ETHERNET CABLES

@12many ​​​​@fredrik222 I’d love to believe you guys that Ethernet cables make no difference, and I totally get where you’re coming from about the physics saying they should make no difference. But, I’ve heard enough people here say they not only make a difference, but a pretty sizable difference. In fact, everything in streaming seems to make a big difference. I started streaming from my iPad through an upgraded lightning to USB cable, which was a big improvement over the Apple Camera Adapter, but when I added an iFi Zen Stream things improved exponentially and actually surpassed spinning CDs. So, I bought a mid-priced Wireworld Starlight 8 Ethernet cable I’m gonna try out between my router and streamer and see if it makes a difference versus a garden variety Ethernet cable. If I hear no difference, I’ll just return it. But at least I tried and accepted MAYBE there’s something I didn’t know and just trusted my own ears. You know, CDs were “perfect sound forever” until they finally figured out how to measure jitter, timing, and noise that turned out to be BIG problems and why many audiophiles just stuck with vinyl until manufacturers figured it out. I might hear no difference between the two Ethernet cables, but if I hear a difference maybe sometime in the future they’ll be able to measure it and explain why. But if not I’ll just return the Wireworld cable and no biggie. I also just upgraded from a very decent Apogee WydeEye professional digital cable, which I’ve loved and stuck with for 10 years, to an Acoustic Zen MC2 that is notably better in absolutely every parameter — not even close in a direct A/B comparison. At some point in the past someone would’ve said there couldn’t be any difference because it’s just ones and zeroes (and yes, they’re both 75-Ohm cables), but here we are. I guess what I’m saying is, rather than just blindly walling it off why not just try a “better” Ethernet cable and if you don’t hear a difference just return it? What’s the harm? Worst case is you’ll just prove your point to yourselves, and if not you’ve benefitted from better sound quality and learned something. That’s a win-win either way in my book.

Great analogy @12many

Now add to that crumpled piece of paper a pound of peanut butter sprinkled with sand that was packed into that parcel thoroughly coating every mm of that paper

You will work harder and longer to clean it up to determine that it’s a piece of blank paper 8.5x11. Now your hands are dirty with all the crap you just dealt with to understand what you’re dealing with, you reach into a drawer to pull out a clean piece of paper but you marred it because your hands were dirty. You have a perfect 8.5x11 piece of paper except the remnants of peanut butter and sand. That’s noise that you worked long and hard to clean up but ended up with on a final product.
All digital signal, data packets, etc is nothing but a digital signal being carried thru a copper wire by means of an analog signal that is susceptible to emi, rfi and ground noise. Are you venmoing me a dollar? Will my bank see it as a dollar or $.99.9999 On a receiving end the data packets unfolded properly.
However we’re talking audio and digital to digital and digital to analog conversion that happens inside your audio components. In an ideal world it would have no effect on the final product, all DACs would sound identical and cables wouldn’t matter. Unfortunately in our world it does not work that way and everything matters  

I have extensively tested several ethernet cables for several days of critical listening each. I eliminated the possibility for bias as after 1-2 days of listening you begin to hear the true character of the cable (or its effects on a component) without initial impressions getting in a way.
All cables I have tested sounded different. With one causing slight listening fatigue due to a slight hump in the presence region, another sounding hyper detailed which really worked out for me during low level listening, and another just being dead nuts neutral without emphasis on any particular band.
This is my experience in my system that I consider objective as I have spent considerable amount of time critically listening to each option and even reverting back to see if my results match.
The point I’m trying to make is the theories expressed in this and other discussions on this subject are simply what they are - theories and assumptions. Most if not all the contributors who angrily try to convince others that it cannot be because in theory it’s impossible, have never tried or tested it for themselves, don’t have the systems that can reveal these differences, don’t or can’t afford higher end cables or systems or just simply don’t have the ear to hear the changes between the cables.
It’s all good. But there’s no reason, especially without having any experience behind your belt, to tell me what I hear or don’t hear.

+1 @audphile1 and jibes well with my post above. 

@soix this thread unfortunately had gone south…most likely can’t be salvaged. 

@fredrik222 ,

You can' offend me in the least despite your bravado so it wasn't me that got your post deleted. You try you best to look down your nose at me but it won't work as I don't consider you a peer but more of a nuisance.

Cables make a difference and unless you're willing to try it for yourself and not rely on motivated reasoning, you'll never really know.

All the best,
Nonoise