Questions about Ethernet Cabling
PLEASE READ: This is not a thread about the merits or demerits of audiophile-grade ethernet cables, or any cable for that matter. If you don’t believe in spending extra on expensive cables, I respect your opinion but please don’t turn this into a point of contention.
So before I ask my questions, let me describe how internet connectivity is setup in my house:
- [Home office/study] The modem (AT&T), router (Google Nest/Mesh), and switch ($25 TP-link basic switch) are located in the home office/study. I also have a second system in this room as well as other stuff connected through the switch. In other words, I can’t move the switch to another room.
- [Media room] The main audio system is located in the media room which is in the diagonally opposite side of the house (single story). This room has the ENO ethernet filter connected to the Innuous Zenith MK3 streamer, and so on.
[Long ethernet cable] A very long run of ethernet cable (CAT 6/over 100 foot) runs from the [Home office/study] router and terminates into the [Media room] ethernet jack/wall plate. This was done by the builder and it runs through the attic.
- [Media room] From the [Media room] ethernet wall plate, I then use another 6 foot ethernet cable (also CAT 6) that goes into an ENO filter and then on to the Innuos Zenith MK3 streamer.
So here are my questions:
1. Is it worth upgrading only the so-called last-mile ethernet cable, i.e. the one between the [Media room] ethernet wall plate and Eno filter while I continue using the long CAT 6 cable [Study >> Media room]? It is going to be difficult, if not impossible, to replace the long-run CAT 6 cable as it goes through the attic where several spots are not reachable without tearing down some sheetrock.
2. Is it worth adding a second audiophile-grade switch (e.g. uptone) in the media room while leaving the one in the study as is? Or is it better to upgrade the switch in the study first and place the cheaper switch in the media room? Or do I need to replace both switches (not prefered as it adds to the cost)?
As John Swenson says, the power supply improvement moving to an LPS is small but audible,,weirdly dependent on the power cable.The better clock makes a significant difference, here again the quality of the BNC cable has a large impact. What puzzles me is that in another forum from Asia people swear by multiple clocked switches in series or even multiple Etherregens. Ours is a strange hobby, indeed
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From your description I would recommend the following: get an Uptone Etherregen after the ENO filter, ideally driven by a quality LPS. Connect via the shortest possible Cat6 quality cable to the Zenith. The moat of the Etherregen will deal with any RMI/EFI you might have picked up on the long run. The reason I recommend Cat6 rather than Cat8 has to do with connection to ground; the metal Cat8 connectors might defeat the benefit of the Etherregen's moat. Unless you live in a rural area, Wifi is unlikely to offer improvements If you want to further improve the connection add a 10m quality clock to the Etherregen (e.g. After Dark, Antelope, Cybershaft et al) I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. |
@Arafic From personal experience I can assure you that the Etherregen doesn’t suffer from any of the ailments you mention. I run mine after DXE and EMO filters using a highly buffered LPS and (Zerozone 2020) and Antelope 10m clock. The improvement of adding the Etherregen to the filters was nothing short of revelatory. As far as I know neither the switches nor the filter have a 75Ohm BNC clock port, so I am afraid the answer is likely to be: no. In any case, the impact of adding the clock was larger than adding the LPS. |
if @arafic can replace the 100ft cat6 with fiber, I wholeheartedly agree with your suggestion. Just converting the last 6ft makes limited sense, though. In any case, any high quality reclocking of the Ethernet connection in my experience is very desirable. Supposedly that is why ENO suggest adding another switch before their filter.Cheap fibre converters in that regard don’t add much. |
Interesting you raise the Phoenix Net: it is actually InnuOS’ admission, that re-clocking the Ethernet is important and: yes, you are right: by the time youget all the boxes, you might as well... The reason that I didn’t is that my clock also re-clocks the DAC and thereby the USB connection. Depending on the Zodiac you have, you might have a clock port on that: just a consideration... |
https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1187984
..and before you start again: no, the DACs error correction does not obviate the issue... |
agreed, the benefit of an Etherrregen is both complete isolation via the mold and high quality upgradeable re-clocking.
@jerrybj , the solution your friend proposes works only very occasionally: network repeaters suffer from high and amplified noise levels whereas in most instances Wifi is inferior to fiber or ethernet. |
pls see my previous post re: InnuOS Phoenix USB. The utility is very much dependent on your DAC’s clocking accuracy and USB implementation. USB is a compromised transmission format; increasingly people consider going all fibre to the streamer and on to the DAC. Since we however live in the here and now I’d try and improve the USB connection first by inserting galvanic isolation. I use the Intona Isolator with Intona reference short (!) cables for that purpose. It’ll not get you what the Phoenix can do but will be a lower cost option. The expensive bit in the Phoenix is the clock; I am somewhat disenchanted with Innuos for trying to sell us the same thing twice rather than offer separate clock entries in one unit (Phoenix USB and Phoenix Ethernet) since clocking is important in both links. tThe reason I am unconvinced about the Phoenix USB is mainly that in asynchronous USB the DAC slaves the server to its clock; so by getting better clocking on the Dac rather than inserting another box you actually kill two birds with one stone: not only do you improve USB clocking but you also, and in my mind even more importantly improve clocking of the D to A conversion with very beneficial effects on attack, reverb and soundstage. All told, rather than spend too much money on USB consider whether going all fibre is a future solution and if you decide to stay with USB focus on isolation as well as the Dac’s clock. |
not everybody likes the Lumin sound and operating system and the choice of fiber-only servers/dacs at the moment is still limited. Also, not all networks are fiber-optics and for those still coming off copper the optical converters and their PSUs open another can of worms. On short cable runs, the superiority of fibre is also more debatable, but in the long run the market will turn your way
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totally agree on the importance of clocking, also and particularly on the Etherregen. One other tweak worth mentioning: inserting an Acoustic Revive RLT-1 Ethernet terminator into the second RJ45 removed quite a bit of edginess from my Zenith MK3 to where now ethernet actually is at least on a par with ripped CDs and the resolution gain from higher resolution formats on Qobus is very audible |
