The first thing that struck me about the Regen is that it is really small. It measures only 1-3/4 X 2". It's just a little bigger than a silver dollar, which surprised me. Who cares about the size, how does it sound?
After about 12 hours of running it in I switched out the stock power cord to an Audience Powerchord and everything improved. This is a no brainer for any component. Here is what struck more most about the Regen:
Bass- The bass goes deeper and has great definition. I had to lower down the volume on my dual subs because it was too much. I'm a huge bass fan, so this improvement was very welcomed. Music has a better foundation.
Weight- There is more weight to the whole presentation, which I really like. It adds to the perception of a realistic musical image.
Mids- Silky smooth and gorgeous.
Highs- Music no longer has a digital edge, but I miss some air and detail in the highs. It sounds a tad muted and rounded. I'm missing the sharp edges in electric guitar licks and the sizzle in cymbals. The sizzle isn't gone, just muted some. There are so many cd's that I have that are over-produced sounding too hot on the top that sound horrible in my rig, but now sound enjoyable. This is a huge plus for me and opens up more music for me to enjoy.
Soundstage: Everything sounds more expanded and the soundstage grew a couple feet. Music sounds more 3D and textured. More depth to the music.
Noise: The noise floor was lowered quite a bit. I know because I can now listen at louder volumes without any harshness. As a result I'm listening to music at louder volumes now. It also allows me to hear more into the music. I really like this because the music sounds more expansive now.
Afterthoughts: Overall, I'm very happy with the make-over that the Regen did to my source: Salk Stream Player and MHDT Stockholm V2 dac. Bottom line is that it makes the music sound more natural and enjoyable. After reading all the threads about the Regen on the Computer Audio forum, they revealed that there are lots more improvements that can be done. I'm sure many people would be happy leaving it as is since the improvements are easily heard. But I'd like to improve the highs and I think I can get that by upgrading the stock usb adapter with a nicer one, then maybe upgrading the stock power supply. And so it goes, down the rabbit hole, tweaking the tweak.
