REGEN Amber Impressions

[4est]

Thank you for your reply!

Unfortunately it is a somewhat complicated issue that depends on how the DAC is designed and your whole system. The upshot is that I can't give a hard and fast rule, sometimes powering a DAC and REGEN off the same supply works great and sometimes it does not.

 

For example I have a Bottlehead DAC and a REGEN both powered off the same JS-2, but separate outputs. This gives separate regulators to each, but a common ground. Other people have tried something similar but it causes ground loops that mess up the sound.

 

You really have to try different things and see what works the best for you.

 

John S.

[audioexile]

My El Cheapo arrived yesterday. Although my unit is a 115V / 9V I noticed the fuse cover states its a 240V fuse and the fuse itself is stamped as a 250V fuse. Since I'm electrically challenged I thought I'd ask if this fuse should be changed out to a 120V.

 

Thanks

[Blake]

Ha- and a pair of them just came in the mail today! I hope that I didn't set myself up...

 

Mine are labelled Breeze Audio fwiw, but El Cheapo is easier to remember. No offense intended.

 

Please be sure to report your findings once you have had a chance to listen to them. My only decision now is whether to buy one or two El Cheapo supplies.

[k6davis]

Let me add to the chorus of enthusiastic raves.

 

I never had a Green, but I got my Amber in the first wave earlier this month. I've been sorting through some concurrent modifications to my system, so I haven't been able to properly assess the impact of the Regen. As it turns out, the other mods wound up being 1 step forward and 3 steps back (long story). So until I can sort that out, I reverted my system back to its previous state - which I was already elated with.

 

So, I'm back to the setup I know well, with the only new addition being the Regen Amber.

 

Wow!!!! It's surprising how the Amber improves multiple aspects of the sound simultaneously: bass response, clarity, soundstaging, PRAT, etc. Quantitatively, these individual improvements are obvious but not massive - except for maybe the soundstaging! More importantly, it's the combination of the improvements that make the Regen essential. Everything sounds more natural and realistic. The sensation that I'm listening to a musical performance and not a reproduction is uncanny.

 

It's been a little over two years since I got serious about computer audio, beyond using it simply for the convenience. Because of innovations like the Regen, I'm getting sound that I never dreamed was possible from the same recordings I've been listening to for decades. Thanks for your efforts and I'll be watching for your future product announcements.

[RichB]

Please be sure to report your findings once you have had a chance to listen to them. My only decision now is whether to buy one or two El Cheapo supplies.

 

I have not had chance to do any comparison listening, but my El Chapo power supply has been making very good music with my Regen Amber so far (been using it at 9V).. Very happy with it so far. Going to give it a few more days then switch back to the stock switching supply and see whT I think.

 

I am am wondering if Alex has had a chance to give my iPower a listen yet.

[Superdad]

I am am wondering if Alex has had a chance to give my iPower a listen yet.

 

Hi Rich:

I'm embarrassed to say that I have not had a chance to do ANY listening in all of July! Between production, logistics, parts ordering, accounting, JS-2 building, and work on the surprise little PS with John, I've barely have time to kiss my wife. But she is away on business for a couple of nights, so this might be the week.

 

I actually have a bunch of PS things to listen to for the first time:

1) SOtM mBPS-d2s battery supply (Jesus sent it to me months ago)

2) SBooster SMPS cleaning devices (both the active "Ultra" and the less expensive passive; but not his full PS)

3) iF iPower

 

Plus I'd like to try putting a pair of REGENs in series for the first time since reports of that have been good.

 

Ciao,

--Alex.

[wwaldmanfan]

I actually have a bunch of PS things to listen to for the first time:

1) SOtM mBPS-d2s battery supply (Jesus sent it to me months ago)

Ciao,

--Alex.

 

We all agree that your products are ethereal, but did not realize that you were receiving components from the Almighty himself ;>)

[EuroDriver]

Yesterday, carefully tests at Geoffrey's Sound Galleries. Both veteran Green and rookie Amber powered from JS-2 at 7 volts, but the new out of the box Amber sounded quite harsh compared to the Veteran Green

 

Completely different result from when I heard veteran Green compared to edbk's well run in Amber several weeks back. Amber was way better than Green

[Superdad]

Yesterday, carefully tests at Geoffrey's Sound Galleries. Both veteran Green and rookie Amber powered from JS-2 at 7 volts, but the new out of the box Amber sounded quite harsh compared to the Veteran Green

 

Completely different result from when I heard veteran Green compared to edbk's well run in Amber several weeks back. Amber was way better than Green

 

Hi Edward:

 

Yes, the REGEN needs at least 1-2 hours of run-in (some say more, some say less) before it smooths out. (I don't think the amber needs more than the green did, but nobody on earth still has a "green" green anymore.)

