The EtherREGEN thread for various network, cable, power experiences and experiments

[emailists]

What about cable length?  Is there reflectance at certain lengths ?

 

I purchased 2 short cables from Monoprice to try from the ER B side to my DS dac’s Bridge card.    I think I ordered half meter and full meter.

 

I want to burn them in a bit before trying.

 

I currently have the ER plugged into another circuit, rather than into one of the outlets in my Niagara 7000.  Perhaps I should try using with the Niagara.  I imagine it would improve the ER but wondering if the ER power supply will dump noise into the power conditioner, negating the benefit.  

 

[emailists]

I have 2 things to report, the second I find quite disturbing.

 

After some encouraging discussion here, I decided to try plugging the ER into my power conditioner, the Niagara 7000.

 

My first thought was keep the ER far away from the system and off the same power circuit.

 

I was proven wrong on both accounts.  Moving the ER close to the DAC with a short Ethernet cable gave great results I had posted previously in the listening impressions thread.  

 

Now attaching the ER into the power conditioner took the instrument I was paying attention to from more forward and amorphous to refined, receded and specific. 'A very nice improvement' I thought and best of all it was free by utilizing my existing investment in the Garth Powell (from Furman now Audioquest) designed conditioner. 

 

What I did next was put the ER up on 3 cones with a TTweights 5 pound or so copper label weight from my turntable on top.

 

This was the biggest shock of all.  The music gained a liveliness and force like it was being squeezed out of a tube.

 

I was enjoying it for a day or two and I wanted to play some lp's  so I took the copper weight off the ER.  I was surprised how hot was.  It was a fantastic heat sync (as were the cones.)  So hot I had to let it cool before risking it on a piece of vinyl.  

I played the LP with a different label weight, not of copper and half the weight.   Once the copper weight cooled I placed it on the turntable (mid LP) and the sound gained an authority similar to what I heard the weight do for the ER!  It was a little weird, one being analog the other digital, but I have always been a proponent of mechanical grounding (preferably by copper or brass) as opposed to floating isolation. 

 

The next day I played the ER with NO cones or weight, to hear the baseline once again.  After 1 track I slipped the cones and weight back into place and wow!  Just a whole new take on the performance.  Outstanding.    

 

Which leads me back to the thing I found disturbing.  If my 'add on' mass and mechanical grounding has such an impact on the ER, then the enclosure is limiting the ER's true sonic potential... by a lot! 

 

I'm not saying a $650 item should have any kind of audio jewelry, but in this case I feel a much better and more massive case upgrade is warranted.  An enclosure that allows as much of the vibration inherent in the boards to drain into something more massive, and lowers the resonance is definitely something I could see being beneficial.

[emailists]

I can’t say how the heat dissipation helped sonically, but I can say when I put the cones and weight back on the ER it was a day later and in its normal “hot” mode.  I could hear the improvement immediately, so I imagine the unit had not yet cooled 30 or 60 seconds later. 

 

I can try try some alternative weights when I can find an appropriate one around the house.

 

Late last night I played back a Carpenters best of SACD file.  With the ER on the power conditioner and weights It sounded so incredibly creamy, lush and natural.  Softer music is definitely easier to record and playback, but it make me think that mass market multi track recording Sonically  peaked during the years the SACD covered, 1969-73.  

 

My theory is that the mixing desks at the time were much more simple than they would become in the mid and late 70’s, and there may well have been tubes used somewhere in the recoding chain.  Interestingly the Ken Burns Country music doc shows the evolution of music studios and indeed mixing boards were much more simple affairs in that era. 

[emailists]

BigAimc here is a picture of my temp setup, just sitting on the floor next to the rack for now.

 

I found a local shop that deals with small quantities of metal.  I might stop in and see if I can have them fabricate some kind of case or just the inner support rails out of copper.  

