Do someone try the Mapleshade usb cable with the Regen ?
Ted Smith saidTed,powerfreq said And I know the issue does not lie with the regen because it played flawlessly between my son's mb pro and his ds dac.That logic isn't sound. It would also apply for many USB cables that don't hook up the VBUS signal - but they work with many combinations of hardware and they also fail with many others. Don't get me wrong, I doubt that the Regen is "cheating" but it's not at all obvious where the incompatibility lies.The problem seems to be something in the chain trying to use the USB volume control somewhere: the DS USB receiver (unfortunately) supports the USB HID mixer requests and if you aren’t explicitly using them it’s not obvious what part of the system is - if the mb pro has any sort of support for volume controls in the USB chain try to disable them. I don’t know why the Regen would use USB HID requests, but if they are for some reason that might be the problem.
Some other simple suggestions to help narrow things down, please try them again even if you have done similar experiments in the past:
If you have any USB hubs in the USB chain between the mb pro and the ds try removing them.
Have you tried things with only certified USB cables in the chain? (the Belden Gold USB cables are good quality and cost next to nothing.)
My son brought his mb pro to my house this evening. It’s exactly the same model as mine with the same op system and other internals. I tried playing an iso rip on my mb pro. No playback, just the faint distant sound of the track showing 176.4/24 on my ds dac. Popped his mb pro in and the dsd rip played perfectly through my dsd dac. Put my mb pro back and same problem again.
So there is something amiss with my mb pro it seems. But I don’t know where to begin. My son suggested I reinstall the os, but that seems to be a drastic and difficult (for me) step. I am going to have to ponder my next move. Any advise would be welcome.
John
Another observation when playing all other resolution rips. The sound is attenuated equivalent to about 12 ds dac volume “clicks”. In addition both ends of the frequency spectrum are significantly rolled off. Sounds like I’m listening to 128k mp3 rather than a 44.1 cd rip. How could my mb pro be causing these things to occur, especially since I did nothing to it (knowingly) and it played just fine with the regen for over three months?
The mb pro probably has some volume processing going on - perhaps replay gain (if it does that) or there might be a simple volume setting somewhere.
If not volume processing, then some other form of DSP.
I think Ted is on the right track.
Are you running Audirvana? Your Son too? Itunes mode or Hog mode?
If so, try comparing all your settings vs your son’s A’vana ones, especially any dealing with DoP or processing.
Holy smokes! USB just took on a whole new dimension using the Regen and Jitterbug together. I just hooked them up and there is a clear improvement over straight USB. More later…
gordon said I think Ted is on the right track.Are you running Audirvana? Your Son too? Itunes mode or Hog mode?
If so, try comparing all your settings vs your son’s A’vana ones, especially any dealing with DoP or processing.
We both run audivana (hog) and jriver. I checked settings and they appear to be the same. And the issue occurs with either player.
What baffles me is that my mb pro has this issue ONLY when the regen is installed now, it did not do this for the first three months of use. I also have a pair of jitterbug being used and no problem with them.
Why would my mb pro now decide to do some type of auto volume processing or dsp control only when the regen is in the chain? It doesn’t see the regen, only the "PS Audio USB Audio 2.0 Output
Have you updated or upgraded OSX on your MBP during the difference period?
After doing a full backup of your OSX drive you can boot into recovery mode. This will ONLY reinstall the OS files and not touch anything else. If any pgm fails to start afterwards it may have been the culprit. Both AVA and JR are looking for that PSA driver so there may be something blocking its abilities when the regen is identified. good place to start.
Use the built-in recovery disk to reinstall OS X while keeping your files and user settings intact.
Important: You must be connected to the Internet to reinstall OS X.
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In the menu bar, choose Apple menu > Restart. Once your Mac restarts (and the gray screen appears), hold down the Command (⌘) and R keys.
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Select Reinstall OS X, then click Continue.
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Follow the onscreen instructions. In the pane where you select a disk, select your current OS X disk (in most cases, it’s the only one available).
Thanks Gordon. According to my mb pro’s OS update log there was an auto update performed at about the time the issue first surfaced, but I don’t really know which came first.
Your suggestion is really good and I will try the OS reinstall. And thanks for the clear stepwise procedure.
Must I reinstall the current OS version on my laptop or can I reinstall the previous version?
when you do an update you usually have 30 days to reverse it. Another option to to “restore” from your back up made before the update.