 

Sadly, I think PeterSt. plugged in the one he bought with the (awful!) 6" cable I provide, the Mean Well SMPS (okay), and then listened for just a few. No wonder he reported not liking the REGEN. Certainly we have many reports of NOS1 owners enjoying the REGEN quite a bit.

 

--Alex C.

[RichB]

Hi Rich:

I'm embarrassed to say that I have not had a chance to do ANY listening in all of July! Between production, logistics, parts ordering, accounting, JS-2 building, and work on the surprise little PS with John, I've barely have time to kiss my wife. But she is away on business for a couple of nights, so this might be the week.

.

 

I understand how it can be Alex... no problem. Us one-man show types need one of those t-shirts that show what folks think we do (sit in front of the stereo enjoying music on a awesome Hi-Fi rig all day) and what we really do (Bookkeeping, taking orders, placing orders, searching out parts/vendors, putting out the trash, boxing stuff, unboxing stuff, shipping shipping and more shipping, talking/working with customers on-line & on the phone, repairing stuff, etc etc) :-) Not unusual for me to go a few weeks without doing any listening as well (setting up and conducting demos, testing gear, etc does not count).

[odelay]

... but the new out of the box Amber sounded quite harsh compared to the Veteran Green

 

Don't know exactly, but felt the Regen sounded better after 20-30hrs. Out of the box, I liked much of what it did, but not everything (soundstage depth collapsed and relate to people calling it 'harsh).

 

I'm used to having to wait for the bass to show up while burning in stuff. However, I found myself turning down the bass within the first hour with the Regen. I eventually (20-30hrs clocked later??) turned the sub back up (not sure if it's back where it was?). I haven't touched it since.

 

I haven't been able to pick up any changes since... but appreciate that MY aural memory is never something to be trusted.

[Bigbwb]

Unfortunately it is a somewhat complicated issue that depends on how the DAC is designed and your whole system. The upshot is that I can't give a hard and fast rule, sometimes powering a DAC and REGEN off the same supply works great and sometimes it does not.

 

For example I have a Bottlehead DAC and a REGEN both powered off the same JS-2, but separate outputs. This gives separate regulators to each, but a common ground. Other people have tried something similar but it causes ground loops that mess up the sound.

 

You really have to try different things and see what works the best for you.

 

John S.

John,

i may have been one who experienced the downside of powering several devices with one linear PS (HD plex). I had mine powering a pico PS and a PPA USB card in my caps build and all worked well. I then used the remaining 9v output to power the regen when it arrived only to experience horrible static! I have since used the included PS of the regen.

 

could this be what you were referring to?

[Superdad]

John,

i may have been one who experienced the downside of powering several devices with one linear PS (HD plex). I had mine powering a pico PS and a PPA USB card in my caps build and all worked well. I then used the remaining 9v output to power the regen when it arrived only to experience horrible static! I have since used the included PS of the regen.

 

could this be what you were referring to?

 

Well, think of the ground of a USB cable like the ground of an audio interconnect (though it is not). You are joining the grounds of your computer and DAC via both the USB cable and the power supplies. Throw a preamp into the mix (its ground connects to your DAC) and it is no wonder that ground loops abound. Often with computers it manifests itself either as static or a low level beeping pattern noise (had one once where moving the mouse around on screen would modulate it).

 

Although unlike most LPS units our own JS-2 "floats" the DC ground from the chassis/AC inlet ground (while both the chassis and the transformer grounds are connected to the AC mains ground pin for safety), the two outputs of the JS-2 do share a common ground (so we don't have to have separate diode and large chokes).

 

So what you are experiencing does sometimes come up for us when someone powers both their computer and the REGEN (or their DAC) from the 2 outputs of a JS-2. But for some it is not a problem at all. And once I had this with a Geek Pulse and Mac mini and switching from a factory-made coax DC cable to one of my custom cables cured it. But in another instance it only reduced it a little.

 

Hopefully everyone will like our forthcoming little 1A 5/7V mystery supply and that will be an affordable way to have a small but highly isolated, extremely quite LPS for REGEN and other devices and not have to worry about ground loop noise.

[4est]

This is fine.

My El Cheapo arrived yesterday. Although my unit is a 115V / 9V I noticed the fuse cover states its a 240V fuse and the fuse itself is stamped as a 250V fuse. Since I'm electrically challenged I thought I'd ask if this fuse should be changed out to a 120V.

 

Thanks

[4est]

They seem fine, certainly for the price. I got them from a different eBay vendor than Jud. Mine came with an lt3080 IC, better than the lm317 I thought were mentioned elsewhere. They are nothing special, and really the Regen deserves better. The 12v option seems perfect for a drive or similar (Regen too!) where a JS 2 seems overkill. I have yet the time for a serious listen, but nothing awful strikes me-this is technically a down grade from my DIY supply.

Please be sure to report your findings once you have had a chance to listen to them. My only decision now is whether to buy one or two El Cheapo supplies.

