Uptone Audio EtherREGEN Owners & Discussion Thread

[awayward]

14 hours ago, Snoopy8 said:

Just wondering how you are keeping both cool? 

 

Are you going to get the JS2, said to be better? At A$1.5K landed, it not cheap (and yes, it can power 2 devices). I suspect any more improvement will be small. 

 

Bang for buck, it will be difficult to match what the ER did to my setup.

Nothing extra to keep them cool, the ER and the LPS 1.2 both run very hot, can touch them for a few seconds only, and the room they are in is quite a cool room. But my LPS 1.2 powering my UltraRendu is much cooler.

I have no interest in getting a JS2, there might be a small improvement, but I'm very satisfied with my system as is.

[Snoopy8]

10 minutes ago, awayward said:

Nothing extra to keep them cool, the ER and the LPS 1.2 both run very hot, can touch them for a few seconds only, and the room they are in is quite a cool room. But my LPS 1.2 powering my UltraRendu is much cooler.

I have no interest in getting a JS2, there might be a small improvement, but I'm very satisfied with my system as is.

I am using a passive PC CPU cooler to cool my ER because I do not like hot electronics.  The ER becomes neutral to touch. Interesting that Uptone cannot keep up with the supply of the JS2 because of the demand from ER owners!

 

What streamer and DAC are you using?  I am collating a list of impressions and reviews about the ER to see whether any streamers and/or DACs can negate the need for an ER.  There is an argument raised that a better streamer and DAC does not need an ER because it can get rid of the noise from Ethernet sources.  

 

Looking forward to hearing about the experiment with and without grounding of the LPS1.2   

[awayward]

13 minutes ago, Snoopy8 said:

I am using a passive PC CPU cooler to cool my ER because I do not like hot electronics.  The ER becomes neutral to touch. Interesting that Uptone cannot keep up with the supply of the JS2 because of the demand from ER owners!

 

What streamer and DAC are you using?  I am collating a list of impressions and reviews about the ER to see whether any streamers and/or DACs can negate the need for an ER.  There is an argument raised that a better streamer and DAC does not need an ER because it can get rid of the noise from Ethernet sources.  

 

Looking forward to hearing about the experiment with and without grounding of the LPS1.2   

I'm using a SonicTransporter i5 as a music server, connected to the A side of the ER via Cable Matters CAT8, along with my NAS (generic CAT6 cable) and Modem/router (Blue Jeans CAT5e). ER B side to a Sonore UltraRendu (CM CAT8), then usb to a PS Audio DirectStream DAC.

I'm not planning on using the ER without grounding, grounding is recommended/required when using the LPS1.2.

[Snoopy8]

12 minutes ago, awayward said:

I'm using a SonicTransporter i5 as a music server, connected to the A side of the ER via Cable Matters CAT8, along with my NAS (generic CAT6 cable) and Modem/router (Blue Jeans CAT5e). ER B side to a Sonore UltraRendu (CM CAT8), then usb to a PS Audio DirectStream DAC.

I'm not planning on using the ER without grounding, grounding is recommended/required when using the LPS1.2.

Thank you. 

 

Grounding is recommended because John Swenson has written a lot about its benefits.  Given I cannot test myself, I was curious about the impact but it is ok if you do not have the time. 

[Snoopy8]

On 01/01/2020 at 5:36 PM, Snoopy8 said:

Been going through the Uptone EtherREGEN listening impressions thread and DevialetChat thread to collate owner impressions. Been subjectively grading the posted sound quality improvement as "big", "some" and "no" and only for posts where the user identified the DAC. Of the 44 posts, 34 reported "big" improvements, 7 "some" and 3 with "no" improvements. 

 

Devialet accounted for 6 out of 44 posts, with 5 of us (Dutch, desert38, rdok, JohnnyDev, Snoopy8) reported "big" improvements and Confused with "some" improvements.  4 of the 5 PSA DirectStream owners (so-no-mah, dwalter200, emailists, BigAlMc) reported "big" improvements,  FrankMA with "some". With Chord DAC owners (some with M-Scaler), kennyb123 and spotforscott posted their gains as "big" while skatbelt had "some". 

