advertisement


UptoneAudio EtherREGEN

For many years I used Wifi to stream from my NAS to my NDS, but was surprised that a wired link sounded much better (even with a then Netgaer switch, which changed to a Cisco and now Etherregen)
I am not sure if this only a Naim issue only, but I think otherr manufacturers also still recommend wired ?
DCS only use wired and I think Linn go with wired as preference, Naim Gen 1 devices certainly behaved better over wired irrespective of sound differences if any, Auralic say the opposite and that Wi-Fi is best. Pretty much suck it and see really, so much depends on you network topology and mains power arrangements.
 
DCS only use wired and I think Linn go with wired as preference, Naim Gen 1 devices certainly behaved better over wired irrespective of sound differences if any, Auralic say the opposite and that Wi-Fi is best. Pretty much suck it and see really, so much depends on you network topology and mains power arrangements.
I think also in the early days of streaming 24/192 over wifi was a big ask of crappy routers, so Linn and Naim were probably wise to chose wired networking to avoid being blamed for dropouts etc.. It would have been easy enough to use a wifi extender like an Apple Airport Express which had an ethernet out if you couldn’t run a long cable. No doubt this practical choice also got spun as “ethernet sounds better”.
 
You could have tried CAT5e STP instead, lower bandwidth and still shielded. Worth pointing out that all Gigabit ethernet switches ‘regenerate’ the signal and galvanic isolate the ports, they typically store and forward the ethernet packets, some low latency switches like those from Mellanox use cut through switching. Floating shields is a good idea otherwise you have to pay attention to ground loops with fully shielded cables and end points. Why didn’t anybody try a better psu with their Netgear/Cisco first?

Good idea - but the Ciscos have inbuilt power supplies
 
Not all, the Small Business 5 and 8 ports have external supplies. The larger switches do like the larger business class Netgears.
 
Are you in a position to try - and let us know?
Not at the moment, once we get through this COVID crap and I can get a Sparky and Joiner in to sort things. At that point I’ll have a dedicated mains supply for the HiFi and the choice of copper or fibre network feeding the streamers. I have used such things in a business context but not for home audio. At present the systems are just cobbled together and in flux.
 
I just swapped my veritable Cisco 2960 switch for an Etherregen.

Straight out of the box there was an improvement in the higher frequencies with more clarity, more reality, although loss in bass volume.

One week later the soundstage is wider and deeper and the bass register clearer. This is a significant upgrade on the Cisco

I found that the Etherregen with the standard switch power supply to be power sensitive – better on my BMU compared to the wall, and better still with a MCRU 75 power lead compared to a standard Naim powercord

I am very tempted therefore to either buy a linear supply from Farad or Paul Hynes, or a Teddy Pardo

To my mind, for those that use streaming, getting the switch right is a logical first step before thinking of a better dac/streamer.

I have a Regen and agree with you. I then bought a Paul Haynes PSU. It’s worth it.

Paul
 
To be honest, I went for the silver cable because I’m a sucker for “it must be better” but the truth is I have zero idea! But as a whole - power supply and cable - I’m happy with the performance. I have a DCS Rossini player and overall, for the first time, streaming is better than most CD’s and for the first time I can really hear the difference between red book and hi res (all things being equal).
 
To be honest, I went for the silver cable because I’m a sucker for “it must be better” but the truth is I have zero idea! But as a whole - power supply and cable - I’m happy with the performance. I have a DCS Rossini player and overall, for the first time, streaming is better than most CD’s and for the first time I can really hear the difference between red book and hi res (all things being equal).
Did you have or compare the Bartok to the Rossini? I have had a Bartok on home demo, very impressed with it.
 
Yes I did have the Bartok. It’s amazing but I should not have listened to the Rossini! Also I wanted to retain CD even though I now never listen to CDs. If you don’t do that, it’s hard to imagine what is better than the Bartok. Enjoy it!
 
Yes I did have the Bartok. It’s amazing but I should not have listened to the Rossini! Also I wanted to retain CD even though I now never listen to CDs. If you don’t do that, it’s hard to imagine what is better than the Bartok. Enjoy it!
I don’t spin disks nowadays, have an Oppo so I can rip any hires disks I buy, rip CDs on my PC via dBPoweramp, only buy a few per year. Do buy a lot of vinyl still. Debated whether to go straight to the Rossini DAC but I want to upgrade other parts of the system first, I think I will get a bigger improvement for the £’s there as things stand. I was a bit surprised how much better the Bartok is compared to my Auralic kit.
 
I have all my vinyl but sold my LP12 / Aro / Armageddon / D17mk2 a long time ago. I was going to buy a new special turntable but DCS streaming is so good, I’m done with nostalgic vinyl.
 


advertisement


Back
Top