Value of a premium Ethernet cable

Well regarded members of this forum have stated adamantly that digital audio is a true stream of data, and not a bit checked/error corrected file sent over TCP/IP in packets.

This confused me so I contacted BlueSound. Digital audio is transmitted over TCP/IP just like an other digital data file.

Errors can and do occur, e.g. the packets can get sent out of order, which can create a slight delay while the processor assembles the file (assuming the transfer is completed) but the file is the identical once it arrives at the transport/streamer no matter whether it is sent over WiFi or a $1K ethernet cable.

That is my only point.

If your new cable, wherever in the chain that is, sounds better, and you are happy with the ROI, great.

But don’t tell me the amplitude over time of a sine wave in a digital file can be altered by an ethernet cable of varying quality.

a sine wave in a digital file

*the digital representation of a sine wave in a digital file

The difference between a trash amazon ethernet cable and a Audioquest Cinnamon is substantial.

The difference between a Cinnamon and a Diamond Audioquest on my rig is not so substantial (quite subtle actually).

Essentially, it comes down to the resolution of you room+rig (the pre-requisite), i.e., how nitpicky you want to be. To improve a room’s resolution, it costs a lot for treatments that actually work. But, the latter tends to trump any gains from the likes of cables by a lot.

I accept that many believe digital music is 1s and 0s arriving at the DAC.

This hasn't been anywhere near my experience.  The best explainer I've found which can explain the impact of noise, jitter and phase noise on digital signals is this Hans Beekhuyzen video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-StTplQZys

@lollipopguild Interesting video and I read the white paper, thanks for sharing.

I am not one that believes digital music is just 1s and 0s arriving at the DAC. As an example, my BS Node 130 sounded obviously better with an LPS upgrade, which is actually discussed in the video (AC leakage). I use a Zavfino PC for my DAC, Zavfino interconnects and USB cable. The USB cable sounded much better than a pricey SPIDF cable. The DAC is on Symposium Roller Blocks and a Svelte base.

The etherREGEN device looks interesting.

@deep_333 I didn't hear any obvious difference streaming over WiFi vs. ethernet, but I will a/b test this more closely for fun. 

I have ordered an AQ Cinnamon ethernet cable. I'll compare it with my Blue Jeans Belden cable and report back. I can return it if I don't hear any difference.