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

[charlesphoto]

@pokey77 RE the AC iPurifier No idea about your power topography, but I found it best to try in different places. All of my network gear and opticalModules, NUC etc are in my server closet which is also the same circuit as all of my photo computer gear, so that circuit actually had the most impact in comparison to the upstairs analog gear. o perhaps get another or two and spread around. It can also make subtle differences where plugged in if using a power strip. Way OT here, so will leave it at that. 

[R1200CL]

On 10/5/2020 at 5:40 PM, charlesphoto said:

 

Perhaps, but on low they are inaudibly quiet and have rubber(?) bumpers for feet and vibrationless as far as I can tell. These aren't Walmart builds. I'm sure you could isolate it even more with Herbie's etc material if so inclined, but best to make sure your components are first. I had an LPS 1.2 go on me this summer and my feeling is it may have been heat related (under warranty and repaired but no info on what was wrong) so got some of these fans after that. I have them both with the hifi upstairs and downstairs in the server closet. The one upstairs is powered by a wall wart (different circuit from the hifi) and downstairs via USB off the Roon NUC. 

You know it you really want to take these things to the limit, one could submerge the etherRegen in mineral oil. Perfect cooling and vibration removal. And no RFI/EMI. 
 

Add the power supply as well. 
 

Actually I’m surprised it hasn’t been tested out yet, at least with low power audiophile computers.

 

 

[MarkusBarkus]

...I was afraid the fiber optic connection wouldn't like it. 😉

[MarkusBarkus]

https://store.steoil.com/mineral-oil-pc-kit/

[HeeBroG]

13 hours ago, ray-dude said:

When I had my ER, I had it on a vibration isolation scheme very much like John's and it worked great for me.  In general, I find this scheme extremely impactful for digital electronics, DACs, and power supplies.

 

In my case, I ended up having a whole bunch of aluminum bowls machined in various geometries, and I experimented with lots of different polishing techniques and precision bearings.  In general, if you set the plate oscillating, the longer it oscillates the bigger the impact (direct correlation to SQ).  Makes mechanically optimizing things much more straight forward.  To give a sense of order of magnitude, I was able to get oscillation time from ~30 seconds to ~120 seconds

 

I currently use smooth ceramic tiles from Home Depot for my plates.  I like the idea of more mass with the 1/2" aluminum plates though.  I'll see if I can source a plate to compare to the Home Depot plates I'm currently using (thanks for the tip John!)

 

Hi Ray,

 

How did you deal with the "flexible" cable issue which can impede the freedom of oscillation?

 

[skatbelt]

Normally an early adopter but due to busy times at work now probably part of the late majority; I just wanted to mention that going from copper to fiber has brought me quite a substantial step up in sound quality. Thanks for al the advice in this forum. I now have:

 

ISP modem/(wifi)router -> Telegärtner CAT6 U/UTP (0,5m) -> Sonore OpticalModule fed by Uptone LPS1.2 -> Planet MGB-TLX SFP -> Telegärtner 9/125 µ Singlemode OS2 (10m) -> Planet MGB-TLX SFP -> EtherREGEN

[ray-dude]

6 hours ago, HeeBroG said:

How did you deal with the "flexible" cable issue which can impede the freedom of oscillation?

 

 

Alas, no good way to do so.  Ideally there are no cables and the component floats freely.  Alas, that is not possible, but any isolation I can get is better than no isolation.

 

Typically, I try to position cables so that the platform can oscillate more freely.  As I position cables, I give the component a little nudge and see how it responds.  There are no sure fire schemes, but generally, the less strain I can get on the connector for the cable, the freer the movement.

 

At the end of the day, you do the best you can and try not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

[MartinT]

I have both the ER and my Asus streamer on Black Ravioli feet.  That way, in spite of the short and stiff Cat 6 cable between them, they are floating.

[ASRMichael]

Posted this before, my EtherRegen in HDplex case. The case sits on Symposium Rollerblocks. Works a treat for everything in the box, Router, Modem, PSU. Helps hold cables in place also. 
 

EtherRegen stays cool also with heatsink

[chungjh]

Totally cool, ASRMichael. Where did you get the HDplex shell? How much?

[ASRMichael]

HDPlex website. It’s just their H5 case. 
 

I found this a cheaper solution as I only need 3 Symposium feet to give really good isolation for all 5 devices. 
 

Also clears some clutter! 
 

 

[chungjh]

Have you compared with and without the feet to see if it REALLY makes a SQ difference?

[ASRMichael]

No sorry, I use symposium Rollerblocks with everything. All i can tell you is rollerblocks make huge difference with anything I use. 

