We Need To Talk About Ones And Zeroes

Realize that all of these problems you describe are non-problems for business/banking/national defense who use bitperfect algorithms to confirm the file recieved is exactly, to the bit, identical to the file sent.

Now on streaming, we can't use such and algorithm, thus the need for quality streamers and other quality digital equipment.

But this tells you all the information is there, you just need to do your best not to lose any of it while streaming.

jerry

It's 2025 and we're still talking about "Ones and Zeros."  You'd think that after many decades of involvement with digital music, we'd be up to 6, or even 7 by now.  Or, at a minimum, 2 or 3.

What's up with that?

"@sns Still, one can benefit from a 'clean' home network."

This needs to be clearly defined. Are we talking about a clean network, or clean components from an audiophile stance? Sadly, us audio guys try to treat networking like our stereo systems. They are not even close to being the same. 

Have had several people say they have a "clean" network for streaming. Sadly, you do not. You have a network segment, separate from your home network. This does not give you any benefits to steaming. If you want a "clean" network, it takes a ton of work to keep all traffic off the network except for streaming traffic. In networking we call this "air-gaped" You have a network bridge, and firewall, sometimes a dedicated point to point VPN, or packet encapsulations. Then you do some port forwarding, QoS, segmentation, setup the firewall to only allow the ports needed on the streamer, along with closing off all other traffic, etc... 

I can put a packet sniffer on any of these clean networks, and in about 10 sec of sampling tell you all the "noise" on your network. This all means nothing. If you have a 100g network, a few thousand bits of network traffic will have 0 affect on your streaming. 

My point is, having a streaming network is mostly pointless unless your main subnet is full, and/or is having any kind of packet collision issues. 

Now if we are talking about WiFi, that is an entirely different issue. No enterprise gear will have networking and WiFi in the same package. Wifi is also "air-gaped" while being radio, it will not contain anything ridding on the original packet from the source to the destination. 

FWIW, I used to work for the company that supplies the full racks to AWS that AWS runs on. Was an engineer then architect, dealing with server farms over a thousand racks. Being on-call to AWS, and working 80hs a week was not for me. 

I have found I prefer the sound of the ones over the zeroes. Not that the zeroes are bad, but the ones are sharper and have more detail, while the zeroes are smoother but it is hard to tell when they begin and end.

@mclinnguy 

Glad to hear you’re doing well. If I may say so, you’ve got quite the setup rotation going. Looking forward to hearing how those speakers perform in the high-ceiling room……you can count on those “1’s and 0’s” breathe little deeper in your amazing space :-) 

@nonoise I can't view that. I must not have paid the 25% tariff, so it wouldn't load. I know it wasn't addressed to me anyway. 

@lalitk Doing very well friend! hope you are doing the same! Yes the Eufrodites are what I am listening to at the moment until system #2 is completed, and then I will alternate between the two. And yes, most don't have a clue what these things are. I can't wait to get them into the 12' ceiling room; the "1's and 0's" will sound so much better in there. 

And since you mentioned it: My fibre optic experiment I also found inferior to using copper from the Cisco 2960 switch to Etherregen- added some extra sharpness, but less smooth- and not inclined to try any "fancy audiophile" connectors. 

To whom it may concern,

https://www.getyarn.io/yarn-clip/5a3608c8-0cf3-458b-a68e-6bfd1564ec15

All the best,
Nonoise

Hope this clears any confusion!

@lalitk 

It does! Thank you!

It is indeed good to know that the "M12 [switch] in [your] system contributed to a smoother and more refined sound and further improved tonal density and micro-dynamics"! Otherwise, we might have thought - mistakenly, it turns out! - that you "found audiophile switches redundant or hav[ing] very minimal impact, as long as we have addressed galvanic isolation between network devices". So, thank you for clarifying!

Happy listening!

@mclinnguy 

Love your sense of humor, hope you’re doing well! Did you switched to Horning Eufrodites? Those are amazing speakers, clearly underrated and don’t get enough recognition in North America. 

@devinplombier 

Since you choose to highlight my comment about an M12 Gold switch redundancy….I would like to provide bit more context to my previous post. On its own, M12 in my system, contributed to a smoother and more refined sound. And further improved tonal density and micro-dynamics. No other filtering device were used with M12 Switch. 

When Telegartner released the Optical Isolator Bridge, I decided to take the plunge. My prior experience with fibre optic / Ethernet converters didn’t yield favorable outcome. I never cared for the dry (clinical) sound through fiber optic cables. 