 

Of the 3 with "no" improvements, one was from AmirM at ASR, evolvist was using a Linn KDS/3 and wwc was using a Lampizator DAC w/300b tubes.  

 

Hope this gives you a good idea on what owners impressions have been.  Suggest giving the EtherREGEN a try (with 30 day money back guarantee). You may be surprised on what it can do!

An update 2 months later.

 

The collection has now increased to 93 posted impressions and reviews, which is a good representation of about 750 units sold. 

 

The impressions are subjectively classified as major improvement (changed from "big") ,some improvement and no improvement. When I called it as "major", the poster used some of these words: wow, significant, major, obvious, could not stop listening, big change, never going back, not leaving system.  In other words, owner was suitably impressed. Most of the posts were from Audiophile Style, with a sprinkling from Devialet Chat, Naim Audio, StereoNet Australia, and a few others.

 

The results:

Major improvement: 72 (77.4%), some: 13 (14%), no: 8 (8.6%) from 93 posts

Previously, Major 44 (77.3%), some 7 (15.9), no 3 (6.8%) from 44 posts

 

The percentages have been relatively consistent over time.  Before I get jumped upon, I did mis-classify a “no” as “some” previously, so a 4 to 8 increase for "no" is in line with the doubling of the sample size.

 

So it is safe to say that at least 3 out of 4 ER owners realised a major improvement and less than 10% saw no improvement.

 

Will follow up with some interesting findings about whether a better DAC or streamer can negate the need for the ER.

Edited March 5, 2020 by Snoopy8
Typos

[Stereophilus]

I’ll add my early impressions as a new owner now.

 

My EtherRegen arrived on Monday.  I set it up that evening.  5 days in now.
 

In my existing setup I have TPlink optical to Ethernet converters, each powered by iFi low noise power supplies; into a basic netgear switch also powered by an iFi low noise power supply; this is connected to several Apple TV’s, and the Antipodes CX.  The CX has a JCAT Ethernet+USB  ground conditioner, and a short, Antipodes Ethernet link into the Antipodes EX.  

 

All of the equipment in the chain has made some improvement in the SQ to my ears, with exception of the netgear switch.

 

Enter the EtherRegen.  To make the comparison fair, I have left the chain unchanged.  The CX is connected to the B-side of EtherRegen.  On the A-side is the link from the optical converter and the Apple TVs.  
 

I’ve listened continuously for long periods, and also done short AB swaps.  All sighted because blinding doesn’t work for me.  My impression so far has been zero difference in sound quality between the Netgear switch and the EtherRegen in my setup.  My suspicion is that my other equipment has already fully optimised my Ethernet chain, such that the EtherRegen can’t improve on things further.  I say this because the other Ethernet ”tweaks” have made significant positive differences, clearly audible to me at least.

[Snoopy8]

Following on from my survey of 93 ER owners, here are some interesting findings.

 

Can a better DAC negate the need for the ER?
Some people have raised an argument that a better DAC could isolate any noise from Ethernet and therefore the ER was not required.

 

Taking a look at the higher end DACs used, the most popular was the PSA Directstream with 8 owners reporting "major” and 1 “some” improvements. Of the Chord DAVE owners with M-scaler, 2 reported “major”, 1 “some”; without M-scaler 1 “major”, 1 “some”.  All 3 dCS Vivaldi with up sampling owners got “major” improvements. Both Lampizator Big 7 owners said “major” improvements. It was an even split for Vinnie Rossi owners with 1 “major”, 1 “some” and 1 “no”.

Answer:  a better DAC does not negate the need for an ER. 

 

 

Can a better streamer negate the need for the ER?
The most popular streamer was the Sonore UltraRendu with 9 owners reporting “major” improvements and 3 “some”.  7 Naim owners had “major improvements while 1 had none.  Of the 6 SOtM SMS-200 Ultra Neo users, 4 reported “major”, 2 “some”. Of the 9 NUC owners running AudioLinux, Euphony or SnakeOil OS, 7 reported “major”, 2 “some” and 1 “no’ improvements.