[chungjh]

On 10/6/2020 at 6:43 AM, sgr said:

I’ve implemented the Dual EtherREGEN setup. I believe it was worthwhile. Noise floor non existent. Great clarity. Images and soundstage expanded while being more precise. I’m not sure why one would buy a stack of Buffalo switches when two Etherregens look to be less expensive. 
But I’ve not heard a stack of switches yet. 

Interesting. Are you saying you put two ER's in tandem?

[sbilotta]

12 hours ago, chungjh said:

Interesting. Are you saying you put two ER's in tandem?

read this if you're interested in 2 ERs working together:

https://community.naimaudio.com/t/one-step-forward-er-lpsu/10204/280?u

[chungjh]

Thanks @sbilotta for the link. Wow, someone should now try fiber optic>ER>ER>streamer.

[chungjh]

On 9/8/2020 at 12:06 PM, crion said:

I have the etherregen connected to HDPLEX200W (soon to be 300W) and a Shunyata CGS10 cable (Soon to be Sigma V2 CGC cable) from etherregen to Denali GND post. This improved the sound in my setup considerably, like a strong foundation in the sound. The grounding is paramount IMHO. It will be interesting to see how it improves with the Sigma CGC V2 (VTX-Ag) and yes there is an Omega CGC cable as well, I think it might have a TAP module which seems to be missing on the Sigma CGC v2.

 

I'm still waiting for my placeholder 4G clock (squarewave OXCO) and Shunyata V2 Alpha clock 75Ohm to make their entrance.

 

Do we need a costly ground wire like CGS10? How is it better than just using a copper wire?

 

Also, doesn't the grounding wire cause ground looping?

[Horse Tea]

or better? CATx => ER => opt. fiber => ER => (short) CATx => streamer

[DaveF]

Just joined this forum

have ordered an ether regen switch to replace my Ubiquiti switch 8

my profile shows my system

i am new to streaming. Just sold my Naim cds2 and am now using an ndx2/xpsdr in an all Naim system

I ordered the ER after reading the comments on this forum and the Naim forum.

my streamer is great and I love streaming and discovering new music.

sound-wise like the ndx2 but when I turn up the volume there can be some harshness.  I’m hoping the ER switch will improve this but will wait and see.

anyway, just wanted to say hello. My first post

david

[chungjh]

On 12/30/2019 at 1:59 PM, emailists said:

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.  

 

How did you attach those spikes?

[chungjh]

On 12/31/2019 at 7:25 AM, octaviars said:

Thanks @JohnSwenson for the answers.

 

I use two heatsinks on my eR as it is mounted in a cabinet that is around 30C. Before I added the heatsinks the eR was around 48-49C on the case (I use a calibrated IR thermometer) and with the heatsink the case is around 40C so I think this soulution works ok..

 

I use one of the mountingscrews for the sidepanel as a referencepoint so the before and after measurements is from the exact same point.

 

 

Octaviars, what does that black bracket attach to on the ER? It should act as antivibrator as well.

[Avalfa]

Some while ago, I had the opportunity to listen to the newest Ikigai network cables.

 

Between the etherregen and streamer

 

 The first one I tried was the Sugure.
(Compared it to a Wireworld starlight platinum).

Okay this is interesting... Serious improvement happening here. From wider staging, more depth, better orientation of individual instruments, To details revealed I didn't notice before.
Everything just sounds more natural and more 'at ease'.

Next one I tried, is the top line model the "Kangai".

Well most of all immediately the attack /release of instruments are Just brought to another level. In other words the timing (PRaT) enhanced incredibly. On top of the improvement of the Sugure. Everything just came together in the nicest possible way. Never thought a network cable could be  this much of an improvement to my already (to me) great sounding set.

 

Almost the same upgrade as the etherregen itself was almost a year ago by now.

 

So I ordered it, the Kangai and it arrived a few weeks later, now in my system for about four weeks, today I found some time to once again compare it with the previous cable. Well that was a very, short switching back. In seconds it was clear I'm still very confident with my buy, and after a few minutes playing parts of  the same songs I did during the initial test. I know for sure I did the right thing by buying this cable. I still noticed exactly the same improvements.

 

The fact that 'just a network cable' makes it even more worthy listening, I'm now really considering trying upgrading the ps of the ER, and maybe the clock also later on?

Didn't expect this could make so much of an improvement on top of the ER.

[Ricardo007]

a japanese leaving in netherlands?

[chungjh]

Avalfa

 

WOW, $2500 for an ethernet cable? Do you have it on both sides of ER?

[Ricardo007]

so many cables above 2500 usd omega line of shunyata and meda and above models from dalby audio, vertere etc...