This can also be the thread for prospective EtherREGEN purchasers to ask tech questions.  Though I do ask that you first read thoroughly the EtherREGEN web page and also look through the User Guide. There is a really good chance that your question will be answered there.

Please post all reports about what you hear (and how you have the EtherREGEN hooked up) in the Listening Impressions thread.

As for the The long development and active launch discussion thread, that can remain the place for all other EtherREGEN miscellaneous talk. Things like batches, ordering, technical discussions not related to actual use, and just general EtherREGEN-related social chatter among enthusiasts. 

Thanks everyone!

--Alex C.

 Development of EtherREGEN is complete.  The web page for it is up (UpTone Audio EtherREGEN), and a new thread for the launch has been started. Please see:

Already a fellow named Tim received his on Saturday and shot me this message from his phone:

"Hey Alex got my LPS-1.2 today and has FAR EXCEEDED my lofty expectation on what this could do for my audio chain. Am using with a JACAT usb card and the LPS 1.2 has made a huge difference over the ifi that I was currently using! Looks like you knocked it outta the park on this one!"

We have followed the offerings from our friends at Cybershaft, AfterDark, and others.  And for our own consideration we have obtained OEM quotations from industrial OXCO module manufacturers. So we have a rather good sense of what it costs to produce a high quality complete clock-box. It truly is not a trivial endeavor, especially if one is to build a properly buffered/isolated multi-output unit with a really good square wave (sine wave is easier so you see those a lot; inexpensive boxes often have very poorly shaped square wave output due to techniques used).

In 2019, the German studio/pro-sound engineering firm MUTEC--headed by the brilliant Christian Peters--introduced the REF10, with 8 isolated outputs and fantastic phase-noise performance (at the outputs, not just of the OCXO module) of -145dBc/Hz (@10Hz offset). Nearly immediately it became THE standard for state-of-the-art reference clocking. But with a retail price of $5,000, it not only remained out of reach for many, but also challenging to justify unless a person had multiple components accepting an external clock. [I mean, our own $680 EtherREGEN is a bargain for what we pack in, but I never could advise someone to spend $5K on a clock just for our switch. ]

Now while MUTEC's many digital clock, distribution, reclocking, and format conversion products are quite popular for use in recording studios and other professional environments, Mr. Peters surely noticed and catered to the high-end audiophile market as well. Noticing some shifts--with increasing numbers of components accepting an external clock, and Asian firms jumping in with multiple low price offerings--MUTEC has responded with the much more affordable, 4-output REF10 Nano. 

Utilizing virtually all the same refined circuits of its larger brother, the Nano delivers close to the same guaranteed phase-noise performance, and the same exceptional square waveform.

Aside from having 4 outputs instead of 8, the primary difference between the large REF10 and the new REF10 Nano is the power supply.  The REF10 has a built-in full linear power supply, whereas the Nano has a built-in hybrid SMPS/linear supply.  The Nano's internal power supply can be supplanted by an external +15VDC supply of ones choosing as there is a DC input jack (a non-standard jack size for which they include a solderable mating plug).

That brings me to our news today:

Since MUTEC announced the REF10 Nano, I and others have been posting about it and watching for release of units into the field.

I recently entered into discussions with the owner of MUTEC's exclusive wholesale-only importer, TransAudio, and worked out pricing and representation arrangements.  For a few weeks all of MUTEC's export shipments of REF10 Nanos were stuck in German customs (odd since customs hold-ups usually occur only at the destination country), but TransAudio’s first delivery of Nanos arrived this week. I promptly purchased three units! 

So not only is UpTone Audio now an authorized dealer for MUTEC, but we are the VERY first dealer in the USA to have stock!

Here are the units which just arrived today. Two with black faceplate, one with silver face.

The price for the REF 10 Nano is $1,799. These are going to sell very fast so contact me right away if you wish to order.  

Our acclaimed JS-2 choke-filtered, dual-output, 5~7.4 amp linear power supply can be configured to have a 15V setting, but if you want a fine supply to power both the REF10 Nano and our EtherREGEN without defeating the EtherREGEN's active-differential isolation "moat," then you will want to wait for our forthcoming (Q1/Q2 2024) triple-regulated, isolated dual-output, 2A/4A JS-4 (est. $1,350).

If you order an in-stock JS-2 at the same time as a REF10 Nano, we will ship the 14-pound JS-2 box freight-free (the Nano's carton is light but large/long, so I doubt we can do free-freight on that).

By the way, UpTone also is authorized for all the other fine MUTEC models that TransAudio Group stocks here in the USA.  Those are--at new lower pricing:

REF10 SE120 — $5,499

REF10 — $3,599

MC3+USB — $1,299

MC3+ — $949

(Black faceplate units are the most readily available.)

