kensalriser
pfm Member
Don't they enhance stereo imaging?
Audiophile Network Switches for Streaming ... really ?
- Thread starter beammeup
- Start date
linnfomaniac83
I bet you can’t wheelie a unicycle!
I use power line adapters that I picked up on Amazon for £18 to connect my Linn Klimax RDS/1 to the Virgin Media router in the next room… it makes me very happy, sounds incredible… server is an old iMac with a 4tb hdd for storage (all backed up on an external drive), works a treat via WIFI… although I mostly use Qobuz now.
robs
should know how this works by no
I suspect it very much depends on whether you have fibre to the property or you're still on a copper telephone line.
chiily
PFM Special Builder
At the DAC/ADC maybe, but not in a network switch where the bits are 1 or 0, plus every packet is blessed with a complex checksum. If the checksum fails, the packet gets retransmitted, or the whole packet is lost and all the sound in that packet is lost; you'd hear that.
Can you imagine if your Word doc had the text equivalent of its "sound stage" increased? All those extra fonts, and cool words...no, doesn't work like that...
Reading again, it could be that you are being ironic...
narabdela
who?
Irony or sarcasm? I always get confused.
robs
should know how this works by no
tuga
Legal Alien
This topic is worth reading. It explores the issue of noise in digital audio including networks:
https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/64138-best-ethernet-cards-for-streaming/#comments
https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/64138-best-ethernet-cards-for-streaming/#comments
chiily
PFM Special Builder
Those eye diagrams look great. I'd be surprised if any of those NICs couldn't differentiate 1s and 0s. The physical layer looks clean.
tuga
Legal Alien
It's worth reading in full. There's links to more measurements and some relevant comments from Jussi Laako.
chiily
PFM Special Builder
Kk..I'll try to read the thread.
Somafunk
pfm Member
I can imagine a Darko/Michael Lavorgna podcast highlighting the audible benefits of upgraded network switches soon, something…. something jitter blah……blah improved packet response…… wibble wibble ……, a perfect upgrade for your £1000 usb cable and £20,000 server/hd.
Utter bullshit, sold by grifters, bought by fools
miktec
retired
A while back I was quite staggered to come across a review on a US-based hifi site of hard disks and their impact on SQ....
I genuinely thought it was a piss take but no, the reviewers involved were absolutely serious and spent a whole day in listening sessions evaluating half a dozen brands and articulating their 'findings' using the well-trodden cliches audio reviewers find so gratifying.
All totally subjective of course .... I almost bookmarked it but decided there was no way I would read it again - or propagate this particular gospel.
Somafunk
pfm Member
Of course Positive Feedback gave it a glowing review 
https://positive-feedback.com/audio-discourse/the-aqvox-se-switch/
Okay, so what did I hear? Well, you obviously already know that if I am writing this, then yes it was an improvement. A clear difference in terms of ease and less "noise." The music flowed better and the lack of noise—not an audible noise, but a noise that can get in the way of the music or signal resulting in less… music—allowed more music to get through. What I mean is air, presence, space… all seemed larger or more realized. Little things were easier to decipher… they simply stood out more from (within) the music. Greater texture and feeling to the music. This was way nice. Now since it was not a quick swap, this took a while to discern and come to appreciate. For sure after extended periods of listening to tracks I am quite familiar with… yeah, this is better. There's more here. More that is quite appealing to what I want to hear from my music. Heck, even the bass was better—deeper with more punch and texture.
https://positive-feedback.com/audio-discourse/the-aqvox-se-switch/
Okay, so what did I hear? Well, you obviously already know that if I am writing this, then yes it was an improvement. A clear difference in terms of ease and less "noise." The music flowed better and the lack of noise—not an audible noise, but a noise that can get in the way of the music or signal resulting in less… music—allowed more music to get through. What I mean is air, presence, space… all seemed larger or more realized. Little things were easier to decipher… they simply stood out more from (within) the music. Greater texture and feeling to the music. This was way nice. Now since it was not a quick swap, this took a while to discern and come to appreciate. For sure after extended periods of listening to tracks I am quite familiar with… yeah, this is better. There's more here. More that is quite appealing to what I want to hear from my music. Heck, even the bass was better—deeper with more punch and texture.