For ~ the same $$ you can get a ViaBlue in a week.
Now THERE would be a shootout.
Now THERE would be a shootout.
ghentaudio Ethernet cable review-wow-90 bucks
I had been reviewing ethernet cables threads on AG and noticed a couple of members recommending ghentaudio as a reasonable and valuable upgrade. I am not a flat earther so I was open to spending up to $1000 for a cable in a cable shootout from the cable company. I had been using the ethernet cable that was shipped with my dCS Bartok. I decided to order the Belden CAT6 with Metz ends from ghentaudio. I'm listening to it right now and it is significantly better than my standard cable. I will not be looking for another ethernet cable for a while for sure. The biggest gain is in the depth of image, good improvement! Its sonically slightly more detailed, and musical. These improvements are not huge, but they are audible to me. I would also mention that its very well made and the steel ends are impressive, however I don't really care how it looks, its how it sounds. Thanks to whoever clued me in to this cable. To the bit non-believers, it's 90 bucks, give it try, I think you will be glad you did. This was 90 bucks well spent. BTW it took 25 days to get to me, so you might want the upgraded shipping.
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I've ordered a cable that is pretty much identical to the ghentaudio cable. It too is made with Belden 1303E CAT6A Ethernet cable. The company is "designacable" from the UK. Interestingly enough, I also have the ViaBlue on order from Triton. Both will be compared to my Sablon 2020 cable and my friend's Wireworld Starlight cable. I look forward to hearing your opinion on the ViaBlue vs. Belden. |
This is great! I will post what I hear when the Viablue comes in, and am very interested in what you find out with those 4 cables you have. I am still amazed by all the members that insist there is no difference in CAT cables. I also installed an Etheregen switch several months back and it made a big difference. I also fed the Etheregen a fiber feed from my source and compared it to the standard CAT wire feed from the same source(I disconnected each when listening to the other) and could hear NO difference, which I think means the Etheregen moat concept works. The fiberoptic feed test was a pretty expensive test, but at least I don't question that link. |
I put the Belden in yesterday and had a listen. It's been breaking in overnight and when I listen later today it will have 24 hours on it. I also just received the ViaBlue today but haven't taken it out of the packaging. Does anyone know how long each of these cables takes to break in? The Sablon 2020 took like 200 hours. |
After 24 hours on both the ViaBlue and the Belden I'll say that the Sablon is the most enjoyable cable. I'll put 150 hours on each and report again. The Belden is very intriguing in that it is certainly the most direct and immediate sounding. I'm hoping the bottom end opens up, there is more harmonic complexity overall, and the top end gets tamed down. As of right now it is the most fatiguing of the three cables. |
I just got the ViaBlue a couple hours ago and I have about 4 hours on it. Didn't like it at all for the first hour, then I agree with most of what you hear. The midrange stands out a very musical compared to the Belden. Bass is much bigger with the Via and its not boomy bass either its good. It does make the Belden sound bass light. That bass support seems to make the rest of the spectrum more musical. I also think the Belden was more analytical or immediate as you say, and I get sucked into that, its a weakness (did the whole silver cable thing for years, and suffered ringing). So the Belden is better than a stock cable, the ViaBlue is better than the Belden in my system, now what is the Sablon? Where did you buy it and is it reasonable? These $100 cable swaps are pretty fun. I'll give the 2nd and third place cables to my flat earth friends. Thanks for hooking me up to the ViaBlue and hopefully the Sablon! |
The Sablon is $400 and can be ordered directly from the manufacturer. I’m going to give the two new cables a few more days to burn in before I make any decisions and I suspect I’ll add an EtherREGEN and then appraise them all again. I have to say the Belden is very intriguing. It reminds me of a cartridge I used to own. |
I had about 40 hours on the Belden when the ViaBlue came and I haven't been able to take the ViaBlue out. It's really very engaging. I ordered the Sablon today (not a 100 cable test!!!) and due to sending him a bit more money than needed he is sending it so I get it Wednesday. I did a lot of reading on Sablon after you brought them up, especially on the What's Best site. I'm very excited about trying it. Seems like a find. I'll be excited to hear what you think of the Etheregen, but I'll be shocked if you don't love it! I will be back on after I get the Sablon cable. Do you have any of his PCs? Entry PC 2K, that's a wow, but I'm interested. I'm really down on the big name cable companies. I really like Sablons simple product line. Do we really need 8 different interconnect cables from one vendor? |
