Going out on a limb, do you mean Eno?
Cu or Ag?
Cu or Ag?
A Very Useful New Discovery--EON Digital Filter from Network Acoustics
I've been on a year long quest to upgrade my stereo system, hopefully for the last time. As a senior "Luddite", I have been a late adopter of steaming capability. But now I'm converted. And just in time it apparently. In August 2020, DG released a new recording of all four Charles Ives Symphonies with the LA Phil and Dudemel conducting....with no CD format available!
Currently I'm listening to music through an Auralic G1 steamer/ Benchmark dac 3 DAC B into a newly built Audible Illusions Modulus 3B preamp and a Parasound A23+ power amp. CD's are played on an Audiolab 6000 transport into the Benchmark via Toslink. Speakers are Vanderstein Treo CT's. Oh there's still vinyl. I upgraded my trusty Well-Tempered TT with a Hana ML cartridge into a Sutherland Insight phono amp. Power supplies are a Furman PTS-8 with a Greenwave for devices switched on/off and an Audioquest 1200 for the devices left on, like the amp and the pre-amp. Everything is sounding really good (mostly acoustic jazz, Americana and Classical....lotsa acoustic piano).
I read on the 'Gon about a device from the U.K. called, EON from Network Acoustics. It is an EMI/RFI filtering device. We live on the Westside of LA. There's plenty of stray noise around. The one thing that worried me was the thirty foot run of contractor grade ethernet cable I was running from the office to the Auralic G1. I generally run mid-price cables, (Audioquest Carbon USB, Rocket 88 bi-wire speaker cables with DBS, Signal silver cables to the Sutherland, etc). Researching the EON, it seemed like this unit could be an asset, or at least save the money of 30 feet of Audioquest Cinnamon cable. And it was reasonably priced (under $500.00)!
I traded e-mails with Rich. He thought I would really like it but made two modest suggestions. He suggested that I add a D-Link DSG 1008G network switch (under $30.00) and add a short link of good cable to the EON. (I ended up using the Audioquest Cinnamon ethernet). And he also suggested I pick up a IFI 5V power supply. ($50.00)
So.....what happened?
Suddenly the bass information, seemingly missing, was deep and powerful. I can actually feel the low bass strings on Christian McBride's acoustic bass pressing on my chest. And the percussive drive of Brian Blades drumming is being felt, not just implied. (Joshua Redman, Round Again, Nonesuch). The overall focus of everything is sharper. Like when you are tuning a guitar and the last little turn gets the top E string exactly right..... not just close. Brad Mehldau on, April 2020, sounds exactly like he is playing in my living room on a well cared for Steinway. Wow! Just Wow!!!!
I foolishly, but honestly, told my wife that I don't know to make this system sound any better. I'm all done. Back to listening to music!
Important P.S The D-Link requires a male USB 2.0 Mini-B 5pin connector. Even though the IFI comes with many connector options, this isn't one of them. Nancy had one from an old I -Pad, keyboard connector.
Currently I'm listening to music through an Auralic G1 steamer/ Benchmark dac 3 DAC B into a newly built Audible Illusions Modulus 3B preamp and a Parasound A23+ power amp. CD's are played on an Audiolab 6000 transport into the Benchmark via Toslink. Speakers are Vanderstein Treo CT's. Oh there's still vinyl. I upgraded my trusty Well-Tempered TT with a Hana ML cartridge into a Sutherland Insight phono amp. Power supplies are a Furman PTS-8 with a Greenwave for devices switched on/off and an Audioquest 1200 for the devices left on, like the amp and the pre-amp. Everything is sounding really good (mostly acoustic jazz, Americana and Classical....lotsa acoustic piano).
I read on the 'Gon about a device from the U.K. called, EON from Network Acoustics. It is an EMI/RFI filtering device. We live on the Westside of LA. There's plenty of stray noise around. The one thing that worried me was the thirty foot run of contractor grade ethernet cable I was running from the office to the Auralic G1. I generally run mid-price cables, (Audioquest Carbon USB, Rocket 88 bi-wire speaker cables with DBS, Signal silver cables to the Sutherland, etc). Researching the EON, it seemed like this unit could be an asset, or at least save the money of 30 feet of Audioquest Cinnamon cable. And it was reasonably priced (under $500.00)!
I traded e-mails with Rich. He thought I would really like it but made two modest suggestions. He suggested that I add a D-Link DSG 1008G network switch (under $30.00) and add a short link of good cable to the EON. (I ended up using the Audioquest Cinnamon ethernet). And he also suggested I pick up a IFI 5V power supply. ($50.00)
So.....what happened?
Suddenly the bass information, seemingly missing, was deep and powerful. I can actually feel the low bass strings on Christian McBride's acoustic bass pressing on my chest. And the percussive drive of Brian Blades drumming is being felt, not just implied. (Joshua Redman, Round Again, Nonesuch). The overall focus of everything is sharper. Like when you are tuning a guitar and the last little turn gets the top E string exactly right..... not just close. Brad Mehldau on, April 2020, sounds exactly like he is playing in my living room on a well cared for Steinway. Wow! Just Wow!!!!
