Ethernet cables

Haha, of course. I see there's no convincing to be done here.

When you say science, you must mean a Flat Earther type of science.

The digital data is not changed. It works better because it lets in less interference. Read what I wrote. Sound quality is impacted by "a variety of interferences including data-induced jitter, other process-induced jitter, (and) common- and differential-mode electromagnetic noise." While you’re at it, you might benefit from looking up ’Dunning-Kruger Effect’

@antigrunge I find it so amusing that the people that are least informed think they are the smartest people in the room. You might try looking up ’Dunning-Kruger Effect’

Here’s a commentary from someone that actually designs digital audio equipment on some factors that affect the sound of digital audio. tl;dr: Bits are bits, BUT there are types of interference outside just looking at the integrity of the digital signal data.

Bob Stuart, Meridian Audio
"Of course digital bits-are-bits and with due care, each of the three interfaces (USB, Toslink, coaxial) can deliver the same data at approximately the same time. But the audio we hear is analog and real-world devices are subject to a variety of interferences including data-induced jitter, other process-induced jitter, (and) common- and differential-mode electromagnetic noise. In the ideal world, the data are clocked in by and buffered in the DAC (asynchronous mode) and then de-jittered before conversion. In my experience this can never be perfect, just made closer and closer to irrelevance."

Want more? Here’s some commentary from Gordon Rankin (introduced the digital audio world to asynchronous USB transfer): https://darko.audio/2016/05/gordon-rankin-on-why-usb-audio-quality-varies/

As for myself, my hearing works just fine. So, a +5 on the Supra Cat 8 cable from me as well. And yes, I listened to it extensively versus an AmazonBasics Cat 6 cable. And also got my 15 y.o. son who doesn’t give a hoot about cables to give me his thoughts as well. Maybe his opinion is a +6 for the Supra cable.

FWIW, these were my listening notes of the Supra cable vs a AmazonBasics Cat 6 cable:

• More presence, voices and instruments are more forward in presentation and more distinct. Sounds is tonality richer. Less grain to the sound. - Too Much Alike, Robert Plant & Patty Griffin on Digging Deep: SubterraneaEasier to follow bass lines. - Smoke on the Water, Deep Purple, Machine Head
• Pace seems faster due to more clarity and better definition to the leading edge of notes. - Route 66,, Depeche Mode, Music for the Masses
• More power behind crescendoes producing a greater sense of tension in the music. - Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, Lisa Batiashvilli, Daniel Barenboim conducting the Staatskapelle Berlin
• Typani have more fullness and definition. More finesse in how the interaction between instruments are conveyed.   Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances, Op. 45, First Movement, London Symphony Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski
• The complex, multi-layered rhythms are are more effortlessly conveyed & much more easily understood. It feels like it takes less mental effort to listen to this track when the Supra cable is in place. More fullness in how the voices at the beginning of the track are reproduced.  I hear this when listening to this recording on vinyl, but realized that following the rhythms in this track when streaming can sometimes be more difficult. Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes, Paul Simon, Graceland
• Guitar sounds faster and more articulate. Layover, Michael Hedges, Breakfast in the Field.

Just an introspective observation of how I was involuntarily reacting to the Supra vs AmazonBasics cable:

I was listening to both on Sunday night and one interesting observation that I had was that I had a serious case of 'Let's hear that again' when the Supra cable was in my system and ending up listening to the same track 3 or 4 times. I was pretty tired when I was listening on Sunday night and the AmazonBasics cable didn't seem to have that same effect on me. In fact, I was literally falling asleep when the Amazon cable was in, but putting the Supra cable in would perk me up.

But I suggest you get a basic Ethernet cable and a nicer cable, perhaps the Supra Cat 8 cable which only costs $60-70. Listen to both. Ask your spouse or significant other if there is ANY difference at all between the cables. If not, keep the cheaper cable and you'll then know for sure that you either can't hear a difference and/or those of us advocating for more expensive Ethernet cables are just full of it.

