It means that for some reason it’s always the top shelf stuff that seems to be susceptible to all this “noise”. The more a component costs, the more it is claimed to be “improved” by expensive tweaks.
Notice how there is a strong correlation in reviews between the price tags of DACs that need the tweak and the price of the tweak?
I’ve yet to see a review that says “we took this 150 euro DAC and it sounded way better with this ethernet cable that costs 2 euros more than a standard DIY store cable”.
These “improvements” are almost always very expensive compared to standard stuff. This is one of the reasons rationalists get suspicious.
If there’s a potential difference (from one end of a conductor to the other) you have an antenna, and a source of noise. The first time I mentioned this, It was ridiculed, but I really don’t have to defend anything here. Google is your friend, do your own research, and take whatever measures you think appropriate.
I think there might be a yes… but… with that paper.
If I read it correctly* it’s talking about noise coupled onto the data pairs, ie noise which might affect data integrity. I don’t know if that can be extrapolated to (eg) noise on a ground plane within a DAC that might affect audio.
If there is enough field to require shielding to protect data integrity, i don’t think I’d want to be in the same room anyway…
* haven’t read every word so please tell me if I’m missing something…
This is the principle that I also apply. In my configuration (Roon ROCK → DAC) I had a choice between two options:
Roon ROCK - USB cable - DAC
Roon ROCK - direct network cable (without router / switch) - DAC
Both sound great, but still different. I can’t figure out which one sounds “right”.
After all, I chose the second option. Obviously, this way I lose any DAC control facility over the network (but this is not a priority for me).
Unexplained thing… but Ethernet cables affect sound quality much.
At first I didn’t believe the difference of Ethernet cables but try it!
May be you can feel the difference of sound quality.
I keep reading this sentence and it doesn’t make sense to me.
How do you get Roon to stream to your dac via a NIC? Is ROCK installed on a dual NIC device? Is it possible to configure ROCK to output over a crossover cable? Is it possible to configure two NICs in ROCK?
ROCK will see two NICs. Only one is exposed to DHCP so a streamer that needs web access/administration won’t work but you can run a streamer direct otherwise. On pretty much any other OS you can bridge NICs so one can access DHCP via the other and any streamer can then be used, administered and updated without having to jump through hoops.
Note that a second NIC can be added to any NUC using a USB Ethernet dongle.
I add to my ROCK a second network card (via USB).
USB network card is connected to router, and it is using DHCP. This one has internet access.
ROCK mainboard network card is connected directly to DAC. This one (and DAC also) has manual IP from another range, and has no internet access.
I suppose that any DAC having network port can be configured for direct connection. I use Devialet amplifier, having incorporated both DAC and network port.
every router is galvanic decoupled if its not a misconstruction. I come from Telecommunications field
So any potential difference in a CAT cable is based on a bad constructed cable or endpoint. I give it a chance of 1:99,99999% ->measurements of a length of 100m shielded CAT 5 cable two endpoints.
I firmly believe that ethernet cables and network equipment do not make an audiable difference. I also realize that network ports are galvanically separated, however a cable screen might compromise that.