WHY BUY FROM UPTONE?  Easy: Expertise, friendly personal consultation and service/support.  I think most everyone here knows that is what we are about.  Of course if you have a brick-and-mortar storefront dealer near you that carries MUTEC, then I encourage you to purchase from them. 

Also, a shoutout to @Clockmeister: Aside from being a literal rocket-science engineer, he runs Coherent Systems in the UK, and they are a MUTEC dealer--probably with more stock of the REFE10 Nano than anyone in Europe right now. So if you are on that side of the 'pond' please give them a call.

——————————————————————————————————

Here are more pics and details:

I received my JS-2 Monday; the fit and finish are outstanding! I put my 2010 Mac Mini back in service as my music server since it was already setup to run off DC power (I have previously powered it off battery using my BatteryBuss from Dave Elledge/PI Audio Group).

Just let me say that the JS-2 is outstanding IMHO. Blacker background, better separation and the bass just kicks with more slam and articulation! I've only had a couple hours of listening experience with this setup, but not a single track has played that hasn't made me perk up a bit and really be amazed at the sound quality. I can't wait to get the internal pwr supply removed from my 2012 Mac Mini (which I run bootcamped with WS2012 and Audiophile Optimizer) so I can put it back in the system and power it from the JS-2!!

Outstanding job, well done Alex & John!!

Thanks!

Randy

That was how I felt for the first 3 or so days. BUT last night I put in my target power setup for the ER... 2 LPS-1.2's set to 12V with each feeding 1/2 of an MPAudio.net dual-section 3||LT3045 regulator board with both halves set to 10V (using .1% resistors to keep them REALLY closely mattched) with the outputs tied together to parallel the LPS-1.2 outputs. This is a setup I have used with much success to power sources such as RPi's, Allo's USBBridge SIgnature, and my SDTrans384 SD Card Player. Compared to a good 2A-3A linear supply 1 LPS-1.2 seemed to have lessened dynamics although it clearly had quieter backgrounds and more clarity. Paralleling 2 this way brought the dynamics into parity with the AC-connected supply with no negative impacts.

Using this setup replacing either the stock SMPS OR a good (but not great) linear supply turned my ER into a dynamics and emotive expression MONSTER!!!!

AND kept all the subtleties and increased bass definition and separation between instruments / voices and greater harmonic density and etc etc etc... BUT turned them all up to 20!

Longer report in the next few days. 

I didn't think I could be this happy with a single upgrade!

On 11/18/2019 at 9:27 AM, jcn3 said:

 

absolutely the reason -- typically, the higher the input voltage, the more heat that needs to be dissipated by the unit. so if you're using a 12v lps which is the highest voltage supported, it will put off heat.  if you can switch to a 7v or 9v input, i would think it will be much cooler (7v will be cooler than 9v).

 

alex has said that 12v is perfectly safe.

 

how did the ps that came with the ER sound?  can you tell a difference between it and your lps?

Edit... and as Dutch said below, the DC-DC converter John/Alex uses does not behave the same as a linear regulator. It will run about the same temp or even lower with a higher voltage input. AND the voltage to the downstream linear regulators will always be the same

As far as the sonics with a different supply, see above!

Greg in Mississippi

Tom

At long last we are ready to present to you the ISO REGEN!  The web pages for it and for the new USPCB A>B Adapter (included "free" with every ISO REGEN) are published for viewing.

https://uptoneaudio.com/products/iso-regen

https://uptoneaudio.com/products/uspcb-a-b-adapter

This Tuesday, April 25th at precisely 9:00 a.m. (California time) the "AddToCart" button will appear on the ISO REGEN web page.  If this launch is anything at all like that of the UltraCap LPS-1 last October, it can be expected that the first run of 250 ISO REGENs will be pre-sold in a matter of hours.  So please be ready then. (My apologies to those in Australia as I know that 9:00 a.m. is the middle of the night there.  But there is a reasonable chance that early-rising-Aussies will manage to snag an ISO REGEN or two.)

Of course we will follow on the first run with more production as quickly as possible.

The first 250 units will ship May 16th–May 19th.

Here is our first revealing of the pricing:

ISO REGEN (with USPCB A>B Adapter and Mean Well SMPS) – $325

ISO REGEN (with USPCB A>B Adapter and no power supply) – $310

ISO REGEN bundled with UltraCap LPS-1 (and of course 1 USPCB adapter) – $655

The bundle represents a $50 savings over purchasing them separately (with the assumption that a person would omit the SMPS from one of the packages). 

[EDIT: An available "loyalty rebate" is explained in a post just further down.]

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As mentioned in my recent posts in the prior "unofficial" ISO REGEN thread here at CA, John and I are quite thrilled with the sonic performance of this new model.  We hope that you will be too! There are a few stories that can be told about the saga of the ISO REGEN's development (we began the project way back in January 2015), but for now I'll just share some photos and much of the text from the product page.