I foolishly, but honestly, told my wife that I don't know to make this system sound any better. I'm all done. Back to listening to music!
Important P.S The D-Link requires a male USB 2.0 Mini-B 5pin connector. Even though the IFI comes with many connector options, this isn't one of them. Nancy had one from an old I -Pad, keyboard connector.
96 responses Add your response
@djones51 Perhaps you can tell us what the "garage" you think they build them in, has to do with the products they produce. Every company starts small and if they produce good products they get bigger. I assume that is when you would deem them worthy of recognition. Why did you comment anyway. My guess is that it also doesn't cost enough for you to consider it worth your attention. |
The last business I sold the official company address was my house, which about 2/5th was converted to work space but most work was done remote. Everything was built at a CM, we would do QC there, and drop ship, and had a logistics/warehouse company inventory as needed. We did just a bit over $10M USD. HP started in a garage. So did Amazon. Not everything is funded by well heeled VCs. |
I didn’t realize this device is strictly for streaming. How does it compare with the Uptone Audio Ether Regen? I currently think my Qobuz stream sounds like junk when compared to my CD transport. If this thing really changes streaming quality then I’d consider it but I can’t see continuously throwing money at a problem that will only get marginally better. |
Goofyfoot...I feel your pain. I was really leaning towards a Ether Regen originally. But then I read they ran really warm....which scared me. Because I wasn't sure exactly how I was going to install it in my system. One of the great things about the ENO (yes, now I have it right) is that is passive in the sense that it is not actively re-processing information. All I can say is what I hear. I have not auditioned the Ether Regan. I strongly feel that in todays world, a digital system approach; i.e. dac, streamer, noise filtering, vibration control, and cabling will get you much farther than just paying elephant dollars for just a dac. |
Ha! I was strongly thinking about the Ayre QX-8 before I went with the Benchmark/Auralic combo (which saved some casino too) But I did it because I want to have the flexibility to upgrade the dac separate from the steamer. I use Quobuz too. I have a Spotify sub also, but I generally only listen to the big rig on Quobuz. You should be getting great sound out of your Ayre/Quobuz combo. My guess is that you definitely need to look at a network switch and cabling. Don't neglect power supply management....I love my Audioquest 1200. I see many folks online swear by the Uptone Ether Regen. And you are correct that money-wise you've got the heavy lifting already out of the way. I say....go for it! |
mwgreene, I’m just surprised that more of these devices aren’t being manufactured. There’s SoTM, Uptone Audio and this Network Acoustics and from what I know, that’s about it. Occasionally I see the etherRegen on the used market. Anyway, in time I’ll buy one of these but currently have other expenses. |
Goofyfoot, I think Fuzztone mentioned that he has a Silent Angel. That apparently is the same basic unit that Chord is using to mod for their English Audio unit. I think part of the confusion might be anytime an affordable tweek or mod gets an "Audiophile" label, magically the cost goes up hundreds or thousands of dollars. I know people try to measure these things and claim that there's "no there, there". Well, there are switches and there are filters. I don't think you need to pay way up for an "audiophile" switch (My D-Link was less than $30.00)....but you need an upgraded switch and filtering. If I hadn't heard a demonstrable difference, I would not have posted in the first place. I still think we have a ways to go, knowledge wise, in this new digital streaming world. |
We have customers who already have an EtherRegen and have then added an ENO Ag between the EtherRegen and their streaming device, and have had a significant uplift in sound quality. The EtherRegen gets you a big lift, but still has electrical noise coming from it, that ENO will filter out, and that makes all the difference. The ENO is very labour intensive to build, we build them by hand, and it can only be done by hand. If you own an ENO you know it’s been built by real engineers who take great pleasure in knowing they’ve made you smile. There’s a new review here that might be of interest. https://www.the-ear.net/review-hardware/network-acoustics-eno-ethernet-filter-ag-eno-streaming-cable... |
Agreed; and you can just listen with and without it. It’s chalk and cheese or night and day if you will. Everyone who’s heard it gets it within seconds. The reason we offer the 30 day refund policy is that once you’ve experienced what it does for your system, you’ll not want to send it back.I guess the other question is this, can absolutely everything you hear be measured on a piece of electronic test gear? |
can absolutely everything you hear be measured on a piece of electronic test gear?Most definitely not only for humans but dogs, bats, dolphins. How many blind listen with and without tests are there? ASR would be happy to measure this chalk and cheese device , free advertising... but we both know better don’t we.. Maybe I'll buy one, 30 days huh? |
So you of course, being a company, selling products have graphs of that 5MHz filtering? Now which conduction mode is that 5MHz? Doesn't this product claim to support 100MBPS Ethernet? That has a clock rate of 25Mbps and a recommended minimum bandwidth of 80MHz for proper operation. Can you please explain that 5MHz roll off? That is way too low for 100MBPs Ethernet and way to high to be useful for power filtering. As far as I can tell, this is the one and only thread the op has started or posted in ... flogging a product, and one of the people who makes that product is magically in this thread. Smells like an attempt at free advertising to me. |
