@lalitk agreed. All you will get is clutter. Add linear power supplies to those fiber optic converters and get even more clutter. I have tried that fiber optic setup with several streamers that accept only copper network cables and actually don’t like the resulting sound. Besides it’s a spaghetti and a mess. I would just get a good Ethernet cable and call it a day. That’s all you really need - neat and organized with improved sound.
Relationship between Ethernet Switch and SQ
This one will probably invite some withering mockery, but I will ask....
I only stream, and my streamer (Bryston BDP) is fed with an ethernet cable that runs back to my router. Literally back to my router; there are enough output jacks on the router that I have a long run to the streamer and no ethernet switch in the chain (or the house system for that matter). (There is an Eno filter right before the streamer).
I happen to OWN a nice LHY ethernet switch. I am assuming that there is no reason to use it in this configuration, that is, assuming there are noisier switches, and less noisy switches, there is still no net benefit of adding any switch to this chain. But maybe, just maybe, in the metaphysics of electrons that I do not understand, there is some reason why a nice switch prior to the streamer accomplishes something (in theory...I get that I can A/B test and try to fool myself whether I can hear a difference). For the first person with a correct answer, I will mail a nice $600 switch to the address you specify! (JK)
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It seems to me that something is badly amiss if you suffer dropped bits while using that equipment with Qobuz, as you describe below, @audphile1. I'm not a Roon user, so I don't know if maybe that's where your problem is. But you should be getting bit-perfect delivery from Qobuz and if you're not, you be better served by fixing your network issues than anything else. If all of your wiring and connections are tight and secure, you might want to look at that DAC as the culprit.
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Man, there is some different opinions. But we all have them. I am using an EtherRegen in my computer room that converts the ethernet to fiber which then goes to my Lumin X1 in my audio room. Pretty much clutter free. To me, the fiber was a game changer in sound quality. The music became calmer and more natural. I suppose the transceivers are important. I am using Finisar ozzy |
@cleeds ha? Dropped bits? Man who’s saying anything about dropped bits? I’m talking about difference in sound quality that’s influenced more by a component design and implementation as well as parts quality that impact the sonics more than the network switches, or converting copper to fiber and back to copper, using switches and upgrading power supplies on routers, switches and fiber optic converters. This is the topic of this discussion. Let’s not highjack it. |
there is a very simple answer to your question, and it is the only answer, adding a switch in the chain can only deteriorate, it can never under any circumstance enhance. It is absolutely impossible and anyone telling you differently does not understand the technology. a good switch only adds a bit of latency, a bad switch can cause frame drops and cause audible issues. that said, the switch needs to be pretty bad to cause issues for streaming services. and on the topic of streaming, there is no such thing as continues stream, it is a series of downloads into a buffer. Any media over TCP/IP and Ethernet buffers. Regarding caching, at least according to Qobuz all players are supposed to cache, but some manufacturers want to fool their buyers by saving it is a better experience if you don’t cache, but that is just BS. anyone with foundational knowledge of the topic can verify all of the above with a packet capture. |
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