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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.

cooper52
audphile1's avatar
audphile1
4,920 posts
 

I second @ghdprentice nothing will have as big of an impact as a streamer or a dac upgrade or both. All the tweaks like switches, converters, LPS, filters…that’s pretty much just lipstick on a pig. Waste of time, money and space.

macg19
911 posts
 

That maybe the case, but the OP thinks his Innuos is underperforming due to networking / long ethernet cables etc. 

No suggestion he is looking to upgrade his Innuos. And if there is an issue with the feed into the streamer, a new streamer may also underperform.

YMMV but I've done very well getting the most out of my Node N130 by adding an LPS, good cables, a decent tube DAC and now the SmoothLan and everything made a real difference (I only stream and listen to Qobuz and SXM Radio, but primary source is vinyl). Super happy with SQ. I'm looking at more than double the investment to best it. Which I will at some point but low priority.

If the OP does have budget and  the appetite for a new streamer, I would not buy anything that I could not return after an in-home trial given his current situation.

That will be 2 cents please.

 

    

 

soix
9,456 posts
 

For $300 I'd give SmoothLan Network Filter a go and send it back if it doesn't help. 

+1 @macg19.  Given the very positive results several have gotten with this and in your situation with a long Ethernet run I’d think this would be well worth a try. 

drewportland
17 posts
 

I had a Morpheus DAC and it sounds much better with an I2S interface from the streamer vs USB. I started out with a MAC Mini for my streamer going USB to the Morpheus. I then read where the Morpheus sounds best with I2S input. I bought the I2S module for the DAC snd a Hermes streamer and it was a very nice upgrade in SQ. I've since upgraded to the Pasithea and have kept the Hermes. Something else  that made a nice improvement was getting a Cardas XLR to RCA adapter from the DAC, The DAC has a lower noise floor when using balanced output. All the other suggestions regarding ethernet from your router apply as well. However you will not get the full benefit from the upstream changes without an I2S interface into your DAC. 

mahler123
3,317 posts
 

I’m new to this thread, but has the OP tried experimenting with a different DAC and/or different streamer?  If he was that unhappy as he describes in the initial post I am skeptical that a change in Ethernet cabling or power supply are going to solve this.  His subsequent posts in the thread sound like he is trying to convince himself that each tweak has done something positive (confirmation bias).

  I am assuming that prior to purchasing the PulseMini he was happy with his speakers and amplifiers.  If he has been changing those while trying to improve the streamer, then he really is deep in the rabbit hole.

  Finally, and I am not being snarky in suggesting this, there is the issue of his hearing.  Most of us are at an age where high frequency loss is common, and if there are some idiosyncratic losses just under the highest frequencies, then that may also cause his issues.

  I would start by trying to demo another streamer/DAC in his system, just to see if that solves everything 

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