Snake oil of the year?

actually audioTroy,

people are still laughing at speaker spikes because they don't isolate anything, the vibration is going to the floor and then from the floor they go back to the spikes and into the speaker shaking them, those spikes are useless, decoupling speakers is the only way to go not coupling and the best isolation product for that is the Townshend podiums, maybe you should go look them up.

@urbie you are right the podiums or at least the isoAcoustics products should be used  to decouple speakers.

@ilkeresmer I am going to say you are wrong All the switches are snake oil imo... if you have a good newtwork player that s all...

I have an Innuos Statement and upgraded to fiber using the Gtek Media Converters (a switch) and it was a marked improvement. I also have a LessLoss Echo’s End DAC equipped with the LessLoss Firewall 640X and I added the Gtek based on peoples experiences here on Agon.

Open your third eye, mind and ears to what can be for cheap sometimes.

Now lets talk about $8500 power cords.

@wsrrsw 

I find it hard to take seroiuly folks who haven’t tried equipment they excoriate but haven’t used or been around. Ah the internet.

Well that's good news because In the video, they compared the AQVOX vs. the standard D-Link switch with blind listening tests. Out of two rounds of testing with 10 participants, the AQVOX was selected as the better sounding option once, the standard D-Link switch was selected 4 times, and the rest of the times there was no difference heard. You watched the video, right?

There's no reason why a network switch whose only purpose is to move data without error from point A to point B should change the sound. This is the beauty of digital data. No matter how many times data is moved through the switch, a perfect copy is made on the receiving end. This is fundamental to how digital audio and systems (i.e. PCs, streamers, the internet, etc.) work. Otherwise, none of these things would be usable.

So with that fact in mind, the only way the sound would be different is if somehow the data payload bits were being changed by the switch. That means if you copied a file from one device to another using that switch, it would be different on the receiving end. You can test this yourself with tools built into all the major operating systems in use today. No measurements needed.

Try it with your JCAT switch vs. a normal switch (perhaps on the cable modem or wi-fi router supplied by your ISP).

@yage

With apologies to Paul Simon and Mose Allison

“It’s really not my habit to intrude
Furthermore, I hope my meaning
Won’t be lost or misconstrued
But I’ll repeat myself
At the risk of being crude” your gotcha moment ain’t got me dude.

In one word, forgetaboutit.

I watched untill it was clear this was a test of a COMPUTER based signal into a snazzy headphone amp.

Having converted years back from computer streaming to using a streamer, I’ll stay with a streamer, roubust PSU and ethernet cleanup with no switch (filter’s yes).

I’m willing to admit that I don’t know about high end computer audio.

On my rig the JCat is top dog. Naturally I have listened with and without it.

I’m also willing to admit of possible bais with new grear but this snake oil is non toxic and delicious.

“Please don’t talk about me when I’m gone
Though our love has ended from now on
If you can’t say anything real nice
Just don’t talk at all, that’s my advice

You’ll go your way, I’ll go mine
It’s better that we do
Here’s a kiss I hope that this
Brings lots of love to you

Makes no difference how I carry on
Please don’t talk about me when I’m gone.”

Hope you know I’m kidding.

I’m not kidding that better liniear power into a swich, filter, Roon Nucleus, makes a difference to all (2) of my test subjects who I pay to agree with me by the trap of marriage (I digress). If that educational video had fitted either switch maybe with a great PSU that would have cured my ADD rather than caused it

@yage : it’s not about the “data”. Everyone knows that. Basic stuff Sherlock. It’s about other stuff that travels on the Ethernet transmission line for a ride and straight into you equipment. Mainly leakage—both high-impedance and low-impedance—and clock phase-noise.