At the risk being perceived at being rude again...electronic interference can only affect audio quality at the endpoint where Ethernet packets being converted (decoded) back to the original bit structure of where they entered the transport medium (encoded). Any electrical interference along the transport wires has be inaudible simply because Ethernet/optical packets cannot be listening to. At the interface level there complete galvanic isolation between Ethernet/optical and original bitstream. Jitter/EMI on Ethernet/optical wires is irrelevant and has 0% effect on sq.
Now, some manufactures designing "high-end" audio streamers for tons of $$$ really only have to worry about of interference from those interfaces, the converting technology, the size of packet buffers and clock signals. That’s what you pay for ($1,400) for Rendu devices.
The real question to me remains: What problems are we trying to solve? If you replace all Ethernet/optical wires from the system and replace them with wifi, that would be a worthwhile discussion. Please read the few available reviews (e.g. Auralic Aries G1), which offers both technologies and try to ascertain which medium has a bigger impact on sq. The result: zero audible difference.
As to main question, is $1,400 is lot of money to improve the sq of a system? I can only reply, my Allo Digione Signature/Raspberry cost about $300. This is a transport only, feeding an external DAC over SPDIF/coax. But it has complete galvanic isolation between the "noisy" wifi interface of the Berry and SPDIF transport, plus high-quality re-clocking of the bitstream before it enters into the SPDIF interface. Yes, there still is a small chance of the Wifi interface causing some residual EMI on the SPDIF circuitry. Is it measurable, will it make a difference? I don’t know.
Challenge for anyone out there to put a $300 network bridge to test against a mega$$$ network streamer/DAC/Rendu with mega$$$ cable and audiograde switches in-between.
I am a audiophile hobbyist just like most people here. All I am saying, please try and blend your listening experiences with the truth of technical explanations. Alternately, you are free to purchase things like the $10,000 Audioquest "directionally aligned" Ethernet cable and expect a "dramatic" improvement of the wired audio components. Snakeoil.
Now, some manufactures designing "high-end" audio streamers for tons of $$$ really only have to worry about of interference from those interfaces, the converting technology, the size of packet buffers and clock signals. That’s what you pay for ($1,400) for Rendu devices.
The real question to me remains: What problems are we trying to solve? If you replace all Ethernet/optical wires from the system and replace them with wifi, that would be a worthwhile discussion. Please read the few available reviews (e.g. Auralic Aries G1), which offers both technologies and try to ascertain which medium has a bigger impact on sq. The result: zero audible difference.
As to main question, is $1,400 is lot of money to improve the sq of a system? I can only reply, my Allo Digione Signature/Raspberry cost about $300. This is a transport only, feeding an external DAC over SPDIF/coax. But it has complete galvanic isolation between the "noisy" wifi interface of the Berry and SPDIF transport, plus high-quality re-clocking of the bitstream before it enters into the SPDIF interface. Yes, there still is a small chance of the Wifi interface causing some residual EMI on the SPDIF circuitry. Is it measurable, will it make a difference? I don’t know.
Challenge for anyone out there to put a $300 network bridge to test against a mega$$$ network streamer/DAC/Rendu with mega$$$ cable and audiograde switches in-between.
I am a audiophile hobbyist just like most people here. All I am saying, please try and blend your listening experiences with the truth of technical explanations. Alternately, you are free to purchase things like the $10,000 Audioquest "directionally aligned" Ethernet cable and expect a "dramatic" improvement of the wired audio components. Snakeoil.