Sometimes, but not always, critical programs should be reinstalled after an OS back up since the update may reverse some of the controls your music software may have over the overall OS.
Both Av and JR override the audio midi settings at times so a good idea to reinstall the OS and then the 2 music players as well.
Good Luck 
I am getting great sound from my MacBook Pro–jitterbug–Regen–DS DAC combo. I was never satisfied with USB playback up to this point and have always preferred the Bridge I/II. This USB signal chain sounds really good, though, and I am letting it break in and spending some time with it. What really surprises me is that the Mac is just stock and the PC is, lets say, moderately modified (mostly software tweaks, including underclocking) but the sounds are not dissimilar. I’m looking forward to trying these two gizmos with my friend’s MAC to Devialet connection and another’s DS DAC fed by an Aria server. Details “at 11”…
Paul pang has a battery with charger and regulator that’s cheap and great with the regen
also regen is coming out with there own new regulator it’s supposed to beyond all else lol.
But remember batteries vary with load so even Lipo needs regulation to sound it’s best GLENN stop being so cheap this is hi end audio we are supposed to spend the kids college funds and not care lol
I am cheap LOL
Success!
Wanted to advised those who responded to my sacd iso rip play problem with my regen in the chain, it appears that Audirvana was the culprit. Some corruption must have occurred to my active and residing copy of Audirvana. But why it only was in effect when the regen was in the chain is well beyond my comprehension.
Nonetheless, as i was getting ready to reload my mbp osx, I though I would first update my Audirvana to the latest free version and see what happens. Well it worked. Although this last free update is a bit too sterile for my liking, it must have reset something somewhere because the regen now passes sacd iso without any problem. Now I am using jrmc (which also had the problem with sacd iso playback even though Audirvana was the cause) and the sound is really great with my pair of jitterbugs and the regen in the mix. Soooooooooo glad to be over this frustrating and still not understood problem!!!
Thanks so much for all the replies to my previous posts.
Long live the music!
Regards,
John
Congratulations on getting the problem worked out. I know that it can be frustrating, and we all can suffer from blinders. We focus on where the problem manifests itself and forget about all the other things in the chaib that can cause the problem. Several years ago, my PWD/Bridge became inaccessible to the library and players on the computer. I was so focused on the Bridge that it took a shove from Gordon (thanks) to delve into the network, where the true probem was. Those few days of banging my head against the wrong place was frustrating, and embarrassing as I am more than competent with computers and networks.
Again, congratulations and enjoy the music.
J.P.
I preferred the Recovery in my system so I have a Regen for sale if anyone is interested. $150 including shipping and PayPal fee.
I am listening to an Aurender N-100 via USB currently. it appears that, although I could make out a distinct difference with the Macbook Pro, I cannot distinguish the straight USB vs Jitterbug/Regen with the Aurender. As a side note, the Aurender sounds quite good, on par with my PC server. As to servers, I still haven’t heard a better source at $1,000 than the PC. The N-10 wil be visiting soon!
wglenn said I am listening to an Aurender N-100 via USB currently. it appears that, although I could make out a distinct difference with the Macbook Pro, I cannot distinguish the straight USB vs Jitterbug/Regen with the Aurender. As a side note, the Aurender sounds quite good, on par with my PC server. As to servers, I still haven't heard a better source at $1,000 than the PC. The N-10 wil be visiting soon!My experience with these same devices is similar. I've tried them both (dual Jitterbugs and Regen with LPS) in numerous systems. With HQ servers and DACs, the Regen either makes no difference or actually degraded the sound in a few cases. The Jitterbug made no difference at all. With any kind of standard computer (PC or Mac) driving the system, the Jitterbug seems to help but whether the Regen makes an audible improvement or not seems to depend more on the DAC than on the server.
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I fully agree and also depends on the source devices as well. With good power into the source (think a CAPs build), the jitterbug degraded the sound and make it harsh at times. On the other hand, there is a slight improvement in the bass region (not a huge though) with the Regen on the DS dac but Regen made the sound worse on my friends Schiit Yggy (the usb implementation, according to some, on this dac has been a stellar).
My experience is a bit different, I like my Regen (stock ps) into my Yggy but maybe the difference is my Sonicorbiter SE with an iFi ps playing Roon, one heck of a renderer for $300 btw…and looking forward to the $640 microRendu.