UpTone Audio EtherREGEN Switch Review

[Ron Party]

The biggest clue you should take away is the claim he "trusts his ears".

Yes, but Sal, I do trust my ears. Upon those rare occasions when I get into an argument with my wife, if I don't listen very carefully I'm inevitably gonna pay, including in some ways which are not fit for public discourse.

 

[Sal1950]

Yes, but Sal, I do trust my ears. Upon those rare occasions when I get into an argument with my wife, if I don't listen very carefully I'm inevitably gonna pay, including in some ways which are not fit for public discourse

Marriage - BLAH
Ever heard the old saw about the couple that put a penny in a jar every time they had sex for the first year.
And then took one out each time ever after that?
The lesson here is,
If you enjoy sex, never get married.
When that flame goes out, time to move on. LOL

 

[Superdad]

Marriage - BLAH
…The lesson here is,
If you enjoy sex, never get married.
When that flame goes out, time to move on.

Good grief Sal. You’d best look in the mirror because such dumb comments are just a reflection of you.

I’ve been married 33 years, have 3 great kids, and things are hotter than ever in the bedroom.

 

[Sal1950]

I’ve been married 33 years, have 3 great kids, and things are hotter than ever in the bedroom

Yea right, that's almost as big a fairy-tale as your claims for the REGEN wigets.
ROTFLMAO

 

[Frank Dernie]

Posting an alternative review (by someone who has technical credentials) that comes to a different conclusion isn't an endorsement by me. I don't own this device nor have any investment (emotionally or financially) in it. If one is required or expected to march in lockstep with reviews here, Sieg Heil, and not post contrary opinions for the sake of debate, well maybe this isn't the forum for me. I also posted a review of it by Absolute Sound and their reviewer loved it and gives it a stellar rating. YMMV

I think the problem here is that whatever his credentials there is no evidence he used any scientific method in this test so his background could have been that of a butcher.

The reality is that we can measure the influence of all electronic parts of a HiFi to a level well in excess of the acuity of people's ears so whether they are actually changing the sound or it is a convincing narrative that is responsible for favouring a product is possible, but expensive, to prove.

I have proibably wasted more money than most on HiFi over the years when I had a good income and little spare time.

Once I retired and had time I did some level matched comparisons between the DACs I owned, and potential new ones, and found once the volume level had been accurately set the same between them all the differences I had percieved in other comparisons disappeared.
I could still hear differences between some of the different reconstruction filter choices on those that have them, notably the dCS, but with a brick wall filter most have to comply properly with the theorem they all sounded the same.

I still hear differences between speakers and their (and my) location in the room, so that is all I concentrate on now.

There is actually no mechanism by which this device could, in any case, influence the sound of properly engineered equipment so any review saying it does is easy to recognise as balderdash and remove all credibility for the individual claiming it does.

I recommend hanging around here for a while and seeing the lie of the technically competent land before making any more purchases.

 

[AudioSceptic]

Serious nerd test? I see none of these.

physical layer compliance testing 1000base t ethernet

Engineers designing or validating the 1000BASE-T Ethernet physical layer on their products need to perform a wide range of tests, quickly, reliably and efficiently. This

www.tek.com

Serious NERD TEST by someone far more technical than I. He likes it:

UpTone Audio EtherREGEN Review and Comparison

UpTone Audio EtherREGEN Review and Comparison Rajiv Arora Introduction The UpTone Audio EtherREGEN (shortened to eR for the rest of this review) is a diminutive Ethernet switch with a bold value proposition. UpTone claims it “...is capable of producing surprisingly audible sonic improvements in f...

audiophilestyle.com

Summary
The UpTone EtherREGEN is one of those rare products that delivers high-end audio performance at an affordable price. Not only does it deliver “surprisingly audible sonic improvements” as claimed, it holds its own against the best-sounding competing products out there, that cost 3x its price or more.

Furthermore, unlike any of its competitors, UpTone have attempted to demystify the technical basis for the product, and are to be commended for that. Whether or not it convinces the skeptics, I for one applaud their transparency in the matter.

For a modest investment, users can start with the sonic benefits out of the box, and extend these benefits further over time with upgrades to the PSU and clock. With this stepwise approach, users can achieve similar absolute performance as the best of the EtherREGEN’s competition.

