The curse of the Treitz, expanding a networking journey

heiney9

So, I've crept down the rabbit hole and I've been reading a lot about this topic. I ran across this "switch". The analysis of the company and the white paper really have me intrigued.

https://uptoneaudio.com/products/etherregen

It's gotten pretty good reviews and it seem like a small few person operation that is really trying to make something good. I think they're solid, not trying to push snake oil. I've read about people returning units and the company gladly accecpting them back. I think last I saw it 5 returns out of the first 1100 units sold.

Here's the white paper

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0660/6121/files/UpTone-J.Swenson_EtherREGEN_white_paper.pdf?v=1583429386

It seems the chip shortage hit them hard but they are due to have a new and improved unit out soon. I have seen a few used ones for sale, or I can wait for the newer version.

Here's a decent Audiogon discussion

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/uptone-etherregen

*you'll see a familiar character chime in on the discussion...lol

H9

VR3

Tom is using that in his rig

heiney9

Well, hopefully he'll comment. Did he list that, if he did, I totally missed it.

I love it when a company incorporates the "science" about what they're trying to accomplish and why they think it's important. I am a knowledge sponge. That's why I love Nelson Pass so much. He goes into detail about why, how and what in all of his designs. Not trying to hide anything and full of passion for the hobby.

H9

erniejade

heiney9 wrote: »

Well, hopefully he'll comment. Did he list that, if he did, I totally missed it.

I love it when a company incorporates the "science" about what they're trying to accomplish and why they think it's important. I am a knowledge sponge. That's why I love Nelson Pass so much. He goes into detail about why, how and what in all of his designs. Not trying to hide anything and full of passion for the hobby.

H9

I am using one in my rig as well with a TeraDak power supply and RAL umbilical cable from the power supply to the EtherREGEN. I have had mine for a couple years now. Supposedly, there is a v2 coming out soon .

heiney9

erniejade wrote: »

heiney9 wrote: »

Well, hopefully he'll comment. Did he list that, if he did, I totally missed it.

I love it when a company incorporates the "science" about what they're trying to accomplish and why they think it's important. I am a knowledge sponge. That's why I love Nelson Pass so much. He goes into detail about why, how and what in all of his designs. Not trying to hide anything and full of passion for the hobby.

H9

I am using one in my rig as well with a TeraDak power supply and RAL umbilical cable from the power supply to the EtherREGEN. I have had mine for a couple years now. Supposedly, there is a v2 coming out soon .

And????..... how does it work for you? Yes, the chips they used are no longer made so they are working on a new version with easier to obtain parts, upgrades, and will pass 1gb on both ends. They say to have them by June....but who knows. I bet a higher price too...lol.

I'd be fine with a used original.

H9

pitdogg2

*you'll see a familiar character chime in on the discussion...lol

Jeesh not juju, good grief!

treitz3

There is actually a thread I made when I was wanting to know what an EtherREGEN did myself. Here is my current streaming setup for the rig -

Network system leading up to the Lumin UX1 -
iFi iPower Elite 12v PS>
NETGEAR Nighthawk Multi-Gig Cable Modem CM2000 >
Shunyata Alpha Ethernet cable > to mesh router
Zero Zone 12VDC 15W Linear Power Supply>
NETGEAR Nighthawk Tri-band Mesh (MK83) AX3600 Router >
******wirelessly over Wi-Fi using a different band******
Dueland dca12 - 20 amp PC >
Richard Gray Pro400 Power Supply >
LPS #1 - AfterDark High Current LPS with 12V / HiFi Tuning Cryo Gold Fuse + Furutech Rhodium IEC, dual rail via >
DC PC's - Continental Triple Crown CFS DC Power Cable (Limited Edition), 0.8 Meter / Copper Conductor / DC 2.1mm - 2ea
DC PC #1 goes to the EtherREGEN v1 B side
CD PC #2 goes to the NETGEAR Nighthawk Extender (satellite) - Ethernet out to A side of the EtherREGEN via Shunyata Venom
LPS #2 - iFi iPower Elite 12v PS >
Master Clock - AfterDark Emperor Signature ClayX Giesemann OCXO 10MHz Reference, 75ohm >
Clock Cable - Project ClayX Black River Giesemann EVA Reference 75ohm BNC Clock Cable, 0.80m > B side of EtherREGEN
EtherREGEN B side out Ethernet via Shunyata Omega > Muon Pro Filter> Lumin UX1

All of this makes for an extremely clean signal coming through.

FYI, there is also a sponsored forum from UpTone Audio that has a plethora of information about the EtherREGEN over at Audiophile Style. Within that forum, you will find out much about other's journey, as well as just about everything you ever wanted to know about the EtherREGEN. https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/forum/25-uptone-audio-sponsored/

Tom

heiney9

Thanks Tom, not sure why I didn't put 2 and 2 together when you were talking about EtherREGEN initially. But then I didn't really start paying attention until this thread. Now I'm fully "in" and trying to gain as much knowledge as possible.

H9

treitz3

You are welcome and I completely understand. Do yourself a favor when you have the time. Follow the links in that thread. DK put out some good information within those links. Like you, I glanced over some of those discussions in the past but when it came time for me to start getting serious about my streaming?

That's when I really started paying attention.

Tom

erniejade

I found it nade a difference on my rig. So did the old w4s recovery that I still use on the usb side. It got to the point where I couldn't tell the difference between a cd coax out to the Boarder Patrol dac or the Innuos zen mk3 usb out streaming Qobuz.

heiney9

I just missed a used one for sale yesterday. I'll keep looking for a used one, but if I don't find one by the time the v2 comes out (hopefully in June) then I'll just get the v2. I am convinced.