The only streamer which showed minimal improvement with the ER was the Taiko Extreme Server, with 1 person reported “some” and 2 “no”. 

Answer:  A Taiko Extreme Server (costing at least Eur 24,000!) will likely negate the need for the ER.  For all other streamers, the ER will likely benefit the music setup.

 

 

Is all this due to the fervour of early adopters and by people already convinced about Ethernet switches? 
There is some merit in those arguments, especially when the first lot sold out in minutes.  By now, I would have expected the fervour to die down a little, and that the percentage of “some” and “no” improvements to increase.  It has not yet shown up. 

Looking at whether the fervour was driven by people already convinced about Ethernet switches, 26 already had a “better” switch, many of them with the Cisco 2960. In other words, 67 (72%) had no experience with “better” switches until the ER. Also, there were a number of skeptics (including myself) who purchased  with the comfort that there was a 30 day money back guarantee if things did not work out.

It is still possible that this is early adopter fervour, but the numbers with a positive experience suggests that this is not a temporary fad.  

-----

I hope that I have given you some useful information to help you decide whether the Uptone EtherRegen is for you.  

Edited March 6, 2020 by Snoopy8
Typo

[Snoopy8]

27 minutes ago, Stereophilus said:

I’ll add my early impressions as a new owner now.

 

My EtherRegen arrived on Monday.  I set it up that evening.  5 days in now.
 

In my existing setup I have TPlink optical to Ethernet converters, each powered by iFi low noise power supplies; into a basic netgear switch also powered by an iFi low noise power supply; this is connected to several Apple TV’s, and the Antipodes CX.  The CX has a JCAT Ethernet+USB  ground conditioner, and a short, Antipodes Ethernet link into the Antipodes EX.  

 

All of the equipment in the chain has made some improvement in the SQ to my ears, with exception of the netgear switch.

 

Enter the EtherRegen.  To make the comparison fair, I have left the chain unchanged.  The CX is connected to the B-side of EtherRegen.  On the A-side is the link from the optical converter and the Apple TVs.  
 

I’ve listened continuously for long periods, and also done short AB swaps.  All sighted because blinding doesn’t work for me.  My impression so far has been zero difference in sound quality between the Netgear switch and the EtherRegen in my setup.  My suspicion is that my other equipment has already fully optimised my Ethernet chain, such that the EtherRegen can’t improve on things further.  I say this because the other Ethernet ”tweaks” have made significant positive differences, clearly audible to me at least.

Thank you for your report (which I will add to my list and you are #94).  There was a Mola Mola Tambaqui owner who reported positive improvements (which I categorised "major") and you are the second Mola Mola owner that I have found.  And the first Antipodes owner, which I am sure @dbastin will note with interest.  I wonder how much the CX+EX is contributing to reduced Ethernet noise.  Besides the uber Ethernet cables, were there any other Ethernet optmisation that you did?

 

And it will be interesting when @Assisi visits you with his new toy, the Paul Pang Quad switch.

Edited March 6, 2020 by Snoopy8
Typo

[awayward]

23 minutes ago, Snoopy8 said:

Following on from my survey of 93 ER owners, here are some interesting findings.

 

Can a better DAC negate the need for the ER?
Some people have raised an argument that a better DAC could isolate any noise from Ethernet and therefore the ER was not required.

 

Taking a look at the higher end DACs used, the most popular was the PSA Directstream with 8 owners reporting "major” and 1 “some” improvements. Of the Chord DAVE owners with M-scaler, 2 reported “major”, 1 “some”; without M-scaler 1 “major”, 1 “some”.  All 3 dCS Vivaldi with up sampling owners got “major” improvements. Both Lampizator Big 7 owners said “major” improvements. It was an even split for Vinnie Rossi owners with 1 “major”, 1 “some” and 1 “no”.

