Are my CAT5 and router my weak link?


I have paid a lot of money for my PS Audio PW DAC II with the bridge....as well as all of my interconnects, power cords and speaker cables. After all that, I have an inexpensive (relative to my system) wireless router that connects my computer to the PW DAC and CAT6 cables that are not too special. Are those components letting the signal come through fully? I am curious what others may have done.

Thanks
Jeff
jeffatus
Personnally I believe that you are transmitting data and that the DAC and Router are probably designed to work with mediocre wire. Although I see that some companies such as AudioQuest are offering high-end cabling for ethernet and Cat7. So maybe they have found some performance advantage or just an extension of another profit center. But years ago we thought an interconnect was just an interconnect and the power cord was just a power cord. Someday I wonder if we will see some type of air ionizer that we can filter the air in our listening room to enhance the effortless flow of soundwaves between the driver and the ear. I just hope it is quiet!
Jeffatus, Time jitter is the only thing that affects sound of digital transmission. Wireless or Ethernet data is just that - a data. It means it is being sent in packets without timing. Bad Ethernet cable or wireless router can cause disruption is data delivery resulting in dropouts but cannot change the sound.
I do this everyday it's part of my job. Not to worry unless your connections are sub par(defective) you will not have a problem.
Oh, I'll likely regret this post. I know digits are digits and data is data. But I can clearly here differences in clock cables between my clock and the transport/dac. It is not subtle. My wife can hear it. The stock cables aren't cheap/trashy at all. The other clock cables are a Cardas Lightning 15/Purist Proteus Provectus Praesto.

I can even hear the Purist being more transparent and giving the sound more focus/palpability vs the Cardas.

So something is going on here vs just transmitting the data...

I did try a Audioquest firewire from my transport to dac...again, you can quickly hear this also...