[trung224]

 Does anyone try the Intona with Geek Pulse DAC? I am very interested in this little device, but from the records in computeraudiophile, some DACs still need USB hub like the Regen/Wyrd to connect with computer.

 

[bimmer100]

I have two friends with that Dac. I can bring my intona industrial over to test with them. 
the industrial is supposed to be a little more compatible with all devices. not sure why. thats what the manufacturer said
 
the pulse, unfortunately uses usb power for some insane reason. So the intona really will benefit for that device if it can provide enough power for the pulse. 
 
I really cringe when manufacturers use usb power. but the intona will save the day.
 
I will try to report back when I get a chance to try it with the Pulse.

 

[bimmer100]

+100 couldn't agree more. Especially since I tried many of those tricks (usb cables, hubs, battery power, DDCs) and rarely heard any diffs .. only from some ddcs.
I guess those things will make a diff if you have ground loops, dirty power, very noisy pcs, badly isolated DACs etc.. but those are all issues that must be corrected somewhere else .. and for much less money.
Anyway, still curious about the intona, guess my audionervosa is still not cured

 
 
usb cables, hubs, battery power, DDCs will have less differences when you have power implementation issues.
 
well battery power is not a good route anyways. ultra low noise linear psu is much better. something 30uV or less, and transient response to be very low.
 
the intona will surely make the most difference on machines that are not setup with the cleanest of power.  

 
"I guess those things will make a diff if you have ground loops, dirty power, very noisy pcs, badly isolated DACs etc.. but those are all issues that must be corrected somewhere else .. and for much less money."

sometimes there isn't many options to correct these issues for "cheap" please share your experiences if you don't mind.
 
 
I've gone to balanced AC power and pretty much eliminated noise issues.

 

[elviscaprice]

   Does anyone try the Intona with Geek Pulse DAC? I am very interested in this little device, but from the records in computeraudiophile, some DACs still need USB hub like the Regen/Wyrd to connect with computer.

 
 
Your probably going to want a reclocker like the Regen after the Intona anyways, just to handle the jitter created by the Intona.  Also the Regen does a great job with impedance.  A few folks have been reporting that powering the Regen by battery after the Intona give them the best SQ.  Seems that this will not create any ground plane noise after the Intona has done such a wonderful job of eliminating it.  I'll be giving this a go soon and report back.

 

[trung224]

  I have two friends with that Dac. I can bring my intona industrial over to test with them. 
the industrial is supposed to be a little more compatible with all devices. not sure why. thats what the manufacturer said
 
the pulse, unfortunately uses usb power for some insane reason. So the intona really will benefit for that device if it can provide enough power for the pulse. 
 
I really cringe when manufacturers use usb power. but the intona will save the day.
 
I will try to report back when I get a chance to try it with the Pulse.

Thanks bimmer100. I have the Uptone Regen with linear power supply, and it works great with my setup. But some people say that the Intona is even better (and provide improvement in some DAC which Regen can't improve), and it does not need external power to function whic is a plus for me. My only concern is that the Intona is incompatible with some DAC (and the Pulse can be one of them)

 

[Superdad]

  Thanks bimmer100. I have the Uptone Regen with linear power supply, and it works great with my setup. But some people say that the Intona is even better (and provide improvement in some DAC which Regen can't improve), and it does not need external power to function whic is a plus for me. My only concern is that the Intona is incompatible with some DAC (and the Pulse can be one of them)

Well the Intona and REGEN accomplish two entirely different things--and they are complimentary to one another.  So it is not an either/or situation, and many people are using the two together--but the REGEN should ALWAYS be the last device, feeding the DAC.  Signal integrity and impedance match are highest that way.
 
I too have a Geek Pulse among my DACs and can not get my Intona to work at all without the REGEN following it.  Supposedly there is a firmware update to the Intona that fixes that, but I have not looked into sending my unit back to Germany to get it.

 

[motberg]

In my setup and with my listening preferences the Regen is complimentary to the Intona. As of now I consider the Intona a "must have" for my system and the Regen a nice touch of improvement over the base Intona output. 
I am using battery power for the Regen to maintain the Intona isolation. This is a 9V rechargeable battery PS used for guitar effects pedals.http://www.joyoaudio.com/en/product/show_155.html  
I had posted my initial impressions on the Regen thread a few days ago - but want to add this warning about the power supply: THE CENTER PIN ON THE JOYO OUTPUTS IS NEGATIVE - THE REGEN IS POSITIVE CENTER PIN.
This is not a problem in practice because the Joyo kit includes a polarity reversing 2.1mm power extension cable... everything is well explained in the Joyo manual.. the battery pack is plug-and-play with the Regen as long as you use the polarity reversing cable... ( I disconnect the charger from the wall when playing music.... The Joyo costs about 50 USD here in China)
 
