ethernet from a power outlet

WiFi is better than nothing, and if you find an unused channel and good signal strength really good.


Networking over power is no panacea. Distance issues, noise and interference can all occur, plus you are putting digital noise directly into your power. Now that's more noise you have to filter out. 

Your best bet will still be hard Ethernet cables to ensure the best streaming experience. 

Route any network cables away from your interconnects and power if you can.

I used this in two locations for a desk VoIP phone and experienced major timeouts. Definitely would not use this solution for extending audio streaming.

I use it at home (granted, I'm in an apartment), and have a very reliable 80mb throughput. No noise issues that I can discern.  Has to be on the same breaker box.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MTNKNPZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have had fabulous results. Better than I ever anticipated. I'm getting far superior sound quality to years ago when I had up to $10K CD players in my room. 

I'm using SONORE Signature Rendu SE and Small Green Computer via an Audioquest Ethernet cable from the wall outlet IOP converter to the digital front end. This has proven to be a beautiful digital front end. 

Lately the digital/amplification is crushing it, sensational results with the EXOGAL Comet DAC and Ion PowerDAC with upgrade HyperDrive. I just recently wrote about the upgrade to the Ion, and I did not overstate the improvement. It's terrific, and makes the Comet and Ion the best DAC/Power scheme I've used to date bar none. VERY high end sensibility for about $7K. Not chump change, but more erudite than any big gun separates DAC and amp (stereo or Monos) I have used. I suspect that with time I will best this performance, but in my experience it would take a lot more MSRP firepower to do so. 

I have done servers in the room previously with hard connection and the sound quality I have now supersedes those setups. So, IOP is certainly not holding back the system from attaining excellent results. I am using the basic two unit set available from Best Buy for converting the signal from the router to power line and back again. Occasionally there is a handshake issue, it seems and it takes a few minutes for signal to get locked in, but once established I'm good to go. 

(SONORE, Small Green Computer and EXOGAL products reviewed by myself for Dagogo.com)

@douglas_schroeder What IOP devices are you using?

I tried one and it worked perfectly.

noromance, I'm using the Netgear Powerline 1200. Bought it at Best Buy for well under $100. Terrifically helpful devices for me, as I built my listening room so robustly, with resilient channel enshrouding the framework, such that I cannot get a good wireless signal to penetrate the room! So, this is a huge blessing. I'm so happy the sound quality has been able to exceed what I even accomplished prior. People may speak theoretically about such things as powerline noise, or such setups being worse than wireless, but not in my case, not in actual use. Thankfully!

@douglas_schroeder Thanks. Very helpful post.

These powerline devices are very convenient and from my experience, very stable and reliable.  I can't detect any audible noise when I use them for streaming as well as for video streaming.  I have been using cheapo(less than $25.00 ea if I recall) Diamond Multimedia HP500AV models for about 4 years now with no troubles at all.

Bill

Russell, you are on a very good course with the SONORE and SMG gear (reviewed for Dagogo.com). Glad you are gaining ground. :)

Doug, if you're out there:

-  what USB cable are you using?
-  Have you been tempted to try and clean-up the signal to the Sonore and  between the Sonore and the DAC)?  I'm looking at the Ifi products and thought for the price might be a good investment.   

russellrcncom,  
I have been using USB cables from Audioquest following my USB cable survey for Dagogo.com. I went with the middle of the line (red colored) USB and have been pleased with it. The top of the line was somewhat better, but I had to allocate resources among many needs. 

A huge boon to the SONORE Signature Rendu has come in the form of the systemOptique upgrade. You do not want to miss this upgrade. I was stunned by the improvement of the system by conversion from Ethernet signal to optical signal. I love the improvement for the SignatureRendu and Small Green Computer combo. I strongly recommend you do that upgrade; it is highly efficacious. I had tried a couple optical connections years ago with Redbook players to DACs, and this is utterly superior. The implementation is beautiful. If you do so, pay attention to the power cords powering the systemOptique converter module as well as the Signature Rendu SE. 

Between the Sonore and the DAC I have used one of my all time favorite USB cables, the Clarity Cable Supernatural USB (1m). USB cable is critical to overall system performance, so try at least 3 different ones if possible. I have not found USB cables that split the signal/power to be necessarily superior. 

I have a Bluesound Vault 2i that requires a hard connection.  I tried a Netgear PowerLine 2000 for a while which is Ethernet over AC.   After a while i noticed a cracking , distorted sound through my speaker that actually sounded like a bad tube.   After ruling out the preamp and amp not being the culprit, I discovered that the Ethernet hard connection was the cause, even if my Vault / DAC was not the source....  even set to Tuner the system still had noise.

It was driving me crazy....then I found the Linksys AC1200 MAX , a wireless bridge with 4 LAN ports.   Works perfectly with Tidal Master playing through Vault, BluRay, wireless cable box all plugged in .   Streams netflix , plenty fast.   System is dead silent again.