Ethernet Cables

@panzrwagn Well said.

Ethernet is not a waveform, and it cares not what type of copper it’s sent over; if it shows up intact, that is the best you will get. So it’s pointless to buy expensive ethernet cables if you hear a difference is purely confirmation bias.

If you want to know how many hops your data takes before it gets to your player, run a Trace Route C:\tracert Qobuz.com (or whatever your service) That data has traveled thousands of miles and run over MANY different networks before arriving at your home. Saying you can hear a difference between a 1' or 100' CAT5\6\7\8 cable is pure confirmation bias. You spent loads of money on it; you can listen to the difference by golly. That is not how ethernet works.

Sorry to see the ASR crowd has once again poisoned a well-intentioned discussion.  Note they’re quick to say Ethernet cables cannot possibly make a difference in theory, but yet they never bother to use their own ears to compare better cables to cheap crap.  I can’t imagine being an audiophile and not being able to trust my own ears.  Might as well just pick all your audio equipment out of a book because the numbers make sense to you.  That’s just incredibly sad to me and misses the whole point.  Whatever. 

@soix

I do think its rather kind of the Audiogon community to welcome panzer and other ASR/anti-ethernet-cable cultists. Imagine how lonely it must be for them when those who hear a positive difference refuse to consume their cool aid. It does strike me as odd though that are drawn to these discussions like a mot to flame…

Panzerkampfwagen has a thing against Ethernet cables. 98% of his posts are in this topic. Not exaggerating 

I asked the question on another thread here. How can an ethernet cable alter sound other than EMI and RFI rejection if properly constructed?