Feel free to ask questions, but forgive me if I don't stay too engaged with the group here this week as there are still many logistics tasks to be attended to right away.

Many thanks to you all for your patience in awaiting and anticipating the ISO REGEN.  We can't wait to get them into the hands and systems of music lovers and audio enthusiasts around the world.  Sales are one thing, but I don't consider a product a success until hundreds are using and loving it! 

--Alex Crespi

--John Swenson

_________________________________

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UpTone Audio's strengths are in engineering, design and production—not in graphics and marketing.  We take a simple and very open approach to explaining our products and we avoid coining fanciful names for the techniques and technologies we use.  Many of our clients are really interested in all the features and details about our components—so the below lengthy exposé about the ISO REGEN will be enjoyed.  Yet reading and understanding it all is not necessary for the use and enjoyment of this exciting new product: As with all UpTone products, the ISO REGEN is sold with a 30-day, money-back, satisfaction guarantee. So just buy it and try it!  We think you will be VERY pleased with the results.  Thank you.

The UpTone Audio ISO REGEN is the first device—designed specifically for quality music systems—to deliver both true high-speed galvanic isolation and extremely high signal integrity in a single, small and affordable package.

The ISO REGEN includes many significant enhancements over our famous USB REGEN (almost 4,000 sold worldwide)—the original device which changed the way audiophiles think about what matters in USB audio—and which spawned a number of imitators.

Using and enjoying the dramatic musical benefits of the ISO REGEN is simple: Just insert it between your USB source and DAC.  No software drivers are needed, your computer will “see” your DAC though the ‘hub” of the REGEN.  All music data-stream formats are supported.  And you won’t need any additional USB cables (see below).

As with the original USB REGEN, the ISO REGEN uses a selected USB hub chip to create a new USB stream to deliver very high signal integrity to the DAC's USB PHY, thus decreasing the PHY’s contribution to packet noise. It is called “REGEN” since it completely REGENerates the data signals that cables are messing up.

Unlike the USB REGEN or any other similar product currently available, the ISO REGEN’s input uses the world’s only integrated high-speed USB isolator chip, the Silanna Semiconductor ICE08USB.

Why is this important—and why do you want an ISO REGEN?  Because the music will sound better!  The ISO REGEN creates a “moat” to isolate the power and signal grounds from computer/stream USB sources before your DAC.  This “moat” blocks leakage currents and other low level interference from the source.  You can expect to hear more accurate bass and a lot of micro-dynamic details that you previously missed. Vocal breath and intonation may seem more "real" and the "air" around drum and wood snaps are likely to have more "space."

With recordings of complex instrumental ensembles (be they electric or acoustic), the music just "holds together" better and makes you want to keep listening.  Thanks to our “femto”-clock timing, the sound stage will be more focused, backgrounds will seem “blacker,” and overtone harmonics will separate and decay more naturally.  But perhaps no instrument will more clearly demonstrate the ISO REGEN's benefits than acoustic piano—so be sure to include that in your audition of our device.  Over time, with the ISO REGEN in place, you will experience less listening "fatigue" and will simply find it easier to focus on the music and not the sound.  That was our primary goal during the design of this special product.

While some DACs and converters do incorporate digital isolators for galvanic isolation—they are ALWAYS after the USB input PHY chip and processor system. And unfortunately, USB input noise of all sorts still makes it through to some extent and reaches the DAC master clock (Impacts on the DAC master clock are ultimately why ANY upstream variations—in computer, USB, cables, etc.—are heard at all.  If you are interested, please see our easy to digest “white paper” on the subject.)

While the galvanic isolation offered by the ISO REGEN is important and effective, the truth is that all the other enhancements combined result in greater musical benefits than what the isolation aspect brings.  We could have brought out an “über-REGEN” with these improvements a year earlier, but we wanted to include the galvanic isolation so we tackled the numerous challenges associated with integrating the Silanna chip into our design.

How is the ISO REGEN different—from other devices and from the original USB REGEN?  We have packed onto both sides of this tiny board a lot more expensive parts—now 85 parts—and our own parts cost is 4 times that of the original REGEN.  During development, each major element was evaluated—sonically and on the test bench—to justify inclusion.  The highlights include:

• A USB 3.1 hub chip specially selected for both its proven compatibility and for its extraordinary measured signal integrity (the best we have seen).

• A world-class ultra-low-phase-noise oscillator (Crystek CCHD-575), the sort of “Femtosecond” low jitter clock normal found only in top-quality DACs as an audio master clock.

• Five of the world’s lowest noise integrated 200mA voltage regulators (the wonderful Linear Tech. LT3042).  These are important and are separately dedicated as follows: 1 at the input to clean and drop the computer’s 5V VBUS to 3.3V to power the upstream side of the isolator chip; 1 for the downstream side of the isolator chip (the “clean” side of the “moat”); 1 for the oscillator clock; 2 for the USB hub chip.

