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Ethernet Cables, do they make a difference?

I stream music via TIDAL and the only cable in my system that is not an "Audiophile" cable is the one going from my Gateway to my PC, it is a CAT6 cable. Question is, do "Audiophile" Ethernet cables make any difference/ improvement in sound quality?

Any and all feedback is most appreciated, especially if you noted improvements in your streaming audio SQ with a High-End Ethernet cable.

Thanks!
grm
grm
acepilot71's avatar
acepilot71
41 posts
 
1. Spend reasonable money.
2. Upgrade component.
3. Feel positive difference, and feel good about it.
4. Repeat...

Isnt that the goal?

In theory Ethernet cable does not make any difference for audio system but...

p.s. Teory is applicable in highly controlled environment which cannot be applied to every setup (or may be even majority of the setups).
p.p.s. Theories or rules have exceptions, which just prove the rules.

markalarsen's avatar
markalarsen
666 posts
 
That is not the point. Ethernet cable can impact in two ways:  (1) reducing EMI interference; and (2) the connections. If it was impossible, period, the good Ethernet cables, from Cardas, Wireworld and Audioquest, would not improve the sound quality.  They do.  Period. You may not believe speaker cables and interconnects improve the sound quality, but the do. Period.
joecasey
484 posts
 
@jinjuku

IMO, whether Ethernet cable a factor is function to DAC buffer size.  Bigger the buffer, less factor.  Ideally DAC buffers the whole album, then anything before the DAC is not a factor ... play back from memory.     Companies probably making too much money selling transports, servers ... so not changing soon.

Problem is most DACs buffer's ~6 seconds and I can easily hear a difference between Ethernet cables.   If you in my neck of woods, I would love to demonstrate in my system.
Post removed 
jinjuku's avatar
jinjuku
226 posts
 
IMO, whether Ethernet cable a factor is function to DAC buffer size. Bigger the buffer, less factor.

Less a factor for what?

Problem is most DACs buffer's ~6 seconds and I can easily hear a difference between Ethernet cables.   If you in my neck of woods, I would love to demonstrate in my system.

I can set JRiver for 6 seconds. So an Ethernet cable will effect that 6 second buffer but if I set JRiver for 60 minutes of buffer it won't?

What about all the other operations going on? CPU caching operations, Interrupts, DMA transfers, Memory Paging, SMPS? This is why I don't buy into Al's argument. 

With all this going on what ever variation of cable is going to be swamped by the system wide operations going on continuously. 

What is your neck of the woods and what is your setup? 



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