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Network Switches

Here are a few...

Melco S100  (just announced)  https://www.melco-audio-masters.com/uploads/1/0/1/5/101505220/mel_2073_s100_a4_2pp_info_sheet_v3.pdf

SOtM sNH - 10G  https://www.sotm-audio.com/sotmwp/english/portfolio-item/snh-10g/

The Linear Solution Reference Audio Switch https://thelinearsolution.com/ref_swtch.html

Feel free to add others.
david_ten
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,436 posts
 
I 3rd it! Thanks for the update.  The Cat 7 Ethernet cables I purchased from SOtM really upgraded the sound of my system.  They do matter! 
mitch2
3,686 posts
 
Thanks for the advice but looking at the Ethernet cable offerings reminds me of the early days of USB cables.  Some reviewers report "significant improvements" while others say the differences are small.  HiFi Wigwam states that simply switching to generic CAT 8 cables would be an audible improvement.  Then, as with all things audio, there seems to be a progression of sorts where certain cables start out as a great "bang for the buck" but are soon eclipsed by newer offerings, such as the $50 Supra CAT 8 cable that Audio Bacon liked early on but later replaced with the latest cable du jour, the $500 SOtM dCBL-CAT7 Audiophile Ethernet Cable, which apparently can be bettered by JCAT’s $1,100 Ethernet Cable.  The Supra is priced right but from what I could find while it apparently sounds "nice," improves on off-the-shelf cables (OTSC), and has good tonal qualities, in comparison to others it may be a bit soft and less focused.

I am considering moving the two TP-LINK MC200CM Gigabit Media Converters and Fiber Patch Cable to the server side of (i.e., after) the Bonn switch to hopefully reduce any noise coming from the switch.  Michael Lavorgna at AudioStream didn't set his up that way because he needed to run multiple cables from his switch.  If I move the fiber set-up, then I would only have one Ethernet cable between the second TP-LINK converter and my server, although I would have another between the server and my Roon endpoint (...ugh, where does it stop?).  If I were inclined to spend $500 on an Ethernet cable, I would probably put it last in the chain, either from the second TP-LINK to my DX server or between the server and Roon endpoint, but I am certainly not going to purchase 3 or 4, $500 Ethernet cables!

I found this (linked below) review interesting in that they compared several Ethernet cables (but not the SOtM) in a blind testing and came away with this; 

At the end we settled on a random A-B-X blind test methodology and submit all the cables that we had to extensive comparison.

Not knowing which cable we were auditioning (the test pattern looked like A-B-A-A-A-B, for example), step by step some nuances in how the cables performed started to appear. When I say nuances I mean perhaps 1%, perhaps 5% of difference between the Ethernet cables that we used. Nothing to really write home about. Most cables performed about the same, there were only two that stood out. The Supra was audibly softer and more muffled than others, keeping similar signature that was heard in the HS-Link application. The OTSC became the winner of the test – it was the preferred cable even in the direct shootout with the AudioQuest, no matter how technically inferior it may be.

Conclusion

Although it may not be exactly what you want to hear, for the router/streamer connection please feel free to use any RJ-45 cable that is on hand. If you want to feel unique then invest a bit more into a product like Viablue, or dress a standard patch cable in a colourful jacket or shrinkwrap of your choice. What is puzzling is that in theory there should be zero difference between the cables and still there was some.

http://www.audiodrom.net/en/special-edition-reviews/104-ethernet-rj-45-cables-shootout



thyname's avatar
thyname
3,107 posts
 
If I were inclined to spend $500 on an Ethernet cable, I would probably put it last in the chain, either from the second TP-LINK to my DX server or between the server and Roon endpoint, but I am certainly not going to purchase 3 or 4, $500 Ethernet cables!
If I would want to experiment with just one Ethernet cable, I would start with a (hopefully) short run to your Roon Endpoint
david_ten OP
5,480 posts
 
Fidelizer EtherStream Switch review by Srajan Ebaen // 6Moons:

https://6moons.com/audioreview_articles/fidelizer/
raueda1
20 posts
 
Thank you all for a very interesting thread.  I'm working with a 1Gb wired network that connects:   > Commercial server running Win10 hosting 5Tb of shared media files
    available to all the devices on the network
  > 1080 TV and media player A fed by network
  > 1080 TV and media player B fed by network
  > 4k TV home theater setup with media player etc fed by network
  > a small system running a BlueSound Node 2i fed by network
  > a large system with DAC fed by another Node 2i (fed from network)                             and s/pdif directly from the server sound card (not ethernet, no USB)
No WiFi, no BlueTooth.  All this entails a couple switches (commercial Cisco unit, can't recall what exactly, and another switch on the HT).

Recently I've been playing with hard-to-verfy and possibly faith-based tweaks that may have some impact but aren't very expensive - speaker elevators, fancier (but not crazy expensive) power cords, replacing digital RCA connectors with BNC's, etc.  All this has convinced me to ignore the network switches.  Now on to the next tweak.....
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