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

[MartinT]

Hi everyone, I'm new here (but not new to forums).  I have been reading this thread with great interest and my EtherREGEN is due to arrive Monday by Fedex.  I have a few observations without any experience yet of what the ER will do for my system.

• I am a great fan of reclocking and clock accuracy in general.  I use a Mutec MC-3 USB+ reclocker to reclock the USB from my Asus streamer to S/PDIF AES into my LKS DAC.  It has a profound effect on the sound quality I achieve from Qobuz as my primary source.  Further, I have had the already decent Crystek 575 clock in the LKS replaced with an ultra low phase noise Coherent clock.  I am intrigued by the notion of double reclocking in my system and what it may, or may not, do for sound quality.
• I have enhanced my system with lots of vibration control, primarily using Black Ravioli Pads and Big Pads, and RDC Cones, to isolate everything.  I have some ready to put under the ER.
• I already use a very good Chinese Weiliang 12V LPSU for my TP-Link 4G router.  I have purchased another identical one for the ER, knowing how well every component has responded to LPSUs in place of SMPS.
• I also use grounding boxes on every digital component, a mixture of SGS and Black Ravioli units.  Since several comments have been made about the benefits of grounding the ER, and since I have found the best response to grounding has been with the Mutec, I have a Black Ravioli Eflos grounding box with spade connector ready and waiting for the ER.

I shall start with the ER and its own SMPS connected to my regenerator and have a long listen before adding the other components to the mix.  I already use a 3m MeiCord ethernet cable from the router and have two short Cat6 and a Cat8 to try on the B side of the ER into the Asus streamer.  I'll report back on what I hear at every step.

[MartinT]

On the subject of grounding, many of you have grounded your ER to house ground (we call it earth in the UK).  Has anyone tried what I will experiment with, using a grounding box?  The idea being to suck away noise from the ground plane of the ER without affecting safety ground or creating hum issues.

[MartinT]

37 minutes ago, Jud said:

 

A "grounding box" doesn't actually electrically ground anything unless connected to ground, so why not just connect the device to an electrical ground directly and save the extra wiring, boxes, and money?

 

I have had great success with grounding boxes, especially with my other reclocker the Mutec MC-3.  I use an SGS-1s box connected to various rear panel socket grounds.  It removes ground plane noise and quite significantly lifts sound quality.  House ground connections are far noisier than a grounding box.  I know it's a contentious issue, but I feel it's worth trying with the ER too.

[MartinT]

1 hour ago, JohnSwenson said:

As far as I can tell these "grounding" boxes are really noise injectors, BUT with phase adjusted so it tends to cancel out noise already in the system. The box is an antenna which picks up the AC line frequency already in pretty much all environments and injects it into the "ground" of your system. If this is done properly it CAN cancel out some of the existing ground noise, but it can also increase it if things are not right.

 

The upshot is that if you have setup these boxes and tuned things right and them you use something to decrease the ground noise (such as an EtherREGEN) you may find that things sound worse, because now the injected noise from the ground box doesn't have anything to cancel out. So I would recommend trying the EtherREGEN both with and without the ground boxes and see what you prefer.

 

John S.

 

Thank you, John.  I certainly intend to try things in progressive steps: LPSU, ethernet cables, vibration control, grounding etc.  I will report what I hear in each step.

[MartinT]

13 hours ago, HumanMedia said:

If you have the discipline, let the ER burn in for a good 250 hours before any tweaks.

 

I doubt I'll last that long, but the hours are going on with 24-hour Radio Paradise running through it (even burn-in requires a tasteful source).

 

A quick listen at 18 hours this morning showed a great improvement over performance from brand new and stone cold, so things are looking promising.  I know that Crystek 575 crystal from my LKS DAC, and it needs a LOT of hours to give of its best.  Once I feel I can properly evaluate it, I'll write more in the Listening Impressions thread.

[MartinT]

Interim report: at 60 hours, the ER is really significantly pulling away from baseline performance without it in the system. I added my 12V LPSU (floating ground) and the sound took a significant lift in soundstage depth, decay, reverb. I then added the Black Ravioli Eflos grounding box and it took another jump up in soundstaging while the already good dynamics and slam in my system are preserved. I really am hearing things I hadn't noticed before. It's gratifying that double reclocking works. As others have said, everything matters in digital.

 

Listening impressions will be posted when performance settles.

 

[MartinT]

Has anyone experimented with the DC cable supplying the ER? I have ordered a 1m UP-OCC DC cable with carbon infused braid from MCRU for my LPSU to ER link. I should get it soon and will report what I hear.

 

https://www.mcru.co.uk/product/audiophile-dc-power-cable-gx16-2-connector/

[MartinT]

1 hour ago, Blackfiction said:

Does anyone know which size of spade/eye connection I need to buy to ground the ER? Is it a M6?
 

 

It's quite small, possibly an M4. It easily takes spades with a staggered opening as with my grounding box.

[MartinT]

3 hours ago, austinpop said:

Have people any clever solutions for a weight to keep the ER from tilting with heavy cables? I was literally thinking a glass paperweight, but something that did not interfere with heat dissipation. 

