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Audiophile Network Switches for Streaming ... really ?

in worst case you could have 47 Gbps worth of aggregate traffic trying to go over 1 Gbps link.
Not a likely scenario for most domestic users where you are probably competing with one or two Netflix watchers and throttled by your ISP broadband anyway
 
This is your page 44 reminder that most of you can test whether adding a network switch will make a difference simply by pulling the cable during cached playback.

*spoiler* It won't.

I disconnected my microRendu from the switch when playing from HQPlayer and the sound stopped before 2 seconds had passed...
What is it that you're trying to demonstrate?
 
I'm simply reminding everyone that with any streamer with a substantial cache or onboard storage, it's very easy to do a blind A/B test to see if the LAN has any audible affect on sound quality.
 
I'm simply reminding everyone that with any streamer with a substantial cache or onboard storage, it's very easy to do a blind A/B test to see if the LAN has any audible affect on sound quality.

So you are referring to people who connect the streamer computer straight into the DAC with copper.
 
I'm simply reminding everyone that with any streamer with a substantial cache or onboard storage, it's very easy to do a blind A/B test to see if the LAN has any audible affect on sound quality.
Double-blind I take it?

It might be helpful if you could describe the system in which you’ve done this: which streamer, length of cable from router to streamer would be good to know for starters.
 
That you're all mugs.
Who would this be then? The people who think a switch can make a difference? Those who think it can’t? Those who have tried a switch and found it did? Those who have tried a switch and found it didn’t? All of the above?
 
This is your page 44 reminder that most of you can test whether adding a network switch will make a difference simply by pulling the cable during cached playback.

*spoiler* It won't.
Sweeping generalisation warning!
I presume you have tried this in your system and didn’t hear a difference. Or perhaps you did!
There could be all sorts of explanations either way but we’d need to know more about your system and your test.
 
Google is your friend flash. There's a test out there with the switch being pulled during listening with live measurements being shown throughout, no difference in noise, of any kind, no loss of signal.

So if disconneting the switch makes no difference to playback, how can connecting it change the sound...
 
A friend came to visit 10 days ago. As well as bringing his new Antipodes Oladra streamer to compare to my Antipodes K50 he also brought his Dela S100 switch to compare to my PhoenixNET switch. Obviously I am very happy for those of you who think that switches do not affect sound but really you are fighting a rearguard action. The sound between the switches was very very different.
 
I'm happy with never trying a £20 switch in my system because that's jank - and never finding out tbh

Mental.
Actually I have tried. I have operated the digital network in my system over recent years in various configurations as I have developed its capabilities. Including at one time needing an inexpensive extra switch which I no longer use. Although I am interested in real possibilities to deal with, there have been no audible differences so far. In my audio philosophy that's exactly how it should be and how it can be.

But in the era where an increasing proportion of many audio systems is digital then it is in the interests of the audio industry to raise the networking FOMO index of the buying population to persuade us to spend more. Nevertheless, £10,000 streamers still make no sense to me.

The digital network I have is inexpensive and also breaks so many other "rules" I have seen promoted. But still there are no audible differences. Cloth ears? A non-resolving system? I embrace both, but it's my cloth ears and my non-resolving system, and YMMV.
 
Google is your friend flash. There's a test out there with the switch being pulled during listening with live measurements being shown throughout, no difference in noise, of any kind, no loss of signal.

So if disconneting the switch makes no difference to playback, how can connecting it change the sound...
Link please. Or search criteria which deliver same as top hit. I want to ensure we’re talking about the same vid, and I want to see what they’re measuring.

There are so many ways that “test” could be limited to certain configs that I’d like to see it. Given that a switch makes a clearly audible difference in my system, it would be disingenuous/simplistic/<insert adjective of choice> to extrapolate from one video to “all systems everywhere”.
 
I have developed its capabilities. Including at one time needing an inexpensive extra switch which I no longer use
What did you need this for? Addtional devices? As a shorthand way of describing your setup, how long were your cables:
  • router to switch
  • switch to streamer
  • streamer to DAC (if separate)
For the avoidance of doubt, I am not suggesting that cable lengths have anything to do with the digital signal. I merely seek to confirm the way you had your switch installed. Thanks
 
A friend came to visit 10 days ago. As well as bringing his new Antipodes Oladra streamer to compare to my Antipodes K50 he also brought his Dela S100 switch to compare to my PhoenixNET switch. Obviously I am very happy for those of you who think that switches do not affect sound but really you are fighting a rearguard action. The sound between the switches was very very different.
All things being equal, I don't think so.

Unless noise is leaking across PSUs of different devices and the devices are failing to filter them out (course one pays good money for your kit so you'd expect it to have a good PSU, quiet PSU, good A and D grounding - though you wouldn't be the first to be sold a box containing some poor or inadequate engineering for a high price, remembering that marketing slogan, quality costs!), there will be no difference. Unless of course you measured the different device's outputs, subtracted one from the other and forgot to post the result to confirm your findings. :)

If opinion and hearsay is at the forefront of progress then we are certainly doomed. :)
 


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