Yes. I have had AQVox, both with Uptone LPS 1.2, and with Kenneth Lau LPS. I simply changed Aqvox to EtherREGEN, without further configuration
changes.
Uptone EtherREGEN released Oct 8th
- Thread starter Puma Cat
- Start date
Yes. I have had AQVox, both with Uptone LPS 1.2, and with Kenneth Lau LPS. I simply changed Aqvox to EtherREGEN, without further configuration
changes.
What is the voltage requirement of the AQVox SE and Uptone EtherREGEN? Any preference on sound quality at this point?
Thanks,
Ken
UltraFast69
New member
Ken
To answer your question, the etherREGEN sounds better using the Keces P8 power supply over the OEM power supply. I don’t know how other power supplies would fare but would expect similar results.
My Keces P8 is powered using a AudioQuest Hurricane power cable, and coming from it are Ghent’s Gotham cables into the etherREGEN. I only mention this as it was obvious that power cables make a difference and know this statement is not biased or ignorant as many audiophile friends have been over, including a 30 year plus die hard analog connoisseur. Each time we changed out power cables with one being an Ansuz C series that proved too much and a Nordost Red Dawn, not enough and all agreed settling in the middle with the Audioquest Hurricane was the best choice for what we had. I also bought the Audioquest new P3 distribution for the server room so it would be a part of cable synergy - Audioquest Diamonds are from the modem to switch and from the Gigafoil to the Aurender. An Audioquest Vodka now connect the AudioVox SE that supports the home.
I mention all this as each level of engagement contributes to the sound in very obvious ways - and it does matter. The objective is to use various grades of power supplies and cables to out perform the OEM.
I have attached pictures to show both the Uptone and Keces power supplies to show I did the test.
The aftermarket power supply delivers more punch in sound quality through the range highlighting the low and mid - is it mandatory? Yes IMO, but not needed out the gate and recommend adding it later to let things settle and then hear the difference.
The quality level of the sound was clearly evident listening to what I use for reference tracks where each part demonstrates each range well.
Vocals and bass where the biggest benefit.
Rodrigo Y Gabriela - Stairway to Heaven
Sam Cooke - Lost and Lookin’
Wake Up! (It’s Me!)
Norah Jones - Cold Cold Heart
As I mentioned, I was going to give until Wednesday to decide if I was going to keep this, but right now things landed where I am happy, and if improvement is still realized in the next few days, better for me.
I’m not using the etherREGEN as recommenced by UpTone Alex. Its still 45 feet from the Aurender, it connects into a Gigafoil V4 that powered with Keces P3 with aftermarket power and interconnect cables.
etherREGEN is a recommenced buy, and not saying it is better than the AudioVox SE, Linear Solution, but like SOTM it’s purpose built, and that means a lot to me.
IMO it’s about how these enter into service and what you do to support them, but to listen to good digital is a commitment to gain the most of what you have for a DAC no matter the brand. I feel most analog guys that cross into digital do not give it as much attention and see how the wars started between digital and analog, and rightfully so when not done right!
In the end, a lot of this is power, and isolation, mandatory for a systems foundation!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
To answer your question, the etherREGEN sounds better using the Keces P8 power supply over the OEM power supply. I don’t know how other power supplies would fare but would expect similar results.
My Keces P8 is powered using a AudioQuest Hurricane power cable, and coming from it are Ghent’s Gotham cables into the etherREGEN. I only mention this as it was obvious that power cables make a difference and know this statement is not biased or ignorant as many audiophile friends have been over, including a 30 year plus die hard analog connoisseur. Each time we changed out power cables with one being an Ansuz C series that proved too much and a Nordost Red Dawn, not enough and all agreed settling in the middle with the Audioquest Hurricane was the best choice for what we had. I also bought the Audioquest new P3 distribution for the server room so it would be a part of cable synergy - Audioquest Diamonds are from the modem to switch and from the Gigafoil to the Aurender. An Audioquest Vodka now connect the AudioVox SE that supports the home.