• As with the original REGEN, we still create a very clean 5VBUS output—for DACs that need it—with the terrific TI TPS7A4700 ultra-low-noise 1-amp regulator. Other aspects of the power networks were improved as well.

The cumulative audible results of all the above are NOT SUBTLE!

The ISO REGEN is an active device that needs to be powered: On the upstream/input side of the isolator “moat,” power is provided by the 5VBUS of the USB cable from your computer; on the downstream “clean” side of the isolator—where most all of the “magic” happens—an external power supply in the 6-9 volt DC range is required.  The $325 ISO REGEN kit includes a modest, reliable, world-voltage compatible AC>DC adaptor.  If you already have your own power supply available—either from an original USB REGEN, or our UltraCap LPS-1, or some other quality unit, then you can order the ISO REGEN without any PS and save $15.

Best of all is the ISO REGEN/UltraCap LPS-1 bundle we are offering at a $50 savings versus purchasing them separately.

A frequent question is if the ISO REGEN’s galvanic isolation is defeated by having an external power supply.  Absolutely not!  Full data and ground isolation are still in place.  The benefit of using our UltraCap LPS-1 as the power supply is the same as it is for other components people are using it with: The LPS-1 blocks the path of AC leakage currents and prevents “leakage loops” from forming.

Yes, we could have bus-powered the entire ISO REGEN, but that would have meant the use of noisy DC-DC switching regulators and then attempts to clean that up.  Providing up to 1 amp of clean USB VBUS power (to bus-powered DACs, headphone amps, etc.) would also become problematic.  Our attention is focused exclusively on sound quality so we skipped all cost saving shortcuts and compromises.

As before, the ISO REGEN is the only full-function active USB signal enhancer designed to plug directly into your DAC or converter, preserving the highest level of signal integrity and best impedance match.  (Having to use a USB cable after the conditioning device only degrades sound quality and adds expense.)

The original USB REGEN comes with a USB A>B adapter—for connection to the DAC input jack—which looks “solid,” but is actually just 4 very short wires crammed into a mold between the two plugs.  It is good, but nowhere near as good as our proprietary new —which we are including free with the ISO REGEN.  Carefully designed with a 4-layer circuit board, taking into account even the mass of the connectors and the widths and thicknesses of the traces, this new adapter perfectly preserves signal integrity and impedance match.  IT IS BETTER THAN ANY USB CABLE!

The USPCB adapter is also available with its ‘B’ plug turned 90-degrees (clockwise to the right when looking at it from the ‘B’ end) for vertical orientation of the REGEN—useful with DACs where horizontal positioning would interfere with connection of other cables.

As with all UpTone Audio components, the ISO REGEN includes personal and responsive support, along with a  3-year warranty.

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I'm learning so much about system noise on this forum. Makes me want to sell my flashy $1000 power conditioner for a cheap strip and a good isolation transformer.

John, what’s the role and benefit of an isolation transformer, in an audio context?

Am I right, that this plugs into your wall and you plug a powerstrip into the isolation transformer? Apologies for the silly question. This is a new world for me.

In Australia we have 240V power supply (or 230V) at the wall. If choosing an isolation transformer, do I would want something like a 2000watt transformer (minimum), delivering an 8amp current? Power boards are rated at 10amp max current here in Australia.

I'm looking to get my system optimised before LPS-1 arrives in November - I’ve just made my order :-)

But other than just the LPS-1, I'm looking to improve the system generally.

Many thanks in advance

I've been a happy EtherRegen owner for a few years.  I recently built a Roon ROCK NUC server. It has worked fine, but it occurred to me that I might configure the signal path differently. 

My chain is Arris modem>>>Google Mesh>>>etherregen>>>NUC>>>DAC (via USB).  This works fine, but there is a slight clinical glare to music that wasn't there before the NUC.  (Before Nuc, my core was wireless which I've read is not recommended.)  

It occurred to me the other day, why not put the NUC on one of the other Regen A ports to see how/if that would change the sound.  

So I've tried Arris Modem>>>Mesh>>>EtherR A port 1>>>B Port>>>DAC

and then on 2nd A port>>>NUC.

Should that work?  I can't get the network to see the NUC when it's set up like that.  I've power-cycled everything. I've gone into NUC and reset network settings and still no joy.  Any insights would be much appreciated.  I'm a networking noob so it could very well be operator error. 

For too long there has been great skepticism surrounding the relevance--or even existence of--small perturbations of jitter and noise on various digital audio interfaces.  Yet of course there are already thousands of people who, in their own music systems, with their own ears, have heard the impact (sometimes subtle, sometimes large) that result from various USB, Ethernet, and power supply changes.

