But… none of those have anything to do with sound quality. If you have a working network, you’ll get same SQ from WiFi as from Ethernet.
And of course any standards-compliant (i.e. something not from Uncle Paul) avoids any network troubles whatsoever.
I’ve put a lot of effort into cleaning up digital noise before the music signal enters my DAC. I have a Roon core hosted on one Mac Mini and HQPlayer on a second (M1) Mac Mini. Roon streams to HQPlayer over an internet switch, and HQP outputs to a Uptone Audio EtherRegen over a long ethernet connection (one room to another). The EtherRegen is externally clocked by an external OCXO 10Mhz AfterDark clock. It then outputs ethernet to an UltraRendu NAA endpoint which sends a USB signal to the DAC. The EtherRegen and UltraRendu have dedicated linear power supplies.
There are two things going on here: (a) filtering and removal of noise that is carried along with the ethernet packets; and, (b) upsampling of the signal (modulation, filtering) using some pretty sophisticated algorithms inside HQP.
Why bother? In the '80s, I enjoyed playing records on a top-end vinyl set-up (Pink Triangle and some nice Linn arm/cartridge combo). Try as I might, I could never get CD reproduction to sound like analogue reproduction. There was smearing of detail, digital glare, etc. Unpleasant and fatiguing.
With the setup as described above, I think what I listen to now surpasses anything that came before, including the analogue. And I’m a lot older so appreciate being able to control everything from the couch, drink in hand.
You could probably get similar performance from super expensive all-in-one streamer systems, but this collection gives incredible bang for the buck.
There is no such thing as digital noise. Only noise. The main reason why analogue sounded much better than digital in the early days was the lack of quality D/A converters (and some other technical issues which were not yet fully resolved). Noise doesn’t do a thing to Ethernet packages. It just can’t change a 0 into a 1 or the other way around and even when it would the inbuilt error correction will restore it. It is bit perfect, otherwise the whole internet and every single PC or smartphone would be a mess. Indeed, in practice USB is just as good (only theoretically Ethernet is better). Noise from earlier stages won’t be effecting the analogue stages as long as the equipment is correctly designed. Off course digital filtering can provide a different sound, as does analogue filtering.
Agreed I was about to post something similar. Ethernet audiophile devices are bling only…
Hmmm. Incredibly bad, maybe. You’re spending oodles unnecessarily on a pointless boutique “audio” Ethernet switch, then compounding the problem by hanging completely unnecessary linear power supplies not only on the switch but also on the ultraRendu streamer, which is not only a small computer which uses internal switching power supplies, but is even engineered to regulate that power smoothly.
Seems like a lot of that buck is wasted, really. If you want “bang for buck”, value for cost, ditch the audiophile superstitions. Or maybe hang a wreath of garlic to keep away the audio vampires?
It is important to keep with the times and put the old superstitious ways behind you. The wreath should be made from optical cable (single mode of course, not that multi-mode rubbish) and decorated with spare Finisar (of course) transceiver modules.
I have four listening situations. Here is my preferred connection method…
At home:
Roon Nucleus > ethernet > Oppo 203 > HDMI > Bose 5.1 system
Roon Nucleus > ethernet > RPi4 > USB > Chord Mojo 2 > Focal Clear headphones
Roon Nucleus > WIFI > RPi4 > USB > Meridian Prime > RCA > Denon 2805 AVR > Pioneer HPM 60 speakers
Away from home:
Dell XPS 15 > WIFI > RPi4 > USB > Chord Mojo 2 > Focal Clear headphones
I also have a Mac Mini (late 2014) connected to my network by ethernet that I can use in place of the Roon Nucleus. My Dell can do this also connected by WIFI.
My Roon Nucleus and Mac Mini are in our main bedroom as is the router, switch, and UPS. Listening locations are family room and listening room upstairs in a spare bedroom.
Ethernet devices do have some advantages over USB. I think USB switches should not be used in audio chains, but Ethernet switches are troublefree. Ethernet cables can be easily 100m, USB are best kept short. In general Ethernet is more adaptable and future proof (USB standards and connectors have changed quite a bit). All this might be relevant or not in your user case.
To be clear I wasn’t saying don’t use Ethernet. I was saying these fancy audiophile Ethernet switches and cleansers do nothing…
Have you listened to one, James?
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