I see a mention was made to the Intona FAQ - here is the URL: http://intona.eu/en/answer/1000 .(just press the FIND ANSWER button to get at their entire FAQ.)
Besides the Intona isolation, from the FAQ:
“By using a technology well known in digital communication systems called Spread Spectrum, any harmonics produced through periodic packet transmission (like 8kHz packet noise) could be eliminated.”
So my take is the Intona isolates, eliminates some noise, then reclocks... this probably provides a good base for the Regen to do its thing...
I understand battery power may not be the perfect solution, so I have one of those new iFi DC Purifier things on the way.. seems like a good thing to have in the spare parts box anyways .....
..... at least until we see what the new mystery Uptone PS is all about....
 
I have been listening to this Intona>battery/Regen combo now for about a week, and tried various combinations to make sure I attributed any sound quality changes to the correct device. I had worried and expected that adding the Regen/PS/cable would make things worse, but I think using good cables and the battery PS maybe helped prevent any gross problems.
 
My perception of the Intona contribution still stands as per my previous posts (Post #9, 16, and 38 in this thread). Top to bottom, everything is clearer.. more like what I would expect to hear during the recording process. Perhaps the most striking benefit, and maybe a cumulative effect of various small improvements, is an initial perception that the sound field seemed to have no relation to the speakers (this is compared to my system without the Intona). The instruments are just there.. not floating - not detached from the speakers -  the initial impression was that the sound elements were just there in the room. Maybe I am readjusting to this effect now - so things in my room are still not quite as nice as my old #1 memory reference for sound stage (Beveridge speakers, maybe Model 2's, playing some Carly Simon..) but this initial impression of improved spatial performance when I initially installed the Intona was pretty cool....
 
Immediately I noticed that adding the battery powered Regen maybe added some bass depth, maybe ever so slightly mushy, but overall an improvement.
Also initially I thought there was some detail loss in the mids and highs when adding the Regen, but it could just be that things were just hotter with the Intona alone.Overall detail with the Intona/Regen is fine, my speakers are probably not capable of resolving things in such a fine sense that I could say which configuration was most like the recording.
 
The strongest effect of the Regen in my system was an increase in micro-dynamics, not additional sharp transients, but overall a more natural attack. I listen to mostly older progressive rock and a lot of the dynamic bursts have a kind of soft envelope. For example in distorted guitar amplifier playing... instead of just having the distortion tone changing in tone and amplitude, you also get the push of the tone/distortion mix pressure...visually somewhat like a jet vapor trail..and the pressure change can be felt on sensitive areas of your face. Other similar direct points of reference I can make comparing lightly-processed recorded sounds to live would be; tambourine strikes, mic pops, Leslie cabinets, Wurlitzer electric piano, hard strummed acoustic guitar, kick drum pedal hits, cymbal strikes,etc.. The dynamics of these types of sounds are more like my recollections of live performances. Also the fun stuff like sinking bass synth pads submerging into a wash of floor level dark pressure become more enjoyable, and special effects like Q-Sound are naturally more prominently displayed.
 
So overall, these improvements to the USB delivery chain help me better appreciate better the artistry, craftsmanship and uniqueness these extraordinary people posses that make these records.
 
Obviously USB still needs some work to realize the full potential of what supposedly should be a simple transfer of bits from here to there... In the meantime, I will happily live with an occasional kit change in an effort to extract the artists intentions and play them back in my personal musical-art gallery. My system many years ago used LP records as a source (I "backed-up" my heavily used records to R2R), very nice sound, but the convenience to point-and-click an entire record collection to me is worth the effort..       
 
My W4S Recovery was just delivered today      
 
Here is my digital chain as a point of reference.... 

Gigabyte GA-Z87M-D3H, I5-4670t, NOFAN CR-95c, 2x4 GB Corsair, TeraDak 210 ATX LPS,  PPA V2 USB card (battery), 32GB OS SSD (battery), 256GB SSD/LPS for primary music (all WAV files), SSD's use PPA red thin SATA cables and SSD suspension blocks, WIN2012 core mode and AO, JPlay6 Mini, Ultrastream/Hibernate, PPA 1.8M dual USB cable, Intona standard USB isolator, 0.5M Pangea USB cable, Regen/battery, PPA Regen USB cable, Tanly DDC via HDMI (Wireworld Starlight 5.2, 0.3M) i2S to Audio-GD M7.