Answer:  a better DAC does not negate the need for an ER. 

 

 

Can a better streamer negate the need for the ER?
The most popular streamer was the Sonore UltraRendu with 9 owners reporting “major” improvements and 3 “some”.  7 Naim owners had “major improvements while 1 had none.  Of the 6 SOtM SMS-200 Ultra Neo users, 4 reported “major”, 2 “some”. Of the 9 NUC owners running AudioLinux, Euphony or SnakeOil OS, 7 reported “major”, 2 “some” and 1 “no’ improvements.

The only streamer which showed minimal improvement with the ER was the Taiko Extreme Server, with 1 person reported “some” and 2 “no”. 

Answer:  A Taiko Extreme Server (costing at least Eur 24,000!) will likely negate the need for the ER.  For all other streamers, the ER will likely benefit the music setup.

 

 

Is all this due to the fervour of early adopters and by people already convinced about Ethernet switches? 
There is some merit in those arguments, especially when the first lot sold out in minutes.  By now, I would have expected the fervour to die down a little, and that the percentage of “some” and “no” improvements to increase.  It has not yet shown up. 

Looking at whether the fervour was driven by people already convinced about Ethernet switches, 26 already had a “better” switch, many of them with the Cisco 2960. In other words, 67 (72%) had no experience with “better” switches until the ER. Also, there were a number of skeptics (including myself) who purchased  with the comfort that there was a 30 day money back guarantee if things did not work out.

It is still possible that this is early adopter fervour, but the numbers with a positive experience suggests that this is no a temporary fad.  

-----

I hope that I have given you some useful information to help you decide whether the Uptone EtherRegen is for you.  

Your data gathering and analysis is appreciated, but I think you have way too much spare time. 

[frednork]

6 minutes ago, awayward said:

Your data gathering and analysis is appreciated, but I think you have way too much spare time. 

au contraire, I was looking forward to a graph.....

[Stereophilus]

58 minutes ago, Snoopy8 said:

Thank you for your report (which I will add to my list and you are #94).  There was a Mola Mola Tambaqui owner who reported positive improvements (which I categorised "major") and you are the second Mola Mola owner that I have found.  And the first Antipodes owner, which I am sure @dbastin will note with interest.  I wonder how much the CX+EX is contributing to reduced Ethernet noise.  Besides the uber Ethernet cables, were there any other Ethernet optmisation that you did?

 

And it will be interesting when @Assisi visits you with his new toy, the Paul Pang Quad switch.

I mentioned the Ethernet optimisations (optical converters, JCAT Ethernet ground conditioner, iFi power supplies).  I don’t use “uber” Ethernet cables.  The most expensive ones are the AQ cinnamon into and out of the switch, but I don’t believe these make any difference compared to my standard cables.  The link from CX to EX is free from antipodes.

 

I also look forward to hearing the PP switch in comparison.

[Snoopy8]

9 minutes ago, awayward said:

Your data gathering and analysis is appreciated, but I think you have way too much spare time. 

 

2 minutes ago, frednork said:

au contraire, I was looking forward to a graph.....

Anyone wants a statistical analysis? I am very familiar with ANOVA !!!    

----

Let me explain what drove me to getting this data.  I was troubled by the angst and vehemence when I first started an EtherRegen thread last year (which is now closed, not accessible by many).  I realised that I did not understand how the other side thought and started reading various websites (hence my posts regarding the fracas at Audiophile Style).  As units landed with users, positive user experiences were being dismissed as fanboi posts, biased, delusioned, pure marketing, impossible according to the technical experts etc. etc.   

 

I prefer to take a positive view of things and believe it is useful to provide a collective view of user experiences, with some facts and figures.  There is of course the subjective rating of the improvements reported but that is nothing I can do to make them absolute. 

 

I hope my summaries can help people with deciding whether to use  the EtherRegen for their music chains. 

[Stereophilus]

Thanks for the analysis @Snoopy8, very useful information imo.