I mention all this as each level of engagement contributes to the sound in very obvious ways - and it does matter. The objective is to use various grades of power supplies and cables to out perform the OEM.
I have attached pictures to show both the Uptone and Keces power supplies to show I did the test.
The aftermarket power supply delivers more punch in sound quality through the range highlighting the low and mid - is it mandatory? Yes IMO, but not needed out the gate and recommend adding it later to let things settle and then hear the difference.
The quality level of the sound was clearly evident listening to what I use for reference tracks where each part demonstrates each range well.
Vocals and bass where the biggest benefit.
Rodrigo Y Gabriela - Stairway to Heaven
Sam Cooke - Lost and Lookin’
Wake Up! (It’s Me!)
Norah Jones - Cold Cold Heart
As I mentioned, I was going to give until Wednesday to decide if I was going to keep this, but right now things landed where I am happy, and if improvement is still realized in the next few days, better for me.
I’m not using the etherREGEN as recommenced by UpTone Alex. Its still 45 feet from the Aurender, it connects into a Gigafoil V4 that powered with Keces P3 with aftermarket power and interconnect cables.
etherREGEN is a recommenced buy, and not saying it is better than the AudioVox SE, Linear Solution, but like SOTM it’s purpose built, and that means a lot to me.
IMO it’s about how these enter into service and what you do to support them, but to listen to good digital is a commitment to gain the most of what you have for a DAC no matter the brand. I feel most analog guys that cross into digital do not give it as much attention and see how the wars started between digital and analog, and rightfully so when not done right!
In the end, a lot of this is power, and isolation, mandatory for a systems foundation!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Now it is very clear. Well it's pretty easy; EtherREGEN and by much difference. I don't know what you can do: AQVox SE, SOtm sNH-10G or GigaFoil, but I just published my impressions on Computer Audiophile and attached them here.
“In the month of March (and when I was thinking of updating my AQVox to the SE version), it will be two years since Alex made the announcement that they were working on a new Switch designed entirely from zero, and based on the separation by means of a "pit" of the incoming RJ45 ports and the outgoing RJ45 port, in order to "totally" isolate the devices downstream from the EtherREGEN, from those that were upstream. I liked what I read and in an act of faith (like so many of us) I decided to wait, which in the end has been almost two years.
Unlike some installations that have been explained here, mine is really very simple:
Router with LPS Kenneth Lau.
AQ Cinnamon RJ45 cable
AQVox Switch (EtherREGEN) with LPS Kenneth Lau
Göbel RJ45 cable
Melco N1ZH60-2
Göbel USB cable
Kassandra Reference MKll
I have to say and this is important as you will see later, that all devices, except the Router (which is in the kitchen) are connected to a Shunyata Denali 6000T.
I also have to say that I have powered EtherREGEN with its SMTP, with LPS 1.2 from Uptone and with LPS from Kenneth Lau. And also that the only device Router that I have “upstream” of the ER, I have tested it with its Shunyata Alfa NR cable, with an Isotek Optimun cable and I have switched between the SR Blue fuse I had and the new SR Orange. All these changes in order to check if the objective of total isolation through the pit had been met.
My conclusions are as follows:
1.- If you have a normal Switch or an AQVox, changing it to an ER produces an increase in the SQ? The answer is a big YES, even if you use the Uptone SMTP and even better with a good LPS. Which shows that that pit or ADIM as Uptone calls it, is doing a great job.
2.- Does ADIM isolate “totally” both sides of the pit? My answer is a big NO. Absolutely all the changes made to the Router resulted in a change in the sound of the system. This can be positive because it indicates that there is still room for improvement for the future.
