USB Regen from Uptone Audio

[rickmcinnis]

Sent a note asking if we can pay a little less and not get the unneeded supply.

I guess, one way or another, I will give it a try.

Interested to hear if someone has found whether PCIe USB is still advantageous.

[nige2000]

Sent a note asking if we can pay a little less and not get the unneeded supply.

dare i say i guess the smps ps probably doesnt cost enough to warrant a discount for not including it

I guess, one way or another, I will give it a try.

Interested to hear if someone has found whether PCIe USB is still advantageous.

im sure we will get that tested here
but by the sounds of things id suspect a good clk ps combo in a pci card or modded mobo usb will be better than stock mobo port

a modded regen or a variation of it might be worth investigation

[rickmcinnis]

Just finished speaking with Mr. Crespi of UPTONE.

He has many interesting things to say.

The REGEN is using USB 2. He and his partner say that 3 uses so many devices to get the speed that it is not the speed that makes 3 noisy but what one must do to implement it.

He says that feeding it with either is fine. Feeding it with a pcie USB card should make things better but not night and day. Will have to hear for ourselves. I told him the JCAT used USB3 and his reply was "why, none of the devices one plugs into afterwards use USB3". He spoke of some trick USB2 hub chip as being ideal but requires a license and lots of other difficult details to use in a product. This is all over my head.

He is the genuine article. As sick and obsessed an audiophile as I have ever spoken to. Uses MAC Minis for reasons too lengthy to go into. I suggested when the sells 3000 of these things he should try "full sized" PC again.

He says they will offer, before the end of the year, a regulator based on the same TI regs he uses in the REGEN that will go between the switcher and the REGEN that he thinks will surprise everyone who hears it with its goodness. I had asked about getting the thing without the supply and he said it might be worth getting it with for this reason. He offered no price reduction so that is an easy decision.

His partner's specialty is power circuits in ICs and he says his talents will be displayed with this device. Sounds interesting. Will have to hear it for myself to be convinced but one cannot deny it would be neat if something could make powering simple.

From what I heard from him, and little of it had to do with the device he is selling, tells me this is a product born of the love of music.

I ordered one and will have to wait until August to hear it.

He said they are working on a DAC that is unlike anything else. Two years away and will be expensive. I get the feeling the USB2 scheme he was speaking of will be used in this. Something to look forward to. Hope my SOEKRIS will last that long and I can afford it when it arrives, if it as good as he promises. I do not think he is prone to exaggeration.

[nige2000]

mystifies me why they use mac minis
they seem to be doing some very logical ca work

maybe theres a certain usb 2 chip better then usb3 chip in usb2 mode
just not been my experience

[sbgk]

interesting they favour solid usb connectors over cables, think I read about the benefit of those on J Keny's blog many moons ago, the best connector is no connector.

[jkeny]

interesting they favour solid usb connectors over cables, think I read about the benefit of those on J Keny's blog many moons ago, the best connector is no connector.

:)

[jkeny]

Yes, Rick, the USB 3 chips are basically 2 separate USB chips combined into one for backward compatibility to USB 2. So there's double the trouble & double the possibility for noise fluctuations.

Don't know what the "special" USB chip is but that's interesting info.

No, their new DAC won't be incorporating this USB hub concept, AFAIK - it will be using a very different approach of which very scant details have been inadvertently(?) leaked.

[rickmcinnis]

I was just speculating on the USB thing. He volunteered no information and I did not ask since it was my first conversation.

I do not doubt you are correct. He made it sound like it was going to be different in just about every way. He is not overly secretive and very gregarious so bits and pieces will be revealed as time goes by, I suspect. By calculation or by mistake?

I told him about TIR NA and hope he might take a look here and take part in these forums. After all this is the most interesting audio site in existence in my unhumble opinion.

[jkeny]

I was just speculating on the USB thing. He volunteered no information and I did not ask since it was my first conversation.

I do not doubt you are correct. He made it sound like it was going to be different in just about every way. He is not overly secretive and very gregarious so bits and pieces will be revealed as time goes by, I suspect. By calculation or by mistake?

I told him about TIR NA and hope he might take a look here and take part in these forums. After all this is the most interesting audio site in existence in my unhumble opinion.

I hope he joins & participates too - although this is a small market, I agree that the forum is the best around. One big let down for a new member, however, is it's search facility.

[Sligolad]

Looks like we will have to organise a get together to get a few more ears on this Regen as per Nige's suggestion as I am now struggling to hear the same big difference from the first 2 days!!!

I came home Friday after a tough week and cracked open a bottle of wine and started listening to a few albums.
From the first track I was convinced the music did not sound as good as the past 2 days. Thinking it may be down to me being a bit worn and tired I persisted listening but by the third album I was convinced there was something amiss with my system.

I began checking connections at the back of the audio PCs while the music was playing and all seemed OK until I touched the Regen then the music cut out.
I had to reboot the audio PC to get it talking to the DAC again and after that the music sounded much better. I did not find the cause as the connections looked OK.

I stayed away from the system all day yesterday and went back fresh this morning to do some AB with and without the Regen and to be honest I am struggling to tell much of a difference with and without.

Thinking back to when I added the Regen I listened to music before adding it then went to GUI mode to get it installed and added JPlay 6.1 while there then back to core mode and run AO 1.3 again.

I considered that JPlay 6.1 might have made a difference but nothing like I was hearing and maybe doing a reset with going back to GUI mode and back to core with rerunning AO may have made a difference but I am a bit puzzled today.
I tried adding the Anker 12v battery supply to the Regen to see if I have a grounding issue but I still could not hear any real impact.

I am up for a group test so have Regen and will travel, I can bring the Corning as well so any volunteers let me know, will travel to Meath some evening during the week or next weekend if necessary. Would be good to hear it in someone else's system with some good ears in the room!

Going to have a go at setting up streamer mode in JPlay today to see if it is as good as JPlayMini.
Cheers, Pearse.