EtherREGEN: All posts about firmware moved here

[Iving]

21 minutes ago, Johnnydev said:

 

hi Iving,

I really do not understand that after so many reviews from you, now come with the grounding, whereas this was specifically described in advance?

It has only brought doubt and unrest! 🥵

 

Hi Johnnydev,

Many apologies - I am not sure I fully understand.

I haven't reported on grounding previously (afaik!) Please don't correct me if you find something!

After significant systematic adjustments since last I posted I have found that adding a ground wire from the ER to my IsoTek GII Mini Sub (you would have to review my System to interpret) adds body and weight - a positive tone adjustment for me - even if I discover eventually that it is not strictly "Hi-Fi". It doesn't matter.

I remove all "doubt and unrest" from my own mind by coming to my own conclusions after much mucking about and in the fullness of time. I don't know any other way! (bar the spiritual!). We audiophiles probably turn over too many stones in order to find happiness 😉

[jos]

1 hour ago, Iving said:

 

Hi Johnnydev,

Many apologies - I am not sure I fully understand.

I haven't reported on grounding previously (afaik!) Please don't correct me if you find something!

After significant systematic adjustments since last I posted I have found that adding a ground wire from the ER to my IsoTek GII Mini Sub (you would have to review my System to interpret) adds body and weight - a positive tone adjustment for me - even if I discover eventually that it is not strictly "Hi-Fi". It doesn't matter.

I remove all "doubt and unrest" from my own mind by coming to my own conclusions after much mucking about and in the fullness of time. I don't know any other way! (bar the spiritual!). We audiophiles probably turn over too many stones in order to find happiness 😉

Thanks for your explanation so far; it is a good thing to report all of this. In addition: I totally agree with Superdad to remove so much gear (switches) as possible.

[Bernstein]

We need to be tolerant: @Iving was so strongly addicted to ER from the first hour, doctors couldn’t help him. After the drug manufacturer (aka Uptone) slightly tuned the recipe, his emotions went all over the place seeking for the original relief without a real explanation or remedy.  After a while, he understood, that he was used to the first smell and taste of it and couldn’t contemplate the additional kick of the new recipe. To enjoy it, he needed to abandon the whiskey (aka additional equipment) and add lemon (ground cable) to swallow the pill. 
 

PS: I am not a English native, but I hope it was funny for you as it was for me while writing 😂😂😂

[Iving]

10 minutes ago, Bernstein said:

We need to be tolerant: @Iving was so strongly addicted to ER from the first hour, doctors couldn’t help him. After the drug manufacturer (aka Uptone) slightly tuned the recipe, his emotions went all over the place seeking for the original relief without a real explanation or remedy.  After a while, he understood, that he was used to the first smell and taste of it and couldn’t contemplate the additional kick of the new recipe. To enjoy it, he needed to abandon the whiskey (aka additional equipment) and add lemon (ground cable) to swallow the pill. 
 

PS: I am not a English native, but I hope it was funny for you as it was for me while writing 😂😂😂

 

asthma attack

 

(advanced UK English 😙)

[FileMakerDev]

On 11/26/2019 at 3:14 AM, Superdad said:

There is a slight difference sonically. But nowhere near what a couple of the very vocal dissenters are claiming. Music with the EtherREGEN is still just as engaging; no bass is lost; no "soul" is lost. 

 

In the interest of accurately conveying my experience, the sonic improvement between v1 and v2 was immediately apparent.

 

I calibrate my system by obsessively listening to certain tracks over and over (to my wife's bemusement), and am intimately familiar with their sonic characteristics on my system. Making sure the volume and all other aspects of my system were identical, I played some of these tracks both immediately before and immediately after the firmware update, and in the lead-in "silence", before the first post-firmware note even sounded, I was startled to hear tape hiss from an analog-source recording whereas previously I'd only heard silence. I wasn't expecting this, just waiting for the music to start, so imagine my surprise to hear a difference before any actual music had begun(!).