I don’t use the word “bargain” lightly, but in this case it’s true. The EtherREGEN is one of high-end audio’s bargains. If your audio system uses Ethernet for streaming audio, you owe it to yourself to try the EtherREGEN.

Primary System

• Music Computer: Custom computer: H370M-ITX/ac, i7-8700T, 8GB Apacer RAM, HDPlex H3 case, 32GB M10 Optane SSD for OS, JCAT Net Card Femto, running Euphony OS with Stylus or Roon+StylusEP music software
• Music Storage: Synology NAS DS916+ 4-bay, attached to router via Ethernet
• Headphone Amplifier: Cavalli Liquid Gold
• Headphones: Sennheiser HD800 (SD Mod), Meze Empyrean, Abyss AB-1266 CC
• USB Regenerator: SOtM tX-USBultra SE
• Reference Clock: Mutec Ref 10 10MHz clock driving the tX-USBultra and switch
• Power supplies: Paul Hynes SR-7 DR (dual regulation) for switch & tX-USBultra, Paul Hynes SR-4 for JCAT Net Card Femto, HDPlex 400W ATX LPS for music computer motherboard
• Power Details: Dedicated 30A 6 AWG AC circuit, PS Audio P12 PerfectWave Regenerator (under review)
• Power Cables: PS Audio AC-12 (wall to P12), Cardas Clear Beyond (Cavalli Amp), Cardas Clear for all other components
• USB cables: Intona Ultimate 0.5m, Intona Reference 0.5m
• Clock cables: Habst 5N Cryo Pure Silver 50Ω and SOtM dCBL-BNC 75Ω
• Ethernet cables: SOtM dCBL-Cat7
• DC cables: Ghent Audio custom OCC JSSG360 ATX and EPS cables, Paul Hynes fine silver (SR-4, SR-7)
• Interconnects: Cardas Clear XLR balanced
• Headphone cables: Transparent Ultra cable system, Cardas Clear balanced and SE cables
• Accessories: Synergistic Research Tranquility Base XL UEF with Galileo MP

Acknowledgments
Many thanks to the following companies for supplying cables and accessories to aid in this evaluation:

• Cardas Audio, for a full loom of Cardas Clear cables.
• Transparent Audio, for the Transparent Ultra headphone cable with a full complement of headphones leads and source terminators.
• Intona EU, for the Reference and Ultimate USB cables.
• Sonore Audio, for the opticalModule, TP-Link fiber transceivers, and fiber optic cable.

About the Author
Rajiv Arora - a.k.a. @austinpop - is both a computer geek and a lifelong audiophile. He doesn’t work much, but when he does, it’s as a consultant in the computer industry. Having retired from a corporate career as a researcher, technologist and executive, he now combines his passion for music and audio gear with his computer skills and his love of writing to author reviews and articles about high-end audio.

Eh? 'austinpop' finds that virtually nothing is any good unless it has every possible tweak added. It's a wonder that anything works at all without them! Everything needs its own boutique power supply, and every cable needs to be overpriced audiophile snake oil.

 

[AudioSceptic]

HIM: "Starting with his Ph.D. research on computer networks, and extending over his professional career, his area of expertise is the performance and scalability of distributed computing systems. Tuning and optimization are in his blood. He is guided by the scientific method and robust experimental design. That said, he trusts his ears, and how a system or component sounds is always the final determinant in his findings. He does not need every audio effect to be measurable, as long as it is consistently audible."

I'm no EE or network engineer, so I guess this is the battle of the nerds.

Have you ever heard of critical thinking? You should try it.

You might want to read this <https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/...q-of-computer-audio-streaming/#comment-613370> and see how much sense it makes.

 

[Mart68]

Have you ever heard of critical thinking? You should try it.

You might want to read this <https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/...q-of-computer-audio-streaming/#comment-613370> and see how much sense it makes.

In the time it took him to write all that waffle he could have done a blind test, just for himself, to see if it was worth writing all that waffle.

 

[ahofer]

Yea right, that's almost as big a fairy-tale as your claims for the REGEN wigets.
ROTFLMAO

What happened to you?

 

[watts]

The reality is that we can measure the influence of all electronic parts of a HiFi to a level well in excess of the acuity of people's ears so whether they are actually changing the sound or it is a convincing narrative that is responsible for favouring a product is possible, but expensive, to prove.


I still hear differences between speakers and their (and my) location in the room, so that is all I concentrate on now.

