Questions about Ethernet Cabling

If you can use fiber optic, even better. But the standard cat5, cat6 or higher wires are also perfectly fine too.

My CAT5 wires were poor streaming pathways compared to my fibre. It was the most profound audio upgrade I ever did.

@arafiq I am not smart enough to visualize your setup from the description. However, let me ask if you have something like this anywhere in the chain.

Amazon.com: Ubiquiti Networks Networks UniFi Switch 8-Port 150 Watts, White : Electronics

BTW - I added a EtherGegen to my RJ45 based streamer and it did nothing for me. As you know fibre is king with me. I am going to get rid of the EtherRegen if I can find the box.

@arafiq I have been using that switch for a while now and it makes things super simple. Router - Ethernet to - switch - Fibre to - Sonore OpticalRendu - USB to - DAC.

Since this switch has 2 SfP’s I have 2 OpticalRendu to 2 DACs. The new DAC on the way is the Musetec 005.

For years now, I have been looking for DACs with direct fibre support like the Lumin X1 (and another new Lumin model) and the Linn $39K DAC. Those are the only 3 with direct fibre support. I am sure this will come down to the $1500 DAC in the future. That will shake things up a bit. When this happend then the OpticalRendu is redundant unless you want USB to DAC.

I have been asking this question ad nauseam so I understand if I get shouted down. What is the purpose of the high end servers, wires, etc..? My understanding it to curb the analog noise getting into the DAC. What if the DAC is served the music by fibre cable which cannot carry the analog noise? Ideally with something like a Lumin X1 DAC with a direct fibre connection to stream from a network switch with an SFP. Why would one care about what was behind the fibre cable (in front is the DAC)?

I work for Broadcom as a senior software engineer and deal with this stuff almost daily.

As long as your ethernet wire is rated for the correct bit rate and length, and you do not live in an extremely noisy (electrically) environment like a factory floor, there is ABSOLUTELY NO BENEFIT in spending any more on exaggerated and false claims on audiophile data wires.

If you can use fiber optic, even better. But the standard cat5, cat6 or higher wires are also perfectly fine too.

@cakyol You are are not answering my question about analog noise. I am a Senior Software Eng with 30 years of exp too and that does not give me any extra insight into this question. An Electrical Engineer or Scientist should know more about the technical reasons.

I am going by hands on experience where Fibre optical cable was way better than Ethernet, with everything else being the same in my system Now some of that difference could be due to the improvement of the insides of my OpticalRendu vs the microRendu. That is why someone with an Lumin X1 is really the best person to answer this question from a hands on experience perspective They have both the RJ45 and SFP inputs on their DAC.

Your comment about Ethernet vs Fibre being realatively the same could be true in a network that is not very nosiy. My reading on noise leads me to believe that power supplies connected to network devices such as swtiches, routers, DACs. streamers, etc.. add noise. Esepecially switch mode power supplies. A computer connected to a network adds noise. I have about 10 computers in my home office and a PowerLine network too. That must make for some noisy Ethernet wires if what I am reading is true.

In my assumed very noisy network adding the Fibre was a tramsformational change. The Ethernet streaming with the microRendu was good but the Fibre was incredible. I still use a crappy computer to run my ROON CORE as ROON suggests.

@cakyol I understand the 1 and 0’s in streaming, inclduing wifi. The issue I raise is the power supplies and other noisy elements that people say (I am a believer) add noise to an Ethernet network and that noise propagates up to the network connected DAC. If you think this is not an important issue then your statement need no further explanation.

If the Ethernet noise issue I raise is real then the idea of using a noise optimized music server (such as the ROON Nucleus mentioned above), EtherRegen, audiophile switches, and other noise limiting gear makes sense. My question is why not use fibre at the last point before the DAC and not worry about the noise before the fibre.

When one asks why fibre works you can also question other aspects of the network that maybe trying to do the same thing as fibre.

@arafiq Most people are not ready for fibre yet. This stuff is pretty complicated for a lot of people. I helped someone setup a streaming system for an audio show recently and they had no idea about all the parts needed. Nor should they have to as a consumer. 

I think Sonore products are a stop gap for me. The Sonore stuff we have is doing a conversion to USB and also has the LPS in close proximity to the DAC. What I want is the SFP in the DAC itself like the Lumin X1 (so no USB). I just am not willing to spend Lumin X1 money on a DAC. I want the $1500 - $3000 DACs to have SFP just like they currently have Ethernet and USB. Some smart guy or gal will build such a module that the future DACs will incorporate.

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

I am not advocating for anyone to buy a Lumin DAC. In fact, I do not even consider it due to price. My max price for a DAC is $3k. My point on the Lumin is that I believe that their solution for streaming with the X1 SFP is the best. I base this on my experience with streaming using the Sonore OpticalRendu. I believe what I use, while the best I have owned, is inferior to the Lumin X1 streaming. In the future, I wish all DACs had the SFP so I can eliminate the OpticalRendu.

BTW - in my office I have the following switch. It hooks up my computer, TV, and other devices, including the Sonore OpticalRendu to my DAC. I have 2 of these streamers for 2 DACs. In the future, with a SFP compatible DAC I can eliminate the OpticalRendu and just plug my fibre cable to the DAC from this switch. 

Amazon.com: Ubiquiti Networks Networks UniFi Switch 8-Port 150 Watts, White : Electronics  (price seems to have gone up since I bought it)