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November 30, 2022, 08:18 PM #251
- Join Date
- Nov 2014
- Posts
- 2,089
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December 24, 2022, 12:58 PM #252
Re: Do Ethernet cables Make a Difference
George
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Aurender ACS10 Music Server > Holo Audio May KTE R2R Ladder DAC > Pass Labs XP-30 Preamp > Pass Labs XA160.5 Class A Mono Blocks > Martin Logan Renaissance ELS 15A Speakers
Powered By 2X BPT 3.5 Signature Plus Ultra Isolators | Shunyata Research Hydra Triton + Typhon | Shunyata Hydra 2 Power Conditioner
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December 24, 2022, 01:11 PM #253
Re: Do Ethernet cables Make a Difference
Definitely want to cut out that noise!
After a month + of testing switches and FMC's, I've settled on a combo of 3 different switches by the wall, my PPA QUAD switch (so 7 total) by my streamer with a GigaFOIL in between. I'm trying different ethernet cables currently, and so far the Soblon ($400) is killing even more expensive cables I've tried.
Which media converters are you using?"We are all billionaires because of the huge piles sweet dough rolling in from our participation in the ongoing campaign to suck your collective brains through a stirrer-straw." - PTA Editorial Staff
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December 24, 2022, 01:17 PM #254
Re: Do Ethernet cables Make a Difference
We had bozos commenting on our switch videos that there was no noise, it was all 1’s and 0’s and couldn’t matter.
Sooooo wrong. It all matters.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ProMy Systems: http://www.audioshark.org/showthread...481#post158481
"We can hear everything we measure, but we can't measure everything we hear. Let your ears be your guide."
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December 24, 2022, 01:23 PM #255
Re: Do Ethernet cables Make a Difference
1000% I deal with the same idiots.
Currently someone is telling me that if you didn't do a double blind test than the results are worthless due to confirmation bias.
I explained to him I went into my test expecting NO difference between low cost switches and was surprised there is a difference. So doesn't that prove I didn't have confirmation bias? He still says there was confirmation bias. HUH?!?!? LOL"We are all billionaires because of the huge piles sweet dough rolling in from our participation in the ongoing campaign to suck your collective brains through a stirrer-straw." - PTA Editorial Staff
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December 24, 2022, 02:52 PM #256
Re: Do Ethernet cables Make a Difference
You're exactly right, Mike. 👍
And...it's *not* 1s and 0s. That is only how the data is encoded on the music file. The actual signal is an analog voltage, theoretically, a "perfect square wave" analog voltage, but that analog voltage square wave is not perfect, and as such, is susceptible to deterministic jitter, leakage current (specifically, low- and high-source impedance leakage current), threshold jitter, and phase noise. All of which have an impact on audio quality in a manner we can hear.
Again, I will encourage folks to read John's white paper: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/06...f?v=1583429386
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December 24, 2022, 02:55 PM #257
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December 24, 2022, 03:00 PM #258
Re: Do Ethernet cables Make a Difference
The same functionality the Gigafoil provides can be obtained by using a good fiber-media convertor with a good power supply and a good clock in it, e.g. the Sonore OpticalModule Deluxe, or the Ethernet switches from SOtM with the clock board upgrade. What the Gigafoil (or any FMC), the OM Deluxe and SOtM switch SFP port is doing is preventing the passage of leakage current. Bottom-line: there is no magic here, this is all physics.
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December 24, 2022, 09:39 PM #259
Re: Do Ethernet cables Make a Difference
Roon NUC, Lumin X1 & L1, Ayre KX-5 Twenty, Ayre VX-R Twenty, Sonus Faber Olympica III, RAAL SR1a & HSA-1b
Audience Au24-SX interconnects & Zenwave SSR-11 speaker cables, Sablon Gran Corona & Zenwave PSR-11 power cords. Shunyata Everest 8000.
Adona Zero GXT, SRA, Symposium, & Stillpoints isolation, RPG, ASC, & Real Traps room treatment
Bob
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December 25, 2022, 01:48 AM #260
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December 25, 2022, 03:54 AM #261
Re: Do Ethernet cables Make a Difference
I have an entire network of AudioQuest Diamond Ethernet Cables and I will never change that. It was expensive but it finally gave me the uncolored sound that I had long been seeking.
Ken"No summit worth climbing is easily attained."