 

[bimmer100]

In my setup and with my listening preferences the Regen is complimentary to the Intona. As of now I consider the Intona a "must have" for my system and the Regen a nice touch of improvement over the base Intona output. 
I am using battery power for the Regen to maintain the Intona isolation. This is a 9V rechargeable battery PS used for guitar effects pedals.http://www.joyoaudio.com/en/product/show_155.html  
I had posted my initial impressions on the Regen thread a few days ago - but want to add this warning about the power supply: THE CENTER PIN ON THE JOYO OUTPUTS IS NEGATIVE - THE REGEN IS POSITIVE CENTER PIN.
This is not a problem in practice because the Joyo kit includes a polarity reversing 2.1mm power extension cable... everything is well explained in the Joyo manual.. the battery pack is plug-and-play with the Regen as long as you use the polarity reversing cable... ( I disconnect the charger from the wall when playing music.... The Joyo costs about 50 USD here in China)

I see a mention was made to the Intona FAQ - here is the URL: [COLOR=0000FF]http://intona.eu/en/answer/1000[/COLOR] .(just press the FIND ANSWER button to get at their entire FAQ.)
Besides the Intona isolation, from the FAQ:
“By using a technology well known in digital communication systems called Spread Spectrum, any harmonics produced through periodic packet transmission (like 8kHz packet noise) could be eliminated.”
So my take is the Intona isolates, eliminates some noise, then reclocks... this probably provides a good base for the Regen to do its thing...
I understand battery power may not be the perfect solution, so I have one of those new iFi DC Purifier things on the way.. seems like a good thing to have in the spare parts box anyways .....
..... at least until we see what the new mystery Uptone PS is all about....

I have been listening to this Intona>battery/Regen combo now for about a week, and tried various combinations to make sure I attributed any sound quality changes to the correct device. I had worried and expected that adding the Regen/PS/cable would make things worse, but I think using good cables and the battery PS maybe helped prevent any gross problems.

My perception of the Intona contribution still stands as per my previous posts (Post #9, 16, and 38 in this thread). Top to bottom, everything is clearer.. more like what I would expect to hear during the recording process. Perhaps the most striking benefit, and maybe a cumulative effect of various small improvements, is an initial perception that the sound field seemed to have no relation to the speakers (this is compared to my system without the Intona). The instruments are just there.. not floating - not detached from the speakers -  the initial impression was that the sound elements were just there in the room. Maybe I am readjusting to this effect now - so things in my room are still not quite as nice as my old #1 memory reference for sound stage (Beveridge speakers, maybe Model 2's, playing some Carly Simon..) but this initial impression of improved spatial performance when I initially installed the Intona was pretty cool....

Immediately I noticed that adding the battery powered Regen maybe added some bass depth, maybe ever so slightly mushy, but overall an improvement.
Also initially I thought there was some detail loss in the mids and highs when adding the Regen, but it could just be that things were just hotter with the Intona alone.Overall detail with the Intona/Regen is fine, my speakers are probably not capable of resolving things in such a fine sense that I could say which configuration was most like the recording.

The strongest effect of the Regen in my system was an increase in micro-dynamics, not additional sharp transients, but overall a more natural attack. I listen to mostly older progressive rock and a lot of the dynamic bursts have a kind of soft envelope. For example in distorted guitar amplifier playing... instead of just having the distortion tone changing in tone and amplitude, you also get the push of the tone/distortion mix pressure...visually somewhat like a jet vapor trail..and the pressure change can be felt on sensitive areas of your face. Other similar direct points of reference I can make comparing lightly-processed recorded sounds to live would be; tambourine strikes, mic pops, Leslie cabinets, Wurlitzer electric piano, hard strummed acoustic guitar, kick drum pedal hits, cymbal strikes,etc.. The dynamics of these types of sounds are more like my recollections of live performances. Also the fun stuff like sinking bass synth pads submerging into a wash of floor level dark pressure become more enjoyable, and special effects like Q-Sound are naturally more prominently displayed.

So overall, these improvements to the USB delivery chain help me better appreciate better the artistry, craftsmanship and uniqueness these extraordinary people posses that make these records.

Obviously USB still needs some work to realize the full potential of what supposedly should be a simple transfer of bits from here to there... In the meantime, I will happily live with an occasional kit change in an effort to extract the artists intentions and play them back in my personal musical-art gallery. My system many years ago used LP records as a source (I "backed-up" my heavily used records to R2R), very nice sound, but the convenience to point-and-click an entire record collection to me is worth the effort..       

My W4S Recovery was just delivered today      

Here is my digital chain as a point of reference.... 


Gigabyte GA-Z87M-D3H, I5-4670t, NOFAN CR-95c, 2x4 GB Corsair, TeraDak 210 ATX LPS,  PPA V2 USB card (battery), 32GB OS SSD (battery), 256GB SSD/LPS for primary music (all WAV files), SSD's use PPA red thin SATA cables and SSD suspension blocks, WIN2012 core mode and AO, JPlay6 Mini, Ultrastream/Hibernate, PPA 1.8M dual USB cable, Intona standard USB isolator, 0.5M Pangea USB cable, Regen/battery, PPA Regen USB cable, Tanly DDC via HDMI (Wireworld Starlight 5.2, 0.3M) i2S to Audio-GD M7.

