Ethernet Cables

The biggest difference I have heard is with switch itself.  I changed my Cisco SG switch to a Ubiquiti smaller switch and noticed a drop in crispness, separation, and clarity.  I have come to realize this is all about clean power.  The cable carries noise into the dac/stream.  I haven’t tried Ethernet cables as much, though I imagine the better shielding and noise suppression the better the performance.

The cable carries noise into the dac/stream.  I haven’t tried Ethernet cables as much, though I imagine the better shielding and noise suppression the better the performance.

That's why different USB and possibly Ethernet cables have different sound.  These cables causes some type of noise downstream that affect the clocking of the DAC circuit.  The better the cable, the less the noise will get through and get suppressed.  

Ideally you have a DAC that gets clocked exactly at the same period with no jitter or noise.  But the clock gets corrupted with noise from other sources such as USB/Ethernet.  Even with asynchronous and local clocking, clock can still get corrupted.  

Ethernet cables are very much enhansed these days. You can now use CAT-8 Etherent cable which is the fastest ethernet cable in the world.

I was surprised to find that a Sablon Audio ethernet cable provided a noticeable improvement.

I did ----still no consistent response

Actually, very consistent.

Many who have tried it heard an improvement. And those who always claim things don’t work without ever trying anything, unsurprisingly claim there is no improvement.

Take your pick. The opinion of folks who tried it, or the opinion of those who haven’t tried it.