Do Ethernet Cables Make a Difference in SQ?

That sums it up perfectly. That statement must annoy the engineers as much as their unshakable theories annoy others who’ve heard and experienced clear differences and have equipped themselves accordingly.

It’s all good.

For me the real ridiculous thing is the denial of scientific facts.
Mankind is able to control a rover on mars and get together the science to create a satellit based gps-system, but the mysteries of audio transport are not explainable by modern science. Audiophiles are funny people.

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But, you couldn’t hear music on Mars, could you? So, it doesn’t matter.

For those who can’t be bothered to read this thread in its entirety, these 3 minutes will give you to the gist of it … without mentioning Ethernet cables once!

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I went with Blue Jean cables to be on the “safe” side. But the thing I mostly got out of switching was actually cleaning up my setup and using Blue Jean cables everywhere in custom lengths so I removed all clutter. Cleaning up as in more pleasing to the eyes. :slight_smile:

But I did notice a slight difference going from wifi on my Auralic Aries G2 to ethernet with UpTone etherREGEN. For some this will probably be written off as “expectation bias” and while I do think that is a very real thing I’d rather not have another thing in my setup if I could avoid it. But it stays even though it messes with my visual preferences … :dark_sunglasses:

I am not an expert but a clean power supply allows for less noise. Less noise equals better sound, more detail nuances.
Qnap allows for Teaming or bonding 2 ports together.doesn’t give double speed it falls over to other port distributing the load. To do this you need managed switch. If you try to do too much through one port with a NAS or NUC it’s going to get choppy, laggy…So there have good quality cables tried 4-5 pair came back to monoprice (strickly for speed/ bandwidth).
So where good cables required went monoprice cables. Have heard good things about blue jean as well.
Besides I am way to cheap to replace 25 cables…

I’m inclined to believe its not perhaps the cable that sounds different but that the differences heard are perhaps the fact that the interference (electrical/electromagnet etc) changes in the environment that a different cable has introduced is probably where the change is happening.

What bugs me most about all of this is the constant belief that more expensive always trumps a lower cost option. Ill say it again…Everyone hears differently.

Just my humble opinion…I’ve yet to hear any differences but I always look for them when specifically making changes that I might expect some change to be apparent.

I probably have as much networking gear in my house as audio gear…and in both camps its a lot more than anyone I know of. I’m in the networking and audio business, and have clients who have recording studios that I work on both areas for too. Ive also been doing this stuff for 40 years so I have a bit of experience under my belt too just for the record.

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It’s all hokey pokey. If the cable isn’t broken and you don’t have dropouts of packets, there’s no change in sound. Ethernet is not used to clock the DAC.
Whats next? Changing the cable between the hard disk and the computer? Oh, I might have started a new trend. Gahh!

Here’s a test with the leading test equipment (Audio Precision) testing if there is any measurable difference with a “Audio” regen switch. UpTone Audio EtherREGEN Switch Review | Audio Science Review (ASR) Forum

And now queue the “but I can hear a difference” crowd.
Selling cables for exorbitant prices only makes the cable manufacturer money. Put your money where it’s needed. Better headphones/speakers maybe?

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This is exaclty my findings. I found they varied only slightly and even then you had to listen so hard to notice. In normal listening I would not hear them. Even then the most expensive was not any better overall, infact quite the opposite.

Please don’t discount what people hear. I like measurements too, not as much as the folks on ASR, but they are not everything. At the end of the day, we listen with our ears and brain, not with measurements or schematics.

I believe there are electrical properties that affect what we hear that we cannot yet measure effectively. If this wasn’t the case, why do very similar measuring devices sound so very different (rhetorical).

I’m intending this post for everyone, not direct at you, but you did quote me.

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Psychoacoustics is also science.

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Yes, I 100% agree with the importance of the listening aspect as opposed to strictly technical measurements. (In fact I think the listening evidence is the most important, perhaps from hanging out for years at hydrogenaud.io forum where only listening evidence is acceptable.) However, I personally don’t believe any listening evidence that is not gathered in a rigorous way. To me that means, where possible, a double-blind test. Anything else is too prone to expectation bias, as we know from an extensive body of peer reviewed literature (broadly speaking, not just audio differences). And of course extraordinary claims require particularly rigorous evidence (e.g., the claim that ethernet data transmission protocol doesn’t truly work when it comes to digital audio).

Some will buy gear to listen to their music, others, music to listen to their gear. Most will want to just enjoy the music…I suggest the latter is where the sweet spot is.

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Some say yes…

Not longer a crazy fantasy :rofl:

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Don’t bend your cables to sharply either. Electrons like to travel in straight lines it seems. Recently had some Cat6A installed and several runs failed as bends were not radiused enough so the contractor said causing errors and dropouts. Who knew :nerd_face:

Bend radius is a thing, and very important when cabling buildings.

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Definitely, this is why I only use bonded pairs cabling. It maintains the physical and thus electrical spec much better vs. loose pairs that are able to migrate. It’s a bitch to terminate though. Belden has a new type of termination for bonded pair cable that we’re beginning to use on smaller installation to ensure the guys get on with it.

There’s a learning curve but it should be faster and more accurate so say Belden.

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When I make a change, I listen for a few days or weeks, sometimes up to 10 hours a day. If it like it still after some days or weeks, I call it a good thing. If I don’t, then I undo the change and see if I notice it gone or something else gone or the same. My foot taping % is all the rigor I require…for the enjoyment of music.

I don’t wish to save anyone from spending money of stuff if it makes them happy. Most of the US economy is based on consumer spending, and arguably a good bit of it on stuff we don’t need but want.

I’m the only one that has to enjoy the sound of my system (well my wife too but she likes it regardless). I also chart my destiny regarding spend. If it makes me feel good and I enjoy the change why should anyone care if I purchase $1000/ft Ethernet cable. I haven’t and don’t plan to but I think I’ve made my point.

Enjoy the music