One step forward: ER +lpsu

Mine is going to have an MCRU no 752 mains cable.

No idea if it will help though!

Best, BF

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Mine has a Supra LoRad power lead I made up with a Supra IEC plug.

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I seem to recall that you had the MCRU lps when you had your UnitiServe. Have you still got that? Just wondering whether that could be used for ER as Iā€™ve got one of those sitting around and have an ER coming.

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Hi FR uses a pinnacle PS from mcru, its the top one. So as long as yours has the correct 2.1mm connector, voltage and ampageā€¦should be fine.

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ā€œI wonder if anyone has heard a benefit from moving their eR close to their ND streamer?ā€

Mine sits on the Fraimlite, and its linear ps is connected to my main powerblock. Short Ethernet cables. That set up works the best for me.

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You can put something under it, and it sits horizontally.

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I just read on the UpTone sponsored forum of Audiophile Style that the December issue TAD includes a long review of the ER by Stephen Scharf.

Welcome @NigelB to the ER Club.

I have my ER behind the racks, with a 1m Chord Sarum Tuned Streaming cable to the NDS from the B ports.
A ports are: Network feed in, Sonore UltraRendu for the SonoreUPnP bridge to ā€˜Roonifyā€™ the NDS, a RPi2 running Asset UPnP server and an AppleTV.
Power feed is the existing Twin 5v/12v ZeroZero LPS that powered a Netgear and then a Cisco switch before.
It is placed on a square Cork mat with a Herbie SuperSonic Stabilizer on top.

In addition to the uplift to the NDS, there was also a byproduct of introducing the ER into the system, in that the PQ of the AppleTV improved.

Also just realised that it was 12 months ago, I received my ER from the initial batch, via Martin at Audiostore, and began this journey.

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Thanks Gazza

It would be interesting to know what the difference would be between these two lps as the UnitiServe one was circa same cost if thatā€™s any guideā€¦

Not sure one for @frenchrooster. I think he must have sold the Unitiserve version, because his current Pinnacle version is a fairly recent purchase.

@Darkebear , @anon77199223

Finally took some time to seriously compare fibre and twisted pairs feeding my EtherRegen. Comparing cables really isnā€™t my cup of teaā€¦

I tried the following setups :

SETUP A :
[Catalyst_3560]----(copper)----[EtherRegen]----(copper)----[ND555]

SETUP B :
[Catalyst_3560]----(fiber)----[EtherRegen]----(copper)----[ND555]

I used the same tracks I previously used to evaluate added gear; mostly very well recorded classical music and some folk and jazz.

There is a noticeable difference, nothing spectacular but itā€™s there and worth choosing between copper and fibre.

This time I wonā€™t describe it as I did when I introduced the ER between my home network and the ND555 (dual PS).

If this makes sense, Iā€™d say that SETUP A is closer to not having the ER at all then SETUP B.

The most noticeable difference, in favour of fibre, is that recording venues appear more clearly (EDIT : and highs less grainy, a tad more liquid)

So, to put it briefly, to my ears, fibre is best.

What is the MCRU you have? If itā€™s 12v/ 2a or 3a, it will be good.
When I had the Unitserve, I had the Israeli one then Uptone js2.
The MCRU was bought recently.

Have you the Longdog MCRU for Unitserve? Itā€™s rated 12v 5a.
I think itā€™s fine, but you can mail MCRU and ask.

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Yes, thatā€™s the one. I will check with MCRU, although will give it a go anyway when my ER arrives. Thanks FR

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I have moved my eR from a rack in a cupboard away from my ND555 to a position much closer to the ND555.

Before the move I had the following set up:

  1. UnitiServe>3m CatSnake>Cisco 2960>3m Vodka>eR>8m CatSnake>ND555

I have already explained the considerable gains from this introduction of the eR

Then after the move:
2. UnitiServe>3m CatSnake>Cisco 2960>8m CatSnake>eR>3m Vodka>ND555

(BTW, both my CatSnakes are 6a with floating shields).

This move was a disaster! I lost the quieter background, I gained some harshness and some thickening and also lost some of the delicacy and air around instruments. ā€˜What the heck is going onā€™, or words to that effect, I was saying to myself.