 

[emailists]

Ocateviars, thanks for measuring the temp of the case.  I found the case to be cooler to the touch with the weight on, but have no capacity to measure it.  I wasn’t attempting to change the temp, just trying what a few others noted and found the sonic benefit.  Perhaps inner vibration control or changing resonant frequency of the case/board.  

 

If anyone wants to read the white paper on starsound technologies site about vibration and coulomb friction, take a look.   

 

http://starsoundtechnologies.com/CMS/uploads/vibration-and-coulomb-friction-2013_001.pdf

 

I have no idea how scientifically sound the principles are, but I can say I’ve had great luck with their products.They have several scientists who contribute to their design and theories.

 

An amazing thing is that they sell a copper or brass footing for cellos, stand up bass  etc that they claim make the instrument sound better then the standard footing commonly used.  I’d love to hear an instrument fitted with one of these things.  There is Some info and testimonials from musicians on this page.

 

http://www.starsoundtechnologies.com/MusicalInstruments.php

 

They developed an amp built around mechanical grounding, which I heard at a show many years ago.  The amp didn’t take off but I’ve modded a tube amp to utilize this concept (using some prototype copper or brass parts they sold me) and the results were excellent and audible upon first listen.  

[emailists]

 I have a metal connector Ethernet cables in and out of the ER.  I’m not sure if this is cat 6a - it was over a year ago since I bought them.  I replaced the short B side with a standard cat 5 and it diminished the sound quite a bit.

 

Also I have been playing with various footers and weights on the ER.  I found too much weight (about a 3 lb copper weight) made the sound a bit too controlled.  I placed various Starsound copper washers on the case and found an amount I felt was the best combo of control and bloom. I find the whole process quite like a black art where little makes Technical sense.

 

I also floated my tube preamp on active insolation platform that took the system to the next level (but not the same magnitude as the ER added)

 

I played some tracks last night i hadn’t heard since getting the ER (and preamp isolation) and was shocked by all the new things I heard and the level of realism and naturalness.  Just wow.  

 

[emailists]

@MartinT can you comment which makes a bigger difference in the EtherRegen, the power supply you mentioned or the Upgraded clock?  
 

I recently replaced my 2 cat6a cables with the Onti cat 8 and am shocked at the improvements, particularly in the amount of bass.  Pretty shocking actually.  They are also available on Ali express.

 

I got a 1 meter from the EtherRegen to my PS audio DS/Bridge II and a 12 meter from my Mac Pro tower’s second ethernet port to feed the EtherRegen.  Total cost was $95.  Hard to believe what it did, and I’m sure many IT people and engineers would laugh at the idea.  
 

 

[emailists]

thanks for the input.  Funny thing is many of us used to think LP playback was too tweaky, and now it’s clear digital is way more tweaky.

[emailists]

Any cheap clock upgrades suggested? I’d love to go with an after dark clock but finances are tight right now.  

[emailists]

Any opinions on this clock with built in power supply?  
https://m.aliexpress.com/item/1005002651430123.html?browser_id=c651158fe795418b8f9bb8808fbc6c31&aff_trace_key=08e19c5b06504e938a24c52068d5b1a8-1648313680137-07793-UneMJZVf&aff_platform=msite&m_page_id=vklwejwdavscaupi17fc90ca24414cd8ce1f2fc6b9&gclid=

 

[emailists]

Thanks all for the response. I suppose that means I can’t use a 50 ohm clock and the only 75 ohm clocks worthwhile are the after dark?

 

I didn’t know anything about the V2 EtherRegen, but if anyone had info I’d love to know more.  

[emailists]

@dbastinA bit off topic but have you tried running your ME1’s full range with subs coming in below that?

 

That’s how I run my TAD CR1’s- with dual subs coming in under 40hz.  
 

I think I posted about this previously, but as far as bass benefitting from network connection, after getting the Onti Cat8 cables to replace 6a, into and out of the ER, the entire lower end of the spectrum filled out, and vocalists had more body.  I had to lower the levels of my subs.  Incredible that network cables had such  a profound effect, and benefited other areas of the spectrum as well.