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Source: MSB Select II DAC with Two Mono Powerbases and Femto 33 Clock; Renderer V2 Digital Input Module and Roon Nucleus Plus; MSB UMT V Signature Transport
Amps: Vandersteen M7-HPA Mono Amps; MSB M204 Mono Amps
Speakers: Vandersteen Model 7 Mk2
Power: Two AudioQuest Niagara 5000’s with AudioQuest Dragon and Hurricane Power Cords
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December 25, 2022, 07:25 AM #262
Re: Do Ethernet cables Make a Difference
"We are all billionaires because of the huge piles sweet dough rolling in from our participation in the ongoing campaign to suck your collective brains through a stirrer-straw." - PTA Editorial Staff
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December 25, 2022, 11:40 AM #263
Re: Do Ethernet cables Make a Difference
I have indeed. I've actually tried it many different ways: A Gigafoil before the switch, two Gigafoils before the switch, one after the switch, one before AND after the switch and then into the X1 or the NUC. There was no doubt I noticed blacker backgrounds with one or two before the switch, and decided for complexity's sake - as I'm powering them with linear power supplies - that just a single one before the switch was good enough. I still have my extra Gigafoil, so I might try the second one again one of these days.
Roon NUC, Lumin X1 & L1, Ayre KX-5 Twenty, Ayre VX-R Twenty, Sonus Faber Olympica III, RAAL SR1a & HSA-1b
Audience Au24-SX interconnects & Zenwave SSR-11 speaker cables, Sablon Gran Corona & Zenwave PSR-11 power cords. Shunyata Everest 8000.
Adona Zero GXT, SRA, Symposium, & Stillpoints isolation, RPG, ASC, & Real Traps room treatment
Bob
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December 25, 2022, 02:29 PM #264
Re: Do Ethernet cables Make a Difference
That is awesome. I don't mean this to sound condescending, but how refreshing it is that someone actually experimented with their gear and using their own ears found a set up that works best for them.
I find the experimenting the most fun part of this hobby.
I can't tell you the number of ignoramuses I deal with on our videos who have never actually listened with their own ears, but will argue needlessly a point they theoretically think to be true as that's what they read somewhere.
Bravo for experimenting!"We are all billionaires because of the huge piles sweet dough rolling in from our participation in the ongoing campaign to suck your collective brains through a stirrer-straw." - PTA Editorial Staff
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December 25, 2022, 02:58 PM #265
Re: Do Ethernet cables Make a Difference
What the Gigafoil is doing is removing high-source leakage impedance current, which causes threshold jitter. This is because the leakage current doesn't pass on an optical cable (photons don't carry current). What a run of optical will not do is reduce or remove phase noise. My experience is you want the switch with the best clock (e.g. a SOtM with the sCLK-EX clock board upgrade or the EtherREGEN with the Crystek CCHD-575 clock) closest to the "endpoint" (network bridge, streamer, or in this case, Bob's X1) so that it can reduce any phase noise induced by the "cheaper" clocks from the lower-spec switches upstream.
Also, Bob, as you have an X-1, you don't need a Gigafoil or a series of switches in between your server and the X1. You can simply use a run of LC/LC fiber from an OpticalModule Deluxe or a SOtM sNH-10 switch's optical transceiver SFP cage right into the back of your X1. I've personally found that less devices in the "path" sounds better, and is more reliable. Just some suggestions for your consideration. Cheers.
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December 25, 2022, 03:05 PM #266
Re: Do Ethernet cables Make a Difference
Don't get me started on those guys. A lot of them still think the "digital" signal is a set of 1s and 0s.
Bravo for experimenting!
Me, I do DOEs whenever possible to establish direction, and so I can understand the relationship between the Control Factors and the Noise factors, and how they interact with respect to the transfer function. The key is to find where set the control factors so as to best minimize the impact of the noise factors (and there is always "noise" in a system; this is Physics, remember).
Love me a good transfer function.
And then...I sit down for a good listen. 😜😎
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December 25, 2022, 03:08 PM #267
Re: Do Ethernet cables Make a Difference
Wikipedia article on Phase Noise:
Phase noise - Wikipedia
Here is a figure showing why fewer components is better with respect to creating less phase noise...
Phase Noise pics.png
Less "components" in the path is...better.
It also gets us closer to Geinrich Altschuler's (inventor of TRIZ-Theory of Inventive Problem-Solving) Theory of Ideality....
From a white paper on Theory of Ideality...