[dbastin]

That's quite interesting data @Snoopy8.  Great job putting that together.  There's probably some unavoidable bias from self selection, but I guess the sample size reduces this.

 

I note the Mola Mola DAC,  DAVE and M-Scaler do not have Ethernet input so kinda divorced from the impact of network.

 

Did you come across and Devialet Pro owners?

 

@Stereophilus

That is very interesting observations.  I am surprised ... surely ER is at least a better Media Convertor (MC)? Did you try substituing ER for the downstream TP MC? That is, fibre into ER, ethernet out of Side A?

 

If Fibre into ER, then ethernet out of Side B into CX is better than  no ER ... Mark Jenkins is a freckin genius to get performance equal to the   > optical > moat >  double isolation!

 

And I assume you retained the Antipodes ethernet cable from CX direct out to EX?

 

But what about this?

 

- Fibre into ER

- Ethernet from Side A to CX

- Antipodes ethernet from side B to EX

 

This kinda bypasses CX switch.

 

And you might want consider the possibility that the AQ Cinnamon is a bottleneck hiding performance of ER.

Edited March 6, 2020 by dbastin

[Snoopy8]

11 hours ago, dbastin said:

That's quite interesting data @Snoopy8.  Great job putting that together.  There's probably some unavoidable bias from self selection, but I guess the sample size reduces this.

Having a large sample size from various forums does help.  There will always be some expectation bias which is the fallback argument of the critics.  But we are all human and are biased in far too many ways to count.   It becomes a "so what?" 

11 hours ago, dbastin said:

I note the Mola Mola DAC,  DAVE and M-Scaler do not have Ethernet input so kinda divorced from the impact of network.

Appreciate your questions & comments which have led  me, a few times, to go back to the data and source to answer them.  

 

As you know, there are critics who  are adamant that a standard switch is enough.  The fallback position is that even if there was some noise from Ethernet, a better designed DAC (with or without an Ethernet port) would eliminate or ignore such noise, and thus negate the need for the ER.  The data is suggesting that a better DAC does not eliminate the noise.

 

In theory, having a streamer to feed a DAC should isolate the DAC even more. However, John Swenson, the designer of the ER argues this is not enough and my data is backing that up. Hopefully, the upcoming whitepaper will go into the details and the whys.

12 hours ago, dbastin said:

Did you come across and Devialet Pro owners?

All 4 Devialet Pro users reported "major" improvements.  2 used an NUC with Audiolinux, 1 used a Sonic Transporter and 1 Roon Nucleus+.

[Stereophilus]

14 hours ago, dbastin said:

That is very interesting observations.  I am surprised ... surely ER is at least a better Media Convertor (MC)? Did you try substituing ER for the downstream TP MC? That is, fibre into ER, ethernet out of Side A?

 

If Fibre into ER, then ethernet out of Side B into CX is better than  no ER ... Mark Jenkins is a freckin genius to get performance equal to the   > optical > moat >  double isolation!

 

And I assume you retained the Antipodes ethernet cable from CX direct out to EX?

 

But what about this?

 

- Fibre into ER

- Ethernet from Side A to CX

- Antipodes ethernet from side B to EX

 

This kinda bypasses CX switch.

 

And you might want consider the possibility that the AQ Cinnamon is a bottleneck hiding performance of ER.

I knew you would have more question @dbastin, but I have so far kept the setup simple so as to directly compare the basic Netgear switch with the ER.  Also, my media converters are Ethernet to SC duplex, so not the input SFP required by ER.  So I have not been able to yet eliminate the downstream optical converter.

 

In answer to your other queries:

Yes, I have retained the Antipodes Ethernet cable direct from CX to EX.

Better Ethernet cables are not on my radar for now, but you may be right about my current ones hiding ER improvements.

I’ll look into a new MC device and cable to allow a few different setup options.

 

 

[GingerMAN]

On 05/03/2020 at 6:53 AM, Snoopy8 said:

I am using a passive PC CPU cooler to cool my ER because I do not like hot electronics.  The ER becomes neutral to touch. Interesting that Uptone cannot keep up with the supply of the JS2 because of the demand from ER owners!