My mistake, sorry, it should have been 50Mhz. I missed the zero. At 5Mhz it wouldn’t work at all. The OP purchased an ENO and posted his thoughts on it here, to share his experience with fellow HiFi enthusiasts. I commented to help contribute my experiences with some of the comments. Maybe I’m not allowed to do that? I’m new to this Forum. |
I should jump in here and attempt to clear things up a bit (I hope). I realize that the facts point to me being a shill for the ENO....that’s totally fair. Low post count, etc. I have been lurking on this site for nine months or so since I’ve been home bound. My attitude about posting in general is to only post when I think I have something to add. I admit to being a little giddy about this whole new world (for me) of streaming. I really enjoy my experience with the ENO in my system. I realized when I was trying to search out information about it, there wasn’t much out there. I am just trying to help address that. I’m happy that Richard chose to jump in, because I certainly am not capable of answering any technical questions. Network Acoustics HAS NOT offered me any considerations for my efforts. I’m just a retired old man, who is a fan boy. If I was a shill, I would fire me for miss spelling the name of the product in the first place! |
Mr Jones, with the greatest respect, I think you may be a little unkind to our customers referring to them as chumps. If you were to take the time to read the completely independent reviews on TrustPilot, posted by our customers who are thrilled with the difference they hear, plus the fact that the ENO won a ‘Product of the year award 2020’ you might be a bit less negative towards people using innovative techniques to improve the sound quality of streamed music. |
I read a review by those people of the Lyngdorf TDAI 3400 and they gave it a bad review, poor measurements. They completely misunderstood how it operated. It happens to be one of the best sounding pieces of equipment I’ve ever had, so in my humble opinion, they aren’t very good at reviewing. We have other reviews coming out soon in Mono & Stereo and Positive Feedback. |
@richtruss, no need to reason with the HLOs (hard line objectivists) who troll these forums. Doing what they do is the only thing that gives them pleasure in life. If they were to come over to your place to actually listen, they'd spend their time analyzing test tones and not music. To do that, they'd spend all day constructing A/B tests since they don't trust their ears or believe in their own sanity. All the best, Nonoise |
djones, Some people don't like reality. Even though the reviewer on ASR's website has an actual business relationship with Lyngdorf, he still published a highly critical review of the unit. "Didn't understand it". It is pretty difficult to not understand a crappy DAC, a really noise amplifier, and high near ultrasonic noise that could submodulate through speakers into the audio band. It's not remotely state of the art, but then again, maybe amplification and DAC performance is not nearly as big an impact as many claim? Hmmmm... |
If anyone is interested in how some in the testing community views ASR: https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/audio-science-review-review.9827/ All the best, Nonoise |
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Update: I’ve order my ENO Ag System earlier today after exchanging emails with Rich. I have to give props to Rich for answering my concerns and queries patiently, he was thorough in reviewing my current streaming system and suggested ways to improve / isolate noise. I will post my findings once ENO in my system for at least 40 hours. |
What we have here again is the bits-are-bits crowd resolutely sitting on their ears. The only thing more disheartening is their inability to get up. Galvanic isolation on USB and filtering on Ethernet both work audibly well, even if ASR hasn‘t cared to look for a way to measure either accurately. The missionary zeal of flat earthers, though. I suggest people listen to Hans van Beekhuizen‘s youtube channel to understand the interaction of RMi/EFI and digital to analogue conversion. |
On a review of the Marantz SA-10CD/SACD player, I came across this: http://www.10audio.com/marantz_sa-10.htmI The part where it states: The measurements are the same but the sound quality changes. caught my attention. Is that true? And, if so, how is it explained that something can sound different yet measure the same? All the best, Nonoise |
The article is comparing ripped LP's and upsampled CD's. I don't see any mention of measurement equipment like an AP analysizer and since it's mentioned within the context of using different filters I assume he means the rates are the same no matter which filter, they are all 32/192 or 32/384 etc.. he also mentions there is very little difference at times he's uncertain. Nothing like I read here of "night and day" and "vastly superior ". |
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That's kind of a red herring. The dithering done to the signal is done while playing the file, regardless of where it came from. He stated it was hard to tell the difference between the two sources after deciding not to use the different settings. One can go back and read many a review where some could easily hear the differences between dithering settings on other makes of file playback and others who couldn't. That tells me that some have better hearing acuity, that the dithering does change the sound structure, and that it still measures the same. Doesn't have to be vastly superior but there is a difference. It's what I found out having just two settings to choose from with my SACD player. When I first got it, I could barely make out a difference between the two settings. After employing some changes and tweaks, I could hear a big difference in the sound, preferring one over the other. All the best, Nonoise |