I’m in shape…round is a shape…flat earth indeed.
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It simply amazes me how some people feel need to comment on this thread with zero experience with the equipment the thread is about. Data center gurus telling here how ones are ones and zeros are zeros when data most probably has nothing to do with the possible differences these switches introduce on hifi systems.
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One can just as easily make that argument about people who know nothing about data transport protocols.
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That sounds like pure conjecture to me…
I’d also like to understand regarding whom you are making the assertion that they have no experience with the equipment the thread is about.
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I thought this topic was about experimenting with audiophile switches. People who have not experimented with audiophile switches and participate in these threads serve zero value for the discussion. They can only tell us how things should be in theory. Real world often differs from theory.
But I’ll remember your comment when I’m about to go troll a thread about data transport protocols… wait, why would I do something like that.
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Because it is, I won’t state it as a fact since I can’t prove it. Just like you can’t prove my experience false.
The comment is based on my experience with digital transports during 20 years in the hobby. Usually the reason for experienced difference in sq comes down to changes in electrical connections between equipment. Everything matters…
Btw. What’s your motivation participating this thread? You get kicks throwing around theories here and shooting down people’s subjective findings? Does it take something away from you that there’s people who find this kind of tweak useful? Why not just let people experiment and enjoy music the way they like?
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I don’t believe anyone here is trolling. People are claiming they can ‘hear’ mystical improvements from using “audiophile” switches because of some magical noise reduction or jitter reduction properties. Switches are GALVANICALLY ISOLATED from input to output. Look up what that actually means in relation to noise. In the digital network domain, your “music” is just data, pure and simple ONES and ZEROS. Switches cannot affect what you hear, because what you hear is an audio signal reconstructed from ONES and ZEROS. Switches do not affect those ones and zeros. If they did, the data would be corrupted and you would hear pops, clicks and dropouts or no sound at all.
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In theory, there should be no difference, in real world, there is. Switched multiple times back and forth between Netgear and EE. What can I say. Audible difference. Also audible difference with no switch vs any switch between wall socket and Linn ADSM. I don’t really care about theory when I can just listen to, it’s all that matters in a hobby which is about… listening to music.
And once again, I’m sure data travels intact from point a to b even with the cheapest switch in between. It’s not about data.
I know what galvanic isolation means, useful stuff. Made already huge difference back in the day with USB bridge from PC to DAC.
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I’m a scientist. My world revolves around data, evidence and proof. “Audiophile” switches are pure snake-oil audiophoolery. People claim to hear differences, yet can’t prove it. When proper, double-blind A/B/X tests are conducted, no one can differentiate one product of this type from another with any more statistical certainty than pure guesswork.
The perceived differences in sighted tests are due to expectation and cognitive biases. Why do clinical drug trials often see reports of symptomatic improvements in placebo control groups? Because the recipients believe they are receiving the treatment and ‘feel better’ because of that belief.
There are factions in the audio industry who get rich by ripping people off selling impossible solutions to non-existent problems.
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Blind switching, or did you know which ehternet switch was in operation?
Live with it! It’s not your loss.
About those drug trials, I’ve read about them. If placebo drug actually made people feel better and helped with their symptoms then didn’t it work? I know you can’t cure cancer with placebo but making difference to better with plaecbo just shows that our mind always plays a role. We can’t change that. When it comes to audio, we would need to start to listen to our hifi systems blindfolded 100% of the time, not knowing any gear in the setup. I don’t see that happening.
Of course I knew. Blind testing has nothing to do with real world situation, we use our other senses simultaneously while listening to music and will always be aware of the equipment in our own setups. That will always have effect on what we hear. Why deny it with useless blind testing.
Anyway good night, fun chat once again.
I rest my case. Over and out…
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But isn’t it all of our losses? “Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.” More prosaically, there’s an opportunity cost associated with every spending decision. A dollar spent with some price-gouging vendor of audiophoolery equipment is a dollar not spent on building wells to give some village clean drinking water or improve the education of some child living in poverty.
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Which will give you a better listening experience. You could dispense with the blindfold. Just closing your eyes does the trick.
By taking out the visual stimulus your hearing acuity improves.
Science. It’s fun.
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Unfortunately closing my eyes won’t help me forget the equipment I have in my system. I’m still under the evil spell of placebo. 
Found this online:
”Today’s conclusion: yes… a switch does make audible difference.”
Pretty even results but consistently better score for top switches. And netgear scoring lower with almost every listener. Obviously now someone tells us that the test was done wrong and it won’t matter.
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The methodology used is so fundamentally flawed, it’s incredible. It wasn’t double blind, so cognitive and expectation biases couldn’t be ruled out and from a purely statistical standpoint, the sample sizes are far too small to draw any valid conclusions.
Furthermore, when you look at the raw data, some listeners scored wildly differently for successive listens to the same switch, while others could barely discern any differences at all.
And the overall conclusion drawn is that switches make a difference…?
If audiophiles want to believe that switches make a difference to sound, then go ahead and believe. The science very clearly says otherwise.
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“Pretty even results but consistently better score for top switches.”
You can’t really be serious about this. If one of my graduate students (actually even undergrads) brought this kaka to their weekly lab meeting they would be kicked out of the program immediately.
[Moderated]
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Nice tests. I didn’t read the whole thread but has someone pointed out the most logical explanation? Your wife never changed cables so that you wouldn’t hear a difference and waste more money on silly gear? 
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This, sadly, is most of the conclusions across most of the cable, switch, os, etc. stuff that technically doesn’t matter. Subtle differences in changes I truly feel are real. But I also feel my appreciation and / or ability to make a good / bad decision on those subtle differences change just as quickly. It’s why I appreciate reviewers who live with equipment before writing a review. Heck, some days I get up from my seat to take a pee and when I sit back down my system sounds better / worse. Now, if adjusting where my arse is planted into my couch can convince me something has changed how can an hour of evaluation on an ethernet switch provide any meaningful conclusion.
I’m not saying changing a power supply and a switch doesn’t make a difference (rarely are these evaluations made using the same set of wall warts plugged into the wall) but… give me enough time to truly evaluate and what I heard yesterday will very much likely change a week from now… that’s not because of the switch. It’s kind of the old Folgers crystals commercial… if people expect it to be good it will be. Secretly swap it around a week later and see how long it takes for them to notice. If they notice relatively quickly only then I’ll be sold. In fact… I’d buy 2. The results of this test, as you very nicely pointed out, illustrate that and the testers didn’t need much time to prove my point.
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