Okay, so I have a question: Do you first check out the specs of the speakers you plan to purchase, and buy them based on how they measure, looking for the flattest frequency response, and impedence matching to your amplifier(s)? And then buy those speakers?

Or do you just listen to them?

I am surprised this has not come up in this thread, but there was a fellow named Julian Hirsch, and I used to be a subscriber to the magazine he ran. All that mattered in his periodical was numbers: the amplifier that had the most power with the least measured distortion won. I was "suckered" into this methodology back when I was 15 years old or so, and religiously memorized his charts of these products. And then once I actually listened to some of them, versus some of the ones that measured poorly, all that "scientific data" was useless.

 

[pkane]

Okay, so I have a question: Do you first check out the specs of the speakers you plan to purchase, and buy them based on how they measure, looking for the flattest frequency response, and impedence matching to your amplifier(s)? And then buy those speakers?

Or do you just listen to them?

I am surprised this has not come up in this thread, but there was a fellow named Julian Hirsch, and I used to be a subscriber to the magazine he ran. All that mattered in his periodical was numbers: the amplifier that had the most power with the least measured distortion won. I was "suckered" into this methodology back when I was 15 years old or so, and religiously memorized his charts of these products. And then once I actually listened to some of them, versus some of the ones that measured poorly, all that "scientific data" was useless.

I too have a question: what do speakers have to do with an ethernet switch?

 

[watts]

I too have a question: what do speakers have to do with an ethernet switch?

Good question. I think the answer is easier to find then the answer to the question what does 4 pages of automobiles have to do with home audio.

 

[tw99]

In both cases, the answer is easy, and it's "nothing".

 

[Katji]

This is fkng annoying.

 

[AudioSceptic]

It’s not. You won’t be able to tell the difference in a controlled test.

In the time it took him to write all that waffle he could have done a blind test, just for himself, to see if it was worth writing all that waffle

We know that would never happen.

 

[Killingbeans]

Serious NERD TEST by someone far more technical than I.

Do you mean that he's a serious nerd? Undoubtedly he is.

Or do you mean that it's a serious test? Because that's not something I'd agree with you on. When making a claim that seems to go against common sense (in this case that Ethernet switches have sonic signatures) "I trust my ears" just isn't gonna cut the mustard.

Being smart doesn't make you infallible. If no controls are being instigated, perceptual bias can fool even the smartest cookie.

 

[Superdad]

We know that would never happen.

Seven switches for streaming audio tested - Blind!

The test was carried out completely blind in front of the test panel. The first idea was to do it double-blind. But that didn't work out in the end.

alpha-audio.net

 

[PierreV]

Seven switches for streaming audio tested - Blind!

The test was carried out completely blind in front of the test panel. The first idea was to do it double-blind. But that didn't work out in the end.

alpha-audio.net

Is that a kindergarten stats class? Oh, wait, no stats.

 

[Killingbeans]

Seven switches for streaming audio tested - Blind!

The test was carried out completely blind in front of the test panel. The first idea was to do it double-blind. But that didn't work out in the end.

alpha-audio.net

"Alpha Audio is not a platform for statistics. So if not everything is scientifically sound, I apologize."

Apology accepted

 

[Iving]

- Objectivist protagonists are correct in saying that nothing is proven unless a fitting test yields a statistically sig. difference between conditions (e.g. switch/no switch; or, 2 or more switches etc).
- The absence of such a "proven" effect does not mean a that a difference does not exist! Just means an effect has not been established.
- Even failure to demonstrate a sig. effect in a good experiment does not necessarily mean that no difference exists. The experiment may be good, but not sufficiently sensitive.

Among the things that make a good scientist are:
a) an open mind and the embracement of mysteries (without them science would have nothing to investigate); and,
b) a capacity for logic - understanding what can and should not be asserted given suitable empirical data - and also their lack.

I have an eR between PC and D16 AES in an offline Dante/RedNet system. I think I can hear its beneficial effect on SQ. I can't prove I hear a difference. That doesn't mean I am obliged to dispose of the eR. I'd rather hedge my bets in favour of possible optimisation of my system.

At the time I bought the eR, I wasn't of the view that the same money could be better hedged elsewhere. I'm not of the view now that its second hand value would be better invested elsewhere.

The eR is the only Uptone product I own. I wish @Superdad well with future product development.