Some will say you are all delusional, and that you are imagining what you hear.  They are wrong.  The effects are real, but the mechanisms behind them can be a little difficult to understand. So in an effort to educate and shed some light on a few of the factors involved, we are presenting what we hope is an easy to digest introduction to the subjects of ground-plane noise, threshold jitter, and leakage currents—and why they matter and have an effect on various receiver chips and the DAC itself.

This paper does not yet present measurement data and graphs. John has—with a custom low-noise input board feeding his Wavecrest timing analyzer—already captured analyzed data showing phase-noise variations at the DAC clock input pin with and without an EtherREGEN in the chain (which was EtherREGEN>ultraRendu>USB DAC). He is working on the graph axis and legends and he will present these and discuss the measurement system in the coming weeks.

Yet even with published measurement evidence, those who don’t believe any of this stuff matters will then simply claim that what we are measuring can’t possibly be heard. Someday the things we are discovering and dealing with now will be accepted and seen as commonplace—just as germs and jitter were discovered. A quote that struck me in a TED Talk by an open-minded scientist sticks with me: “Dogmatic assumption inhibits inquiry.”

As most of you here know, I, Alex Crespi, am not an engineer, nor do I pretend to be. And while I spent a lot of time editing and organizing this paper--to the point where I have mentally internalized most of its concepts--I am clearly not going to be the right person to answer probing questions or challenges to it.  John Swenson is the man for that. Yet while I am sure he will regularly chime in with cogent answers, please recognize that his time is limited and valuable. He is actively working on additional groundbreaking products--which will eventually come to market under both the UpTone and Sonore brands (different products).

Enjoy the paper, and also the very fine and thoughtful review of the EtherREGEN published just today on the homepage of Audiophile Style. 

------------------

Here is a LINK to the PDF of our 5-page paper for offline reading.  And below are the JPG images of the individual pages:

I'm going to attempt to give some theory behind DC cables and CA and some hints for making your own, and some results of my own experience.

So what is the big deal, DC is, well, DC! Resistance should be the only thing that matters, right? Wrong! Particularly for power digital circuits some AC issues actually do make a big difference. This is due to the fact that the load current of most digital devices is not constant, it varies all over the place, and can do so very quickly. This rapidly changing load current causes a voltage to develop across the inductance in the cable. No matter how good the regulator in the power supply is this noise will still be there. This means that both resistance and inductance of the cable matter. Cable capacitance is a good thing, but the ranges available in cables have a very small effect so so you can pretty much ignore the cable capacitance.

Are there "cable parameters" that DON'T matter for a DC cable? Yes, anything that primarily affects distortion is not an issue, such as stranding vs solid core, conductor material and plating. The difference in resistance between silver and copper does produce lower resistance than copper, but just making the copper conductor slightly thicker does the same thing. Thus I do not consider the vastly higher price of silver worth it. The net result is that stranding doesn't matter, OCC etc doesn't matter, dialectric has extremely small effect.

So what DOES really matter? The wire gauge determines the resistance and the geometry of the wires (how they are arranged in the cable) makes a HUGE difference in the inductance. So things to optimize for, thick wires and use the proper geometry. The geometry is actually far more important than the wire gauge, although you don't want to go with really thin wires either.

There are 4 common geometries in use in DC cables:

parallel conductors (zip cord)

coax

twisted pair

starquad

They are listed in decreasing inductance, zip cord has about 10 times the inductance as starquad for equivalent gauge. Coax and twisted pair are pretty much the same at about 1/3 the inductance of zip cord.

All can be shielded or not shielded. The shield does not really make things better for most applications of DC cables, but if it is done wrong (which is extremely prevalent) it can make things worse. Thus I recommend using unshielded cable for most situations.

I hope from the above you come to the conclusion that using starquad is a good thing when making your own DIY DC cable.

So what is starquad? It consists of four conductors, the whole group of which is twisted in the cable. This is NOT two twisted pairs. They are not woven or braided, the four conductors are arranged in a square. Diagonally opposite conductors are connected together at both ends of the cable. That is it, not very complicated. There are many articles on the net covering starquad with nice pictures. (sometimes it is called star quad, sometimes star-quad, they are all the same thing)

So what is special about starquad? Well of course you have two wires in parallel which halves the resistance, but the big thing is the magnetic field, it forms in such a way that the inductance is about 3 times lower than coax or twisted pair, AND it produces an inherent very good shielding effect, without using a shield!

So to make your own starquad cable you need a cable with 4 conductors, with the whole thing twisted, preferably unshielded. There are many of these on the market. They do not have to be specifically marketed as starquad. Many cables that say "starquad" have wires with only two colors, diagonally opposite wires have the same color, that makes it easier to figure out which ones to connect together. But cables with different colors for all for wires also work well, you just have to figure out which ones are diagonally opposite each other.

