When Auralic says that wireless is better than wired. Only tels me that wireless is better with Auralic streamers.
Aurender is saying that wired are better and that is why they don’t have wireless.
So who is right?
I guess the answer is that it depends on implementation and that Aurender has a good wired implementation and Auralic has a good wireless 
Galvanic isolation means that there is no electrical circuit between two components. The Ethernet standard for 10Mbit up provides for transformer coupling at each end. A transformer provides galvanic isolation because the signal has to jump the gap in the transformer using magnetic fields to propagate. This Q/A sets out reasons why transformer coupling was adopted.
However a typical RS-232 connection for Ethernet also has to comply with safety earthing requirements and this article sets out some of the issues that can arise from ground loops in data networks. Cat7 Ethernet is shielded and the shield creates a galvanic connection between components if connected to the chassis at each end.
You can read more about shielding and data cables here.
One of the ways that noise can get injected into a ground loop is from switching power supplies in connected components.
The subject has been discussed by audiophiles in the past.
One of the trixiest things about ground noise is that the causes and consequent effects are very dependent on exact local conditions. You can set up a system in one way at one location and have no problem, do the exact thing at another location and have a bad experience. Similarly when troubleshooting, something that makes a difference in one location won’t work in another.
There is a trade-off when it comes to Wi-Fi or Ethernet. Wi-Fi has a lower bandwidth and some smaller devices can have inadequate antenna structures. If it is implemented well, however, as the Aries is, then I prefer Wi-Fi in order to completely isolate the noisier components from the “clean” components. Having said that, I am using an Ethernet connection at the moment, because the Aries cannot be an NAA and can’t say that it sounds any noisier than the Aries.
It is also possible to use optically isolated Ethernet in which the signal is transmitted by fibre optics and there is no electrical connection between source and receiver.
If someone tells me that they can hear the effect of removing a switching power supply over an Ethernet connection then the first thing I would suspect is that there is some kind of ground loop associated with that connection.
I would congratulate those who can’t hear the difference. You guys are blessed without the needs to spend on expensive voodoo products.
I just replaced the wall wart power supply on my Zoom cable modem with a Teddy Pardo power supply.
Stunned at the difference.
I can finally just let the music play now without itching to switch tracks.
I was a believer of end point to isolate DAC from NAS noise and using one for long. Recently I connect my NAS running Roon to DAC directly through USB, which suppose to be bad in SQ. I was surprise the SQ is very good, and the operation of Roon during playback seems smoother.
My NAS is 713+, DAC Chord DAVE.
Connection is 1 Jitterbug in the NAS front USB, then a AQ Diamond USB cable to DAC input.
I also ditched my cable modem and airport express for a Netgear modem/router combo 1 box.
The Netgear is powered by a Teddy Pardo 12v.
I use this setup with a Waversa hub and it’s an absolutely stunning difference from a stock set up.
If you do use wifi, you really need to buy a home magnetic resonance transcendency cleaner. This cleans up erratic wifi signals that can easily change the quality of the sound. I have one for a round 1000$ for sale, if anyone is interested.
F.
This is the funniest thread ever. I mean, i personally do believe that if you invest into the right components, you can sure here the difference. Like great (i mean > 1000$ headphones) or 20K speakers etc. I hear that (my ears start giving up after a certain amount of cash - then it all sounds just wow). But rounters? power supplies on your NAS? Tidal sounding better because of a new switch?
Science education will always loose against religion.
F.
It would be interesting to know if @AE67 still thinks in the same way some four years and eight months later. 
Yes he does, in terms of snake oil, like audiophile digital cables and switches aso
But I am more careful when making jokes. Don’t want to give more people ideas 
And it’s scary that audiophoolie has now gone far beyond anything I could have imagined in all my craziness back then. Look at the ‘hifi’ fuses if you need an example.
They were there back then as well. I will admit I now use a switch, and that was after using an ‘audiophile’ network card. I was curious, I found the Roon Ready device that did all the functional stuff I needed and I then tried various options with positioning and power supplies and master clocks and all of that. One thing I’ve never been able to do is spend significant sums on cables but I have tried various other things. The switch was the thing that really made a worthwhile difference. The rest was very subtle. But that is me.
So I am partaking in the following audiophoolery.
Of all of that by far the biggest gain was the EtherREGEN. The rest was very subtle and quite often different rather than better.
You probably have an impedance mismatch for the clock - CG-10M, NT-505 are 50 ohm. EtherREGEN is 75 ohm. That being said, many users ignore it and not everyone agrees this is audibly significant.
Hi Peter,
Uptone built it to 50 Ohm specification for me which they can do if you make it known when you order. Being an old school radio transmission engineer/operator in my old life I fully appreciated the need for impedance matching in such applications.
That’s great. I didn’t know they allow this special request, which would be very important to users of Esoteric / TEAC products.
Did you try connecting the NAS and endpoint to the same switch?
As you describe it, when playing from the NAS, the data travels first through the router and the switch to the endpoint. When playing from the PC, there’s a more direct connection, as both are connected to the same switch.
I had roon running on my Synology DSM218+ to a Pi 4 as endpoint and noted an improvement in the sound aspects you mentioned before just by taking the router (Fritz box 6490 in my case) out of the signal chain and connecting both the NAS and the endpoint to the same switch. The router is also connected to the switch to provide internet access and DHCp of course,
As the router handles all the internet traffic and therefore is quite busy serving several devices via WiFi and LAN, circumventing it for roon core and endpoint to talk to each other seemed a good idea.
Technically this should not make a difference, but as reports on experiments with different endpoint software (DietPi, Ropiee, VitOS) indicate in some other threads in this form, network latency seems to be an issue with RAAT, despite the data being delivered bit perfect.
Regards, Roland
Hi Roland,
Thanks for your reply and your points, which I can find comprehensive. Routers are basically noisy so leaving one of the noisy parts out of the chain can help. In my setup the core, the file storage and the endpoint are connected to a switch and as far as I understand it, communicating over the same switch only, with the router left aside.
Meanwhile I run Roon on a SonicTransporter with a good PSU, using the NAS as music file storage only. I have given up using the NAS as the core because of too much noise running down the chain when doing so. The sound with running Roon server on the ST is much better in all aspects, very easy to hear.
Cheers
NOA
Hi NOA,
i made the same experience regarding improvements in sound quality moving the roon core from the NAS to a NUC (christmas holidays experiment).
Again, this shouldn’t make any difference from a technical point if view, but music felt more natural, emotionally engaging and rekaxing to listen to.
A direct Ethernet cable connection between NUC and Endpoint seems to take this even a slight bit further, but is very impractical regarding administration.
So let’s see, what 1.8 will bring!
Regards, Roland