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Post by petea on Jul 31, 2022 11:59:47 GMT
I wonder if the temperature is a cheap way of 'stabilising' their internal clock. Mind, the PSU gets too hot touch as well!
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Post by petea on Aug 3, 2022 9:08:05 GMT
I have been having intermittent issues with the EtherREGEN since installing it. Often it is very slow to boot and at odd times it loses the B-port connection. I tried different cables, but that did not help. The issue seemed to be associated with the power lead from their SuperCAP PSU to the EtherREGEN, or rather the connection it made, and that lead me to complain about the fittings in another post. The cable and the plugs and sockets appear good and look to be Oyaide though.
Last night, while using the system to Airplay audio from the laptop while watching a documentary (I do not own a television), the NDX2 lost its network connection several times and so I decided to investigate further. It was clear that the the B-port had lost its connection again (no green light on the port). I checked the cables and rebooted it twice. It was very slow to boot and the port refused to connect. I had been running it on 12V from the SuperCAP, but the EtherREGEN can run from 7V - 12V and so I tried reducing the output from the SuperCAP to 9V on the theory that it was struggling to provide sufficient current at 12V once it was 'warmed up' (ie capable of roasting chestnuts!). Immediately the boot and re-boot time decreased and the B-port became active much quicker and did not drop once after changing voltage. So, it looks like 9V is the choice for that PSU: I will look at alternatives though I think.
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Post by MartinT on Aug 3, 2022 11:52:56 GMT
Good move, it'll take more current at 9V but probably helps the regulation circuit.
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Post by HD Music & Test on Aug 3, 2022 12:01:05 GMT
IMHO 9Vdc suits these devices best with or without supercaps (most SC psu's are just banks of 2.5 or 2.7Vdc Vdc caps in series to increase the voltage threshold, however it will half the total capacitance shown for the total of the caps used) Hence why there are usually bank of SC inside these things.
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Post by petea on Aug 3, 2022 12:50:18 GMT
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Post by HD Music & Test on Aug 3, 2022 13:40:30 GMT
Hello Pete,
very familar with this one I have a few about the place, even the Nagra psu is just a very posh and extremely well designed and built version of this style of psu.
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Post by petea on Aug 20, 2022 10:21:07 GMT
The Ferrum Audio Hypsos power supplies have arrived and so I have removed the Uptone Ultracap and replaced it with one. The EtherREGEN is listed in the menu of the device and it comes with both 5.5/2.1 and 5.5/2.5 cables their own interconnect for the OOR and ERCO. However, prior plugging it in I did what I had always planned and removed the feet from the EtherREGEN and used the second heatsink I'd made on the underside thereby sandwiching it between the two. They are held in place by cable-ties. Here is a photo of the EtherREGEN connected to the Hypsos, but out of the rack as the EtherREGEN sits at the back and will not be visible.  The UltraCap was pissing me off as when it had been running for a while the EtherREGEN would lose the network. You'd then have to power the UltraCAP off, wait for it to discharge and then power it back on: which took a lot longer from hot than cold. Hopefully this will resolve the problem without having a negative impact of the sound quality. So far it sounds fine, but I'll try a few more standards. |
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Post by MartinT on Aug 20, 2022 10:30:04 GMT
You should feel the heat from an already toasty EtherREGEN with the HP SFP in the cage! This is with a large heatsink, too.
The SFP is almost too hot to hold if I pull it out.
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Fro
Rank: Quartet
Posts: 342
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Post by Fro on Jan 13, 2023 0:13:01 GMT
I am using the After Dark Emperor Double Crown and LPS for my EtherRegen. Sounds great, but I also have to deal with a finicky dc power cable and have to reinsert occasionally. The upgraded Ghent Neotech 7N Copper 18AWG DC cables seem loose in the EtherRegen and LPS sockets.  |
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Post by MartinT on Jan 13, 2023 6:07:51 GMT
The upgraded Ghent Neotech 7N Copper 18AWG DC cables seem loose in the EtherRegen and LPS sockets. Nice clock and reclocker choice  Is the Ghent furnished with a 2.5mm plug by any chance? It should be a 2.1mm. The 2.5 will work loosely and not be a snug fit. Otherwise, it may need a different brand of plug for better tolerance. I don't find mine to be a problem, they have to be wiggled severely or pulled to lose connection. |
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Post by MartinT on Jan 13, 2023 6:10:11 GMT
I see you're grounding your AD clock, Gregg. I tried that and didn't like the result (the only components that didn't seem to like a grounding box).
How have you found it?
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Fro
Rank: Quartet
Posts: 342
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Post by Fro on Jan 13, 2023 14:49:20 GMT
Hmmm....I really didn't notice a sound degrade grounding the clock.
Just thought it was prudent to chassis ground everything to my Everest power conditioner grounding terminals.
Might need to experiment with that.
Thanks!
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Post by HD Music & Test on Jan 13, 2023 15:24:38 GMT
I see you're grounding your AD clock, Gregg. I tried that and didn't like the result (the only components that didn't seem to like a grounding box). How have you found it? Not with the AD Martin, its quite a negative effect as you have found out, its quite interesting watching the variants in the WF's change by adding grounding, another reason why a keep a couple about to demonstrate this. |
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Post by MartinT on Feb 22, 2023 8:01:00 GMT
Quote from John Swenson, designer of the EtherREGEN:
He has a way of explaining things very well.
