Nate - a switch, apart from being a convenient device to increase the number of ports you have available for attaching things to your router, will often improve the sound. To do this it needs to be a good quality switch. It does this by reclocking the data and removing ‘noise’ (rfi/emi noise) which your router may inject into the digital path through its poor shielding and power supply.
My experience tells me you need a good quality switch but not necessarily an expensive audiophile one. For example a second hand Cisco 2960 to my ears sounds as good as audiophile ones I have tried. Cisco make high quality business switches in vast quantities hence prices are low (especially second hand prices which are next-to-nothing) for arguably a better quality piece of hardware than a small production run audiophile switch.
Ethernet Switch- what's the point?
I run an Ethernet cable between my router (standard issue from Verizon) and my streaming transport. I note that some use an ethernet switch between between the router and streamer. Assuming I got that right, what is the point- what does a good switch do? I've been into audio since the 70's but when its comes to streaming, I'm definitely a newbie-
Thanks all!