The cable is NOT a filter. Read what I wrote:

" It works better because it lets in less interference."

@antigrunge2 All good. I do find the comments of the bits-are-bits crowd to be amusing in their absolute conviction in their correctness due to their lack of knowledge. (kind of like the Flat Earther of audio). In all fairness, I don't expect everyone to hear a difference between cables, but if people are going to argue based on theory, let's at least have all the facts on the table.

@mesch That’s a sensible approach. That’s what I did with digital cables and power as well over the past year as I was open to WHETHER cables and power make a difference, but wanted to spend as little as possible for a given level of subjective sound quality. This is what I listened to in my own system (with cables loaned by friends so I had no out-of-pocket expense for listening to these other than the Jitterbug that I had already and Supra Cat 8 cable). My objective was to figure out how little I could spend and still get pretty decent sound.

• USB cables: generic HP USB printer cable (straight out of a HP printer box, Belkin Gold, Pangea Premier SE, Shunyata Venom, Phasure Lush
• Power cord (for Denafrips Ares II DAC): $17 Tripp-Lite Heavy Duty 14 gauge power cord, Shunyata Venom, Audience Forte F3, Synergistic Research UEF Black
• Noise filters: Audioquest Jitterbug
• Ethernet cables: AmazonBasics Cat 6, Supra Cat 8
• Power: $75 car battery jumpstart pack to power a Qutest DAC & compared to the stock Qutest switch-mode power supply

First up was the generic HP USB printer cable, because ’bits-are-bits’ right? That cheap HP cable sounded absolutely horrible and opened my eyes to the impact of cables on a system. Perceptions were: Sound feels shut-in and veiled. Trailing edge of notes have an overhang. Treble is a bit harsh. Bass sounds tubby

Low priced products that were pretty good:

• Tripp-Lite Heavy Duty 14 gauge power cord: This seemed to be quite good sounding with any differences from the Synergistic cable not immediately obvious unless I focus more on differences.
  
• Belkin Gold: It doesn’t sound bad, but the more expensive USB cables clearly sounded better without having to go back and forth on cables at all. (other than the Pangea cable)
• Jitterbug: This made a surprisingly noticeable improvement for a $60 product. FWIW, I just heard on The Hi-Fi Podcast that the Jitterbug tends to clean up high frequencies better and the EtherRegen does better for low frequencies.
• $75 car battery jumpstart pack: Immediately noticeable benefits over the stock Qutest switch mode power supply are lower noise, better flow to music, smoother tones (less harshness), better flow. better pace. Using the battery pack provides the same character as with the standard power pack, but more refined.
  

Thinking back to all of these changes, turning off WiFi and using Ethernet made the biggest improvement. Switching from the AmazonBasics Cat 6 Ethernet cable to the Supra Cat 8 cable made the 2nd biggest improvement.

+1. I really like starting with equipment that is inexpensive, because I don’t subscribe to the view that more expensive must be better & my hearing seems to bear that out. However, sometimes expensive equipment truly is better, but even then I want to hear the level of improvement from an inexpensive baseline to figure out the cost-benefit of spending more. At a certain point in audio spending, the difference becomes the difference between good and better rather than good vs not good. 'Good enough' is still tremendously enjoyable for me & why there is a lot of audio equipment that I would get before even considering upgrading from the already high bar of the Supra Cat 8 cable. Not to mention that I would rather use my limited time to listen to music than play with equipment.

I can definitely tell that the Supra Cat 8 cable is most definitely worth $65 ($50 more than a basic cable) and probably one of the best values I’ve found to improve sound quality. The Phasure Lush USB cable is more expensive at $200-250, but I’m willing to spend on that as well given the sonic benefits I’ve experienced. I do think that the marginal returns most likely decrease as prices go up even higher. A $1000+ cable would have to work some sort of miracle to justify my spending that much. Maybe down the road, but I still have to consider value when spending on a working person’s budget with kids about to go to college.