 

What streamer and DAC are you using?  I am collating a list of impressions and reviews about the ER to see whether any streamers and/or DACs can negate the need for an ER.  There is an argument raised that a better streamer and DAC does not need an ER because it can get rid of the noise from Ethernet sources.  

 

Looking forward to hearing about the experiment with and without grounding of the LPS1.2   

that's a brilliant observation Snoopy8 ......to the question - did ER provide a "difference" to the SQ, the answer is "Yes"........was it an improvement that I liked - the answer is "No" ...I didn't like it .....

 

I certainly think the "improvement" is dependent on your other components / power supply and connectivity.....

 

With my Terminator DAC and Aries G1 Streamer powered by Accuphase A48+C2850 combo, the SQ variation is something I disliked immediately !!

The ethernet Cable is AQ Diamond....

 

[awayward]

Just some information around the ER and Ethernet cables, if you are using metal ends that are shield connected both ends, you can use only one connected to the A side, I ran 2 and the sound was terrible.

[Snoopy8]

1 hour ago, GingerDXB said:

that's a brilliant observation Snoopy8 ......to the question - did ER provide a "difference" to the SQ, the answer is "Yes"........was it an improvement that I liked - the answer is "No" ...I didn't like it .....

 

I certainly think the "improvement" is dependent on your other components / power supply and connectivity.....

 

With my Terminator DAC and Aries G1 Streamer powered by Accuphase A48+C2850 combo, the SQ variation is something I disliked immediately !!

The ethernet Cable is AQ Diamond....

Would check the SQ with a plain Ethernet cable. When I tried a borrowed SOtM Cat7 cable, I found that it changed the sound compared with a plain cable and I did not like it. With a Wireworld Cat8 cable, there was a smaller change. I now use Monoprice Cat 6A cables.

 

Never thought of it that way, but @awayward may have a point about grounding. Both the Cat7 and Cat8 cables that I tried have metal plugs and are grounded both ends. Uptone recommends using cables with plastic plugs on the B side, which I assume connects to your Aries.

[GingerMAN]

34 minutes ago, Snoopy8 said:

Would check the SQ with a plain Ethernet cable. When I tried a borrowed SOtM Cat7 cable, I found that it changed the sound compared with a plain cable and I did not like it. With a Wireworld Cat8 cable, there was a smaller change. I now use Monoprice Cat 6A cables.

 

Never thought of it that way, but @awayward may have a point about grounding. Both the Cat7 and Cat8 cables that I tried have metal plugs and are grounded both ends. Uptone recommends using cables with plastic plugs on the B side, which I assume connects to your Aries.

 - Yes! with plastic tip terminated Ethernet cables - the muddiness I faced indeed disappeared...!!  and it sound good.

 

Next comparisons made and findings so far has been as follows - in my order of preference:-

 

1. AQ Diamond Ethernet cable from streamer direct to the wall socket

2. Plastic tip terminated Ethernet cable to / from the eRegen to the wall socket & to the streamer 

3. Any metallic terminated cable through the eRegen - certainly a big NO. 

 

I am equally at ease with option 1 & 2, and if I were to discard either the AQ Diamond Cable or eRegen, I probably can save some money - that will be my course of action. I must admit - I haven't "grounded" the eRegen as of now nor have I used any special power supply for it. 

[Snoopy8]

30 minutes ago, GingerDXB said:

 - Yes! with plastic tip terminated Ethernet cables - the muddiness I faced indeed disappeared...!!  and it sound good.

 

Next comparisons made and findings so far has been as follows - in my order of preference:-

 

1. AQ Diamond Ethernet cable from streamer direct to the wall socket

2. Plastic tip terminated Ethernet cable to / from the eRegen to the wall socket & to the streamer 

3. Any metallic terminated cable through the eRegen - certainly a big NO. 

 

I am equally at ease with option 1 & 2, and if I were to discard either the AQ Diamond Cable or eRegen, I probably can save some money - that will be my course of action. I must admit - I haven't "grounded" the eRegen as of now nor have I used any special power supply for it. 