I got the Sablon today and only have 3 hours on it. It's got that tizzy new cable thing going, but the imaging is deep and wide, bass is solid, decay very good. I didn't give the Belden a fair burn in as I really liked the musically engaging sound of the ViaBlue as soon as I tried it. The Belden was very detailed as you say and that is very worth pursuing the burn in it needs. I'm not to proud to say I am probably suffering from expectation bias. I didn't expect anything much from the first cable the Belden and was really impressed, then expected the ViaBlue to be better, and then the $400 Sablon, thinking it would be better yet. I am going to slow down and stop buying ethernet cables. I did put a deposit on a dCS Vivaldi stack so in a few weeks I'll have a more resolving digital system to re-evaluate these cables. I think this happens to crows when they see a shiny thing on the ground! I'm going to shut up and listen for a bit! Thanks to everyone for the help! |
I'm guilty of that as well. I find the ViaBlue to be the least fatiguing of the 3 cables and tonight that made it my preferred cable. In fact, it had me thinking of trying to find a cable that is even less fatiguing. Did the EtherREGEN significantly reduce the sibilance and digital sharpness in your system? |
You flipped on me! Were you testing me???? Absolutely! The Etheregen was a massive positive for my streamer. In reducing sibilance, was way more musical(took away the digital flatness), and enhanced imaging. Way more than the difference between these digital cables. That said I read a lot about the other switches available but didn't try any of them. The others seemed to be the same old technology with better parts and chassis. The Etheregen had a different approach. As I mentioned before the fact that I tried feeding it with fiber and then copper CAT 6 and heard no difference proved to me that the MOAT concept worked. The unit is made well, and is very well priced, but is so small and light the ethernet cables push it all over. I would pay at least 300 more for it to be in a high quality big heavy case to make it stable. It's literally hanging in the air in back of my rack. (maybe it sounds better like that!) Buy the Etheregen, especially if you have not upgraded your switch yet. So back at you. You like the ViaBlue better than the broken in Sablon 2020, as I'm liking the Sablon a lot already. |
I’m definitely going to buy the Etheregen. The Sablon cable isn’t very flexible so I can imagine it’s physically imposing itself on the ER. I wasn’t testing you :). I just started getting listener fatigue tonight about 2 hours in so the ViaBlue became my cable of choice at the end of the session. All three cables are good but, as the song goes, I still haven’t found what I’m looking for. I’m going to hold off experimenting with more cables until I get the ER in my system. Since you like non-mainstream cable companies that offer just a single model of ethernet cable, have you heard of this one: https://triodewirelabs.com/product/freedom-ethernet-cable/ |
I owned the SABLON and it is a great sounding Ethernet cable. However, the ENO from Network Acoustics is the very best one I have ever heard. Just amazing what it does for your digital front end. I also purchased the ENO ethernet filter as I found it to be far more effective than the EtherRegen that I owned after lengthy comparisons. The ENO products are something very special and I highly recommend giving them a listen. They offer a trial period and very quick shipping. You won’t be sending them back however. Best single upgrade I have done in my digital front end. I have a Mojo Audio Evo dac and Innuos Zenith 3 with the ENO products. |
Wow, this is really good info. I looked at their site and now have some questions for you. Since I have the EtherRegen and the Sablon2020 as well, I was wondering what order you would demo the ENO products. Cable first, then the filter? Is the Filter additive to the EtherRegen or is it one or the other? Thanks |
https://youtu.be/CCLFJgwf21o He says that when it comes to the ENO Filter and the ER, it's one or the other. In series he says that the sound may be unnatural (see "Test 2" in the video). |
Exlibris, I'm going to wait to hear from you when you have both the ER and the ENO in house. Look forward to hearing what you say. I've been buying my own education and its getting expensive! What started out as a 90 buck cable is getting out of control! Grannyring seems to have grabbed the golden ring. |
I like to make just one change at a time so instead of putting the ENO filter and the cable in, I just put in the cable. The cable is the best I've heard in my system. It is very natural and brings my digital closer to my analogue than ever before. On some vocal recordings I really get the sense that I'm hearing the mic feed. It's also very authoritative and strongly plants images in my room and projects their sound to me. -all this without any aggression; it's very relaxed and has nice musical flow. I'll put the ENO in on Tuesday I think. |
I know that cables make a difference in sound, albeit relatively subtle. I have been following this thread and wondering just how much difference a short Ethernet cable can really make . . . I have an Orbi mesh system with gigabit ports, an RS9 music server attached to the Orbi with CAT6. From the Orbi, the house came wired with CAT5. In my music room, which is in the next room from the Orbi, I have generic (monoprice) 2ft run of CAT6 to a Gigafoil v4, and a 1 ft CAT7 from the Gigafoil to my MSB Discrete DAC. The rest of the system is a Pass Labs 250.8 and Focal Diablo Utopia III’s and a REL sub. It seems hard to believe that replacing a 1ft length of CAT7 with an ENO cable at $700 is going to make an audible difference in the set-up, unless I literallly re-wire everything from the Orbi to the DAC. It is even harder to imagine an audible difference between using a $100 ViaBlue in the last run between the Gigafoil and the DAC and a $700 ENO cable. However, in light of my system, I am open to opinions on it. Experts? What say you? |