What’s your budget? If you are going from one cheap Ethernet cable to another, I would say it ain’t worth it. Here’s my recommendation….try iFi LAN iSilencer.
If you want to explore better cables, you will need either the mesh network, extender or another switch to have a short run of good cable into your streamer. But…the iFi thingy can bring a slight but audible improvement. Amazon has it. You can return it if it does nothing. I use one with my Aurender N200.
Ethernet cable for music streaming
I know there have been threads on this topic, including my own from last year, but I'd like to pursue this issue further, perhaps from a slightly different angle. Here's my conundrum: I'm not getting the sound quality from my Innuos PulseMini streamer that I think it's capable of and I've never been able to put my finger on what the weak link in my system is. I'm streaming Qobuz through the Innuos SenseApp on my Samsung tablet. While some parts of the frequency range sound really good (bass, mid-bass, lower mids, e.g.), when we get to the range where vocals live and above, the sound loses fidelity and definition. Things sound fuzzy and muddled, especially if the music is complex or dense. Loud orchestral passages can be really unpleasant to listen to.
The streamer is connected via USB to a Sonnet Morpheus DAC, and is fed via ethernet cable from my AT&T router. It's about a 35 ft. run of CAT5 that goes under the house and up through the floor of my listening (living) room. It doesn't run near any other electric lines. There's an ethernet switch that divides the signal between the TV, the Roku box, and the streamer. I do have the option of running a dedicated line from the router to the streamer, but I need some advice on whether this will improve things any. I tried plugging the existing ethernet cable into the streamer directly, bypassing the switch, but this yielded no improvement.
Would it help to use CAT6 or CAT6a cable for this run? And should it be shielded or unshielded? I've read some posts that indicate shielded cables introduce their own distortions into the signal, so I'm really not sure which way to go here.
I'd be grateful for advice from the many of you who are more expert on this subject than I am. Thanks.
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A few things I've done. Some cheapish, some pricey. Upgraded my router from the one supplied by my internet provider. LPS of my modem and router. Plixir and FiiO. Changed the fuses on these as well. Bought a wifi extender. Triode Wire Labs Freedom ethernet cables to switch and streamer from this. A Puritan PSM156 and Ground City. A Stack Audio SmoothLan, and Pink Faun Lan Isolator. A Teddy Pardo LPS on my streamer, with upgraded fuse. An ISO Regen (reclocks the USB from my streamer). Black Ravioli Big Pads under my amp/Dac/DDC/streamer.
This has been a process since late 2021.
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While I don’t think it will solve the problem, I would upgrade the Ethernet run regardless to Cat 6a. Not a big investment, Blue Jeans makes a nice product at custom length. That is unless you go the Wi-Fi extender route which is viable. You do not mention what kind of USB cable you are using, this might be something to investigate as well. |
missed it so I’ll go back and second @soix on a power supply recommendation. I would do that plus a nice power cord before playing with any Ethernet related tweaks. |
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