Good to hear plain Ethernet cables with plastic plugs cleaned up things.  

 

How different is 1 and 2?  Can you please provide more detail to help others who may wish to explore both options.

 

There is no need to ground the ER when using the supplied SMPS.  If you add a special power supply which is floating, then you should add grounding.  Uptone said that a special power supply is not needed.  However, some of us have heard an improvement and some on the Uptone forum are buying the Uptone JS-2 power supply.  I think this a getting silly because the JS-2 costs 50% more than the ER. Yes, JS-2 can power 2 devices but I have only the ER to power!

 

** By the way, Uptone said it is OK to use metal terminated cables on A side, just not on B side. Some people are using metal terminated cable on B side, but are modified to remove termination on one end.  To confuse things, others have reported using "uber" Ethernet cables with metal termination, unmodified.  

Edited March 7, 2020 by Snoopy8
Added **

[GingerMAN]

2 hours ago, Snoopy8 said:

Good to hear plain Ethernet cables with plastic plugs cleaned up things.  

 

How different is 1 and 2?  Can you please provide more detail to help others who may wish to explore both options.

 

There is no need to ground the ER when using the supplied SMPS.  If you add a special power supply which is floating, then you should add grounding.  Uptone said that a special power supply is not needed.  However, some of us have heard an improvement and some on the Uptone forum are buying the Uptone JS-2 power supply.  I think this a getting silly because the JS-2 costs 50% more than the ER. Yes, JS-2 can power 2 devices but I have only the ER to power!

 

** By the way, Uptone said it is OK to use metal terminated cables on A side, just not on B side. Some people are using metal terminated cable on B side, but are modified to remove termination on one end.  To confuse things, others have reported using "uber" Ethernet cables with metal termination, unmodified.  

....I will happily admit that I am not "the expert" in the intricacies of sound reproduction, nor qualified to be an authority - but after having listened to several tracks of different qualities  over several hours - I've decided to keep my original setup and return the eRegen.  That certainly is not saying anything against eRegen in negativity. 

 

Observation 1 clearly sounded more natural & gentle and very very realistic to me than observation 2 which was with eRegen. The sound-stage, the imaging, the guitar strumming and even the siding of artists fingers down the fretboard of the guitar, every breath intake of the singer before every line - (Sound of Silence - Susan Wong) are all there in both options ..... but then if you are like me who likes your pint with a full head on and would return it if it isn't, then that's what I say about I like it on Option 1.  Its 'whole" without any bit of coloration.

 

Toto's Rosanna at both 44.1 / 24bit FLAC as well as the album version 44.1/16bit FLAC, Pink Floyds Time @ 44.1/16bit, an old track by Tina Charles "Dance Little Lady" @ 44.1/16bit, Billie Jean by the MJ, Shallow by Lady Gaga, Grizzly Bear by Angus&Julia Stone, Thanks to you - Boz-Scaggs and finally Sound of Silence - Susan Wong, to name a few - all back to back by changing the cables....& I am convinced.

 

Of course sound changes in both option - but not really audible unless one has such trained ears and years and years of listening.....now is it better - it will be an individual choice I feel. Once you have a very good high end system, you cant go beyond that point to improve the sound - you can only tweak it.....and that tweak will help some people for sure. I've read somewhere that all these digital signals via zeros and dots does reach probably at varying speeds and more than buffering, the eRegen probably disciplines it before sending it to the streamer and it probably improves. But if you already have an excellent net connection / LAN with good streamer and reference level DAC, then any further monies spent - is all on tweaking. 

 

Like the pint and its foamy head. 

 

Cheers friends!

 

 

 

[awayward]

9 hours ago, Snoopy8 said:

Good to hear plain Ethernet cables with plastic plugs cleaned up things.  

 

How different is 1 and 2?  Can you please provide more detail to help others who may wish to explore both options.

