Thread: Choice switch audiophile network

Hi all

I want to improve the audio quality of my system by adding an audiophile switch behind my streamer

Here's my installation

• Lumin D1 Network Reader
• Sbooster BOTW ECO 12 V MKII
• Ampli HEGEL H80 - Gigawatt Power LC1 MK3
• Pregnant COLUMN DALI Opticon 5
• LIFATEC toslink optical cable
• Cable HP ATLAS Hyper 2
• Barrette Secteur GIGAWATT PF-1 MK2
• Network link ethernet Supra Cat 8

For the etherregen,the price is out of reach at least I think for the audio set I own unless it makes a real difference compared to the other solutions proposed


I have chosen these four solutions

• Netgear GS908 tweaked by an English: 320 euros: Lately I discovered that an English handyman proposes to tweak a basic switch: This tweak plus a linear power supply would achieve the rendering of an Aqvox SE:

• SILENT ANGEL BONN N-8: 400 euros (comparative between Bonn andAqvavox SE

• Fidelizer EtherStream: 400 euros

• Switch Cisco SG110D-08 modified by Clones Audio: 440 euros

Which solution do you recommend me for mi. System in this budget of 400-450 -

Thank you for your answers

cpaslui

Originally Posted by UltraFast69

AQVox has a non SE version that may be in your range


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I bought one of those Aqvox switches before the SE came out. To this day one of the best upgrades I’ve purchased.


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There is a review on the Bonn N-8 on the net in non-english, they compared it to the Aqvox SE and they preferred the Bonn N-8. Also a friend of a friend bought it and was suitably impressed that he bought another one. My friend recently also placed an order for one. Going by the review and the feedback I have received, i’d get the Bonn N-8 switch.

Here is the dutch review, use goggle translate.

https://www.hifi.nl/artikel/28188/Re...-switches.html

Also consider this upcoming product.

https://uptoneaudio.com/products/etherregen

Originally Posted by Dth31

If anyone has experience with:
—“audiophile” ethernet switch alone
—etherREGEN alone
—combination of audiophile” ethernet switch and etherREGEN
I would be grateful to hear about it. Both approaches seem to try to eliminate the propagation of noise. People seem to be pleased with each approach alone, but it isn’t clear to me whether both in combination would be audibly better.

I've got an EtherREGEN and I like it very much. It brought a significant improvement to my digital streaming front end utilizing both copper Ethernet and optical fiber over the combination of using an el cheapo generic fiber media convertor (FMC) and an audiophile-grade one, the Sonore OpticalModule (aka "OM"). Installing the OM last summer brought big improvements over using el cheapo, generic, FMCs because of the quality of its power supply, and the crystal oscillator clock is much higher quality than those found in generic FMCs. Adding the ER into this network demonstrably improved the sound quality and presentation even more, with a notable reduction in the noise floor, increased spatiality in the presentation, improved imaging, more accurate and lifelike rendering of instrumental tones and harmonics, and voices in vocals. Full-scale classical music has improved presenation of the symphony hall and its acoustics, as placement of individual instruments in the orchestra.

All of the other switches referenced above are modifications of existing commercial or consumer-grade Ethernet switches and there a number of factors why they are sub-optimal to one extent or another for high-end audio applications, not the least of which is no management of high-impedance leakage currents and poor managment of clock phase noise. The AQVox is simply a modded D-link switch. For example, it does not have the isolation transformers in the RJ45 jacks specially designed and implement for use in audio applications. The SOtM Ethernet switch was designed for audio applicaions, but it is about 2X the price of ER, and it doesn't manage high-impedance leakage currents the way ER does. The EtherREGEN is a bespoke Ethernet switch designed from the ground up specifically for audio applications by John Swenson, who spent a career of 30 years working for Broadcom and Cisco in designing Ethernet solutions for network applications & products. If you look up my thread "EtherREGEN on the way" you'll find a lot more content on what differentiates this Ethernet switch from modded generic models.

As for running a combination of two or more Ethernet switches together "in serial", the reason this can provide an improvement in audio quality is due to a additive reduction of clock phase noise. When "stacking" devices using higher-quality crystal oscillators (clocks), one obtains a successive reduction in jitter/clock phase-noise traveling on ground planes and causing variation in clock edges, both overall and inside the chips. This why the differential isolation and reclocking works as well as it does in EtherREGEN. The other generic switches above do not do this because they were not designed to do this. In IT applications, these noise factors don't matter.

So, while its possible to obtain some improvement by "stacking" two switches in serial, as SOtM has demonstrated at audio shows, the benefits realized depend on the quality of the devices in the "stack". Personally, I've found using an Optical Module, which uses the same high-quality Crystek CCHD-575 oscillator as the EtherREGEN, provides a notable, but not major, increase in audio quality over just the EtherREGEN alone. Because of the very widely varying nature of configurations and devices used in networked digital audio systems, YMMV. Folks just have to try various implementations and see if they work for them. Using an EtherREGEN is a safe bet as there is a no-questions asked 30-day return policy. You can try it in your own configuration, and if you find it provides no benefit, obtain a full refund.

Hope this helps, and let me know if there's any other questions you have.

Originally Posted by Dth31

I sincerely appreciate your detailed response!

You might find some more detailed information, including specifications information about EtherREGEN of use here: http://bit.ly/2rEvL9m

There are some of the usual digressions from the main topic, including discussion of the GigaFOIL, but you'll be able to obtain more detailed info in the thread. While the GigaFOIL is a good product that provides RFI/EMI isolation vs. copper Ethernet, it does not function as an Ethernet switch. And some of us need an actual Ethernet switch in our configurations. The other switch products referenced have the same intrinsic issues I've referenced here, namely, they pass high-impedance leakage currents from SMPS downstream to network bridges and DACs as well as between their adjacent RJ45 jacks, and they don't have the high specification clocks, PHY chips, or flip-flops that ER does.

Sorry to say this: EtherREGEN does not improve anything. I own both EtherREGEN and AQvox. Aqvox is much better.

Originally Posted by vutranchitam

Sorry to say this: EtherREGEN does not improve anything. I own both EtherREGEN and AQvox. Aqvox is much better.

Welcome to the AudioShark forum. With all due respect it strikes me as quite unusual that 4 out of your first 5 posts have contributed nothing other than denigrating the EtherREGEN.

I totally understand, but as a customer i try to open a discussion, i am very please if someone could show me the improvement of the product i already bought sir. It helps me as well.

I' m normally a phono guy.
Digital I like as switch for the money Silent Angel Bonn N8


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