Network optimization for serious streamers

My current list of favorites that I like to stream are:

Live at Grand Central, Carly Simon.  This album gave me goosebumps last night with the SW-8 in place.  The ambience of Grand Central Station comes through with a feeling like being there.  The bass drums come through with great power.  Was never a big Carly Simon fan but this album captivates me.

Dream a Little Dream of Me, Laura Fygi on her Bewitched album.  Terrific and relaxing- was planning to buy the CD but now with the SW-8, I'll wait.

If You Could Read my Mind, Gordon Lightfoot.  In hi-res and sounds terrific.

You Want it Darker, Leonard Cohen.  Several great songs by the Cohen. This one with the choir at the beginning sounds amazing.

Lost without You, Freya Ridings.  Emotional song, bought the CD after streaming it.

I Put a Spell on You, Chantal Chamberland.  Larger than life sound but I never tire of hearing this song.  It's in hi res format.  Sounded the same with the SW-8 to me.

Roger Waters Lockdown Sessions.  Marvelous.  Just marvelous.

Down in the Hole, John Campbell.  Goosebump generating wall rattling music.  Must be played loud to appreciate.

The list goes on but these are just a few.

I got my LHY SW-8 yesterday.  Plugged it in around noon.  It does not get real warm.  My laser thermometer shows 88F on top in a 72F room.  Listened to it from 8-11 PM but fell asleep.  Initial impression for me is a bit quieter background and slightly better bass.  Too soon to tell really.  I am streaming Qobuz with ROON.  I also have  optical in the chain prior to the SW-8.  I did A/B a CD vs 44.1/16 streaming.  Before the CD edged out the streaming.  Now I’m not sure I could tell the difference.

Next to the SW-8 is the power supply for my ROON server.  I also use a LPS for the FMC.

Btw- after 24 hours the top of the box of the SW-8 is at 84F. It has been on 24 hours now.  Ambient is still 72F.  Yesterday after a few hours the box temp was 88F.  Seems to be settling in. 

I have thought about trying the SW-8 before the optical link. The LHY website shows the SW-8/SW-10 after the optical link. I’m thinking they may have determined that is the best way to go. They also show using two SW-10 network bridges linked by an optical cable. I think two SW-10’s would be overkill- but then that is not a word we use in hifi.

I might try removing the optical link to see how the SW-8 sounds alone. But in my mind I remember the not so subtle change that the optical link made to the sound. Additionally, I am thinking of running an Ethernet cable from this new network bridge to my Apple TV box. It will be a hassle and a lot of work but may well be worth it.

The HT system is at the opposite end of the house.

I found the hi end network streaming journey to be more complex than either CD or analog.  Streaming is becoming more plug and play than it was a few years ago when I started researching and planning for a streaming source.  I spent several months studying hi end streaming and visiting a hifi shop to hear DACs and network players.  The choices of configurations, capabilities and brands is bewildering.  I was like a novice all over again stepping into the world of hifi.  I had been using a hi end CD player for the last 15 years.  

I made a plan.  After some starts and redo's I decided that I first wanted to be able to play my CD collection so I wanted a DAC that had expandability, ie. it had to have multiple digital inputs.  I knew then that I wouldn't get a network player because I didn't want redundant DACs.  If I knew then what I know now, I would have bought a network player and skipped the CD transport.  The reason is that after I got my music server and ripped my CD collection to FLAC files.  I find the FLAC file sounds just as good as the CD- with my current USB cable.  And that is compared to my hi end CD Transport into my hi end DAC.  I say that but I also find letting go of my CD player is just as hard as letting go of my land line telephone.  Change is hard.  Plus I would have never known if the FLAC files matched my CD playback without trying it for myself.

Once I got my music server I began studying how best to bring in the ethernet signal.  In the end I found the most effective upgrade was simply putting an optical link between my router and my server.  It was a step change in the sound.  I also played around with different FMC's and found the kind with separate SFP's sound better.  That's it.  (Added LPS's to the FMC's of course).  Then just last week I added a very expensive network bridge.  Compared to the cost of my system it is not much of an add.  After listening for a few days I find this network bridge makes an incremental change for the better.  The bass sounds a bit better and the background in the music is quieter when streaming Qobuz.  How or why, don't know, don't care.  I'm enjoying it.  The optical link is one of the biggest bangs for the buck I have found in streaming.  A couple of hundred dollars in FMC's and Linear Power Supplies goes a long way.

Ok, I throw in one last thought.  Many on these forums demand to understand how cables can sound different, why or how digital data can sound different and so on.  Most of the time discoveries happen by trial and error and then people analyze and research to understand the mechanisms behind the discovery.  The audio industry grew out of these types of pioneers who with almost child like curiosity experimented with their ideas.  Many things we accept today as good audiophile practice were hotly debated topics decades ago.  You won't see gold plated connectors on hi end stereo gear until the late 1980's but by the late 1990's mid fi gear had gold plated connectors too.  Technology advances through innovations and evolution but it has a cost.  The top tier usually leads the way and then the technology trickles down to the lower cost gear.  The first CD players were expensive.  None of us would want to listen to them today.

I have the same experience as christianb5s4 with my new LHY SW-8 network switch.  Additionally, I spent about 6 hours yesterday running a Cat 7 ethernet cable across the house from the SW-8 to my Apple TV box.  It was a small upgrade to the tv picture but enough to motivate me to drill through walls and crawl under the house to run this ethernet cable.

