mind is to see if there is a delay in the Farad when turning on. You can test this by looking at the power light on the ER. Try this with both the original supply and the Farad. If there is a visible delay with the Farad then this MAY be part of the problem.

 

Another thing to test unplug what is connected to the ER, power on the ER, wait 20 seconds or so, then power up the rest. If this does not work it is most likely the your suggestion that the Farad does not have enough juice to properly power up the ER. If it does work this is leaning more towards ER power up delay.

 

John S.

Yes there is a delay in the farad when turning on. ( look to the power light of the farad when started)

And the Farad has more then enough juice to properly power up the ER!

[Urs]

 

12 hours ago, JohnSwenson said:

The first thing that comes to mind is to see if there is a delay in the Farad when turning on. You can test this by looking at the power light on the ER. Try this with both the original supply and the Farad. If there is a visible delay with the Farad then this MAY be part of the problem.

 

 

"unluckily" today I am not able to repeat the faulty behaviour, no matter what I am doing.

 

But at least some more details about the power lights.

 

With the Farad power supply:

1) When I switch the Furman on, the Farad gets power:

Farad LED: goes from from flashing red/blue, red to blue. This takes at least 5 seconds. After the Farad LED is blue it takes at least another second until the ER Power LED becomes green.

 

2) What I also tried, when every device had power: I unplugged the Farad DC cable from the ER, waited a bit and plugged the DC cable in again. The ER power light becomes immediatly green.

 

With the original supply:

3) When I switch the Furman on, both, the LED on the original power supply as well as the Power LED on the ER are immediatly green.

 

Though I couldn't repeat/verify anything today, I still believe 1) may cause issues

[Urs]

1 hour ago, Urs said:

Though I couldn't repeat/verify anything today, I still believe 1) may cause issues

 

Now it happened again:

 

1 hour ago, Urs said:

With the Farad power supply:

1) When I switch the Furman on, the Farad gets power:

Farad LED: goes from from flashing red/blue, red to blue. This takes at least 5 seconds. After the Farad LED is blue it takes at least another second until the ER Power LED becomes green.

 

This leads to connection problems - not always but sometimes. I am afraid that's an unlucky combination.

2) and 3) (see above post) are fine. But 2) is not what I want to do on a regular basis. Looks like I have to step back and use the stock power supply... that's a pity.

[ambre]

1 hour ago, Urs said:

 

Now it happened again:

 

 

This leads to connection problems - not always but sometimes. I am afraid that's an unlucky combination.

2) and 3) (see above post) are fine. But 2) is not what I want to do on a regular basis. Looks like I have to step back and use the stock power supply... that's a pity.

Put the Farad and after that the Etherregen on power due to the fact that the Faradds use a supercapacitor which takes time to fully load ( see manual Farad) will solve your problem.
 

To put everything at same time by Furman (? Don’t know this device maybe it needs also time to come max power/ load) lead to mismatches IMO 

Ps if I switch to early  by inserting dc powercable in ER ….I have similar  problems.

 

 

 

 

[Johnnydev]

Just leave everything on 24/7. Then the EtherRegen and the farad will sound even better!

[agladstone]

The Farad has a delay since it’s a Supercapacitor based supply and needs time to charge the Supercapacitor output. 
You must power on the Farad 3 first and wait for the solid light on front before powering up the ER. 
Best thing to do is leave the Farad 3 and ER on 24/7 and not power them on and off unless needed. 

[charlesphoto]

5 hours ago, Johnnydev said:

Just leave everything on 24/7. Then the EtherRegen and the farad will sound even better!

I was going to say... I was wondering why nobody was questioning his need to shut things off everyday. Best practice to leave solid state powered up (or let it go to sleep if it has that function). Less wear and tear and it will sound better. You can literally do this for years. Just shut it down for any extended time away. 

[PYP]

This may be a question for Alex, but perhaps someone has this setup and can answer my question.

 

Does powering two separate clocks from a JS-2 -- each clock feeds its own eR -- defeat the moats?

 

eR connected this way:    #1 (A > B)  >  rj45  >  #2 (A >B) >  rj45 >  DAC

 

Thanks.  

[JohnSwenson]

On 6/7/2021 at 9:49 AM, PYP said:

This may be a question for Alex, but perhaps someone has this setup and can answer my question.

 

Does powering two separate clocks from a JS-2 -- each clock feeds its own eR -- defeat the moats?

 

eR connected this way:    #1 (A > B)  >  rj45  >  #2 (A >B) >  rj45 >  DAC

 

Thanks.  

The two outputs of the JS-2 share the same ground. So if you have two ERs in series, each plugged into its own JS-2 output, you ARE defeating the moat.

 

John S.

[PYP]

41 minutes ago, JohnSwenson said:

The two outputs of the JS-2 share the same ground. So if you have two ERs in series, each plugged into its own JS-2 output, you ARE defeating the moat.

 

John S.

Thank you, John.  The eRs themselves are powered by a LPS 1.2 and SMPS, respectively.  One leg of the JS-2 powers an external clock for eR #2.    If I add a second, separate clock for eR #1, and power that clock with the second leg of the JS-2, is the moat defeated (shared ground for the two clocks)?