@sns Your server is in some ways acting like a switch. It sits in-between the router and the streamer and it re-clocks the ethernet packets. And perhaps most importantly, it must be isolating the oR into its own little network. So in other words, the oR won’t be receiving multicast messages, for example, from any other network device outside its own network. So repeating what I said earlier, less activity is less noise/distortion. My PhoenixNet dealer once had a dual switch network and similar to your experience, he found that removing the first switch sounded better. And isn’t it great to know that removing a component does that? It’s a win for the music and we get to put money back into the pocketbook for a change.
From your experience and others, the 005 seems to improve as the rest of the system is upgraded. It shows that the 005 is not the weak link. The Benchmark DAC3 shares this trait and it’s a big reason why the DAC3 has been with me nearly since inception.
I don’t have optical isolation anymore in my system but that will change in a few weeks when the Ediscreation Fiber Box II will come in. It will sit in-between the router and the switch. If it makes a difference, I will share the results. But before then, I have a QSA Yellow fuse for the 005 coming in a few hours. I’m hoping this fuse will not make an appreciable difference. I don’t like the idea of fuse rolling $700+ fuses.