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

[soares]

On 1/14/2020 at 1:53 PM, esmit said:

 

Can you test without the isoregen? I have a similar setup, and although the ir improves my microrendu I find that my ultraRendu sounds better than mR+iR, and the ultrarendu on its own sounds better  than uR+iR. All powered by Lps1.2s. I am curious about your findings. I tested for instance with Sinner Man, from Four woman: the Nina Simone Philips Recordings. 

This came especially apparent after adding the etherRegen: before adding that I did not really notice this clearly. 

Sorry for being this late... While it is quite obvious the difference in sound, I think I still prefer with the iR, just for the timbre. Without it, the music might seem more real, with a better impact on your face, but the timbre is not so perfect. In any case this has lead to some new configurations in my system regarding cables and LPS. So far I haven’t reach to a conclusion. I nevertheless wanted to thank you for sharing your views. Kind regards. Jorge

[Thmoas]

I’m sticking with the stock power supply and reselling my sotm sps500. The sotm gives me more clarity but less life and sense of rythm. 

Did anyone try to replace the power cable on the uptone Power brick? Does a good cable makes a difference there?

 

thomas 

[soares]

Yes, not easy to find a suitable LPS that significantly increases the  eR already very SQ. Good work Alex & John!!! 😀

[skatbelt]

1 hour ago, soares said:

Yes, not easy to find a suitable LPS that significantly increases the  eR already very SQ. Good work Alex & John!!! 😀

 

Wishfull thinking.. 😂

[k-man]

11 minutes ago, skatbelt said:

Wishfull thinking.. 😂

I don't think there is a right or wrong in this..it depends on where all your audio components are connected amongst everything else plugged in home.

I am quite fortunate to have my DAC and amp connected to its own mains (a HUGE upgrade in itself), so as long as ER is powered on the household/'dirty' mains, it can be fed with any SMPS/LPS as long as the ER's B side is doing what its supposed to be doing.

Without this, I would also agree with you to look for an upgraded LPS. 

 

[skatbelt]

1 minute ago, k-man said:

I don't think there is a right or wrong in this..it depends on where all your audio components are connected amongst everything else plugged in home.

I am quite fortunate to have my DAC and amp connected to its own mains (a HUGE upgrade in itself), so as long as ER is powered on the household/'dirty' mains, it can be fed with any SMPS/LPS as long as the ER's B side is doing what its supposed to be doing.

Without this, I would also agree with you to look for an upgraded LPS. 

 

 

Still wishful thinking. My streamer, DAC and amp are also on dedicated power. Nonetheless...

 

[k-man]

31 minutes ago, skatbelt said:

 

Still wishful thinking. My streamer, DAC and amp are also on dedicated power. Nonetheless...

Your rig and your experience with the PS upgrade will be a useful data point for me. Thanks.

[skatbelt]

15 minutes ago, k-man said:

Your rig and your experience with the PS upgrade will be a useful data point for me. Thanks.

 

I posted about it in the listening impressions thread a few weeks ago. The JS-2 really excelled vs. stock SMPS after the ER ground screw was connected to a common ground (with the JS-2).

 

[mourip]

On 1/27/2020 at 5:16 PM, kennyb123 said:

 

  The phrase "should be no need" more often than not isn't applicable in systems where "everything matters" (or at least seems to).

 

 

This should be a sticky at the top of every thread here 🙂

The better the system, the more everything matters ...and after that you are stuck with listening to the actual recording quality.

 

[jamesg11]

On 2/3/2020 at 6:11 AM, Thmoas said:

I’m sticking with the stock power supply and reselling my sotm sps500. The sotm gives me more clarity but less life and sense of rythm. 

Did anyone try to replace the power cable on the uptone Power brick? Does a good cable makes a difference there?

 

thomas 

I’ve currently got my Netgear GS105 switch - note no ER yet - powered by the Uptone brick using an ‘audiophile’ power cable ... but that’s because I’ve got a bunch of spares cos I haven’t set up my vinyl gear since we moved house 18 months back! No idea about specific sonic improvement - I just use them where possible, on the theory that minor incrementals burgeon into larger sonic upticks.