3.- Although my Kenneth Lau LPS has the floating output, and since I only have one entry occupied on the A side (the one that goes to the Router) in principle connecting the ground screw of the ER to the ground of the power grid I should not improve the system's SQ. As testing costs little, I took an Entreq Apollo Infinity cable that I had unused and connected the ER screw to a socket on the wall. Immediately the sound changed, not necessarily better, let's say different. Then I remembered that the Denali had a free socket and I connected the ground wire to it. "Clinck" is as if all the pieces of the puzzle suddenly fit into place. With this change, I was perplexed. How did the sound change? (I'm a lousy descriptor):
Clarity, organic sound and reduction (even more) of digital stress.
The violin masses of many orchestral recordings, which are my
authentic "bête noir" sounded natural now, or at least much more natural, than I had ever heard.
Why unify the earth of the ER plate to that of the rest of the system, produces this effect ?, I have no idea, but in my system it is evident.
Is it worth the ER? Absolutely and for $ 650 it seems the biggest "bargain" in history”
UltraFast69
New member
Yep, the way I read this we took similar paths and are hearing similar results.
The common passive ground works wonders, but can and will back fire so don’t settle on different ensure it’s better. I only came across negative affects on my turn table and phono - in this case all was fully balanced connections.
Enjoy!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
I read the full product description of the EtherREGEN on the Uptone website last night. What surprised me was in the displayed setup diagram, the EtherREGEN is not even being used as a switch, just as an isolator/filter and reclocker. The diagram shows the router, server and NAS still all connected to the regular network switch. In fact, it even states that connecting these items to the EtherREGEN rather than the regular network switch wouldn’t make much difference. So this raises the question, is the EtherREGEN really an audiophile switch? If not, audiophile switches such as the AQVOX SE or SOTM could replace the regular network switch and be used in conjunction with the EtherREGEN.
Ken
Ken
UltraFast69
New member
Perhaps that’s why I struggled with it on its first placement and chose the setup that’s running now.
If the case, that may partially explain why it was not outperforming the original AQVox SE setup.
In its current position it’s passing my listening test as mentioned above but uses LPS and Grounding to do so.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
kzhtoo
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Hi Ken,
The way I use I connect AppleTV and Roon Nucleus to the ports on “A” side. The lone “B” side port goes to my Gigafoil. I do not have NAS.
kzhtoo
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One thing I meant to say, but did not, is I do notice visual improvement on AppleTV. Uptone also mentions in a small booklet that came with ER that even “A” side ports isolation is better than off-the-shelf switches. Apparently if you have NAS, one of “A” side ports can be used.
I guess if I decide to purchase the EtherREGEN, I will utilize its “A” LAN ports for my NetGear Nighthawk Router, Roon Nucleus Plus and Synology NAS. The “B” port will go to my Renderer input module on the Select 2 DAC. I will also use my Keces P3 for the power supply. Not sure if I should set to 9 or 12 volts.
Thanks,
Ken
asindc
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Is there a potential downside to setting it to 9V? It is only recently that I have been reading that 12V is the way to go, no matter the switch.
kzhtoo
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Hi Ken,
My Teddy Pardo supply used for etherRegen is 12V output. I do need to double check, but I think ER can accept 7V to 12V range. Lower voltage is okay as long as it’s within the range and can supply enough current for that particular voltage.
BTW, I know you have a Gigafoil, so it can be inserted between ER and Renderer input module on Select 2. At least this is the configuration I’m using now. I may try a few different configurations in the coming months if time allows, but definitely not in a rush since the improvement I hear now is already enough to keep the ER.
kzhtoo
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12v gives higher supply headroom (which is always better for solid state circuit functionality) and as long as that particular power supply can satisfy the current consumption of the circuit at 12v, it should be fine.
LPS output current spec goes down with higher voltage level, so you do need to check both LPS and the circuit current spec.
Kingrex
Active member
Lower voltage with higher current generally equal more heat. High voltage low current create less heat.
The unit definitely needs at least 100-150 hours for the sound to settle in. Even if you use it in a non-audio place in your network I would give it time before making a final assessment. I found that the sound of mine changed for quite a while.
asindc
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