Many wall warts (SMPS) are well designed for audio and quite quiet.
Not sure this applies to the wall warts that come with your average $30 Ethernet switch!
Daisychaining Ethernet switches
Having previously operated an LHYaudio switch followed by a 10m clocked Etherregen after a Draytek router I out of a whim added a humble Netgear GS 305E for not even $50 in the chain ahead of the LHYAudio switch. All Cabling is ONTI with a Xangsane braided silver ethernet cable between Etherregen and Server.
The effect was not subtle: major uplift in bass performance in tightness and definition, ‘being there’ spatiality and impulse rendition. I live in Central London and probably have more incoming crud on the cable, RMI and EFI than more remote locations. Given that I now daisy chain 3 switches and a router to achieve optimal results I cannot but wonder whether any of the individual component designers have fully understood the task at hand in providing an optimum ethernet audio signal to the server. So far as I can make out individual component tests become borderline meaningless. But then some would argue that bits are bits: So not!
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Thanks @erik_squires, for simplicity I omitted two isolators (Pink Faun at server and EMO EN70 between Netgear and LHYAudio switch) I am also using a pair of DX Engineering 150 high band filters. believe it or not, every item makes an audible difference. I have tried Finistar fibre FMCs and while you get the same blackness, the presentation feels lifeless. |