 

And then once the music started it was quite clear that transparency, which had already been great, had now further improved. I detected no difference in bass, and "soul" remained, and continues to remain, to the best of my knowledge, intact.

[Puma Cat]

On 11/29/2019 at 4:23 PM, JohnSwenson said:

The changes only affect the RJ45 ports on the A side, not the SFP port or the RJ45 port on the B side.

 

Could you remind me of your connectivity again? Do you have anything else on the A side? I've been racking brain trying to figure out how changes to just the A side RJ45 ports could possible affect anything on the SFP port if there is nothing attached to them. The changes only affects signals on the RJ45 ports, so if nothing is connected then I don't see how anything could possibly be changed.

 

We do know that sometimes the SFP modules make poor contacts with the connector inside the SFP cage. Could you try taking the optical cable out, pulling out the SFP module, reinsterting it, firmly pushing it in, then reconnect the optical cable and see if that makes any difference.

 

Thanks,

 

John S.

Yes, I've been having consistent issues with this. Everytime I move the ER (e.g when I dust the audio rack), power it down for various reasons, the optical transceiver in the SFP cage usually  "comes loose" and it has taken me typically a considerable degree of fiddling to get it to connect up again. I am using the Sonore "System Optique"-specificed optical transceiver. If anyone knows of an LC optical transceiver that works better, I'm all ears. 

[FileMakerDev]

On 11/29/2019 at 5:50 AM, Ehsu said:

On 11/29/2019 at 5:34 AM, _JL_ said:

too smooth

Exactly the same words popped into my head in last hour of listening while I was looking for answers why the new version doesnt resonate with me. It seem to lose a bit of transient speed which makes music a bit less " live ". 

 

How odd that my reaction would be precisely the opposite. And "live" sounding is one of my main goals for my system. Before the ER my system sounded "live", then with ERv1 "live-er", and now with ERv2 "live-est".

[soares]

Might be the explanation...🙄

[jcn3]

35 minutes ago, Puma Cat said:

Yes, I've been having consistent issues with this. Everytime I move the ER (e.g when I dust the audio rack), power it down for various reasons, the optical transceiver in the SFP cage usually  "comes loose" and it has taken me typically a considerable degree of fiddling to get it to connect up again. I am using the Sonore "System Optique"-specificed optical transceiver. If anyone knows of an LC optical transceiver that works better, I'm all ears. 

 

the sfp cage shouldn't be loose -- give it a good push.  alex has said it takes a bit of force.

[Puma Cat]

7 minutes ago, jcn3 said:

 

the sfp cage shouldn't be loose -- give it a good push.  alex has said it takes a bit of force.

I didn't say the SFP cage was loose. The SFP case is soldered to the main board at, IIRC, 9 points and is secure. What I said was that the fit of my optical transceiver into the SFP cage has consistently proven to be problematical. I can move the ER just a little bit, and the fit/connection between the optical transceiver can disconnect. I know that it takes quite a bit of force to install the optical transceiver to get it to seat securely, and I apply quite a bit of force when inserting the optical transceiver into the SFP cage. Sometimes it connects up, but many times it does not. What I've consistently experienced is that it takes several attempts and a fair bit of "fiddling" to get it to connect up. 

[Superdad]

43 minutes ago, Puma Cat said:

I can move the ER just a little bit, and the fit/connection between the optical transceiver can disconnect. I know that it takes quite a bit of force to install the optical transceiver to get it to seat securely, and I apply quite a bit of force when inserting the optical transceiver into the SFP cage. Sometimes it connects up, but many times it does not. What I've consistently experienced is that it takes several attempts and a fair bit of "fiddling" to get it to connect up. 

 

We aside from the obvious--stop moving things around! --I agree that you ought to try another SFP transceiver.  

And John mentioned to me something along the lines of it being possible to have some of the differential pairs of the module not connect well, still have connectivity--but poor sound. Busy day, but maybe he will explain about that more properly at some point.

[soares]

1 hour ago, Superdad said:

 

We aside from the obvious--stop moving things around! --I agree that you ought to try another SFP transceiver.  