 

If you have a clever solution, I'm all ears. Or is it - ERs?  

 

I use black granite mats and coasters on all my components, covered with sticky-back black felt on the bottom.  One coaster keeps the ER in place and soon ramps up to the same temperature.  Being black, it radiates out the heat, too.

 

[MartinT]

I use Black Ravioli Pad footers (3) under the ER, and coaster on top.  It doesn't move, and the 12cm short ethernet link to my Asus Tinker Board S streamer also helps to keep both in place.

[MartinT]

9 minutes ago, austinpop said:

 

So no issues with the felt (on the coasters) or the rubber tread on the doorstop coming into contact with the hot exterior of the ER?

 

None at all.

[MartinT]

Power supplies are critical in certain parts of the digital path.  For instance, my music streamer is an Asus Tinker Board S running Volumio.  It's a very nice but inexpensive single-board computer and does the job superbly.  However, like all computers, it's noisy.  I have what some might consider overkill, a very expensive 5V supercap PSU (Coherent QP-1) feeding it, which keeps the noise down and the performance up.  For the ER, it just needed a decent 12V LPSU to reap benefits over the SMPS.  I also run two regenerators to feed the whole system, which further improves the performance of all the power supplies.

[MartinT]

My master clock is feeding both the ER and Mutec MC-3+ USB, too.  The benefits are additive so in this case, it's well worth it.  It also cost a lot less than a Ref 10.

[MartinT]

6 minutes ago, jamesg11 said:

What are the sonic implications of this clock being 50ohm?

 

I can't tell you yet (in other words, I don't know until I make some changes), but I can tell you that with decent short 75 ohm cables it works extremely well.  I do intend changing the BNC outputs to 75 ohm connectors (already ordered) and check the circuit for adapting it to 75 ohms.  Then I'll be able to say if it was worth it or if it proves so close as to make no worthwhile difference.

[MartinT]

See my thread in this area.

 

 

[MartinT]

Paul Hynes is a lovely chap but he lives on South Uist (one of the Hebrides off the coast of Scotland) and is a one-man band. His order lead time can be lengthy, but always worth the wait.

 

I have one of his older PR4 modules made into a power supply and must dig it out for re-use sometime. The performance is superb with very low noise.

[MartinT]

Look in your junk folder.  All my notifications end up there 😣

[MartinT]

8 hours ago, sahmen said:

There is something strikingly refreshing about this thread.  People can freely discuss at length experiences--such as hearing a difference between cables, ethernet cables, for that matter, and switches, for example--that in ofter forums, and even on other threads of this site, would have long attracted the usual crowd of vampiric objectivists and and wise-cracking skeptics, the kind, who are forever seeking to pour scorn on what they seem to consider to be signs of audiophile heresy...

 

I guess we mostly here own an EtherREGEN and were open-minded enough to purchase one and have now heard what it does.  The case for reclocking has become obvious to us and perhaps that keeps the naysayers away.

 

On the subject of ethernet cable burn-in, my 3m MeiCord Opal took about a week to settle to its best performance.

[MartinT]

i have an AMR Gold fuse in my LPSU powering the ER.  It does the job for an economy fuse.

[MartinT]

3 hours ago, audiotunesx said:

Another experiment I'll report on is the effect of adding a ground box - Entreq Silver Minimus Infinity with their RJ45 copper or discover ground cables.  So far it's been marvelous for the router and nas.  It made the biggest difference on the TP-link FMC (using a spade ground between chassis gap).  Takes away a lot of digital glare, improves timbre, resolution and soundstage.  Hopefully, the eR benefits as well.

 

I am using Black Ravioli Eflos grounding boxes to great effect. Already have one on the ER, streamer and DAC and should have one arriving for the clock. I agree with the above observations, the noise floor drops and so does glare, with increased soundstage depth and insight.

[MartinT]

...I meant to add, I also have grounding boxes SGS-1 on my TP-Link router and SGS-1s on my Mutec reclocker.  The trick is to use a grounding box on everything digital to sink the ground plane noise away.

[MartinT]

David Brook at MCRU

 

https://www.mcru.co.uk/product-category/diy-componants/fuses/

[MartinT]

For those who think changes upstream of the ER won't make a difference.

 

I swapped out the Chinese 12V LPSU powering my TP-Link MR6400 4G router for a spare Paul Hynes LPSU based on the PR3iEHD I had lying around. I also swapped out the SR Red fuse for an SR Blue. It makes quite a difference in the immediacy and dynamic clout of some music, such as Jeff Beck's You Had It Coming album. Nice, and cost me nothing.

[MartinT]

21 minutes ago, Superdad said:

 

I don't know, those fancy fuses are $125 and $160 each. That's not "nothing!"

 

It is when it's a spare in the drawer!

[MartinT]

From my experience the Synergistic fuses are of a fast blow design, sensitive to surges rather than constant current.

 

I have only ever blown one, a Red, and that was my fault for plugging the power amp cable into the back with the power on. I usually use my P10 regenerator's high current surge protection socket and power on with the P10's remote control.