The Uptone Audio EtherRegen audiophile switch
- Thread starter CKKeung
- Start date
Great to hear about your results. Thank you for sharing. Have you tried with and without the Ultra adapter on the SBOOSTER?
These devices represent great value for the money. Worked flawlessly right out of the box. Even with the standard power supply there’s an obvious improvement in the “immediacy“ and tactile sense of the presentation.
Thus far I’ve only heard it on my headphone rig (Roon Ethernet feeding Bricasti M3 into Decware Taboo feeding HE 1000 V2 and Focal Utopia in balanced mode). I’ll be ordering another for my two channel setup.
Thus far I’ve only heard it on my headphone rig (Roon Ethernet feeding Bricasti M3 into Decware Taboo feeding HE 1000 V2 and Focal Utopia in balanced mode). I’ll be ordering another for my two channel setup.
I enclose the post that I have published in Computer Audiophile, about EtherRGEN
“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 SMPS, 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 SMPS 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”
“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 SMPS, 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 SMPS 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”
Could you post a picture of how the Apollo Infinity cable is connected to the Denali? I take it from your comment that you did not use the ground post on the Denali.
Emile Bok of Taiko Audio just wrote a very nice comparative report:
https://www.whatsbestforum.com/thre...-crème-de-la-crème.27433/page-135#post-625209
He mostly used the EtherREGEN in the B>A direction so that he could get fiber to his server. Most people will use it A>B, and will find that careful choice of copper Ethernet cable on the 'B'-side (connected to whatever is your computer/streamer/renderer endpoint) will yield even better results.
Very happy to see that in his super-system (value $250K+?), our humble yet sophisticated EtherREGEN came out ranked above a $3,400 pair of cascaded pair of large switches.
Our $640 device came out just below the approximately $6,800 set-up of the Telegartner MFP8 Gold II RJ45-M12 copper cable -> Telegartner GOLD M12 switch -> Telegartner MFP8 Gold II M12-RJ45 copper cable. That works for me!
https://www.whatsbestforum.com/thre...-crème-de-la-crème.27433/page-135#post-625209
He mostly used the EtherREGEN in the B>A direction so that he could get fiber to his server. Most people will use it A>B, and will find that careful choice of copper Ethernet cable on the 'B'-side (connected to whatever is your computer/streamer/renderer endpoint) will yield even better results.
Very happy to see that in his super-system (value $250K+?), our humble yet sophisticated EtherREGEN came out ranked above a $3,400 pair of cascaded pair of large switches.
Our $640 device came out just below the approximately $6,800 set-up of the Telegartner MFP8 Gold II RJ45-M12 copper cable -> Telegartner GOLD M12 switch -> Telegartner MFP8 Gold II M12-RJ45 copper cable. That works for me!
Hello Guys,
I'm new here, but have been posting in another forums.
I've bougth the ER on december and it will be shipped at the end of this month to my home in Argentina.
As I live in a country where sending items is expensive for shipping and custom taxes, I'm thinking about using the same package of the ER to send one or two "audiophiles" Ethernet cables.
Today my bridge/streamer SOtM SMS-200 Ultra Neo is connected with a cheap CAT8 Ethernet cable to the WiFi Router and the future ER will go in between (I hope considerably improving the Ethernet signal) with another cheap CAT8 cable.
My questions are:
1- Under your direct experience, do Ethernet cables make a difference?
2- If so, wich one do you recommend below 200 dollars for 1.5/2.0 meters (about 5 to 7 feet)?
3- On the other hand, do you recommend changing both cables form "Router to ER" and from "ER to SMS" or just one of them?
The Supra CAT8 and the Wireworld Chroma are some options, but may be is a better to buy one more expensive, like the Wireworld Starlight, instead of two cheaper like the mentioned. If the ER is an Ethernet conditioner, how important is the cable that feeds it? Shouldnt be more important the cable after it?
"Please I would appreciate only answer from people who actually have done test with different cables". I dont want to open a technical debate whether Ethernet cables make or not a difference with people with no direct experience. For me, cables matter, all of them (digital, interconnects, power cords, etc).
I'm new here, but have been posting in another forums.
I've bougth the ER on december and it will be shipped at the end of this month to my home in Argentina.
As I live in a country where sending items is expensive for shipping and custom taxes, I'm thinking about using the same package of the ER to send one or two "audiophiles" Ethernet cables.
Today my bridge/streamer SOtM SMS-200 Ultra Neo is connected with a cheap CAT8 Ethernet cable to the WiFi Router and the future ER will go in between (I hope considerably improving the Ethernet signal) with another cheap CAT8 cable.
My questions are:
1- Under your direct experience, do Ethernet cables make a difference?
2- If so, wich one do you recommend below 200 dollars for 1.5/2.0 meters (about 5 to 7 feet)?
3- On the other hand, do you recommend changing both cables form "Router to ER" and from "ER to SMS" or just one of them?
The Supra CAT8 and the Wireworld Chroma are some options, but may be is a better to buy one more expensive, like the Wireworld Starlight, instead of two cheaper like the mentioned. If the ER is an Ethernet conditioner, how important is the cable that feeds it? Shouldnt be more important the cable after it?
"Please I would appreciate only answer from people who actually have done test with different cables". I dont want to open a technical debate whether Ethernet cables make or not a difference with people with no direct experience. For me, cables matter, all of them (digital, interconnects, power cords, etc).
Emile used the A-side of the ER:
https://www.whatsbestforum.com/thre...-crème-de-la-crème.27433/page-136#post-625381
Matt
Dutch reviewer Hans Beekhuyzen has published his EtherREGEN review today.
Spoiler alert: he likes it and thinks it clearly bests the SoTM (standard version), AQvox SE and Silent Angel Bonn switches he also reviewed.
Direct link:
Spoiler alert: he likes it and thinks it clearly bests the SoTM (standard version), AQvox SE and Silent Angel Bonn switches he also reviewed.
Direct link:
I haven't read the comments section on YouTube but I'm sure it'll involve a lot of angst spilling, temple vein popping, and vitriolic bile.
Yep... "la routine" as we say in France.
I tried this Uptone switch last weekend and I personally preferred it to the aqvox SE.
I found it less "coloring", it is more as a transparent catalyst, in fact, a facilitator of expression of qualities of my system.
Not something that makes your system sound different, it just plays easier with even more evidence.
I'm thinking of buying one... one day.
music is nothing and all.
I tried this Uptone switch last weekend and I personally preferred it to the aqvox SE.
I found it less "coloring", it is more as a transparent catalyst, in fact, a facilitator of expression of qualities of my system.
Not something that makes your system sound different, it just plays easier with even more evidence.
I'm thinking of buying one... one day.
music is nothing and all.
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