Can an Ethernet filter improve sound?

Only if it costs a LOT! 😎

I’m sure there are situations involving power supply noise contamination of the Ethernet signal, issues between routers and DACs, etc. Some setups are more resilient. I think my MSB system, with Digital Director and Renderer is sufficient at filtering anything but an actual fraudulent Ethernet implementation.

That being said, there are all sorts of things that apparently sneak through the transformer coupled, asynchronous Ethernet connections. Most are solved with an optical link somewhere near the rendering computer.

Lots of pundits, and sellers. We all have different system/issues. Auditioning is required, in my opinion. Before I got the Digital Director, I could tell the difference in my system when I used the UpTone Audio EtherRegen and the optical segment. (Even using generic SFPs) vs plain hub with copper Ethernet only.
 
I can only speak to my personal experience. Adding an optical break and a USB isolator fed by clean linear power supplies made a significant improvement in the sound quality of my digital audio chain. I can listen all day without any fatigue. I’ve also incorporated some advanced grounding and powerline filtering to good effect, and magnetically shielded Shunyata power cords have helped too.

The optical break, USB isolator, and linear power supplies were under $200 all in.
 
W9TR said:
I can only speak to my personal experience. Adding an optical break and a USB isolator fed by clean linear power supplies made a significant improvement in the sound quality of my digital audio chain. I can listen all day without any fatigue. I’ve also incorporated some advanced grounding and powerline filtering to good effect, and magnetically shielded Shunyata power cords have helped too.

The optical break, USB isolator, and linear power supplies were under $200 all in.
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What kind of linear power supplies did you buy for under $200 and never mind the cost of the optical break and USB isolater?
 
mep said:
What kind of linear power supplies did you buy for under $200 and never mind the cost of the optical break and USB isolater?
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I built the linear power supplies and USB isolater myself. I bought ultra low noise regulator modules and a transformer/rectifier from Jameco. Three separate isolated and filtered outputs for the ‘quiet end’ of the optical break, USB isolator and streamer. About $100’all in. The optical break all in was less $100
 
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W9TR said:
I built the linear power supplies and USB isolater myself. I bought ultra low noise regulator modules and a transformer/rectifier from Jameco. Three separate isolated and filtered outputs for the ‘quiet end’ of the optical break, USB isolator and streamer. About $100’all in. The optical break all in was less $100
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Thanks. It makes sense now that I know you built the linear power supplies yourself.
 
Since I do not stream I am not at all concerned with audio level switches, etc. However, I do want the best signal I can get from my server to my DAC. The Wyred 4 Sound ISO Recovery and the DC Recovery are fairly amazing at assuring that the best possible signal is getting to your DAC from the music server if you use USB. Wyred 4 Sound They are also very reasonably priced.
 
Bones13 said:
I still have mine in a drawer from my USB days.
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And the new ISO Recovery is a fairly big improvement from the original Recovery.

The DC Recovery is to take care of issues arising from wall warts used by most of these network type devices. EJ told me that they unexectedly discovered this tech while working on their other power products. He saw the improvements and thought he could create a smaller more targeted product specifically for those items that use wall warts.
 
W9TR said:
I built the linear power supplies and USB isolater myself. I bought ultra low noise regulator modules and a transformer/rectifier from Jameco. Three separate isolated and filtered outputs for the ‘quiet end’ of the optical break, USB isolator and streamer. About $100’all in. The optical break all in was less $100
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I have trust that you are a technician that knows what you made and what you are doing. I don’t know how it works in the USA, but here the insurance does not cover fires with self made electric devices and every new design must have a CE branding that needs officially be approved.

A self made LPS is simply not allowed.
 
This is true in many parts of the world. When I was helping EJ for a bit, I worked out a deal with this organization in the far east for many of his top DACs. It 100% depended on having proof of the CE branding prior to finalizing the deal.
 
NewAlkyogre said:
A self made LPS is simply not allowed.
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There is a law against everything in Europe.

Look at the article (It's in the BBC and everywhere) of the 80 year old man in December charged $350 in England because the police saw him spit and he was charged with "Environmental Crimes"
 
Michaels HiFi said:
There is a law against everything in Europe.

Look at the article (It's in the BBC and everywhere) of the 80 year old man in December charged $350 in England because the police saw him spit and he was charged with "Environmental Crimes"
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We are talking about electrical safety. If injuries are the result of bad design of a device, then the fines are several millions. In my opinion it is far better to prevent that incidents with electricity will happen, and that is exactly what the CE does: a technical review if a product is safe or not. A big money claim sounds maybe reasonable for many, but it does not solve the pain that could have be prevented.

By the way: I don't know what happened with spitting, but if you dig a hole in the free nature, a passenger, human or animal could break its legs.
 
NewAlkyogre said:
We are talking about electrical safety. If injuries are the result of bad design of a device, then the fines are several millions. In my opinion it is far better to prevent that incidents with electricity will happen, and that is exactly what the CE does: a technical review if a product is safe or not. A big money claim sounds maybe reasonable for many, but it does not solve the pain that could have be prevented.

By the way: I don't know what happened with spitting, but if you dig a hole in the free nature, a passenger, human or animal could break its legs.
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I guess they don't allow magic fuses in the UK.
 
NewAlkyogre said:
I have trust that you are a technician that knows what you made and what you are doing. I don’t know how it works in the USA, but here the insurance does not cover fires with self made electric devices and every new design must have a CE branding that needs officially be approved.

A self made LPS is simply not allowed.
Click to expand...
I'm an Electrical Engineer. Products I've designed are in millions of homes worldwide. For stereo gear, I use medical grade linear power supplies that are UL, ETL, or CSA Listed. Then I add regulators and isolation of my own design to the output of the certified power supply. This maintains agency certification while allowing me to experiment.

In the United States, federal law does not universally require UL Certification for every product. Local authorities often do, and most insurance companies require you to use UL/ETL/CSA certified electrical appliances.

A word on magic fuses - irrespective of their real or imagined sonic benefits, it is unlikely that they were manufactured in a UL certified facility to any UL, CSA, or ETL standards. I have searched the UL database on: HiFi-Tuning, Acme, Isoclean, and Synergistic Research and found no fuse listings. Nada. That doesn't mean they don't exist; I just haven't found them.

Fuses are safety devices and should be purchased from established industry players like Littlefuse and Bussman.
 
W9TR said:
Fuses are safety devices and should be purchased from established industry players.
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You're right, and I think about that sometimes.
But how could I live without them and the magic they bring...?!
:cool:
 
W9TR said:
I'm an Electrical Engineer. Products I've designed are in millions of homes worldwide. For stereo gear, I use medical grade linear power supplies that are UL, ETL, or CSA Listed. Then I add regulators and isolation of my own design to the output of the certified power supply. This maintains agency certification while allowing me to experiment.

In the United States, federal law does not universally require UL Certification for every product. Local authorities often do, and most insurance companies require you to use UL/ETL/CSA certified electrical appliances.

A word on magic fuses - irrespective of their real or imagined sonic benefits, it is unlikely that they were manufactured in a UL certified facility to any UL, CSA, or ETL standards. I have searched the UL database on: HiFi-Tuning, Acme, Isoclean, and Synergistic Research and found no fuse listings. Nada. That doesn't mean they don't exist; I just haven't found them.

Fuses are safety devices and should be purchased from established industry players like Littlefuse and Bussman.
Click to expand...

All great points.

I always wonder about the people playing Russian-Roulette with the cheap chi-fi tube amps they are buying.

I bet many of them have zero kind of safety rating or testing done.
 
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