Network Switches

If you're worried about "ground plane noise" or other such nonsense made up by people determined to imbue digital audio with analog traits just because they understand analog on account of having been doing it for 70 years, whereas digital frightens and confuses them, the solution is simple and inexpensive. 

Use SFP for the last run into your streamer. Voilà! Problem solved.

+1 on the iFi

Additionally, if a guy is stuck deep in the weeds/chasing some noise through the ethernet infrastructure... but, if the speaker is some lackluster li’l matchbox and the room is low resolution chaos, all this ’ethernet stuff’ (for instance) wouldn’t matter a whole lot.

[probably 90+ % of tweakers swimming in the neurotic ocean]

You can also pick up an iFi LAN iSilencer on amazon and combine it with a better cable. I wouldn’t waste money on a $500 switch. 

I have 3 switches ranging from $45 to $450. The $450 is today’s price, I paid MSRP of $150 before it became very popular. 

All my switches support fibre optic output. They take RJ45 Ethernet input from my router, I take the bits from the SFP output of the switch into a Sonore OpticalRendu streamer (I have 3 of these). The Rendu then converts to USB and into my DAC. The last part is where the purity of the solution breaks a bit, but it is not the end of the world. Ideally, a Lumin U2 streamer or X1 DAC/Streamer takes the fibre connection direct into the SFP on the U2 or X1 (owned this before).

Bits are just bits is not what this solution is concerned with. It is the analog noise on the wire that someone posted about earlier in the thread. Fibre optic is made of glass and CANNOT carry this analog noise into the DAC.

Saying all of this, I could not tell a sonic difference between my 3 network switches. Most likely because I am using fibre optic and the analog noise of my cheap ROON core computer and other network gremlins cannot get into my DACs because of the fibre moat.

Yes …. An audiophile grade high-end network switch made an audio performance upgrade ….But …incorporated into a full cradle-to-crave (network switch / cable / upgraded network switch power supply) upgrade approach.

MY EXPERIENCES :

this was a sequential step series as follows before max improvements were achieved.

(1) Choice of  Ethernet cables matter …. A lot. Think quality build / upgraded  top shielding / too TELEGARTNER connectors. I started out with cheap big-box store cables that were completely trash, and progressively moved up in a hands-on experimentation approach. I now have high-end Ethernet cables, just like analogue IC’s and analogue speaker cables. 

(2) I then watched the Hans Beekhuyzen YouTube videos that persuaded me to take the next step to insert a quality build audiophile network switch. ( for me …SILENT ANGEL) .There are other much more expensive options.

https://youtu.be/34MxeKeSo0o?si=P3Py5iagCrO_GJ-N

https://youtu.be/ZCFvIzzMqfk?si=Z_xTxFmX58TSZ8_S

(3) The standard included-in-the-box network switch power supply was a better than most wall wart, SO an upgrade was done to an external quality- build linear power supply . Again, it was only when this last step was instituted, did the audiophile network switch insertion audio upgrade flash out to its max .
For reasons beyond my pay grade to explain, now the insertion of an audiophile grade network switch / high-end external power supply improved the audio performance.compared to my system lacking that network switch.feature.
Who knew? Go figger.

(4) A final point that was comparably less in overall impact audio improvement, but still there. …..insert a  iFi LAN SILENCER. It added some further taming of that ethereal remaining last bits of digital “ edge “ or “ glare “ …..albeit on a much smaller scale then the other upgrade steps above,

https://youtu.be/zkLIN64u8lY

TAKEAWAY

The steps herein for audio digital streaming and network digital file playing upgrades were real, and not insignificant even in isolation. They were distinct and wholly welcomed as a system upgrade in MY system.

my personal opinion based on my personal systems.

Others may have different results .

I have four audio systems in my home ranging from about $3K to $50K. The comments above are drawn from my top “A” system with its top audio resolution capabilities.

Upgraded quality build Ethernet cables upgrades are a must in all, but the cost vs audio performance benefits for adding a high-end network switch + external high-end linear power supply were intuitively increasingly diminished or even largely “meh?’ going farther down thec rigs list . 

If you are new to digital I wouldn’t be messing with expensive switches.  Get used to what you have before considering spending significant amounts of money on what amounts to the slivers of walnuts placed on an ice cream sundae.