UpTone Audio USB Regen Listening Impressions

[mink70]

I've had a few days now to play with my fully broken-in Regen with the stock MeanWell brick (and one AQ Jitterbug), and I'm curious if anyone else had a similar experience. On the one hand, the Regen's improvement of the sound is obvious and undeniable—a layer of grunge is scraped away (though the sound is a little lighter in tone), and for the first time well-recorded guitar strings sound spooky real. But for me, the effect on the music is not entirely positive—the rhythmic drive of the music sounds impeded, and the sense of excitement that comes from dynamics seems dialed back, too. It feels like there's subtle barrier to the music's flow, and my foot doesn't tap as much as with the Jitterbug alone or without any USB filtration. I'm running the latest Audirvana + on an older Mac Book Pro with an SSD boot drive, through an Audience USB cable to an Ayre Codex DAC, then Shindo amplification and vintage Tannoy speakers.

[lmitche]

I've had a few days now to play with my fully broken-in Regen with the stock MeanWell brick (and one AQ Jitterbug), and I'm curious if anyone else had a similar experience. On the one hand, the Regen's improvement of the sound is obvious and undeniable—a layer of grunge is scraped away (though the sound is a little lighter in tone), and for the first time well-recorded guitar strings sound spooky real. But for me, the effect on the music is not entirely positive—the rhythmic drive of the music sounds impeded, and the sense of excitement that comes from dynamics seems dialed back, too. It feels like there's subtle barrier to the music's flow, and my foot doesn't tap as much as with the Jitterbug alone or without any USB filtration. I'm running the latest Audirvana + on an older Mac Book Pro with an SSD boot drive, through an Audience USB cable to an Ayre Codex DAC, then Shindo amplification and vintage Tannoy speakers.

Try powering the REGEN with a better power supply, or lithium ion battery. You will be surprised at the improvement. Battery power sounds best to my ears.

[mink70]

Try powering the REGEN with a better power supply, or lithium ion battery. You will be surprised at the improvement. Battery power sounds best to my ears.

 

Thanks lmitche! Where would one get a battery power supply for the Regen?

[lmitche]

They are all over amazon. I bought a lithium ion called a "greaty" for on sale for $10.

[Jud]

I found the effects you describe from the Jitterbug. Try the Regen without it.

[Guidof]

I found the effects you describe from the Jitterbug. Try the Regen without it.

 

+1!

[sandyk]

Try powering the REGEN with a better power supply, or lithium ion battery. You will be surprised at the improvement. Battery power sounds best to my ears.

 

Likewise !

If you can afford it, you could also wait for the reports about Alex C and Jon's new Ultracap PSU to start coming in.

[Allan F]

I found the effects you describe from the Jitterbug. Try the Regen without it.

 

+1

 

I found that the Jitterbug sucked the "life" out of the music in my system.

[Doak]

+1

 

I found that the Jitterbug sucked the "life" out of the music in my system.

That's exactly how I put it when I tried one, then two JBs in various configurations.

[ColtMrFire]

The jitterbugs really enhanced my system. I have two.

 

Regen will be here next week.

[mink70]

I found the effects you describe from the Jitterbug. Try the Regen without it.

 

Thanks everyone. Yes, this was the culprit. Removing the Jitterbug solved this problem. Weirdly, I really like the way the Jitterbug sounds by itself. But with the Regen, it did suck much of the pleasure from the music and made it much less engaging.

[mink70]

So what's the next step in getting more juice from the Regen? The new UpTone power supply sounds great, but is a bit pricey. El Cheapo? A lithium-ion battery PS?

[wwaldmanfan]

So what's the next step in getting more juice from the Regen? The new UpTone power supply sounds great, but is a bit pricey. El Cheapo? A lithium-ion battery PS?

 

I replaced the stock Meanwell SMPS with an "el cheapo" (Breeze Audio) LPS running at 9v. I have clean power to my stereo rig, so the improvement in SQ was a subtle increment, at best.

Can't speak to battery power, and the not sure what the point of the new, $380 REGEN power supply add-on is, all things considered, unless you have serious noise issues with your power to start with.

[mink70]

I replaced the stock Meanwell SMPS with an "el cheapo" (Breeze Audio) LPS running at 9v. I have clean power to my stereo rig, so the improvement in SQ was a subtle increment, at best.

Can't speak to battery power, and the not sure what the point of the new, $380 REGEN power supply add-on is, all things considered, unless you have serious noise issues with your power to start with.

 

Well, now with Audirvana + running through a stock Regen into an Ayre Codex, music flows well and sounds pretty great, but there's still a bit of a steely quality to the music. And I'm wondering whether a battery supply or a LPS might take care of that.

[kennyb123]

Well, now with Audirvana + running through a stock Regen into an Ayre Codex, music flows well and sounds pretty great, but there's still a bit of a steely quality to the music. And I'm wondering whether a battery supply or a LPS might take care of that.

 

An LPS helped strip some of that away in my system. I went with the "El Cheapo".

 

I found that replacing the hard adapter with the Curious link helped even more.

[Allan F]

An LPS helped strip some of that away in my system. I went with the "El Cheapo".