One of the prime reason for me to consider the Telegartner Optical Bridge is its ability to keep the transmission over Ethernet cables. IME, Ethernet cables sounds much more organic over any fibre optic cables. 

In a/b comparison, i.e. Optical Bridge vs M12 Switch, Optical Bridge went few steps further in terms of increased dynamics, presence and resolution during both streaming and local playback. Keeping M12 in signal chain with Optical Bridge brought no audible enhancements hence my assessment of a Ethernet switch redundancy in a system that has already addressed galvanic isolation effectively. 

Hope this clears any confusion! 

He says it all boils down to galvanic isolation. More food for thought. I have no dog in this fight. 

with an forum alias of @nonoise that goes without saying. 

The Telegärtner M12 switch doesn't use RJ-45 connectors. Instead, it is equipped with proprietary connectors, requiring the use of proprietary patch cables.

An interesting approach for sure.

I found audiophile switches redundant or have very minimal impact as long as we have addressed galvanic isolation between network devices, effectively breaking ground loops and blocking electrical noise from traveling through Ethernet cables.

Too often, people only consider an item’s primary purpose and judge it by how well it accomplishes that purpose, but that’s a limited, it not somewhat blinkered approach.

Indeed, by that token no one should buy a Patek Philippe because a lowly iphone keeps perfect time and the Patek sure doesn’t, so Patek Philippe must be snake oil.

Of course, accurate timekeeping has long since ceased to be the raison d’être of fine watches. Therefore their secondary purposes of beauty and craftsmanship have superceded their primary one of timekeeping.

Similarly, if a person doesn’t like to look at items of low or average quality in their home, then a well-designed network switch milled from solid aluminum and fitted with the best components and ports available makes sense. 

If the goal for that network switch is to improve sound quality, however, disappointment is bound to ensue.

@sns 

Well said! I agree that galvanic isolation is essential and should be intrinsically baked into any serious DAC or streamer these days. Ground contamination and timing errors have a way of creeping in subtly, and you’re spot on; the higher the system’s resolution, the more these small tweaks and upstream changes can reveal themselves.

I also like your point about comparing streaming to physical media — it’s a great benchmark. If the chain is dialed in, high-quality streaming can absolutely go toe-to-toe with local files or even well-done vinyl. I’ve experienced and achieved that in my setup. 

As for Dejitter switch and any other audiophile dubbed switches, I share your curiosity. My personal experience says otherwise. After experimenting with a very high end switch (Telegartner M12 Gold switch) and few sub $1K switches, I am now of opinion, less is more.

I found audiophile switches redundant or have very minimal impact as long as we have addressed galvanic isolation between network devices, effectively breaking ground loops and blocking electrical noise from traveling through Ethernet cables. 

Galvanic isolation is the bare minimum, vast majority of higher end dacs and streamers have taken care of it, grounds contamination is a well known issue.

 While attending to many of these network and other streaming issues often result in incremental improvements, some may only be audible in extremely high resolution/transparent systems and streaming chains. Whatever the case, a good reference for determining the quality of one's streaming chain is to compare it to your physical media, no reason it can't compete on a level playing field with cd's or ripped cd's on local storage. Get you clocking/timing optimized and it can compete with very nice vinyl setups.

As for the Dejitter switch, I suspect this won't be the last switch attending to this issue. We can debate the theoreticals, but in the end I also rely on empirical evidence in coming to conclusions, I fully expect I will try this or another similar switch at some point.

There's this new video from Paul McGowen of PS Audio that addresses the closing of the gap between streaming and CD playback. He says it all boils down to galvanic isolation. More food for thought. I have no dog in this fight. 

All the best,
Nonoise

There are further steps possible via the Dejitter It Switch X if you believe eliminating  needless network traffic improves streaming sound quality.

@sns 

I do not believe it does, unless overall network capacity is being strained as @jeffbij indicated.

I've been reading a bit on Switch X, and that's definitely a good one. More on it later 😃

To comment on a "Clean Network"...

@sns - As you said, the WiFi signal is very noisy.  What everyone forgets is that WiFi is a radio signal.  So is the celluar signal your cell phone uses.  And if your equipment, and not just your streamer, is not shielded properly, it will affect the circuitry.  Will that affect sound quality, yep.  At my previous residence I had to change out my interconnects between the turntable and phono pre to shielded cables because I was able to pick up the local 1st responder radio dispatches in the background.  