[soares]

On 2/2/2020 at 4:12 PM, skatbelt said:

 

Wishfull thinking.. 😂

Funny! 
Any suggestions around 500$?

Already tried LPS-1.2 and Sbooster.

 

[k-man]

3 hours ago, soares said:

Any suggestions around 500$?

Either Paul Hynes SR4, or cheap LPS/SBooster plus LDvor DXP ( @Middy’s tip). Both highly endorsed here.

[Middy]

I thought the extra LT3045s helped me on the Ldovr but i have the UT LPS1. Not the 1.2 Not for the ER but my Qutest. Remember if you do you need a higher input voltage for the Vdrop. A fixed LPS for the target range wont work.

My spending is limited, in my case i tried  my UT LPS1.0,  7v into a NEW IFI DC purifier into Ldovr for 5v out.

More people here must have experimented with various power options. A well made design seem less affected by poor power so you may be chasing diminishing returns if any...

Johns a good power engineer already...

 

I was making a poor man's 1.2... the extras may help? 

 

Good luck and hi  @k-man 😀

 

Dave 

 

[skatbelt]

10 hours ago, soares said:

Funny! 
Any suggestions around 500$?

Already tried LPS-1.2 and Sbooster.

 

 

I don't know about the Sbooster but various people did report improvements with the LPS-1.2 vs stock SMPS. Because it is floating, you have to make sure the ER is grounded via its ground screw. My own experience is with the Uptone JS-2. Not in the 500$ range but I am using only one rail for the ER and the other one for my Roon server. So 500$ per rail... 🙃

[soares]

Thanks. Should probably consider the JS-2. 
Best Jorge

[PYP]

@skatbelt recommends the JS-2 and  @soares recommends the opticalModule.  I have ordered these to try in my system.  As we know, everything is system dependent.  The JS-2 will power the eR and oM.  Right now, I have the eR grounded, so will try that as is.  

 

So, thank you gentlemen for spending my hard-earned savings.  😎

 

 

 

[skatbelt]

18 minutes ago, PYP said:

@skatbelt recommends the JS-2 and  @soares recommends the opticalModule.  I have ordered these to try in my system.  As we know, everything is system dependent.  The JS-2 will power the eR and oM.  Right now, I have the eR grounded, so will try that as is.  

 

So, thank you gentlemen for spending my hard-earned savings.  😎

 

 

 

 

I don't know if I can handle this pressure. Fortunately Uptone has a 30-day no-satisfaction money-back guarantee... 😅

[PYP]

4 minutes ago, skatbelt said:

 

I don't know if I can handle this pressure. Fortunately Uptone has a 30-day no-satisfaction money-back guarantee... 😅

 

Please hang in there for another two weeks.  😏  We will know the results soon.  

[soares]

1 hour ago, PYP said:

 

Please hang in there for another two weeks.  😏  We will know the results soon.  

I hope you won’t regret it! 😀

As I had the opportunity to tell you guys, it’s not often that I listen to such a good SQ. 

Cheers Jorge

[PYP]

1 hour ago, soares said:

I hope you won’t regret it! 😀

As I had the opportunity to tell you guys, it’s not often that I listen to such a good SQ. 

Cheers Jorge

 

In your ears, we trust, Jorge. 🙂  Of course, in addition to the subjectivity, there is also the variables that cannot be calculated.  That said, anything that cleans up the power or the signal has to be helpful.  To what degree?  Let's see.  

[kennyb123]

A brief update on fiber madness...

 

I finally landed on the amount of attenuation that seemed to sound best in my system when using the Startech SFPs:  10 dB

 

I tried the following values in dB: 5, 7, 10 and 20.  I evaluated these only with the same value used on each receiver side only. So one per SFP on each side.

