As I just said in my previous post I have never used the word "degraded" in this thread, except to say that I have not used it and that its use can be misleading.This is why I asked my original question, because I could not see how a switch working at level 2 or 3 can affect the encoded audio (or video, they also claim !) in level 7.
Are you saying that they can or they can’t. It can NOT be both, and bear in mind that you keep repeating that the digital signal is not degraded by a switch
And for the umpteenth time the encoded audio is not affected in the sense of being received inaccurately. The subsequent D/A conversion circuitry and/or analog circuitry is what may be affected by differences in the characteristics of the Ethernet signal.
Every single manufacturer and supplier of these special ‘audiophile’ switches and every single ‘reviewer’ claims that these switches will "improve" the digital audio being passed through them.
In my previous post I suggested that you re-read my (and Atdavid’s) posts in this thread, beginning with the first of my posts dated 10-29-2019. In the very first paragraph of that post I said as follows:
As someone having extensive experience in digital (and analog) design, although not for audio, it is very conceivable to me that a network switch can make a difference sonically. Not because it affects the accuracy with which 1s and 0s are received; not because it affects the timing with which those bits are received; ***and probably not because of most of the reasons that are likely to be offered in the marketing literature of makers of audiophile-oriented switches.*** [Emphasis added].
Regards,
-- Al