Ethernet Cables

When I switched from cat6 to cat7 cable I experienced significantly fewer dropouts

@ kren0006

Just a guess the CAT6 cable is a UTP ( Unshielded Twisted Pair) and the CAT7 is a STP (Shielded Twisted Pair) cable. It’s the shielding that is making the differences you are hearing, imo.

Example of CAT6 UTP unshielded Ethernet cable.
https://www.belden.com/products/enterprise/copper/cable/cat-6

Example only of a CAT 7 STP shielded twisted pair Ethernet cable.
https://www.amazon.com/Cat7-Ethernet-Cable-25-Connector/dp/B00GBBSKVS/ref=pd_rhf_dp_s_all_spx_wp_0_1...

Connectors are probably CAT6 or CAT6a shielded type plugs.

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A few CAT 8 cables are on the market now. Cables & Kits has a relatively inexpensive one and looks good quality. I am using one now, on my computer.
DH Labs makes a CAT 8 with better connectors and silver plated high purity copper wire for a little more money.

The biggest difference I have heard is with switch itself.  I changed my Cisco SG switch to a Ubiquiti smaller switch and noticed a drop in crispness, separation, and clarity.  I have come to realize this is all about clean power.  The cable carries noise into the dac/stream.  I haven’t tried Ethernet cables as much, though I imagine the better shielding and noise suppression the better the performance.

The cable carries noise into the dac/stream.  I haven’t tried Ethernet cables as much, though I imagine the better shielding and noise suppression the better the performance.

That's why different USB and possibly Ethernet cables have different sound.  These cables causes some type of noise downstream that affect the clocking of the DAC circuit.  The better the cable, the less the noise will get through and get suppressed.  

Ideally you have a DAC that gets clocked exactly at the same period with no jitter or noise.  But the clock gets corrupted with noise from other sources such as USB/Ethernet.  Even with asynchronous and local clocking, clock can still get corrupted.  

Ethernet cables are very much enhansed these days. You can now use CAT-8 Etherent cable which is the fastest ethernet cable in the world.