Reiki Audio blog: Audiophile switches - how hard can it be?

[TheFlash]

Blog post re network switches: How Hard Can It Be?
https://www.reikiaudio.com/blog/how-hard-can-it-be-u9Ixo

It’s just a network switch, right? I mean, how hard can it be?

Well it depends on a few things: let’s assume that you’re not here because you’re simply looking for something to sit next your router and give you more ethernet ports…

What’s that noise? ElectroMagnetic Interference (EMI) and the subset called Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) are the bane of the audiophile; it’s only when you hear your system without EMI/RFI noise that you can really appreciate its true potential. Backgrounds are quieter, music is less fatiguing, everything comes to life and comes together.

Some time ago, experimental audiophiles realised that installing even a basic/budget network switch just before their streamer made a difference to sound quality. It does this by breaking the link between the signal coming down the ethernet cable and the signal leaving the switch by repacketing the data. Much of the noise accompanying the signal into the switch therefore does not accompany the signal out of the switch.

So what is an audiophile quality network switch? Basically, it’s a higher quality and more effective switch, installed just before a streamer to remove as much EMI/RFI noise as possible. For maximum effectiveness, we need to:

• remove the noise coming into the switch via the ethernet cable
• stop external noise getting into the switch itself
• minimise the noise generated by the switch’s own circuitry
• soak up any residual noise before the signal leaves the switch

Most ethernet boards provide some degree of galvanic isolation (break the chain) at the port. You should use ethernet cables with plastic termination to take advantage of this: metal plugs will allow the noise to bridge the gap. This galvanic isolation is why even a basic budget switch will make an audible difference in most audio systems.

But you’re not reading this because you’re happy to settle for any old difference. You seek the biggest possible difference a switch can make… and so do we.

At Reiki Audio:

• we use proven audiophile quality circuitry - low noise components to minimise self-generated noise and highly effective galvanic isolation
• we provide double shielding from external noise. Aluminium is a good conductor but copper is almost twice as good: we layer both for the ultimate protection from EMI/RFI noise
• we apply high quality EMI absorption material to the case and selected circuitry to absorb noise at source

Did we stop there? No. We also challenged and rethought the purpose of a network switch when used for audiophile applications:

1. Why do we need 8 ports? For audiophile purposes, we need only 2 ports: one in and one out. Shielding the redundant 6 ports is a logical and highly effective way of sealing off a substantial number of routes for EMI/RFI noise to enter the switch
   
   
2. Ditto, why do we need indicator lights flickering across the front of the switch? LEDs are typically quite noisy components. Not only that, each LED needs a tiny hole in the case and if you were being generous to RFI you’d describe it as “agile”: it needs only the tiniest gap to enter and negatively affect the switch’s circuitry. We know which of the two ports we’re using, and we don’t need an indicator light to tell us whether the switch is working: the presence (or absence) of beautiful music will do this! So our switches have no indicator LEDs, just a beautifully smooth front face.

Yes, it’s obsessive, but it’s this attention to detail which sets the SuperSwitch apart in both design and performance terms.

Check out our handy guide: https://www.reikiaudio.com/which-switch