[Jud]

[T]his is technically a down grade from my DIY supply.

 

Would you be up for starting another thread where people propose good but inexpensive designs for DIY supplies for the Regen?

[Blake]

They seem fine, certainly for the price. I got them from a different eBay vendor than Jud. Mine came with an lt3080 IC, better than the lm317 I thought were mentioned elsewhere. They are nothing special, and really the Regen deserves better. The 12v option seems perfect for a drive or similar (Regen too!) where a JS 2 seems overkill. I have yet the time for a serious listen, but nothing awful strikes me-this is technically a down grade from my DIY supply.

 

Thanks for the update. I just clicked "buy" for 2 of these El Cheapo supplies:

 

30W DC9V HiFi Linear Power Supply Regulated PSU for DAC Amp Digital Display | eBay

 

I am hoping that when these El Cheapos are combined with the upcoming mystery Uptone power add-on, they will be a pretty decent power supply for my two Regens.

[4est]

This is the seller I purchased from:

High End 30W DC9V HiFi Linear Power Supply Regulated PSU for DAC Headphone Amp | eBay

 

Same-same, but a little cheaper and delivered in 10 days.

Thanks for the update. I just clicked "buy" for 2 of these El Cheapo supplies:

 

30W DC9V HiFi Linear Power Supply Regulated PSU for DAC Amp Digital Display | eBay

 

I am hoping that when these El Cheapos are combined with the upcoming mystery Uptone power add-on, they will be a pretty decent power supply for my two Regens.

[Bigbwb]

Well, think of the ground of a USB cable like the ground of an audio interconnect (though it is not). You are joining the grounds of your computer and DAC via both the USB cable and the power supplies. Throw a preamp into the mix (its ground connects to your DAC) and it is no wonder that ground loops abound. Often with computers it manifests itself either as static or a low level beeping pattern noise (had one once where moving the mouse around on screen would modulate it).

 

Although unlike most LPS units our own JS-2 "floats" the DC ground from the chassis/AC inlet ground (while both the chassis and the transformer grounds are connected to the AC mains ground pin for safety), the two outputs of the JS-2 do share a common ground (so we don't have to have separate diode and large chokes).

 

So what you are experiencing does sometimes come up for us when someone powers both their computer and the REGEN (or their DAC) from the 2 outputs of a JS-2. But for some it is not a problem at all. And once I had this with a Geek Pulse and Mac mini and switching from a factory-made coax DC cable to one of my custom cables cured it. But in another instance it only reduced it a little.

 

Hopefully everyone will like our forthcoming little 1A 5/7V mystery supply and that will be an affordable way to have a small but highly isolated, extremely quite LPS for REGEN and other devices and not have to worry about ground loop noise.

 

Good to know! thank you for the explanation! I will likely leave everything as is and wait for your new piece to power the Regen. At least I know my LPS is not faulty:)

[4est]

Here we go!

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f6-dac-digital-analog-conversion/regen-power-supplies-el-cheapo-and-other-bits-25227/

 

Would you be up for starting another thread where people propose good but inexpensive designs for DIY supplies for the Regen?

[Daudio]

I am hoping that when these El Cheapos are combined with the upcoming mystery Uptone power add-on, they will be a pretty decent power supply for my two Regens.

 

Blake,

 

'El Cheapo' ? At $62 plus shipping, not to me, as just a 'poor pensioner'. Some time back I found a 2A, 6 selectable voltages, regulated, linear supply for $21. It is a Philmore MW122A and available at that price from MCM Electronics (usual slow boat from China).

 

 

*** Continued on Forrests's new thread (noticed after posting) ***

[Jud]

Here we go!

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f6-dac-digital-analog-conversion/regen-power-supplies-el-cheapo-and-other-bits-25227/

 

Thanks!

[Blake]

Blake,

 

'El Cheapo' ? At $62 plus shipping, not to me, as just a 'poor pensioner'.

 

!

 

Hey, don't blame me... blame 4est, he unwittingly coined the term and I just ran with it :)

[Daudio]

Hey, don't blame me... blame 4est, he unwittingly coined the term and I just ran with it :)

 

 

 

Oh, I don't ! In fact, I congratulate Forrest for his recognized coinage. I just used your post as a lead-in to an 'El Cheaper' PSU

[Blake]

I have not had chance to do any comparison listening, but my El Chapo power supply has been making very good music with my Regen Amber so far (been using it at 9V).. Very happy with it so far. Going to give it a few more days then switch back to the stock switching supply and see whT I think.

 

I am am wondering if Alex has had a chance to give my iPower a listen yet.

 

This is good news for me. Thanks for reporting. I believe Jud has both the El Cheapo and the iPower so perhaps he can chime in with his thoughts comparing the two in order to add additional thoughts to the conversation- I believe he prefers El Cheapo.