Just think... hearing Led Zeppelin go "Hey-hey momma, said the way you move...STATION 9 RESCUE 1 POTENTIAL HEART ATTACK AT xxx street..." 

But there is more to the "clean network" in any building.  I have "helped" many friends work on their home networks.  And most of the time it is just correcting mistakes, not spending money on upgrades.  There are so many simple things to improve network performance that people can do without spending much money. 

Off the top of my head:

• Put your modem, network switches and routers on a UPS (APC, TrippLite, etc.) They typically have decent surge protection and better than average filtering, and will help fill in the momentary flickers in AC. 
• Most wallwart power supplies on modems, routers and combos are very under powered.  Upgrade it to something that has the available reserves to handle heavier current draw. While something like a sBooster linear supply will work, even a larger (i.e. higher current, regulated switching supply will be an improvement.
• Don't run ethernet cable along or parallel to electical cable.  If you have to cross an electrical cable, try to cross at a 90 degree angle.  This will reduce inductive noise from the electrical circuit.
• Don't run ethernet cable longer than 100 meters between two devices. That includes all the ups, downs, left/rights, etc.  This is the TIA/EIA standard.  Cat 5e, unshielded twisted pair, solid wire should be the minimum wire type.  Cat 6 is better.  Above that, starting Cat 7, will support 10 Gbs rates, is usually overkill, especially considering that everything else on a home network is usually topping out at 1Gbs.  
• If you have to go above 100 meters, then you need to switch to fiber optic cable.  Setting that up is a subject in it's own.
• When running ethernet cable, don't kink or bend the cable.  I've seen so many cables bent 90 degrees at the RJ-45 jack, which turned out to be the data problem.  My rule of thumb was to try and not have a bend radius of less than 4 or 5 inches.
• Don't use those little female to female jumper plugs to extend an ethernet cable.  They are junk and usually will eventually cause problems.
• Keep the contacts clean.  Most cables and switches use brass as the contacts in the jacks.  They will corrode over time.  A pencil eraser or 1500 grit sandpaper works well to clean them.  Some of the "audiophile" cables use gold plated contacts which is a plus.
• If you need an additional switch(s), get decent quality.  At a minimum, get a known brand, middle of their product lines, look for a full metal housing, and a decent sized power supply.  (Netgear, DLink, Linksys are some examples)  If it has POE ports, that can be a good indicator that the power supply is not a bare minimum size.  Avoid the cheap plastic no names like you find on Amazon or EBay.
• A lot of routers have a built in switch on them.  Even if you already have a switch in your network, try and run the ethernet cable from the streamer directly to the router.  The fewer hops to the modem, the better.

One thing I have always wondered that when someone goes and buys a $1000 audiophile switch and replaces all their ethernet cabling with CAT 7 or CAT 8 cable and hears "ground breaking" improvements, is a large portion of the improvement coming not from the new equipment, but rather they fixed the bad implementation of the original setup.  Hard to say....

...my 10 cents (since the tariff on the EU went back to 50%)... lol

-Jeff

@devinplombier 

That said, big iron is fun! But if the yardstick is sound quality, enterprise-grade hardware will neither help nor harm, though as noted you’ll have to exile it to the basement and acquire serious network skills to operate it.

Big iron is fun... all the way up to the point where something goes boom and everything goes sideways.  Then you are tearing out your hair, making up new swear words, and spending hours sitting in the corner making quiet noises when you realize you screwed up the configuration and have to start everything thing from scratch... (been there, done that...)

I do want to bring up that there is a benefit to higher end networking equipment.  While it will not add to the signal, it does keep other things from taking things away.  Such as increased bandwidth being used by other network traffic like streaming TV, computer internet traffic, video conferencing, WiFi calling, etc.  Also, because they are designed to be able to handle enterprise level network traffic, the power supply reserves are more than enough to handle the typical home network.

-Jeff

+1 @mswale 

He is 100% correct.  Thanks for bringing that up.  I should have done so myself.  Enterprise networking equipment is not for the amateur or weekend warrior in computers.  I have 40 years in the business and have built, upgraded and managed corporate server and network equipment on a daily basis.  And even then I have needed help from the "real" experts on a regular basis.

-Jeff

@devinplombier By 'clean' network I'm speaking specifically to EMI/RFI contamination by wifi. A router running active wifi is likely the noisiest component in anyone's streaming chain. Disabling wifi on the router serving my audio only network has improved streaming quality. There are further steps possible via the Dejitter It Switch X if you believe eliminating  needless network traffic improves streaming sound quality.

