USB Regen from UpTone

[baddog]

right now the best thing to do is just power your regen with the smps it comes with and dont spend the money on a linear for it.

they are developing a new device which goes between the power supply and power plug that they claim will blow you away SQ wise and a linear is completely unneccessary!

The devialet requires 5v for handshake but after that it can be disconnected. the regen however has regulators inside so you can power it with anywhere from 5 to 12v and it will regulate it to exactly 5v.

i dont have an aries, but you will definitely hear an improvement on your usb input

That hasn't been the case for me. The default SMPS PSU that came with the Regen was a dealbreaker for me in my system.

Here are some quotes of what I wrote on CA:

Same here Rocky, at least part of it. I hear more low level detail with the Regen Amber and improved dynamics however it all also feels a bit more clinical, bland/less colorful, perhaps sometimes even a little agressive now. Voices sound a bit less natural, less "magical musical", presentation is slightly less relaxed. A slight edge to voices and cymbals previously gone seems to be back again with the Regen in place.

After the installation of a 12V LPSU (BOTWS with SBooster module):

The magic seems fully back again here and more, goosebumps all over. This listening to the Regen with the 12V LPSU I mentioned. A loud, cheering and applauding audience sounds like that again instead of an annoying source of 'white noise'. Also the strain, slight edge in the highs is gone again. I'm listening louder then ever while enjoying it more than ever. Very happy again.

Conclusion: IMHO the Regen is great but it needs a really good quality power source, a better one than the supplied SMPS to shine! Can't wait to see with what kind of PSU add-on Alex and John come up with, I hope it can even beat the best LPSU!

Please note however, like Baddog also mentioned, that most users seem to be happy with the supplied SMPS. It may be something entirely related to my system and of those other people that experienced the same or similar issues.

Indeed there's a PSU add-on coming later this year (<3 months) that can use the supplied SMPS or any other PSU in front of it as long as it gives a 7,5 - 12V output @ 1A. I believe they are also working on a replacement for the SMPS itself.

Antoine - Just to clarify my comment - I was referring to the Regen itself and the high praise it has received. To your point, many users have indicated that moving to a different linear power supply has improved the sound quality of the Regen.