Ideality "Transfer Function"
Another big proponent of "simple systems" or the "simplest circuit" (all consistent with the principles of Ideality) that will accomplish a transfer function is none other than Nelson Pass. Who knows a thing or two about all this, as well.
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December 25, 2022, 03:30 PM #268
Re: Do Ethernet cables Make a Difference
Makes sense. My thinking was that I didn't like having a high end switch, then a "good" cable to the GigaFOIL with my "best" cable to the Rose. I *think* logically I'd want the best cable going from the switch to the streamer uninterrupted, meaning put the GF right before it.
I don't know - will be trying it out later today to see which I like better."We are all billionaires because of the huge piles sweet dough rolling in from our participation in the ongoing campaign to suck your collective brains through a stirrer-straw." - PTA Editorial Staff
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December 25, 2022, 03:37 PM #269
Re: Do Ethernet cables Make a Difference
Yep, that sounds like it'd be the best path:
Upstream devices-Gigafoil->Better Ethernet cable (e.g your Soblon)->Best switch->Best Ethernet cable->Rose.
The reason the better switches matter is because they have better clocks in them and better isolation transformers in the RJ45 jacks. Good switches like the EtherREGEN's RJ45 use 12 isolation transformers per RJ45 jack and they are designed so there is no leakage current that can pass between each RJ45 port. The ER also used an "isolation moat" design to prevent leakage current from A side getting through to B side. And, they benefit from good power supplies.
Michael, you've read John's white paper. You know from reading that that John really knows WTF he's doing with respect to all this.
The other noise factor no one is discussing here is common-mode noise. Michael, you'll find out all about the impact this has when you compare the Sigma Ethernet cable I sent you with it's C-Mode filter compared to any other Ethernet cables.
Cheers, buddy.
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December 25, 2022, 03:53 PM #270
Re: Do Ethernet cables Make a Difference
"We are all billionaires because of the huge piles sweet dough rolling in from our participation in the ongoing campaign to suck your collective brains through a stirrer-straw." - PTA Editorial Staff
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December 25, 2022, 03:57 PM #271
Re: Do Ethernet cables Make a Difference
Yeah, John's great. One of the hallmarks of true domain mastery is you can explain complex principles to "regular folks" with fewer words and in a simpler manner. He's incredibly knowledgeable, and a really nice guy, too. I've chatted with him on a Zoom call a while back. And, he's also a high-end audiophile and music lover.
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December 25, 2022, 06:21 PM #272
Re: Do Ethernet cables Make a Difference
So I tried the GF before and after the PPA switch by the streamer.
It sounded better with the PPA, Supra cable to GF, Sablon cable to streamer.
I also tried switching out the Supra cable with the Blue Jeans cable and SOtM cables and the Supra worked best."We are all billionaires because of the huge piles sweet dough rolling in from our participation in the ongoing campaign to suck your collective brains through a stirrer-straw." - PTA Editorial Staff
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December 26, 2022, 10:43 AM #273
- Join Date
- Oct 2019
- Location
- London Canada
- Posts
- 74
Re: Do Ethernet cables Make a Difference
I really like the Sigma cable but to be perfectly honest I think in my system it’s interchangeable between the Shunyata Sigma and my AQ Diamonds. I have two sigmas and all the rest are the AQ Diamonds.
I do think there are some very subtle differences that in my system I’m likely the only one that would pick up on them , both are truly excellent cables.
I think the Shunyata Omega might be the answer from where I am at but I just can’t reconcile the cost. It’s just one of those items I can’t seem to bring myself to purchase at the price.
The guys in this thread are talking about Fibre Media converters . I went that route with linear power supplies on both converters … all in. It was a dramatic improvement over the long run of standard cat 6 I had been using….
But
Subsequent to that I found Ediscreation . I purchased one of his switches and two of his Fibre Box II optical isolation devices
There is a lot going on in my listening space so I now run a long run of WireWorld starlight to the first Fibre Box then from there into the Ediscreation switch…. From the switch it goes to my Innuos server and from there through another fibre box II …. Then off to the Auralic Aries G2.1
Anyway, long story longer. If you want and excellent way to handle optical isolation I cannot recommend these Ediscreation Fibre Box II’s enough. A one box solution with fibre converters, high quality clock and an onboard linear power supply.
These have been crucial to the upgraded ethernet streaming in my house. More so than the bazillions spent on ethernet cables. It’s a high performance and super easy/elegant way to isolate components from upstream noise.