Enterprise quality components within a streamer can and does result in lower latency.

@mswale +1  Still, one can benefit from a ’clean’ home network.

@sns 

By "clean network" I assume you mean an audio-only subnetwork walled off by VPN and various and sundry firewall tools.

If one has unusual network security concerns or wishes to shield their beloved streamer from the prying eyes of North Korean hackers, sure. But to expect any sound quality improvement from it will most likely result in disappointment. Clean or "dirty", TCP ensures bit-perfect delivery either way.

That said, big iron is fun! But if the yardstick is sound quality, enterprise-grade hardware will neither help nor harm, though as noted you’ll have to exile it to the basement and acquire serious network skills to operate it.

The digital data rides on an analog signal that can pick up noise.

High-end computing ≠ High-end audio where we care how it “sounds”

Doesn't matter.  The question is whether that noise makes it past the Ethernet interface. 

May not matter as much for streamers since ethernet is galvanically isolated from grounds noise.

Technically only if you use unshielded cables.  Though the signal pairs are balanced, transformer coupled there is usually a little cap that goes around them for the shield, if used. 

But the point is still the same, your noise levels are not additive.  You don't get the additive noise of every server, switch and router not to mention Internet provider's equipment.  All you have to worry about is the noise from your router to your devices and how you isolate them.

@mswale +1  Still, one can benefit from a 'clean' home network.

Just a warning, before everyone goes out and purchases enterprise networking gear. DON'T! Not unless you fully understand networking, layering, NAT, porting, etc.. Most of all know CLI commands. These switches are super hard to setup and maintain. They also make a TON of noise, and use a lot of power. 

Some like Cisco will not work unless you purchase a license. That can cost thousands. You will also not be able to get any support on these without a contract. 

Yes, you can get them dirt cheap! Used to have a fiber switch that was almost $30k in my house. Now I just have some Cisco mid-range stuff that is far cheaper/eaiser to live with.

@yoyoyaya - Thanks, I got lucky.  A local business went under and I managed to pick up a bunch of their equipment super cheap prior to the public auction.  Thing is, if you know what you are looking for, you can pick up a lot of refurbed Cisco and HP Enterprise level gear pretty cheap.  The key is knowing how to do the programming and setup the switches and routers.  And you also need an out of the way place to put them, cause they can be LOUD.

Thanks Jeff  - BTW, I was impressed by your home networking system. I recently purchased a pre-owned Cisco switch but unfortunately, it died after two weeks so its back to the drawing board there for me.

@yoyoyaya 

@jeffbij re "Even a CD player has safeguards to guard against read errors, it’s called oversampling."

CD error correction is based in Cross Interleave Reed Solomon coding.

Oversampling is primarily used to allow shallower slope anti-aliasing filters.

I stand corrected. 

Much Thanks 

Jeff

@richardbrand - being old enough to remember the launch of CD doesn't make you that old...

Yeah, I was gonna say

On that general subject, here is an interview of Uncle Paul in which he reminisces about the early days of digital audio. Interesting

https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/paul-mcgowan-and-the-history-of-digital-audio/

@richardbrand - being old enough to remember the launch of CD doesn't make you that old...

An astonishing 10 bits (roughly) are used for every 1 bit of the signal.

As I read it's 3:1.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_Disc_Digital_Audio

Philips also recognised the difficulty of trimming resistors in their resistance ladder DACs, and only bothered to decode the most significant 14 bits.

I fear this is misreading the eight to fourteen modulation (EFM).  In any event, this was 43 years ago and hardly worth discussing to consider the value of Redbook PCM vs. DSD.

@yoyoyaya 

Unfortunately, I am old enough to remember the launch of CD.  An astonishing 10 bits (roughly) are used for every 1 bit of the signal.  The claim is that errors can be detected and corrected for up to 4,000 consecutive bit errors, and there is no obvious discontinuity if 7,000 bits are wrong. As a demonstration, a 1/8 inch hole was drilled right through a CD and it played with no apparent adverse effects.

Philips knew the benefits of four-times oversampling from the get go which is why its early CD players sounded better than the competition.  Oversampling allows much gentler filters to be used.

Philips also recognised the difficulty of trimming resistors in their resistance ladder DACs, and only bothered to decode the most significant 14 bits.

PCM advocates should understand that none of this matters with Direct Stream Digital, where the low pass filter is in the mega-Hertz region and every bit is equally important.

Wonder if other instruments benefit similarly from super tweeters.