Interesting that you got positive results with the regen after the intona. That was definitely not my experience. I still found the regen to make be sound distorted or artificial especially on be top end. Just didn't sound relaxed and natural, but more noisey imho. Also quite surprised you are using 9V battery as I believe those are known to be slow on transient response and would likely make things sound mushy as you said. Definitely not improve the sound when it comes to speed and decay. But can lower noise for sure. But something like a sbooster psu, Paul Hynes, mojo audio psu would be ideal for best sq with full dynamic range, ultra low peak to peak noise and and superior transient response. I know if you are going battery, lifepo4 is the way to go, but even the psu's above are 3-4times as good as the lifepo4 battery.

 

[elviscaprice]

So my take is the Intona isolates, eliminates some noise, then reclocks...
 

 
The Intona does not do any reclocking.   Yes, the battery power for the Regen is the key.
 
EDIT:  Okay, they say the Intona does reclock.  Interesting.

 

[borrego]

   
The Intona does not do any reclocking.   Yes, the battery power for the Regen is the key.

 
Not true. The Intona does reclock (http://intona.eu/en/answer/1239). Actually by design the device won't even work if it does not reclock.
 
I see little point adding a Regen after the Intona except (i) you already owned a Regen, (ii) you need more than 300ma USB power

 

[elviscaprice]

   
Not true. The Intona does reclock (http://intona.eu/en/answer/1239). Actually by design the device won't even work if it does not reclock.
 
I see little point adding a Regen after the Intona except (i) you already owned a Regen, (ii) you need more than 300ma USB power

 
I saw that, about the reclocking. 
See Superdad's reply above about Regen.

 

[Superdad]

  I have been listening to this Intona>battery/Regen combo now for about a week, and tried various combinations to make sure I attributed any sound quality changes to the correct device. I had worried and expected that adding the Regen/PS/cable would make things worse, but I think using good cables and the battery PS maybe helped prevent any gross problems.
 
….

 
 
Great report Motberg.  The descriptions of what you hear are quite vivid!
 

... But something like a sbooster psu, Paul Hynes, mojo audio psu would be ideal for best sq with full dynamic range, ultra low peak to peak noise and and superior transient response. I know if you are going battery, lifepo4 is the way to go, but even the psu's above are 3-4times as good as the lifepo4 battery.

 

If one wants to maintain total galvanic isolation when using an outboard power supply--without having to resort to batteries--the only LPS I am aware of which "floats" the DC ground (being isolated from the AC mains and chassis ground) is our own JS-2 choke-filtered, dual-output, 5-7A unit.  But at $925 it is a bit overkill for just a REGEN or the like.  Our forthcoming "mystery" 3.3/5/7V 1-amp supply will likewise be 100% isolated form the mains--both on the ground and in all ways (like a battery, but not a battery).

 

[TopQuark]

Interesting that you got positive results with the regen after the intona. That was definitely not my experience. I still found the regen to make be sound distorted or artificial especially on be top end. Just didn't sound relaxed and natural, but more noisey imho.

 
+1 with this. I got the Regen in addition to Intona out of curiosity and the rave I see for some using this combo. It didn't work for me either.  Sold the Regen. I am using SOtM PCIE fed by an LPS so I do not know if that made the difference.
 
 

   Does anyone try the Intona with Geek Pulse DAC? I am very interested in this little device, but from the records in computeraudiophile, some DACs still need USB hub like the Regen/Wyrd to connect with computer.

 
I am using Intona with Pulse DAC XF-Infinity. It is a great combo. It works perfectly.  There is dramatic change in the result - depth, dark, clean bass, highs, and everything in between. 
 
Just to note, do not use the long LH Labs USB cable after the Intona.  It will not work. There isn't enough juice to push the signal to the DAC.  My set-up is PC (signal only) ► SotM PCIE (external LPS power) ► LH Labs split cable for signal ► LH Labs Pulse LPS4 ► Intona (signal from SOtM) ► Pulse X-Infinity (fed by LH Labs LPS4)

 

[JesseA]

Have the intona industrial daisy chained with a Regen Amber and I think it's end game for me

 

[FredA]

Have the intona industrial daisy chained with a Regen Amber and I think it's end game for me

The intona is great. Pay attention to usb cables. I tried a few and, because of impedance matching and other considerations, some will sound better than others with the intona. For me, the intona has given a precison to soundstaging that is simply awesome.