Hans and Darko are two audiophile YouTubers who both prioritize digital audio. They both agree that what comes before the DAC makes a difference. In this video Hans mentions that galvonic isolation and reclocking, although helpful, are insufficient to fix all noise. https://youtu.be/d9RSLHOFOTc Another commenter posted a relevant Darko video earlier, so I won't repeat that one here. In my experience, treating a modem and router as part of the source has been useful, and I can say that adding low noise power supplies to my modem and router made an obvious improvement for me. This, in my view, the convenience of wifi comes at a cost. I wonder how many different philosophies underlie the various views expressed in this thread in answering the question wifi vs wired for SQ. Here's my attempt to articulate them: 1. Nothing upstream from a quality DAC matters for SQ. 2. Nothing upstream from a quality streamer (or reclocker) matters for SQ. 3. WiFi can sound identical to wired when the WiFi card is well implemented. 4. Noise is introduced in all sorts of ways upstream, and the tools we have to remove noise can be used farther upstream than a streamer with clear improvements to SQ. |
@rsf507 I used iFi power supplies. They have two different models to match most various voltage and amperage requirements for streamers, DACs, modems and routers. iFi is relatively affordable, which makes it a perfect to start to see if you hear a difference compared to your streamer's wifi card. If you do try a low noise power supply with your modem and router, I'd be interested whether the difference was obvious (or worth the cost) in your system. Just as a side note, I suspect that a reclocker and power supply / power cable upgrade should be prioritized over power supplies for the modem and router. iFi also makes a few reclockers in case you haven't tried one. I suspect that a Node 2i, for example, would benefit from a reclocker; but I also suspect that most Node owners don't run a reclocker. |
I’m late to the discussion here. However, I thought it was important enough to bring up something obvious regarding the Orbi system. I am using the Orbi system with a Cat 8 ethernet cable connection to my Gold Note DS-10/ PSU-10 Evo combo. I was quite satisfied with what I was getting and then it struck me that what I was hearing was only as good as what was being transmitted from the Orbi router to the Orbi satellite. I was still using the cheap Cat 5 cable that was included between the cable modem and Orbi router! I swapped to Cat 8 cable between the modem and Orbi router. The result was a jaw dropping change in sound quality in every respect. |
