[ratso]

hey laulau thanx for that link with the science thread.  that is a cool site that i did not know about.

[audiocrazy]

I was thinking of getting Uptone to pair it with Oppo HA-1 DAC but stumbled upon Schiit Wyrd USB cleaner. It has great reviews all over the place.
http://schiit.com/products/wyrd
How does Uptone compare with this?
Anybody tried the Wyrd in their setup?

[audiocrazy]

Found this great review for the answers that i was looking for
http://www.audiostream.com/content/usb-accessory-roundup-uptone-audio-usb-regen-audioquest-jitterbug-schiit-wyrd#gK00sw8Qp82Oyb02.97

[Ern Dog]

AudioCrazy,  That's an excellent and helpful review. Thanks for sharing it.

[Odal3]

I like the rating scale that was used in the review:

"If I were to rate these changes on a scale of sonic amount of 1 to 100, where 100 is buying a new pair of speakers..."

"Let's stick with this scale of 1 to 100 where 100 is the greatest change you can make to your system's overall sound. In my experience, in terms of components, loudspeaker choice can make the most difference so I'd put their ability to change a system's sound at 100. Cables and accessories seem to max out at around the 20 mark. That's not say that all cables and accessories offer an improvement, let alone hitting that max of 20, it's just to say that in my experience their ability to impact a system's sound is much less than things like speakers, amplifiers, and DACS. As we near the 1 mark, my bookkeeping says we also approach the "It just ain't worth it" or the "It better be free" mark."

[Ern Dog]

Curious Cable Regen link update:  This is an 8" USB cable that looks very well built made in Australia for $120.  It is designed to replace the stock hard USB adaptor that comes with the Regen. There was an immediate improvement and I've been listening to it for several days now.  Rob, the designer says that he cooked it on a cable cooker for 48 hrs, but that it still needed a few more hours before critical listening.  My experience was that after the immediate improvement, it continued to improve.

In comparison, it makes the stock adapter sound 2 dimensional and lifeless, although that's not how I would have described it before.  The most notable improvements I hear are a more realistic sound stage, with more space between instruments.  It brings another level of naturalness to music.  Everything is improved.

As an experiment I swapped places with the curious cable and my Black cat silver starlight USB cable which I use as the input cable into the Regen.  It wasn't as enjoyable this way.  It still sounded good but not as good with the CC as the output cable position.  This told me that the output cable is a more critical position than the input cable with the Regen.  Optimally, I would have both input and output cables to be superior USB cables, but if you just have one, try putting in the output position. 

Here's my USB cable progression, each one sounding better than the previous (to my ears):
stock/generic < Belkin Gold < Audioquest Carbon < Black cat silver starlight < Curious Cable

[audiocrazy]

After reading many positive experiences by overwhelming number of users I finally ordered Regen for Dec batch. I'm already impressed with SS8 and  can't wait to see how it make my SS8 shine.
Ern are you using LPS with Regen or the stock SMPS?

[Ern Dog]

After reading many positive experiences by overwhelming number of users I finally ordered Regen for Dec batch. I'm already impressed with SS8 and  can't wait to see how it make my SS8 shine.
Ern are you using LPS with Regen or the stock SMPS?

What an excellent Christmas present for yourself!  What are you using for a source?  I'm interested in reading about how it sounds in you system.

I just ordered an LPS off eBay from China for $59: http://www.ebay.com/itm/111706391166
I'm guessing it will further improve things, but will know for sure soon.  I'll post my findings here.

[sfox7076]

I have to say that using an LPS gave me the greatest increase in sound.  Well, I mean that of the tweaks I have done.  I am currently sitting in Audio Nirvana (getting yelled at by my wife to turn Sultans of Swing down).  I say that having not the best space in the world.  I never thought I would say this, but SMPS power noise between components means something.  Regen should isolate that noise.  I had it isolated already (LPS + no 5v connection in DAC), so the Regen did nothing for me. 

Shawn

[audiocrazy]

What an excellent Christmas present for yourself!  What are you using for a source?  I'm interested in reading about how it sounds in you system.

I just ordered an LPS off eBay from China for $59: http://www.ebay.com/itm/111706391166
I'm guessing it will further improve things, but will know for sure soon.  I'll post my findings here.

I'm also interested in ordering this LPS. Please provide your feedback when you had time to audition it.

[TJHUB]

I have to say that using an LPS gave me the greatest increase in sound.  Well, I mean that of the tweaks I have done.  I am currently sitting in Audio Nirvana (getting yelled at by my wife to turn Sultans of Swing down).  I say that having not the best space in the world.  I never thought I would say this, but SMPS power noise between components means something.  Regen should isolate that noise.  I had it isolated already (LPS + no 5v connection in DAC), so the Regen did nothing for me. 

Shawn

That is not what the Regen does...

[Ern Dog]

My Chinese no-name linear power supply finally arrived a couple days ago for my Regen.  Well worth the $59 + $24 shipping from China.  In a nut shell it brings out all the things I love about the Regen even more.  More weight, more resolution, more dynamic, blah blah blah.

Thus far, these tweaks have totally transformed the Salk Streamer to sound closer to reproducing the sound of real music.  The final phase of this upgrade is coming next week.  Rob from Curious cable shipped me a .6 meter USB cable loaner to test drive.  This will replace my Black cat cable.

[Ern Dog]

The .5 meter curious cable arrived a few days ago and it replaced my Black cat silver starlight USB cable, which is between my Salk music server and the Regen.  There was an immediate improvement in all areas and in a a word music sounded more realistic.  Just for the hell of it, I removed the Regen and just used my new Curious cable to connect the Salk to my dac.  It sounded damn good!  At this point, with the Curious cable in place, I'm not sure if I like it better with or without the Regen.  The difference between the two is subtle.  It will take more critical listening to discern which I like better.  I'll say that this speaks volumes about Curious USB cables!  This is an interesting twist and I wasn't expecting that.

[Ern Dog]

This is the final installment of a 3 month research project.  It started because I was Curious about the Regen and the Salk streamer together and it ended today with the Curious USB cable alone.  In my rig it sounds livelier, more dynamic, and dimensionality that is off the charts.  It isn't a night and day difference compared to the Regen, but more subtle instead.  It will really depend on your system synergy and preference.

So I'm selling my Regen, Curious link and upgraded power supply. 

[audiocrazy]

This is the final installment of a 3 month research project.  It started because I was Curious about the Regen and the Salk streamer together and it ended today with the Curious USB cable alone.  In my rig it sounds livelier, more dynamic, and dimensionality that is off the charts.  It isn't a night and day difference compared to the Regen, but more subtle instead.  It will really depend on your system synergy and preference.

So I'm selling my Regen, Curious link and upgraded power supply. 

I'm glad you found something you like.
I've been playing with Regen for the past few days.
Here is my short assessment.
The bass definition is more prominent, the soundstage is more wider and deeper and highs are more smoother. Overall I like the results but I need more time to rule out the placebo effect.
Maybe I'll try curious link from Ern.

[Ern Dog]

Definitely try the Curious link.  It's awesome!  I already sold my curious link and power supply, and decided to keep my Regen just because some CDs that aren't recorded well sound better with the Regen.