I’ve read that similar to adding sub bass units, super tweeters add and support upper ranges.  Maybe someday I’ll try a Enigma Acoustics Sopranino or a Fyne Audio’s new SuperTrax supertweeter.

@jeffbij re "Even a CD player has safeguards to guard against read errors, it’s called oversampling."

CD error correction is based in Cross Interleave Reed Solomon coding.

Oversampling is primarily used to allow shallower slope anti-aliasing filters.

Richard, i wasn’t just referring to individual instruments like a huge organ that went infrasonic on its own.

I was referring to the same ’interference’ (if we need to use a word) effect that happens on the supertweeting end also occurs on the infrasonic end.

i.e. the case of a 10 hz tone perhaps from 90 hz and a 100 hz tone played together, a 15 hz tone from other pairings and so on....i.e infrasonic ranges that could be affected from frequencies that are typically attributed to the audible range.

Strangely enough, this type of phenomenon was first described to me sometime in the 90s by a Hindustani musician when he was attempting to explain some attributes of a raag he played....I am sure the guy had never seen a measurement tool in his life...stuff that gets passed down to them by word of mouth from his teacher and the one before him and the one before him...I am a violin player and i was always baffled by the sound of their instruments (don’t have another lifetime to spare for learning their things unfortunately).

I visualize it to be an audible "spread" of sorts stemming from tones in supposedly both audible & inaudible ranges

One could ’never be too sure’ like those measurement guys on a certain other forum...y’know. They are so certain about everything and what they do not know yet may not exist apparently (scientists n all!).

The organ in the Sydney Town Hall has a 64-foot pipe which can be felt if not heard at about 10-Hz.  Stuart pianos from Australia can go down to 16-Hz.

Some organs that don’t have the space or money for long pipes make use of your ’doppler’ effect to produce low notes from two high-frequency (above audble) pipes.  It is really an interference effect, not true doppler which is caused by a speed difference between a source and a listener ...

@deep_333 

where some dudes are telling him that there is no musical information below 30hz (facepalm) and a sub getting down to 10hz is meaningless...

The organ in the Sydney Town Hall has a 64-foot pipe which can be felt if not heard at about 10-Hz.  Stuart pianos from Australia can go down to 16-Hz.

Some organs that don't have the space or money for long pipes make use of your 'doppler' effect to produce low notes from two high-frequency (above audble) pipes.  It is really an interference effect, not true doppler which is caused by a speed difference between a source and a listener ...

@mdalton 

Congratulations on your fine purchase. I did look into MJ Acoustics before buying REL’s. I do like their high quality build and bespoke veneer finishes. 

My experience with Tannoy’s super tweeters is nothing but positive. They have added a refined sense of air and spaciousness to my Canterbury’s. Are you likely to hear more decay, space around instruments and top-end shimmer on things like cymbals or strings….I guess, it would come down to your listening position and room acoustics. My listening position is 9.5 feet away, and the super tweeters are positioned roughly at ear level when I’m seated. 

With careful positioning of super tweeters, the benefits are obvious especially with acoustic, ambient and jazz recordings. 

I did watch Kevin’s YT video, I must admit, FYNE Audio super tweeters adjustability and omnidirectional design is quite impressive. I’d expect it to deliver a similar or better enhancement due to its omnidirectional design. If your speakers sounds bit rolled off or closed-in up top, they might be the right fit. Are they absolutely essential, only you can decide after careful integration with your speakers. I do know, my super tweeters are inseparable from my Canterbury’s. 

Let us know if you end up trying it—I’d love to hear what you think!

If some tweeter (super or not so super)  played a 29khz tone and a 30khz tone simultaneously, you will hear it as a 1khz tone (doppler whatever), well within your audible range...no matter if your ear doctor told you that your ears don’t work after 14khz and above.

Same goes for more misinformation being spread on @cooper52 ’s thread where some dudes are telling him that there is no musical information below 30hz (facepalm) and a sub getting down to 10hz is meaningless...

With this very complex amalgamation of frequencies overtones, undertones, whatever... referred to as music, one could never never be too sure of anything these days...

I wish I could create a graphic or an animation about this but...that would be too much unnecessary work for a forum thread.

Not at all, in fact I’m curious about the super tweeters after reading @lalitk ’s eloquent description in his virtual system page.

