mcslipp I would think living in a rural area on top of a mountain that you likely face fewer extraneous noise issues than a lot of us. I noticed, in a noise rich urban environment, a very slight improvement moving to a better shielded, though non-audiophile, Cat8 ethernet cable. I find a wired connection to also sound slightly better though it's a subtle difference. I've been curious about those swtiches also but have yet to try one.
Help me understand better solutions for ethernet
I've been reading quite a bit lately here and elsewhere about ethernet cables picking up noise and how to mitigate that. The three main options I've come across seem to be:
1. An audio-grade switch box like Uptone's etherREGEN that uses their "moat" technology to clean/block noise.
Pros: fairly straightforward
Cons: extra gear in the chain
2. Converting the ethernet to optical to block the noise such as the direction Small Green Computer takes.
Pros: optical blocks the hash carried by ethernet
Cons: There's only one streamer/dac that I know of (Lumin X1) that allows for Optical in so again even more gear in the chain to convert to optical then convert back to feed ethernet to the steamer/dac.
3. Wifi - just go wireless and remove the ethernet cable completely (well mostly).
Pros: Certainly the cheapest, easiest and tidy route
Cons:???
Very curious to hear from others your ACTUAL experiences (not your theories based off god know what...)
1. An audio-grade switch box like Uptone's etherREGEN that uses their "moat" technology to clean/block noise.
Pros: fairly straightforward
Cons: extra gear in the chain
2. Converting the ethernet to optical to block the noise such as the direction Small Green Computer takes.
Pros: optical blocks the hash carried by ethernet
Cons: There's only one streamer/dac that I know of (Lumin X1) that allows for Optical in so again even more gear in the chain to convert to optical then convert back to feed ethernet to the steamer/dac.
3. Wifi - just go wireless and remove the ethernet cable completely (well mostly).
Pros: Certainly the cheapest, easiest and tidy route
Cons:???
Very curious to hear from others your ACTUAL experiences (not your theories based off god know what...)