Network Switches

Actually 24 frames per second was a compromise, not perfect, but good enough in the early days when film was expensive. As "film" dies, and costs decrease, we will move towards higher frame rates to improve perception of motion. You know that "film" was flashed 3 times per second, which again was not ideal but an acceptable compromise.
Being able to see differences between 1080P and 4K is more a factor of corrected vision and screen distance, not age, at least to a somewhat advanced age unless there is specific macular degeneration.

Knowing everything about CODECs, digitizations and the limits of human hearing will not tell you anything about a specific DAC implementation and its susceptibility to EMI.

jason_k20176 posts11-04-2019 12:56am@nonoise

@jason_k2017, are you suggesting that what you're hearing is exactly as it was encoded? That your DAC is perfect?

The one thing I do know is that if you decode an encoded stream in a quality DAC with the the same codec with which it was encoded then it will be as near to perfect as anything else I can throw at my sound system. My turntable (which is no longer used) is not perfect, my CD player is not perfect, my DB receiver is not perfect. Nor are yours. None are

You should read up a little on codecs, digitzation and the capablilities and limitations of the human ear. There is a point at which nobody can detect an changes to audio. If you can't grasp that, think of your eyes instead and why film only needs only to be at 24 frames per second and why you have to be reasonably young to see any difference between 1080 and 4K TV

@atdavid

With few exceptions in this thread, and we can discount them, has anyone suggested that the signal or data degrades.

This has thrown me
Yes, many of you have. It is the whole point of this thread and my original question

Several people have states that a 'special' switch will prevent it from doing so. Or are you now saying that a special switch is totally unnecessary as the signal or data does not degrade ? Please make up your mind

No, only a one or two people who do not understand digital data transmission have suggested degradation of the digital signal. That vast majority of the posts have spoke to electrical noise being the most likely culprit.

I have also posited, because it is real and it happens, that data frame arrival, because it is periodic (and pseudo random) can also cause pumping of the power supply lines in the end equipment as the power supply load increases and decreases. That will be in the frequency range of audio and whether audible will be implementation dependent.

No, only a one or two people who do not understand digital data transmission have suggested degradation of the digital signal. That vast majority of the posts have spoke to electrical noise being the most likely culprit.

So if electrical noise does not degrade the digital signal, why do I need this special switch? 

I don't understand why people think it's technically impossible for a switch to introduce noise in the component chain.  Switches are powered by electricity and contain fans, chips, printed circuit boards and power supplies.  This isn't an argument about bits are bit and 0's and 1's or buffering or any of the well understood ethernet data transfer protocols - its about noise.  Why is this so difficult?