So what gauge to use? A 24 gauge starquad microphone cable is probably too small, and a 14 gauge speaker cable is probably going to have wires that are impossible to connect to the barrel connectors most components use. So somewhere in between is probably a good choice, 20 or 18 AWG wires are probably the sweet spot. Belden 8489 and West Penn 244 are 18AWG 4 conductor unshielded cables that work very well. Canare makes a starquad speaker cable called 4S6 which has 20AWG wires which should be a very good choice as well. 

Alex likes to use a cable with a shield which I think just makes things more complicated than they need to be.

If you want to make your cable without soldering anything there are barrel plugs with screw terminals available at many places. These terminals will accept a single 18AWG wire nicely, but it gets very tricky to put two 18AWG wires into each connector (which is what you have to do for starquad). The 20AWG 4S6 might be a better choice when using these. If you want to make a Y cable where you put TWO cables into one plug, you may just barely be able to get 4 20AWG wires into each connector.

Last night was the first time I was actually able to try some of this myself. Since I am on the road now without my soldering equipment I decided to try a starquad cable with the screw terminals. My entire setup right now is an LPS-1 powering a SqueezeBox Touch (SBT) with Senheiser phones plug in to the SBT. The current setup used a simple DIY 16 AWG zip cord cable with soldered on barrel plugs. So I found a small amount of 244 on ebay and a bunch of screw terminal connectors on Amazon. They were all here yesterday.

Then started the fun, the two 18AWG wires do NOT fit well in those screw terminals. Every time I pushed them in a strand or two would not go in and curl off to the side shorting out to the other terminal. I had to try it about seven times to get all 4 wires properly inserted into the plug. The wires are pretty stiff so I had to really tighten those screws down tight to keep them from pulling out. It only took five tries on the other end of the wire.

I finally got it together and plugged it in, WOW this was a big improvement! I thought this system sounded amazing, but with this DC cable it was dramatically improved. And that less than 10 dollars!

Next I'm going to try the 20AWG 4S6 cable and see how that sounds.

John S.

An "Operation and Pre-purchase" question/reporting topic will also be created, so please let's keep this one just to commentary about sound.

However, I am going to start off with some pictures that have nothing to do with subjective sonic perception and everything to do with proof that the ISO REGEN does measurably--and quite radically--improve USB signal integrity.  

Although John's analyzer (and whole lab) went into storage for his house move before he had a chance to do captures of the eye-patten tests he ran during development (and his older but fully capable Tektronix analyzer does not make hi-res captures easy), an engineer friend of ours just sent the below before and after images to us.

Without getting into the complexities of how to read an eye-pattern diagram or what it all means (such will get carried to another thread), I'll just say that an eye-pattern test is really the best all-in-one representation of signal integrity as it reveals variations in noise, amplitude, timing, jitter, edge-rates, etc.

The "before" shot is typical of what comes straight out of a computer's USB port.  Keyboards, printers, phones, drives, etc. all could care less about signal integrity--as long as it is good enough for their receiver/processor chips to lock onto.  While DACs and audio digital converters will also manage to extract the data from the USB audio stream (and that data really is a noisy, modulated analog voltage), the harder they have to "work" to do so, the more of their own internal packet- and spiky ground-plane noise they generate.  That stuff gets through to the DAC master clock and is why differences in the USB chain upstream (cables, REGENs, etc.) can be heard.

The "after" image looks pretty great.  Notice how clean, narrow, and upright the 'X's on each side are.

Anyway, I know this is the wrong thread for these, but it's Friday, we are getting the first ISO REGENs out the door, and I wanted to share these pretty pics.

What counts is what you all hear.  So onto the listening! 

(Please give your ISO REGENs a few hours to "warm up."  Clock oscillators always sound better when warm, and some folks claim the circuit itself needs "break-in." I personally think it is our ear/brain systems that take time to recognize/accept the many subtle or not subtle changes to the music.  Often it is not the "sound" we listen directly "at," but rather the "experience" of the music that catches us by surprise.  Most of you will hear both right away, but just don't jump to conclusions. 

Thank you all for your enthusiasm and support.  Hope you enjoy our new "baby."

Without ISO REGEN:

With ISO REGEN:

Not sure if there a more appropriate spot for this post but I wanted to share my positive experience with Uptone's service. 

I recently had a lightning strike on my home that took out several appliances. Afterwards, I settled in for a little listening session as I thought about how to replace the dishwasher and washing machine when I discovered my JS-2 had at least an exploded transistor and whatever else. 

I spoke with Alex and told me to send the unit in if it wasn't extensive, it could be repaired. He replaced the transistor and performed the burn in and returned for only the shipping. Fortunately, it wasn't worse. 

Alex made the whole process smooth and quick. Now that's support you don't see much anymore. Thanks Uptone! 