My next upgrade was switching out the SFP's in my FMC's to Finisar model 1475 SFPs.  (To translate:  The plug in Laser TXRX cartridges in the Fiber Media Converters.)  I came across a post somewhere on these pages recommending these SFP's.  So further down the rabbit hole I go.  I didn't really expect much but I detect a small change- for me at least.  One streaming song I have listened to and am familiar with has a cello that didn't ever sound quite right to me.  Every time I heard it I wanted to fix the sound of that cello.  Well, when I played that song with the Finisar 1475's in place, the cello sounded more natural.  I don't know if it was my mood, the air temperature or really the SFP's but the cello sounded better.  I played the song again a couple of hours later and the cello still sounds more natural to me.  Crazy stuff this digital- and if I am deluding myself, so what?  These SFP's were not cheap but not a whole lot of money overall, if they bring me happiness.  I streamed last night and got lost in the music- no picking apart the sounds or dissecting the sound stage, just listening.  I'm very satisfied now with the sound of streaming.

Be mindful of the current draw of the devices you will power with the LPS and the current output capability of the LPS you select.

I decided to try some upgraded Ethernet cables after reading some of the posts here.  I ordered 3 Pangea SE Ethernet cables to replace my $8 Ethernet cables that go from modem to router, then router to FMC 1 and from FMC 2 to my LHY SW-8 network switch.  I already have a higher level AQ Ethernet cable from the network switch to my music server and decided to leave it in place.  The Pangea SE cables are about 5X the cost of basic cables and are constructed with silver plated Cardas wire.  Why not?  I already have added the fiber optics, upgraded SFPs in the FMCs and bought the audiophile network switch.  So far, I have received just one of the three cables.  One cable came Monday but the other two will not arrive until tomorrow.  So I placed the first cable between the 2nd FMC and the network switch on Monday.

I had a chance at a first listen last night with the first Pangea SE Ethernet cable in place.  So it had about 36 hours of run in time.  First impression was not good.  The music was annoyingly bright.  I thought maybe it is the silver plated wire, perhaps? Not enough run in time?  Then I thought to reverse the cable.  BAM!  The annoying brightness was gone.  My system now sounds right again.  I listened and enjoyed several songs.  I have no conclusion yet if this cable beats the $8 basic Ethernet cable.  I will reserve that judgement until the entire chain consists of the Pangea SE cables.  But I can definitely say that these cables are directional.  

I recently bought 3 Pangea SE Ethernet cables to see how they would compare to the basic $8 CAT7 Ethernet cables that I had running from my Modem-Router-(FMC1-Optical Cable-FMC2)-LHY Network switch.  From the network switch to my music server I already have an AQ Cinnamon Ethernet cable and so I left it alone.

I ordered the 3 Pangea SE Ethernet cables at the same time but they arrived one at a time over a 10 day period.  The newest cable now has about a week of run in time so I am ready to make a conclusion.  You can see my system on my system page.  It is a very resolving system and my hearing is still very good.

After using all Pangea SE Ethernet cables (with the exception of the AQ cable to the music server) in my system for a week I find that they make a contribution to the sound by improving the clarity and resolution just a bit.  I detect no difference in tonal balance- once the Pangea cables were broken in, as compared to the basic $8 cables.  When I put one $8 Ethernet cable back in the system, I noticed the loss of clarity right away.  I played a few different songs and I am confident I would be able to identify the Pangea SE ethernet cable.  I know, this seems crazy what an Ethernet cable can do to the sound.  A couple of years ago I would never have believed it myself.

I found that the Pangea Ethernet cables sounded harsh- the highs were not good when first installed new into the system.  Direction didn't matter as they sounded harsh either way.  But after about 36 hours of run in the cables sounded good and I found correct orientation of the cable easily discernible to hear.  Beyond that 36 hours of run in time I could hear no additional changes in the sound of the cables.

Overall I feel the cables are a good purchase.  They are about 6X the cost of basic CAT 7 Ethernet cables but are a good value if they can make a difference in your system.

My latest experience with streaming:  First, I found adding fiber optic between the router and music server was a big improvement in the sound of streaming.  Added 5VDC LPS's and Finisar SFPs to the FMCs for additional improvement.  Then last Spring I added the LHY-8 network switch between the fiber optic and the music server. The addition of some short, silver plated wire ethernet cables between router and FMC/FMC and network switch made for some of the best streaming to date.

A couple of weeks ago I decided to experiment and removed the fiber optic link between my router and LHY-8 network switch.  I was surprised to find the sound was slightly more dynamic.  I needed a 5 meter long ethernet cable to replace the fiber optic cable but the only thing I had was a basic $10 cable.  The imaging lost some focus, I noticed.  But overall, the sound was better w/o using both the fiber and the network switch together.  So I purposefully left the basic ethernet cable in the chain for two weeks to get to know the system as is.  Finally, I replaced the $10, 5 meter long ethernet cable with a silver plated wire version.  I let it run in for a day and gave the system a listen.  Bam!  Sharp focused imaging is back.  Highs are a bit smoother and the mid bass a bit richer.

Conclusions:  1) Fiber optic in the chain from router to network player improves the sound of streaming.  Big bang for the buck improvement.  2)  High quality network switch can do the same job as fiber optic with even better performance although not quite the sound per dollar performance gain as just adding fiber.  3) Silver plated wire ethernet cables are a must for the best streaming performance.  (I also have a short silver plated wire ethernet cable from modem to router.)

The ones I used are the Pangea SE and the AQ Cinnamon.  Both have silver plated wire.  I didn’t hear a difference between these two brands.  But both are a nice step up in sound from basic Ethernet cables.  These are little more budget friendly than the DH Labs ethernet cable.  The DH Labs have a much thicker silver plating.  Makes me wonder if I could hear a difference.