@tonywinga at least I know something about a topic, 😂🤣, hence your constant personal attacks.
Relationship between Ethernet Switch and SQ
This one will probably invite some withering mockery, but I will ask....
I only stream, and my streamer (Bryston BDP) is fed with an ethernet cable that runs back to my router. Literally back to my router; there are enough output jacks on the router that I have a long run to the streamer and no ethernet switch in the chain (or the house system for that matter). (There is an Eno filter right before the streamer).
I happen to OWN a nice LHY ethernet switch. I am assuming that there is no reason to use it in this configuration, that is, assuming there are noisier switches, and less noisy switches, there is still no net benefit of adding any switch to this chain. But maybe, just maybe, in the metaphysics of electrons that I do not understand, there is some reason why a nice switch prior to the streamer accomplishes something (in theory...I get that I can A/B test and try to fool myself whether I can hear a difference). For the first person with a correct answer, I will mail a nice $600 switch to the address you specify! (JK)
- ...
- 178 posts total
@tonywinga that is factual. He is an angry lil fella too. |
@lalitk et al, some partial empirical report-out as changes have occurred in my system: 1. As noted earlier, I found LHY switch was a small negative on sound quality (as compared to no switch, if one can avoid the need). I have not re-introduced it in the chain, but will test as you suggest. 2. ENO filter re-validated as a small improvement on sound quality. 3. Roon sounds worse than Manic Moose (native player, also known as Music Player Daemon or MPD) with Bryston BDP players. There was another thread where people were debating whether Roon did or could have negative impact on SQ. I hear some (at least as compared with BDP + Manic Moose combo, which may be a magic pairing). This is streaming Tidal lossless, PCM and feeding Lampizator DAC. Using Roon B Nucleus with an LHY LPS (LPS80VA). I was a Roon lover until I realized I would want MPD for critical listening...not sure I will want Roon for part-time use. 5. I did get the Cat8 cable you recommended, and it is an impressive cable in the beefy connections and double shielding. I like it...but have not yet compared it with the old Cat5 in the walls for SQ. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089N9HCSG?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 6. BDP3 shipping will be delayed a bit; all the above is using BDP2 still. So still need to compare CAT cable and give the LHY switch another chance. I also changed routers, which adds variability to whatever I thought I heard before (never realized Roon could be a negative on SQ before, but I wasn't looking for it either). |
@mathiasmingus thanks for the follow up. |
My LHY switch up and died on me a some weeks back. It was 10 months old at the time so still under warranty. With help from Singapore, I diagnosed the problem- shorted circuit on the ethernet card. They sent me a replacement board and it is back up and running. Meanwhile, I couldn’t be without music and I could definitely hear a difference without the LHY so I bought the English Electric 8 switch. I like the sound of it a little better than the LHY. Now I am keeping the EE8 in my audio system. My plan was to sell the LHY after a month or two, to insure the repair held; but I inserted it at the TV end of my long ethernet cable from the EE8 to the TV. Surprisingly, it made an already great TV picture even better. So the LHY is staying. I have no doubts now that these audio grade switches matter just as much as a DAC or an amp. I hope I never hear a $3000 switch in my system. That’s the thing about audio- our systems sound great, until we hear something better. |
- 178 posts total