...now, can I send you my dishwasher? Lol. Thanks. 

if any...

The Mac mini is a 2014 model with 16GB of RAM and a Core I7 processor and 512GB of PCieSSD from Apple.  If you have taken an older mini apart there are some subtle differences that are covered in the help from UpTone Audio.  I took a bunch of pictures that should help others along with my own visual memory!

To start with the 2104 model has a different base that you have to "pop" off instead of twist off:

After you remove the bottom and take off the internal cover with the WiFi antenna the fragile antenna cable has to come off

:

Next you have to remove the fan.  The little connector pops up from the board and there are three screws holding the fan down:

Next you have to remove the IR and the PCIE connectors:  (That PCIE thing looks scary so be careful):

Now you have to remove the one screw holding the mother board and tray into the computer.  You also need to disconnect the power supply connector from the motherboard.  I forgot to get a picture of that but you can see it next to the PCIE connector above.  Note that the first time you try to slide the mother board out it is HARD to move.  You cannot take it off until the mother board is partly out of the Mac:

Now it is time to get the power supply out.   There is a single screw holding the power supply to the case.  You can see it in the picture below.    I did not get a picture of the little catch holding the connector to the case!!  Follow the notes and the fixit docs.  Also do not lose the rubber boot for the power supply AC connector you will need it if you ever reverse this process:

NOTE: I forgot to put the washer and the screw back into the case to hold the frame down so maybe do that NOW!:

Now it is time to get the new power supply interface board into the system.  You need to hook up the power supply connector and the interface cable to the new fan controller:

Check the tape on the bottom of the PS board and slip it carefully into the motherboard mounting frame:

Following the interactions put the washer and the nut on the DC jack.  I did not put the optional nut on the coax jack:

WHEW we are getting close. Plug the power supply cable into the mother board and we are ready to CAREFULLY slide things back together:

Since the Website will not let me upload any more files I will continue this with a second post......

-RJF

I can't fit an optical cable in my Schiit modi DAC beside the standard short USB a to b adapter that came with my regen. I no longer have the longer version that also came with my regen.

Anybody have positive experiences with an alternative that might give me the space my optical cable needs to be slotted?

Thanks in advance 

apple wants me to update the iOS. to the current.  Im currently. on. macOS. Big Sur.   Should I update the OS?  Im scared too.  It's my main music server.  Plus. with my Js2. im building another one.  

Bueller. Bueller. 

M usicguy

I contacted Alex Crispi, who suggested that I give it some time to allow my ears to become more attuned to the new DAC's sound. So I listened for a few weeks with no eR, and then put it back. And I thought it might, just might, be providing a small improvement. But I was not sure. So I called a buddy of mine - the only true golden ear I've ever known, to get him to listen. This post is the result of that listening session, as documented between the equals bars (===) below. We did several tests, while we were at it.

===========================================================================================

Fifteen months ago, UpTone Audio began shipping the revolutionary UltraCap LPS-1.  By all metrics it can be considered a huge success. 1,650 units shipped (including in bundles with our very popular ISO REGEN), and orders continue to pour in for this small yet sophisticated 1.1-amp, bank-alternating, isolated and “floated” ultra-low-noise linear power supply.

Reviews—by users and web publication reviewers—have widely praised the LPS-1, and here at CA this month we won a 2017 Readers’ Choice Award.

Now it is with great pleasure that we announce the retirement of the UltraCap LPS-1 and the birth of the UltraCap LPS-1.2!

Here are highlights of the terrific enhancements incorporated into the redesign of our unique power supply:

Where previously the user adjustable output voltages of the LPS-1 were 3.3V, 5V, and 7V, the new UltraCap LPS-1.2 offers you 5V, 7V, 9V, and 12 volt output choices.  This broadens the range of devices that can be powered.
Maximum guaranteed output current—at all voltages—is still 1.1A.

[The wider range of output voltage settings brings interesting possibilities for a range of higher voltages by connecting two LPS-1.2 units in series (+/-/+/-).  You can see how two units set to the same or different voltages can now combine to result in 10V, 14V, 16V, 17V, 18V, 19V, or 24V!]

The output voltage regulators—previously a cascade of the very fine (4.2µV/RMS noise) Texas Instruments TPS7A4700—have been changed to the truly extraordinary (0.8µV/RMS!) Linear Technology LT3045—a pair of them paralleled in a special configuration that further lowers output impedance.  We are down into the 3mOhm (10Hz-100KHz) range now!

[While the wonderful 200mA LT3042 has been around for a couple of years (and we use 5 of those expensive buggers in the ISO REGEN), the higher current (500mA) LT3045 was not introduced until late 2016—well after the design work on the original LPS-1 was complete. We are excited to at last be incorporating this special part into the new LPS-1.2. While all your original LPS-1 units are still fine supplies, this aspect of the new model might be compelling enough for some of you to step up to it.]

