Do I really need an " Audio Grade Network Switch "?


I think it's been a quite controversial topic for years, like what's the difference between normal network switch and an audio grade network switch, the price difference is certainly obvious though...
Anyway, I've done some researches, most audio reviewers say that under this " new digital streaming era " that an network switch is a must for an audio system, which is understandable for me, I mean because if I wanna play TIDAL or Qobuz or Spotify, I gotta use network so I can stream these online services, so yeah I get that if the network quality is good enough, it can possibly level up the music performance.

But anyhow, I'm new to this area, so I don't like to spend big bucks on my first purchase hahaha... there's a very wide range of the prices though, the top one is Ansuz Power Switch I think, the inner circuit and design look pretty sharp, and surely over my budget lol

So I'm choosing between Bonn N8 and SW-8, these two both got good reviews, and the prices seem so darn much friendly to me as I'm looking for an entry level switch now, do any of you have any insights to share?
or should I just go for the higher level ones?

Best,

preston8452

@djones51 I am honesty trying to understand your post.

Is this jitter measured in the Ethernet link? How jitter in the link could affect sound if there is no "Ethernet jitter" to speak of from the NIC to the PCIe bus/refclk?

Ethernet jitter ceases to exist at the PCIe layer, it just can’t because of the electrical design.

I am honestly trying to understand, because once "out" of the "the Ethernet stack in the NIC" and hits the PCIe bus the only jitter there is, is the PCIe jitter from the different REFCLK clock architectures, and now we are talking 100MHz for PCIe 3 and 4, PCIe5 has a different refclk architecture and there we are talking phase jitter on the ranges 12 kHz to 20 MHz and 10 kHz to 50 MHz.

Needless to say that a NIC binds to the bus’s refclk and nothing else, it is just electrically impossible.

In the case that the streamer/DAC uses different protocol than PCIe for their bus architecture whichever clock they use for reference, this would be "internal-linked" to the component refclk by which all the bus timing functions would be derived from.

Again, I am tryin to understand how jitter in the Ethernet link can affect anything in the component bus refclk.

it is my understanding that if anything it is the component’s refclk which would affect the music timing, and this refclk has absolutely nothing to do with the Ethernet SSM, as a matter of fact I am not aware of any protocol for bussing that is aware of any other ref clock that does not participate in the bus and there I am certain that there is no way an SSM would be even accurate to even to execute any of the Link Inspector Commands in the bus.

I know this might be boring but I want to understand, so I kindly ask you if you can teach/explain the point of measuring jitter at the Ethernet layer and how it affects anything beyond the NIC/bus adapter.

Are we saying the same thing?

Thank you

 

teach/explain the point of measuring jitter at the Ethernet layer and how it affects anything beyond the NIC/bus addapter. 

The point of measuring jitter is because the companies that make these switches claim their switch will generate a better signal with less "jitter" on the line not in the packet. The test shows this is nonsense as well.

@djones51 I see what you are trying to communicate, thank you for explaining..

Next thing we should be hearing is that an audiophile switch can fix network problems at the physical layer by means of a patent pending proprietary microcode...🤣

It would be a great thing to have webcast with any of the manufacturers and have open questions. It will never happen because anyone that knows the basic concepts of Ethernet, IB, PCIe or another bussing protocol and EE would very easily be able to debate that what they are saying is the very least technically wrong and completely impossible to do.