 

Something I would have assumed was not for me due to my hearing threshold no longer having a 2 in front of it (at least it still has 5 figures!), but cymbals can produce harmonics into the 70 KHz range. Wonder if other instruments benefit similarly from super tweeters.

white paper

@devinplombier 

Here’s a Fyne white paper on their super tweeter.  Notice that it has measurements and actual citations, including to peer reviewed papers published in the Audio Engineering Society Journal.  So while there is some controversy among some audiophiles regarding the efficacy of super tweeters, Fyne has actually done what I’ve criticized switch, server and streamer manufacturers for not doing.

(Apologies to @devinplombier for this temporary high jack)

@mdalton 

Not at all, in fact I'm curious about the super tweeters after reading @lalitk 's eloquent description in his virtual system page.

Something I would have assumed was not for me due to my hearing threshold no longer having a 2 in front of it (at least it still has 5 figures!), but cymbals can produce harmonics into the 70 KHz range. Wonder if other instruments benefit similarly from super tweeters.

@lalitk 

Cheers my friend.  Btw, I’ve recently discovered MJ Acoustics, a UK company that specializes in subwoofers.  Long story, but they’re custom finishing a sub to match my restored Altecs in my vintage system.  If that project is as successful as I’m hoping, I am contemplating adding the new Fyne super tweeter.  Which gets me to this question:  How do you feel about your Tannoy super tweeter? (Apologies to @devinplombier for this temporary high jack)

“I am gonna have to disagree on this one”
@mdalton 

I get where you’re coming from and comparison to Ptolemy’s geocentric model is a good analogy.

I’m all for theory-based approaches, and I think skepticism is healthy, especially when people start making hyperbolic claims. But I don’t think it’s a matter of “going backward” as you so eloquently stated, it’s about finding a balance between the science we know, the theories we develop and the subjective experience we can’t fully define yet. 

You do know, I admire your system and respect your opinion but we been through this before….we may not agree on how much certain upstream changes matter, but I think we both care deeply about getting the most out of our audio systems and staying grounded in what actually delivers musical joy.

So here’s to agreeing to disagree, respectfully and with ears wide open :-) 

@devinplombier

 this blog post by Benjamin Zwickel - the founder and designer of respected DAC manufacturer Mojo Audio - who is considerably more qualified than I to dissert on the subject

I ploughed through the article and quickly guessed that Mojo Audio does not natively support DSD!  Talk about bias.

The author mistakes DAC for ADC, which is forgivable.  However, the statement that "Even Sony no longer supports DSD and SACD" is laughable. 

But I do firmly believe that our pursuit for a good sounding system benefits most when curiosity is anchored in reason and when we leave enough room for both exploration and skepticism to coexist.

@lalitk 

I could not agree more, and in fact this applies to most things in life.

I try to keep an open mind and adopt the position that very few things are 100% black or white.

@mapman 

So the network needs to have sufficient bandwidth for the job.  That’s pretty much a given with modern home network technology

If you are streaming over the internet, you should also include the myriad of servers, routers and connections that make up the paths from music server to your home network and are shared by millions of other users.  All of which is often conveniently hidden by drawing the internet as a cloud, which is the last thing it actually is.

There is a fully engineered network design which uses a seven layer model - the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) international standard but by and large we have chosen to use something quite different - the Internet.

The Internet has grown like topsy, and contains almost no standards.  About the best you can hope for are RFCs - Requests For Comment.  It only contains four layers!  Its address range prior to IPv6 is a pathetic 64,000 times smaller than Ethernet addresses - no wonder it has run out!  IPv6 fixes this but is really struggling to take off.

@devinplombier 

I appreciate your kind words on my system. NADAC stack is indeed a very ‘special’ product. It’s a shame that they didn’t gain much traction in US market.  

Thank you for your thoughtful response. Agreed, our ears are limited to perceiving what is presented, not what might be absent or subtly compromised. We all are capable of listening but do we all perceive the information in same manner? Are we listening for bass or treble, detail or dynamics or do we strive for coherence, timing, tone, presence and emotions. I believe, we are also listening for what our audio system is not communicating or producing, right? 

I also agree that most claims of “transformational” improvements from passive digital components are almost certainly exaggerated, given bit-perfect nature of digital streaming. 

I’m all for exploration, but I’m also deeply skeptical of hyperbolic claims, especially when they come without context or proper a/b comparison. To me, It’s all about striking a delicate balance. 

As far as measurements, while they remain critical for getting the basics right, they don’t always reflect emotional or perceptual experiences. At the end of the day, everyone is free to chase what brings them joy. But I do firmly believe that our pursuit for a good sounding system benefits most when curiosity is anchored in reason and when we leave enough room for both exploration and skepticism to coexist.