 

I found that replacing the hard adapter with the Curious link helped even more.

+1

 

While I didn't have a "steely quality", I also found that "El Cheapo' provided some improvement and the Curious link even more in terms of clarity and timbre.

[Dyson]

An LPS helped strip some of that away in my system. I went with the "El Cheapo".

 

I found that replacing the hard adapter with the Curious link helped even more.

 

+1

 

Can't agree more

[mink70]

Thank you all so much for the super helpful suggestions.

 

I have one more newbie question: how would I build a very simple cheapo lithium battery supply for the Regen? A 9 volt battery clip with 2.1 mm DC plug? And would a standard 9v 600mA battery be enough?

 

Perhaps someone can share a link to a suitable product?

 

Thanks in advance,

Alex

[Cornan]

Thank you all so much for the super helpful suggestions.

 

I have one more newbie question: how would I build a very simple cheapo lithium battery supply for the Regen? A 9 volt battery clip with 2.1 mm DC plug? And would a standard 9v 600mA battery be enough?

 

Perhaps someone can share a link to a suitable product?

 

Thanks in advance,

Alex

9v battery clip is working but not the best option sound wise and will not last as long as for example 18650's in series. Anyway, I think you might want to check out the official USB Regen thread were Michael is building a battery supply for the USB Regen with a promise to report back with sound impressions.

[mink70]

They are all over amazon. I bought a lithium ion called a "greaty" for on sale for $10.

 

Would a common phone-charging lithium ion battery pack, with a 5v/2.1a output, connected with a USB—>2.1mm DC jack converter cable, be able to power the Regen decently?

[Kugel]

Hello,

I describe my system:

Macbook Air, Dac, Ayre QB DSD, Cardas Clear USB, Uptone Regen Amber, Curious Cable Link, Power Supply Sbooster BOTW P&P ECO 5V - 6V, Sbooster Vbus2 Isolator, Audirvana 2.3.2 (the best version that sounds in my system right now)

On the other USB port I have connected the Portable Hard Disk with AQ Jitterbug. The other day I tried to remove the AQ Jitterbug and heard songs that I know very well. My conclusions (in the absence of more hours of listening to music) is that my system is best heard without the AQ Jitterbug, improvements in the voices, deeper, more natural, less fatigue. With the Jitterbug music is like sound thicker is this possible?

The music I used in the tests (among other) is this:

Leonard Cohen – Old Ideas y Popular Problems

Malia – Convergence

Yello – Touch

These discs are heard fantastic with the Jitterbug, but without the still hear better

[Cornan]

Hello,

I describe my system:

Macbook Air, Dac, Ayre QB DSD, Cardas Clear USB, Uptone Regen Amber, Curious Cable Link, Power Supply Sbooster BOTW P&P ECO 5V - 6V, Sbooster Vbus2 Isolator, Audirvana 2.3.2 (the best version that sounds in my system right now)

On the other USB port I have connected the Portable Hard Disk with AQ Jitterbug. The other day I tried to remove the AQ Jitterbug and heard songs that I know very well. My conclusions (in the absence of more hours of listening to music) is that my system is best heard without the AQ Jitterbug, improvements in the voices, deeper, more natural, less fatigue. With the Jitterbug music is like sound thicker is this possible?

The music I used in the tests (among other) is this:

Leonard Cohen – Old Ideas y Popular Problems

Malia – Convergence

Yello – Touch

These discs are heard fantastic with the Jitterbug, but without the still hear better

 

AQ Jitterbug is extremely system dependent. What you can try to do before you put the Jitterbug on the shelf collecting dust is to add it directly after the Sbooster Vbus2 Isolator in the output of the Macbook air, ie. Macbook air>Vbus2>AQ Jitterbug etc. The best improvement was made this way in my system. Never the less...it is not in use in my system right now.

[Kugel]

AQ Jitterbug is extremely system dependent. What you can try to do before you put the Jitterbug on the shelf collecting dust is to add it directly after the Sbooster Vbus2 Isolator in the output of the Macbook air, ie. Macbook air>Vbus2>AQ Jitterbug etc. The best improvement was made this way in my system. Never the less...it is not in use in my system right now.

 

Thank you

If I put the AQ Jitterbug with Isolator Vbus2 Portable Hard Disk is not working because you stream reaches 5 volts.

I do not want to put the AQ Jitterbug before Uptone Regen, I prefer to work alone. I am of the theory that less is more, the simpler the better

[Cornan]

Thank you

If I put the AQ Jitterbug with Isolator Vbus2 Portable Hard Disk is not working because you stream reaches 5 volts.

I do not want to put the AQ Jitterbug before Uptone Regen, I prefer to work alone. I am of the theory that less is more, the simpler the better

 

Definately! Less is more and simpler is better....but unfortunately in a lot of situations you´ll need to take the longer path in audio to acheive a simpler & better result. Regen & Vbus2 is good examples of that...but that list could just go on an on!

[Kugel]

In the audio often do not differentiate between different and you hear hear better, we tend to think that when we hear something different from usual, we think is best heard and it is not always so. In the case of AQ Jitterbug (a lack of more hours of listening) I think music influences enhancing the sound but instead think naturally loses