 

There is no need to ground the ER when using the supplied SMPS.  If you add a special power supply which is floating, then you should add grounding.  Uptone said that a special power supply is not needed.  However, some of us have heard an improvement and some on the Uptone forum are buying the Uptone JS-2 power supply.  I think this a getting silly because the JS-2 costs 50% more than the ER. Yes, JS-2 can power 2 devices but I have only the ER to power!

 

** By the way, Uptone said it is OK to use metal terminated cables on A side, just not on B side. Some people are using metal terminated cable on B side, but are modified to remove termination on one end.  To confuse things, others have reported using "uber" Ethernet cables with metal termination, unmodified.  

Just FYI Snoop, I’m using an unmodified metal terminated cable on the B side, I found it better than plastic. On the A side one unmodified metal terminated and one plastic cable, my understanding is that when you connect more than one unmodified metal terminated there can be issues.

[Snoopy8]

6 hours ago, GingerDXB said:

....I will happily admit that I am not "the expert" in the intricacies of sound reproduction, nor qualified to be an authority - but after having listened to several tracks of different qualities  over several hours - I've decided to keep my original setup and return the eRegen.  That certainly is not saying anything against eRegen in negativity. 

 

Observation 1 clearly sounded more natural & gentle and very very realistic to me than observation 2 which was with eRegen. The sound-stage, the imaging, the guitar strumming and even the siding of artists fingers down the fretboard of the guitar, every breath intake of the singer before every line - (Sound of Silence - Susan Wong) are all there in both options ..... but then if you are like me who likes your pint with a full head on and would return it if it isn't, then that's what I say about I like it on Option 1.  Its 'whole" without any bit of coloration.

 

Toto's Rosanna at both 44.1 / 24bit FLAC as well as the album version 44.1/16bit FLAC, Pink Floyds Time @ 44.1/16bit, an old track by Tina Charles "Dance Little Lady" @ 44.1/16bit, Billie Jean by the MJ, Shallow by Lady Gaga, Grizzly Bear by Angus&Julia Stone, Thanks to you - Boz-Scaggs and finally Sound of Silence - Susan Wong, to name a few - all back to back by changing the cables....& I am convinced.

 

Of course sound changes in both option - but not really audible unless one has such trained ears and years and years of listening.....now is it better - it will be an individual choice I feel. Once you have a very good high end system, you cant go beyond that point to improve the sound - you can only tweak it.....and that tweak will help some people for sure. I've read somewhere that all these digital signals via zeros and dots does reach probably at varying speeds and more than buffering, the eRegen probably disciplines it before sending it to the streamer and it probably improves. But if you already have an excellent net connection / LAN with good streamer and reference level DAC, then any further monies spent - is all on tweaking. 

 

Like the pint and its foamy head. 

 

Cheers friends!

Thank you for the feedback on your listening test and contributing to this thread.

 

Not sure whether you have the time, or want another listening perspective? Suggest listening to the ER for a few days and then switching back to your AQ Diamond.  It will give you more impressions on what you gain or miss. 

 

I note that you have joined for a while but not made many posts. Your informative and constructive posts are most welcome. People will take those any day over unhelpful comments from self declared experts.

1 hour ago, awayward said:

Just FYI Snoop, I’m using an unmodified metal terminated cable on the B side, I found it better than plastic. On the A side one unmodified metal terminated and one plastic cable, my understanding is that when you connect more than one unmodified metal terminated there can be issues.

Thank you. Can't say I know a lot about this. It is system dependent and one should be carefully introducing cables with grounding in case it creates unwanted noise.

[Stereophilus]

13 hours ago, Snoopy8 said:

** By the way, Uptone said it is OK to use metal terminated cables on A side, just not on B side. Some people are using metal terminated cable on B side, but are modified to remove termination on one end.  To confuse things, others have reported using "uber" Ethernet cables with metal termination, unmodified.  

I’ve attached a photo of the User Guide that came with my ER.  It seems to contradict what you are saying.

 

Edited March 8, 2020 by Stereophilus