I soon realised my misstep however. I thought it might be a good idea to get the Vodka on the last leg when moving the eR. BIG MISTAKE! I thought back to the lovely uplift when I replaced Vodka (8m back then) with 8m CatSnake 6a (8m) on the last leg to the ND555. So by sticking the 3m Vodka on the last leg, I had reversed that gain! Durrr!

So I set about correcting this and now have the following set up:
3. UnitiServe>3m Vodka>Cisco 2960>8m CatSnake>eR>3m CatSnake>ND555

All the lovely gains from introducing the eR have been restored, and then some. So my preference for the above three set-ups are:
First 3, followed by 1 as a close second, with 2 a distant third.

In fact with set-up 2 I felt I lost almost ALL the gains from introducing the eR in the first place!

So what does this tell me? Well, in my system and network, the eR is VERY sensitive to the streaming cables connected to it, particularly the cable connected to the ā€˜Bā€™ port. This is more important than the proximity of the eR to the Streamer. If you get it wrong, you could hear little or no benefit from the eR. The other lesson (which I had learned previously!) is that the Vodka cable is a disaster when used as the last leg to connect to the ND555, well in my network anyway. The Vodka does however work well further upstream, either between the 2960 and eR, or between my UnitiServe and 2960.

So it is well worth experimenting with different Ethernet/streaming cables when using the eR, particularly the connection between the B port and the streamer.

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I found a good ā€˜normalā€™ Ethernet cable (KabelDirekt 1.5m Cat6) from the ER to the HiFi (in my case into my Melco - Vodka 1.5m - ND555) worked very preferably to using the HiFi types - although these did work better elsewhere.
ā€˜Sharp and aggressiveā€™ may describe what happened with the Vodka in wrong place - whereas the KabelDirekt was a revelation - after it run-in for a day. At first it was dull and dreary - discard, but then a day or two later it was amazingly graceful and revealing of detail and tone colors - so it stayed.

Mix and match and do not assume one type is always better seems to have go me excellent results.
Your results mirror mine.

I also suspect that now my ER is a year run-in - and Iā€™m trying a linear PS powering it then I may re-explore that to see if this has changed at some point. :bear:

DB.

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We seem to agree that the cable connected to the eRā€™s B port is critical and in our cases a cheaper Ethernet cable seems to work better than a posh streaming cable, in this position anyway.

I suspect other systems and networks will react differently, but I think it work flagging this particular connection (eRā€™s B port) is worth some experimentation. Getting this cable right made a huge difference in my system.

Look forward to your thoughts on LPSā€™s for the eR.

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Presently Iā€™m just enjoying my ā€˜freeā€™ Lab Bench supply from the 1970s. :bear:
Iā€™m certain it can be bettered with a purpose-designed supply, but as ā€˜proof before purchaseā€™ that the LPS makes a worthwhile improvement then Iā€™ve confirmed it indeed does.

But the ER bundled-supply I used for some 10 months with great results. It is just that even more is possible with a better PS.

ā€¦as to the ER - I think the cables also ā€˜tuneā€™ something to do with noise in that system of cable-connections and one with different properties may allow for better subjective presentation.

Iā€™m beyond the ā€˜whyā€™ and ā€˜howā€™ long ago - in my system the ER is not even mediating any data traffic as that is between the Melco and ND555, so the ER just connects these to the rest of my House LAN and probably isolated the noise-flow between these.
It is not just ā€˜noise voltsā€™ but ā€˜noise currentā€™ which I think is overlooked - the latter depends on the connected topology into the loops of cables and PS and - from my ā€˜little experimentsā€™ - seems to matter.

Keep us appraised of your enjoyment of it all - good to have reports from happy people enjoying stuff in these times! :slightly_smiling_face:

DB.

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I am listening to Eva Cassidyā€™s Nightbird album. Quite stunning really. I canā€™t believe this little eR thingy could make such a difference but it does and I donā€™t care how.

I would urge those thinking about the eR to give it a try as there is a 14 day return policy, so there is nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Possibly one of the best VFM upgrades I have entertained, just take care with the installation and experiment with cables from its B port.

Iā€™ll sign off now before some of you are tempted to send the men in white coats around to my house o ā€˜re-educateā€™ me.

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Does the Herbie SuperSonic Stabilizer make the ER even hotter by slowing heat dispersal?