On the EtherREGEN’s ‘A’-side, there are four Gigabit copper Ethernet ports,
plus an SFP cage for a Gigabit LC optical module. A typical user will
attach a single Ethernet cable from their main network router
or switch to any of these ‘A’-side ports—as illustrated on the
opposite page. This leaves open three additional RJ45 copper ports (and
the SFP cage) on the ‘A’ side. The choice to connect any server, NAS (network
attached storage), or other devices to these ports—or to leave that equipment
attached to your main upstream switch/router—is mostly a matter of
convenience and effects on sonic performance are likely to be small.
Across the ADIM™, at the other end of the EtherREGEN, is a
single 100Mbps copper Ethernet port. This is the ‘B’-side port.
Attach the computer/streamer/renderer endpoint that is
directly connected to your DAC* to the ‘B’-side Ethernet port
with a copper Ethernet cable. (*DACs that have an Ethernet input can
be directly connected to the ‘B’-side port).
So why does this arrangement matter?
There are two types of sound-degrading influences the EtherREGEN is
designed to radically decrease: Leakage—both high-impedance and low-
impedance—and clock phase-noise. The clock phase-noise travels on the
Ethernet signal itself and on power- and ground-planes. [Every signal edge
coming out of any digital device carries the jitter/phase-noise of the clock used
to "clock out" that edge; this shows up on the ground-plane and affects the
threshold of chips’ clock inputs. This is an oversimplification of a complex
subject; we may publish to our web site a “white paper” and measurements to
The circuitry across the ADIM™ (moat) is designed to eliminate the signal-
borne phase-noise from one side to the other. EtherREGEN is mostly
symmetrical—there is no “dirty side” or “clean side.” While it works
identically in both directions, it is best to have the DAC-
attached Ethernet endpoint device (computer/streamer/etc.)
alone on one side—typically the ‘B’ side.
The circuitry between ports on the ‘A’ side decreases phase-noise effects to
some degree, but not nearly as much as crossing the ‘A’>’B’ moat.
It is the differential isolators used in conjunction with the differential flip-flops
that delivers the performance of the EtherREGEN. The differential isolators
prevent the data-borne clock signature from getting onto the ground-plane of
the PCB, while the differential flip-flops prevent the signature from getting into
the flip-flop’s own internal ground network. It takes the combination of these to
achieve the performance of the EtherREGEN.!
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