EtherREGEN ~ Cleaning those 1s and 0s over Ethernet?

Guilty as charged. Born in France, grew up in Israel but spent a few years of my life in South Africa.

Anyway back to the issue at hand. What really rubs me sideway with this style of advertising is that it's a cold and calculated tactic to prey on the unsuspecting. Being myself a practitioner of selling useless stuff to the clueless I can appreciate the style but I really don't like when someone is hunting too close to my den, or in this case messing up with something I happen to care about.

I do suffer from sarcasm and a lack of empathy so I'll ask for forgiveness if I managed to offend anyone.

 

No, nor improve anything.

 

Any switch "retransmits" and "cleans" packets. By it's nature it receives and stores packets (but probably not jumbo packets on this fake POS), and then uses its learned ARP routing tables to negotiate and transmit to MAC devices on the physical layer.

This switch however doesn't have the millions of dollars of research in it like American developed devices, rather it likely benefits from decades of Chinese industrial espionage. Probably someone took the board from a TP-Link and stuck it in a shiny box. This also likely doesn't support VLAN, spanning tress, port teaming, or any of these dozens of features a real switch does, features which you can read about from a spec sheet and ponder:

You can read a little bit about what happens inside the brains of a switch: Switch functions at layer 2 - GeeksforGeeks

Pick up a used HP Procurve switch, you know the type used in datacenters and high-frequency trading and actually cost thousands new. Won't go down even when you're replacing a power supply.

Obviously anyone who buys this is not buying it based on logic, and therefore further logic is expected to be of little effect.

 

I've always wanted a moat.

 

Me too. But even moats have to measure to accepted standards.

 

As an early adopter who got the first shipment, I can say that If you own an Ethernet based audio system of decent quality, it would be foolish to avoid trying the EtherRegen in your system. Even though some of us are finding we have to set a hard IP address in the network card/streamer to avoid having to reset the unit once a day or so, the sound quality is so significant I shudder to think of returning it.

There’s a listening impressions thread on computer audiophile where one can read several people’s reactions. In the right system, I would call it transformative.

Avoid the EtherRegen at your own peril.

 

Funny

 

I'm an open-minded guy about most things in the universe. Someone needs to post 2 sound clips: one using this device and a second file of the clip w/o it and I will listen to see if I can tell the difference. Is anyone brave enough to do this?

 

I'm having Firesign Theater flashbacks.

 

It won't work.

Only those with the EtherRegen installed will be able to hear the difference Even then, when the difference is too small for example or when there is a Smart Meter installed outside, they may need to install two of them on the same network before the magic kicks in and the truth is revealed.

Beware the perils, think of the children!

 

To respond to Harby’s post, Steve the guy that developed the product has engineered a number of chips in many of the commercial switches on the market. He spent 2 years developing this product, so it’s not a just repackaged technology with a better power supply, etc.

Ontheone, Recording the output is an interesting idea, however I’m not sure if the numerous steps in recording and playback on a system (that may itself have serious jitter) will demonstrate the EtherRegen’s benefit in one’s own system.

I think the only way to really experience it and see if one’s system would benefit is to order with 30 day money back policy.

The results I’m getting are extremely good, but I’m listing on Andrew Jones’ best effort with outstanding amplification, lots of tubes, and a power conditioner that costs as much a good audio rig itself. It might not be as effective in a less capable system, or one that has a 5 figure digital front end. YMMV.

Added... Claude could you elaborate on the smart meter? They recently installed them in my building. I didn’t notice a decrease in sound quality, but I wasn’t specifically listening for one.

 

Surely any improvements would be even more apparent in a ‘lesser’ system as there’s more room for any improvement?

 

Shawn, possibly a modestly priced DAC might reap large rewards with the EtherRegen (vs. a more expensive Dac without the isolation and reclocking) but there’s so few of them out there I don’t know if anyone has a handle on that yet.

My thoughts is, using the video analogy of projector vs. something like a 55” monitor, when the pixels are blown up quite large with very fine detail visible, subtle changes can be apparent that are not on the smaller display. As a video pro, a monitor without accurate color reproduction won’t show the subtle shifts imparted in the color grading process.

In an audio system if the speakers can’t resolve all the details, or a cabinet or driver adds sound of its own) or if an amp can’t track the dynamics (or may sound hard when pushed) or even if AC power distortion and noise is masking the signal, you may not be able to hear all of the improvement of lowered jitter and isolation.

Perhaps a good power conditioner may help lower priced gear with a lesser power supplies shine.

 

I had been waiting for someone to review this product with actual measurements - alas we have it.

UpTone Audio EtherREGEN Switch Review

Conclusion: "Needless to say, I absolutely cannot recommend the UpTone EtherRegen. It seems to be designed by people who a) don't understand the architecture of streaming audio and hardware and b) didn't bother make measurements of said flaws before going to fix them. A problem was imagined, and then supposedly fixed."

This is all I need to know. Sonic gains via ethernet are a total waste. And I was one of the open-minded ones!

 

Thanks. Do you have a link to the video pertaining to ashtray and cigarette lighter repair that he mentioned at the end?

I'm disappointed that the subtitles had so many errors. This could confuse earnest young students who might be interested in this field of study.

Those announcers were great! I wouldn't be able to pronounce all those complicated scientific terms so smoothly.

 

Believing anything read in a "review" from Amirbits....NOT RECOMMENDED!

CJ

 

Can you elaborate?

 

come on, the only way you could possibly think that this product would have any effect on sound is if you don't understand tcp/ip data transmission.
If this product improves sound, then the internet wouldn't work. end of story.

we already had that stupid ethernet cable thread on here that made this board the laughing stock of the tech world, lets not do that again!

 

I ws a member of the Computer Audiophile forum, now called Audiophile Style. It has (d)evolved into a hyper-technical discussion board which does not even resemble a music appreciation site.
When the first generation REGEN device was introduced, there was a lot of hype about it on there. Some users said it was amazing, so I bought one. I also powered it with a decent linear power supply, as the manufacturer (Uptone Audio) did not even recommend using the switching power supply that they supply with it.
I'm not here to bash Uptone. As P.T. Barnum suggested, everyone is entitled to earn a living, or words to that effect. Nor do I know much about ethernet audio. I use a hard-wired laptop-to-DAC setup. You can see my rig in my user profile.
I just have to say that the "amber" REGEN, as it was called, made no difference whatsoever in my system, and I subsequently sold it on ebay. Maybe my equipment, or my hearing, were inadequate to appreciate its benefits, but if I couldn't hear an improvement, it made no sense to use it, or keep it.

 

That’s funny since here is exactly what you wrote about the original USB REGEN way back in 2015:

“I hear differences in USB cables. I do not hear significant differences in power cords or speaker cables (although I haven't tried the REALLY expensive ones). I know the REGEN makes a significant improvement in my system. Sibilance and "digititis" on many of my favorite recordings (Alison Krauss, Norah Jones, The Refugees, etc.) has diminished significantly. I'll be ordering a second REGEN for my headphone setup as soon as the backorder situation subsides a little bit.”
UpTone Audio USB Regen Listening Impressions

You liked it so you bought a second one!

 

Alex from UpTone here:
What you state is entirely incorrect. Take a close look at the board photos we publish and you can see that this is a 100% unique design. The parts alone on the board (not including the cost of the 6-layer PCB or board house assembly fees) come to over $215. And that’s when buying for 500 unit runs. I can prove that.

 

Actually, I didn't.