All, just my two cents
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December 26, 2022, 04:14 PM #274
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December 27, 2022, 03:46 PM #275
Re: Do Ethernet cables Make a Difference
Woot ! Woot !
Just received some Shunyata power and ethernet cables to try from a friend!
Will report how they compare to the SOtM and Sablon Ethernet cables.
IMG_1696.JPG
IMG_1697.JPG"We are all billionaires because of the huge piles sweet dough rolling in from our participation in the ongoing campaign to suck your collective brains through a stirrer-straw." - PTA Editorial Staff
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December 28, 2022, 09:01 AM #276
- Join Date
- Mar 2020
- Location
- Detroit area
- Posts
- 200
Re: Do Ethernet cables Make a Difference
I know your advice is for Bob, but it applies to me as well. I'm reading about what works for you and others and I'm eagerly awaiting Michael's results. I find all of it very enlightening.
Beginning to think that instead of investing in switches, isolators, cables...I might be better served by saving my pennies for a LUMIN X1 or P1 so I can run fiber right into the back of the unit with fewer steps in the path - only one ethernet to optical conversion. Finally addressing my room would be a cost-effective way to improve the sound as I save up.
(Hmmm, how many pennies would it take to get to $$$$$$?)
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December 28, 2022, 09:02 AM #277
- Join Date
- Mar 2020
- Location
- Detroit area
- Posts
- 200
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December 28, 2022, 09:24 AM #278
Re: Do Ethernet cables Make a Difference
PM me - I can recommend a really cheap switch front end that will greatly improve you system for cheap $$$ so you can save up for that X1 or P1. Just promise you won't share the final results with others as I'm going to be talking about it in my video coming out this week.
"We are all billionaires because of the huge piles sweet dough rolling in from our participation in the ongoing campaign to suck your collective brains through a stirrer-straw." - PTA Editorial Staff
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December 28, 2022, 03:52 PM #279
Re: Do Ethernet cables Make a Difference
Yes, you would. This is exactly what I did, JCS, and I am VERY happy I did. I was able to remove, get this: 15 pieces of gear just from the main rack by getting the Lumin P1. Now, I just run ONE optical cable out from A-side of my EtherREGEN straight into the back of the P1. Job done!
And...it sounds FANTASTIC! SO GOOD! The P1 is the best streamer, one of the top 5 DACs AND preamps I have EVER heard, regardless of cost. It's as compelling as DACs from Esoteric, Playback Designs, EMM Labs, and LampiZator DACs I've heard, and the also the best preamps, and I say this as the owner of a a fully dual-mono First Sound Presence Deluxe 4.0-III-SI-x with Paramount SS upgrade preamp with ~300,000 uF of power supply capacitance.
Had an audio buddy over last week, and we were using the P1 "just as a preamp" while spinning...LPs. My buddy Gregory said, "Man! The P1 is REALLY good as a preamp. I'm hearing things in recordings I know REALLY well that I've literally never heard before."
"Yeah, baby, yeah!"-Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery.
Lumin P1: "One and done!" 😍
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December 28, 2022, 04:15 PM #280
Re: Do Ethernet cables Make a Difference
Yeah, you should. I have a PS10 that I use for HT and another one in the remote server room for the music server, Router, AfterDark clock, ER and the AfterDark power supply. It is very impressive. When I added it into my remote server room over my older Hydra 4, it brought a considerable improvement in audio quality, even just powering the components in the server room. Turns out these devices are very prone to noise components.
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December 28, 2022, 08:46 PM #281
Re: Do Ethernet cables Make a Difference
Rance
Synology DS411+II | GigaFOILv4 + Keces P3 Power Supply | Shunyata Alpha Ethernet | Lumin S1 | VAC Master Line Stage | VAC Signature 200 iQ amps | Kharma Elegance dB11-S | SVS PC-4000 subs x 2 | Shunyata 6000/T v2 | Kharma Elegance signal cables| Luminous Audio Technology power cables | Isoacoustics OREA vibration isolators | Solid Tech racks | Vicoustic room treatments | Acoustic Sciences Corporation IsoWall + IsoCeiling construction
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December 28, 2022, 08:54 PM #282
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Yes...it makes for a BIG improvement. Every demo I've heard where at Altaira was in the system, folks listened, and then the Altaira(s) were removed, and folks immediately demanded the Altaira be put...
Altaira or Gemini CGS on...