Watch out for the new EtherREGEN Gen 2 currently being developed, due for release later this year. I shall be ordering one.
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Post by MartinT on Aug 2, 2023 8:20:38 GMT
There is some excellent R&D write-ups and photos of the EtherREGEN Gen2 development in Audiophile Style, by Alex Crespi (Uptone owner) and John Swenson (Uptone designer) starting here: audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/38968-etherregen-the-long-development-thread-some-gen2-dev-pics-and-update-starting-on-page-92/page/92/#commentsThis is a good read, and goes into considerable technical detail, for anyone contemplating buying a Gen2 when they become available. The best bit of news in there is the possibility of an SFP cage on the B side, which would be excellent news for those of us with Signature Rendu SEs. Currently, we have to use the EtherREGEN in reverse with the A side feeding the Rendu, which slightly degrades its performance. |
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Post by MartinT on Sept 28, 2023 20:36:35 GMT
The EtherREGEN Gen 2 development continues, the test board contains the new high speed PHY chips at the core of the design. Launch is now slated for sometime in 2024.  Details of the design just makes me want one even more. Two SFP cages - perfect! |
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Post by NigelB on Dec 23, 2023 7:48:29 GMT
At risk of treading on a hornet's nest in this season of joy, I'm a little concerned that the thread title calls this highly regarded device a reclocker. Even Uptone themselves refer to it as an ethernet switch and talk about "other ethernet switches". Ethernet is an asynchronous set of standards/protocols with error correction, conflict resolution, etc; an ethernet (or network, same thing) switch needs a clock to operate but this is an entirely different field, with different rules, from clocks in the bitstream world ie. the post-conversion bit of a streamer and the DAC. In this latter world jitter is a real thing and clocks make a real difference to sound quality. Clocks in the ethernet world simply cannot, the data being handled at multiple levels but our interest is mainly in the frames and packets into which the data is grouped. The etherregen makes its sonic difference through noise reduction, taking advantage of what most of us call galvanic isolation but John calls a moat. There is a lot of extrapolation from the bitstream world to the ethernet world and much of this is valid (noise, power supply quality, etc) but clocking and reclocking in the ethernet domain is irrelevant to sound quality. Unfortunately, many original manufacturers and commercial after-market tweakers feed this misunderstanding by speaking of ethernet clock accuracy as if it impacts sound quality, and speaking of "jitter" in ethernet. It's important to me that people don't waste money on "better" ethernet clocks if they mean more accurate ones. If they mean lower noise ones, I'm on board. There are lots of resources on the interweb which explain this but of course they're aimed at techies more than we mere mortals. Merry Christmas, one and all! |
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Post by MartinT on Dec 23, 2023 8:42:30 GMT
Strictly speaking it's a jitter and phase noise reducer. By so doing, it improves the quality of the feed into the DAC through reduced superimposed noise, improving the conversion.
It does this by passing the ethernet signal through a highly accurate clock. Even better if a superior external clock is used. That's why I called it a reclocker, but it could easily be called a 'cleaner'. It's very effective, I can hear what it does even though it's upstream of my DDC/DAC combo with its own external clock.
There is no money wasted on the superior external clock, the benefits come from both the clock and the moat isolation (and also the additional moat created by the fibre connection from the optical cage).
You may have read me saying that in digital, everything matters. It really does.
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Post by MartinT on Dec 23, 2023 9:20:56 GMT
It's important to me that people don't waste money on "better" ethernet clocks... This comment is misleading. There is no money wasted on ethernet clocks if it's a superior external one to the Crystek CCHD-575 (-90dB @ 10Hz) internal one provided. My AfterDark King (-134dB @ 10Hz), for instance, is inferior to the AfterDark Emperor Triple Crown (-142dB @ 10Hz) used with my DDC/DAC, but it still slaughters that Crystek and the effect is highly audible, it's not even close. There has been a lot written here about the digital chain and the effects of noise reduction. I would encourage you to read up on some of it. |
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Post by NigelB on Dec 23, 2023 10:00:49 GMT
It's important to me that people don't waste money on "better" ethernet clocks... This comment is misleading. There is no money wasted on ethernet clocks if it's a superior external one to the Crystek CCHD-575 (-90dB @ 10Hz) internal one provided. My AfterDark King (-134dB @ 10Hz), for instance, is inferior to the AfterDark Emperor Triple Crown (-142dB @ 10Hz) used with my DDC/DAC, but it still slaughters that Crystek and the effect is highly audible, it's not even close. There has been a lot written here about the digital chain and the effects of noise reduction. I would encourage you to read up on some of it. You're right, it is misleading. I've modified it to say "It's important to me that people don't waste money on "better" ethernet clocks if they mean more accurate ones. If they mean lower noise ones, I'm on board."
I have read all the threads including the excellent long one you started. I agree with most of it!
I also agree 100% with the importance of noise reduction, so let's set that to one side as it's potentially a red herring.
Where I disagree is in the ability of ethernet clock accuracy to impact sound quality. I'm not saying external clocks can't make a difference to sound quality, I'm saying clock accuracy can't.
The AfterDark clocks you mention: what are they attached to please?
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