A power on/off switch has been added.  Some people prefer to turn off the supply at times.  Now you can do so without having to unplug any cables.

The complex charging circuity has been redesigned around the very expensive ($28 each whether we buy 100 or 1,000 pcs.) Linear Technology LTM4607 regulator micro-module.  This was done both to allow for the higher (18V) internal charge voltages required to offer the 12V output, and to improve reliability and robustness of the input side of the unit. (A few people have fried their LPS-1 units with over-voltage spikes from 3rd-party chargers.)  As you can see from the back panel, the input voltage range has been expanded; the LPS-1.2 can run off chargers from 7-24V—more on this in a moment.

 
The electrical math of providing the new 9-volt and 12-volt output settings on the LPS-1.2 necessitates the use of a higher wattage AC>DC power supply to “energize”/charge the unit.  The strict requirement for the charger is now 36 watts—and we print this on the back panel.  As before, we are flexible with regards to the voltage of the charger—but the charger voltage times its current capability MUST equal 36W or greater.  (So you can see 7.5V/4.8A, 9V/4A, 12V/3A, 18V/2A, 24V/1.5A are all acceptable charger ratings.) 

Every UltraCap LPS-1.2 will come with a newly sourced 7.5V/4.8A/36W, world-voltage-compatible SMPS (see photo below). While our UltraCap supplies have always 100% blocked the path of low-impedance AC leakage (from its charger and the path from other connected components), recently discovered high-impedance leakage was able to enter. This is easily prevented by the shunting (connecting) of the SMPS charger’s DC output “ground” to AC mains ground (see this post: https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/37034-smps-and-grounding/?page=9&tab=comments#comment-734822.  The customized new SMPS we are including for charging already has that connection internally, so no high-impedance leakage ever enters the LPS-1.2.

In the image of the LPS-1.2's back panel you may notice a very small, 3-pin jack (standard 0.1” header pin spacing) to the right of the LPS-1.2’s output jack. This is a port for measuring output voltage and device current draw.  Typically measuring the current draw of a device requires putting an ammeter in series with the power cable (DC or AC) feeding it.  But this clever port provides a measurement of current with a voltage: 1 Volt equals 1 Amp.  So if you measure 0.2V (across the pins labeled ‘G’—for ground—and ‘I’—for current), that means the device you have attached to the output is drawing 0.2A or 200mA. The pin labeled ‘V’ always outputs the voltage that the LPS-1.2 is set to.  Small displays are available cheaply to use this—see below pic—and we may develop our own little display board to peek up from back of the unit.

With this redesign our own parts cost have gone up significantly.  So the price will be going up—by $40 to $435.  Likewise, the $655 ISO REGEN/LPS-1 bundle price (a $50 savings) will, with the LPS-1.2 be going up $50 to $695.

We think all of the above is very good news.
However, for the 50+ people who have placed--and are waiting on orders for an LPS-1 or ISO REGEN/LPS-1 bundle since about the very end of November—and were promised a January 18th ship date—we have some bad news followed by good news:
a) The UltraCap LPS-1.2 boards and chassis are not yet out of production and we are going to blow right past that January 18th date.  250 of each will be arriving the week of February 5th, so barring any train wrecks we can plan on shipping everyone’s orders the following week.  I am guessing on Valentine’s Day.
b) All customers who already placed orders for the LPS-1 (and/or ISO REGEN/LPS-1 bundles) at the original price will be receiving the new UltraCap LPS-1.2 as described above.  So that’s a $40 per unit savings they are getting—as consolation for having to wait about 3 more weeks to be shipped a tremendously upgraded power supply.
This information will also be sent in an e-mail to everyone who ordered when the web page and confirmation had said January 18th.

We are now accepting pre-orders for the new UltraCap LPS-1.2—strictly via our web site as usual.

John and I will try to answer your questions, but please realize that this is a very busy time for us and there is still much to prepare.  And despite the above detailed enhancements perhaps sounding like simple changes, I can assure you that the engineering challenges that were encountered in this major shift of architecture (especially in the charging circuits) involved at least 200 hours of work.  I am not even sure how much hair John now has left! 

We do this all for our fans.  After this, we can continue on with the other exciting products planned for the year, as well as John’s ongoing development of a unique and powerful measurement system.
Here’s to good music and more great audio fun in 2018!
 

Thanks everyone,

—Alex Crespi
—John Swenson 

Reading your review makes me wonder if you have lifted the GND in your USB cables? Cutting the 5v is surely a good thing...but removing the shield and GND of the USB cables is the final touch towards audio nivana together with a SBooster Vbus2 Isolator to shield out the last capasitive coupling inside the USB plugs.

YMMV of course!

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