Ethernet cables

" I can’t cite a single source that would explain it all." of course i already knew it.

I know the IEEE very well our team has submitted our research manuscripts to them a few times. I can’t really find "digital signal waves are analog". So could you be more specific about the IEEE specs for data transmission in regards to "it's analog"? I will contact the IEEE tomorrow for details.

Don’t waste money (if you’re not elon musk). Just buy on amazon for less than $10. You won’t find any audible difference at all. Those cable sellers buy them on amazon/ebay just like us and decorate them with fancy jacket or some other snake oil

I didn’t say that about IEEE and you know it.  I said a square wave is analog.  Agree or disagree and explain why.

You are free to buy cheap cables.  They will make sound.  Why are you on this forum is all you want is sound?  This forum is for the pursuit of hifi.

@tonywinga

Thank you for those explanations. I cannot argue them as I’ve not seen the studies or data that supports the conclusion.

I guess where I would still hold some skepticism is in whether or not those signal anomalies caused by interference or whatever are actually altering the timing or the data itself being sent across the cable. I suppose it’s possible to test this by sending a digital audio track across some Ethernet cables and then do a bit by bit comparison of the source and the copy. If they are exactly the same then there should be no impact on the audio, yes?

I’m not arguing for the use of cheap cables BTW, just that the claims made by many of these boutique cable makers, and the often absurd prices they charge for them, don’t hold up to scrutiny when A-B blind testing is done. Poorly constructed or damaged cables notwithstanding.

Don’t waste money (if you’re not elon musk). Just buy on amazon for less than $10. You won’t find any audible difference at all. Those cable sellers buy them on amazon/ebay just like us and decorate them with fancy jacket or some other snake oil

@classicrockfan Suffice it to say you’re in the distinct minority on this site as most here have heard differences in varying degrees in every type of cable.  You joined only a few months ago and from what I can tell all you’ve done in that time is throw flames and spout conspiracy theories like the one above, and you provide no value or useful insights/info whatsoever.  In short, you appear to be here for no other reason than to be a troll and spoil otherwise helpful and informative threads.  Why?  What kind of weird satisfaction are you getting out of this?  It’s really sad and pathetic.

I can be specific on what exactly the silver plated wire ethernet cables did for my system with my previous NUC based music server.  The clarity of the music improved.  The highs smoothed out- less of that glare.  The first time I plugged in one of the better cables the highs sounded worse.  I let it break in for a day but it still sounded worse than a cheap cable.  Then I thought to turn the cable around and the sound changed for the better- much better.  It made streaming sound closer to my CD Transport going into my DAC.

I have since moved up to a better DAC which then caused me to have to upgrade my music server as well.  My theory is that this DAC and music server, because they both have isolation and re-clocking, they should be less dependent on the digital cables (Ethernet and USB) for good sound.   Only right now my system sounds too good to tamper with it.  I’m just not motivated to do any additional experimenting.  You know, if it is not broken, don’t fix it.  Sometime I will, out of curiosity, put some cheap cables in my system to see how this DAC and music server perform.