H9

rebelsoul

Any thoughts on this switch since the ethergen is a couple months out since they sold out.
AFTERDARK. PROJECT CLAYX GIESEMANN NETWORK SWITCH X OCXO 10M MASTER CLOCK (AUDIOPHILESTYLE EDITION)
$1,794.00 USD

heiney9

Expensive.

VR3

Agreed

My cost for the switch part netgear s8000 $80
Dual 12v output Chinese linear power supply $120
DC power cables and power cable audiolund reference around $300

Seems to work perfect!

treitz3

That's (somewhat) what I am running with right now. It's just all in one unit. This could be good or this could be bad.

Everything I have is separates and the switch is, of course, the EhtherREGEN. An aspect to going this route is that you save on DC Cables, LPS's for everything, extra PC's for the LPS's, clock cable, etc....so, while the initial cost seems high, when you add up all of the "accessories", this thing can end up being a bargain (so to speak).

Do you know if this AD all in one unit comes with a "moat", so to speak?

This *may* also come at a price though. I don't know just how "isolated" the switch is from the rest of the unit, ideally, you only want audio only with the switch (additional items just add noise/jitter), so all of those Ethernet connections on the switch are useless if you want to keep the signal as clean as possible (which I most certainly do).

Another aspect is that you are cramming all of these items into one box. That means that all of the noise (EMI-RFI) is bouncing around within said box and possibly cross talking, which potentially adds noise. The engineering aspect would have to be really thought out and done well and since this is the first I have heard of this unit? I cannot comment on the topology/engineering/design aspect.

Whether or not this would be good for you, depends on how much you like to play around with your system for different flavors, different aspects, etc..

With separates, you can change out PC's, clock cables, LPS's and experiment more than you could an all in one box. Of course, this also depends on whether or not your wallet is willing to go this route as well. So, at the end of the day, whether or not this would be good for you is a completely personal thing.

Tom

rebelsoul

I know they are the **** when it comes to this .
I went from Yamaha px-3 with a mc $500 cart and a carver c-19 fully modded and bugle boys.
And a ps audio 200 cx recapped and moded and some bad **** legacy signature bookselfs to selling the turntable, albums and the c-19 to fund
Reimers tenton gs modded and the bat vk-120 mono blocks done by bat .and I caint imagine better

invalid

https://www.ebay.com/itm/121996730768

Anyone have any experience with these linear power supplies?

VR3

I have three very similar to this... one of them on one leg is doing the switch

https://www.ebay.com/itm/353532995691?hash=item525035686b:g:dv8AAOSwdEZgxb~3&amdata=enc:AQAHAAAA8EHewZpMoNscxkKEhzthPn1cDwu1GWVMM0sPiLA3JdHCMVRpCnt16VKKYfPt9DXnA2rp2NHcsRhxx5et4ujCqE7tHeUVfG84UTL+pBo4d/zOxgLuB7N2aTGfLw+f0XiEtRnKrhEM+BWzBC65FK37jt37G9aVERhsFHhjCxDCCSNkdoAe44ShnI1H73DRUJGBbrv+g6EjGNOYAQrLMyaiQMjAUgJZHYCJBlTwCAAd+8T+xfTINtI1+xgqVwVNIbNps/bgWc0j0Jvc+2CcIz06DP8D0L46e0zj4mCARBmadZ0b74TtUPkxn4zelcJ/DxY3BA==|tkp:Bk9SR5r3883UYQ

rebelsoul

When I go down a hole I go all out . The rabbit whole. Lmao

rebelsoul

I am pretty sure with the research I did this switch is bad **** and I still can go better with the clock. And with the muon pro and lps for my router and cable box.i will be at top notch.just do it lol.

VR3

No family vacations for you!

rebelsoul

Me and my girl love fishing for big muskies and big cats

rebelsoul

VR3 wrote: »

No family vacations for you!

I am going to be 57 had a lot of bad **** trips.
I bought my girl a bad **** Harley this is my side

rebelsoul

My turn

rebelsoul

Grandpa told me never do anything halfass

jdjohn

I wonder if a switch with PoE would be a good choice since it has a power supply built in...no DC wall wart.

VR3

Technically that power is derived from the incoming ethernet which would be the router so as long as the router has a nice power supply I can't see anything wrong with that

VR3

rebelsoul wrote: »

Grandpa told me never do anything halfass

I support you going all in, I will be your cheerleader no problem! Goooo team!

treitz3

jdjohn wrote: »

I wonder if a switch with PoE would be a good choice since it has a power supply built in...no DC wall wart.

Yes, you do lose the Wall Wart (very noisy and can introduce noise into other parts of your system). With that said, it has to be a very well designed/engineered switch. Otherwise, you are just introducing more noise, to which the degree of noise depends on the design. This is the opposite of what the goal is and apparently is more noticeable if you are a headphone guy.

Further notes - If any of these PoE network devices encounter a problem, all of the devices will stop working. There have also been reports of intermittent pops and crackles downstream when using PoE switches through other devices, which was cured by removing the PoE switch. One other note of caution. If you use a PoE device/cable and hook it up to something that isn't compatible, you run the risk of damaging said equipment, which could cost you a lot of money.

Now, take the comments (in bold) with a heavy grain of salt. You sparked my curiosity and those are just things I noticed/red flags while reading up about them. It sounds to me like you may be introducing more headaches than it's worth.

Other than the PS being built in and not having to pay for a separate PS, what was the advantage you were looking for in a PoE switch?

Tom

VR3

Power over ethernet receive their power from the source component.

Ie, a poe switch would receive power from the router.