 

5 dB was too little as the treble could still be too hot.  20 dB proved to be too much as 10 dB opened things up and brought a bit more transparency.  I struggled to hear any differences between 7 and 10 dB as they were very close.  There was just something about 10 dB that made me want to just listen to music and forget about the attenuators.  I arrived at this decision at least a week ago and have heard nothing that suggests I made the wrong decision.  In fact once I put the attenuator decision aside, I found myself having even greater appreciation of going with fiber.

 

Your ears and your system might find you landing at a different value.  Also my findings likely only apply to the 1550 nm Startech SFPs.  The lasers in these suckers can transmit an insane distance.

 

I pre-ordered an opticalModule in the Feb 20th batch and will swap this for the Startech FMC used upstream.  I’ll share my findings here.

 

[PLGA]

Hello Guys,
I'm new here, but have been posting in another forums.

I've bougth the ER on december and it will be shipped at the end of this month to my home in Argentina.

As I live in a country where sending items is expensive for shipping and custom taxes, I'm thinking about using the same package of the ER to send one or two "audiophiles" Ethernet cables.

Today my bridge/streamer SOtM SMS-200 Ultra Neo is connected with a cheap CAT8 Ethernet cable to the WiFi Router and the future ER will go in between (I hope considerably improving the Ethernet signal) with another cheap CAT8 cable.

My questions are:

1- Under your direct experience, do Ethernet cables make a difference?

2- If so, wich one do you recommend below 200 dollars for 1.5/2.0 meters (about 5 to 7 feet)?

3- On the other hand, do you recommend changing both cables form "Router to ER" and from "ER to SMS" or just one of them?

The Supra CAT8 and the Wireworld Chroma are some options, but may be is a better to buy one more expensive, like the Wireworld Starlight, instead of two cheaper like the mentioned. If the ER is an Ethernet conditioner, how important is the cable that feeds it? Shouldnt be more important the cable after it?

"Please I would appreciate only answer from people who actually have done test with different cables". I dont want to open a technical debate whether Ethernet cables make or not a difference with people with no direct experience. For me, cables matter, all of them (digital, interconnects, power cords, etc).

[Lucie]

1. Yes, from direct experience, ethernet cables do make a difference.

3. (That's the first question there is to answer) Change both cables. From router to ER has less effect, than from ER to Streamer/dac.

2. From router to ER you should stay away from metal connectors connected to the shield. Bluejeans is good. I find it better than Supra cat 7+ (in my system). Bluejeans cat 6a has plastic connectors. You could look at Ghent as well.

From ER to streamer/dac: consider a good cable. Invest the money you saved by using the cheap Bluejeans in the last cable in the stream. Audioquest Vodka is very good. Audioquest, Chord, and Shunyata make cables which are reviewed very well.

 

[rncasper]

Dear all:

 

Wanted to give a couple of reports:

• Tried the eR with stock SMPS vs. LPS 1.2 (both with the Shunyata Venom V14 Digital cable), and there is a SMALL but noticeable benefit with the latter. Ever so slightly more dynamic.
• I have all Wireworld Starlight (from eR to outlet and eR to SonicTransporter i5 on the A side, from B side to my UltraRendu), and I can say they sound terrific in my system -- better than the Shunyata Venom or the AQ Vodka, both of which I demoed earlier. I'm curious about the SOTM CAT 7 though.

For those powering the eR via the LPS 1.2 or another "floated" supply, I'm curious: how have you handled grounding? Here's what I have: 

• https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HKJNF1K?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_dt_b_product_details
• https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PQZTCHT/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Seems to work just fine. 

 

Big thanks also to Alex for offering setup advice! And kudos to all at UpTone for their amazing products (I also own the JS2, which powers my UltraRendu/Brooklyn DAC+).

[lmitche]

Hi all,

 

I've read the last month of postings here and can't seem to find a consensus on SFPs and Fiber combinations. Between tplink startech, cisco, 850nm 1350nm, 1550nm with attentuators or not, om4 or om5 fiber, I am lost.

 

Am I missing something, or is there no best practice yet? How should one proceed?

 

Larry