And John mentioned to me something along the lines of it being possible to have some of the differential pairs of the module not connect well, still have connectivity--but poor sound. Busy day, but maybe he will explain about that more properly at some point.

That might explain what I had experienced Alex... no drop outs but poor sound. This might be a plausible explanation. Unfortunately I related the phenomena with the upgrade because of course I had to move the eR and disconnect the SPF module... and following John advice I checked but probably it was not properly inserted. At the third time it worked. My apologies again.

[Ehsu]

2 hours ago, FileMakerDev said:

How odd that my reaction would be precisely the opposite. And "live" sounding is one of my main goals for my system. Before the ER my system sounded "live", then with ERv1 "live-er", and now with ERv2 "live-est".

I think this is not odd at all. As I have established last Sunday after listening to a random playlist created by Roon. ER is so revealing now that shows up the huge difference between good and average recordings which some may not have realised before. I actually went back to the same playlist again last night after @Bernstein asked me what tracks performed well and what not. I got the same result as Sunday afternoon.

 

A couple points I would like to point out to everyone on this forum as well. We all need to respect others opinions because after all, each of us use different components, speakers, network setup and personal preferences in sound. I have to stress personal preference in sound because it is why we choose different brand of component we end up buying after demo. Lets not forget we also have different level of components too that may or may not be able to show enough of a difference. I would never say someone's finding is wrong or BS because we are all different! I am a bit annoyed by some people's strong oppositions to others opinions. UpTone is based in USA! Freedom of Speech! I do not like the feeling of police state here sometimes where you are only allowed to say 1 side of opinion. Btw, just to be clear, I love ER's improvements over my old switch and UpTone's work ethics. Second to none really. Any sound characters I described are all in relative terms. Hey, we are all audiophiles. Ordinary people would say that we are talking whole lots of c#$p!  

 

Second point I like to make is that we need to understand each of us consciously or subconsciously focus on different areas of the sound depends on their background or preferences or taste. For example, I am a dancer and used to play bass guitar as a teenager so I tend to focus on the timing and rhythmic part of the music. It is why I chose certain components and speakers as they are strong in that area. I do not care as much on soundstage, smoothness, details or neutrality etc... You may have used to comparing the SET performance etc..

 

The last point is your personal taste or preferred genre of music. Each component has its own signature of sound which "may" favour certain kind of music. How do we judge others when we just dont know enough of?

[octaviars]

19 hours ago, Puma Cat said:

If anyone knows of an LC optical transceiver that works better, I'm all ears. 

I use these from FS.com, zero problems and the fit is really good. 

Single-mode 1310nm modules and cable are from Corning. 

 

[Johnnydev]

12 hours ago, Iving said:

 

asthma attack

 

(advanced UK English 😙)

sorry 🤓
I apologize 😪

[Iving]

39 minutes ago, Johnnydev said:

sorry 🤓
I apologize 😪

 

It was brought on by Bernstein - not you!

 

I'm OK now. Nice and relaxed. Airways all clear. Thank you for caring 😀

[Puma Cat]

11 hours ago, octaviars said:

 

I use these from FS.com, zero problems and the fit is really good. 

 

Single-mode 1310nm modules and cable are from Corning. 

 

 

Cool, I'll check it out...

[Puma Cat]

12 hours ago, octaviars said:

 

I use these from FS.com, zero problems and the fit is really good. 

 

Single-mode 1310nm modules and cable are from Corning. 

 

 

Thanks, Octaviars. I've found the FS site for the fiber optic transceivers. I note a "GE" designation on the sticker for yours. Does that refer to a "Generic" network designation? I noted that FS.com has specific transceivers for Arista, Juniper networks, etc, The stickers on these have AR or JU on them, respectively. Yours has a GE, I'm presuming that's for a Generic network.

 

thanks!

[Puma Cat]

18 hours ago, Superdad said:

 

We aside from the obvious--stop moving things around! --I agree that you ought to try another SFP transceiver.  

