Update on good Ethernet switch
ASI mentioned before I didnot want to say the brand until I heard the Ethernet switch not only after 300 hours which was recommended having a OX over controlled clock ,
and with what myself always do the weak link on any audio component starts with the stock power cord , for minimal monies the Pangea using Cardas grade 1 copper 6-9s. Awg14 sig,Mk2 , and getting rid of the 50 cent bottle neck fuse I put in a 1.25amp 20mm L ,slow blow synergistic purple fuse these increase fidelity at least 5-7% the switch itself At least 5% if you know the name Jays audio for transports ,his other company LHY Audio the SW8 Ethernet switch for $595 nothing has all this in a nice machined aluminum case , even the uptone ether regen or Sonore deluxe using a with fiber optic which btw lessens the realism imo both were used witha Sbooster2 LPS , ,theSW8 Ethernet switch is a great buy ,and if you add a decent power cord and upgrade the fuse you will be rewarded further , 7 of us reviewed this and 6 out of 7 thought it was a noticeable improvement vs the others there were2 other brands which were more ,that were not even that good and had switch mode pS
I have bought two standard network switches: Cisco 2960, and a Cisco SG110D The Cisco 2960 I added the Audiophool upgrade. With the Cisco SG110D, I added a Fidelity Audio C4Mk2 clock. Both under $500. They have Plixir Elite linear power supplies running them with Statement DC cables, and Mad Scientist power cables.
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@soix I’ve worked in Enterprise networks for 30+ years. Fairly confident I have a better understanding of this than most members here. The base product this item is created from is a $40 limited function Ethernet switch. The only thing I could see making an impact would be clock regen on the downlink. But that shouldn’t matter, as the streamer/DAC will regen again, and will be the only clock that actually matters. So $600 for a $40 switch in a pretty aluminum case. Still lol. |
Two questions: I’m using a mesh network system and the audio system streamer is connected to a satellite router by Ethernet and the satellite router gets its connection from the main router via a 5 GHz “trunk” wireless stream. 1 - is the switch as effective in this situation? All reviews I’ve read appear to be pure Ethernet networks. 2 - do I put my best Ethernet cable before or after the switch? TIA! |
The most robust and best sounding setup will be hard wire ethernet cable from router to music streamer. A wireless link is a compromise. However, when I did some experimenting streaming television programming, I had the wireless mesh router near the TV connected by ethernet cable back to my audio grade network bridge. The picture was just slightly less clear using wireless to the Apple TV box vs the ethernet cable plugged directly into the Apple TV box. So based on my experience, a wifi link may be just fine or you may hear a difference depending on your system and all other factors- like RFI levels in your home. You will have to try it both ways- put the audio grade network switch before the wireless link and then try it close to your music streamer. The latter is likely to give the best results for streaming music. The best ethernet cable should be at the music server. I know all this because I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last week. Yes, I really did and it was crazy expensive. My first hotel stay since Covid. Wow! Prices have gone up a lot. |
@rjmcinnis Enterprise networks have nothing to do with sound quality and give you exactly zero credibility here. In addition to the aluminum case this unit has an upgraded clock and dumps the crap SMPS for a LPS. These are not small upgrades, and if you don’t understand this you’re completely out of your depth here. Look up Jay’s Audio for transports — they know a lot more than you do when it comes to audio. Period. Stick to enterprise networks where you’re clearly more qualified but has little to do with high-end audio. Or are we gonna just get into the “bits are bits” BS conversation here? |