And John mentioned to me something along the lines of it being possible to have some of the differential pairs of the module not connect well, still have connectivity--but poor sound. Busy day, but maybe he will explain about that more properly at some point.

Yep, I get it, Alex. But I do have to dust the audio rack from time to time! 😉  One of the times the optical transceiver disconnected was when I simply lifted up ER to put some Herbie's Audio Labs Tenderfeet for micro-vibration absorption underneath it (which BTW, *do* result in an audible improvement, as they do when under an LPS-1.2>).  

 

Cheers,

PC

[octaviars]

2 hours ago, Puma Cat said:

Yours has a GE, I'm presuming that's for a Generic network.

 

 

That might be correct as they work in my Ubiquiti router and the etherREGEN.

 

"FS generic compatible transceivers break free of vendor lock-in and guarrantee continued flawless interoperability and compatibility with third party vendors."

[mikeg]

In my system which includes the an Uptone Audio LPS 1.2 feeding an ENAP 2TB SSD NAS - 0.5m Wireworld Platinum 8 - EtherRegen - 2.0 m Wireworld Platinum 8 - Ayon Audio S-5 Network Player/DAC/Preamp - Tidal Audio Impact solid state amp - PranaFidelity Vayu loudspeakers (all components connected by SR Galileo UEF cables with SX power cords, heavily treated by PPT Omega Mats, PPT Gate, and PPT Alpha cards ), the addition of the EtherRegen has to be the top grade I've done to the digital part of my reviewing system.  I believe the simplest system is the best approach.  The ER 2 firmware update was installed flawlessly.  Prior new firmware update I had dropouts or during playing on repeat to perform breaking there were handshake issues that resulted in the loss of signal transmission.  IMHO, the new firmware is necessary to allow the ER to perform as intended.  The noise floor was significantly reduced by adding the ER with original firmware but the new firmware takes the ER much further.  There have been many great reviews written in the ER listening impressions.  For me, the realistic timing of the music with an incredible sense of space is at the heart of the upgrade.  The new firmware builds upon this significantly.  Instruments and vocals sound more realistic due to improved transparency and resolution.  In my system, all frequencies are properly balanced with added frequency extension at both extremes.  Like others have said, the initial warm-up of the ER most likely gave the impression that the new firmware was lacking but after an hour my system was even more liquid sounding.  I'll be happy with my digital front end for quite some time.

[Johnnydev]

Important for my wife and me is the whole music experience:

 

Together or alone on the couch and immerse in the (live) music experience, with details and impact

 

Tight and layered bass, detail, nice, warm middle and a good resolution with a live feeling if present. sometimes as if you can walk among the musicians

 

Nice sound from the TV, films preferably with a smashing, lively (cinema) experience.

 

Playing like in a disco, but also very important nice sounding when music gets played in the background, and fine sounding as we walk around and do our daily things

 

The EtherRegen brings improvements in all these areas and gets better every day

[Ricardo007]

16 hours ago, octaviars said:

That might be correct as they work in my Ubiquiti router and the etherREGEN

Which ubiquiti router u use? I have edgerouter 6P but normally its sfp cage is for WAN not for LAN connection so did you have to reconfigure the router to be able to use fiber between router and ER? And did you compare with copper ethernet?

[octaviars]

@Ricardo007 I have a Ubiquiti EdgeRouter X SFP.

Yes you have to configure the sfp to be a regular LAN port (ETH0 WAN, ETH1-5 LAN and 5 being the SFP.

 

I have not compared to copper.

[Dutch]

On 11/30/2019 at 11:16 PM, Dutch said:

OK now there’s a separate topic and I might find some time tomorrow..

@Superdad

I still haven’t updated; is it possible, when I save the ‘current.uf2’ file (before copying the ‘V2’ file) to copy it back if&when I want to return to ‘V1’ (perhaps after renaming it first)?

My question above was completely ignored by Uptone Audio but I just updated anyway since most reservations about v2 are/seem to be retracted now.