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,
@rifraf4u As an audiophile who uses his ears, I can tell you you’re absolutely WRONG. Do I like that cables make a difference? No. Do they make a difference? ABSOLUTELY. Just cause you can’t measure things in your engineering world doesn’t mean they don’t sound different. We can’t measure everything that the ear can hear. |
My two cents, I probably wouldn't bother with something like that, especially if you're just streaming over the internet.
The only situations where I could see this making a difference would be if you had your digital files already stored on a computer, NAS, or home network server. And then only if your equipment (DAC, headphones/speakers, preamp/amp) is resolving enough to present any improvement.
Of course, I'm curious if anything like that would make a difference in my system, but I'm spending money on other things first (power, cables, etc.) |
I have been there with an ETHERregen, power, and external clock. It made a difference in sound from the DAC (Meitner MA1) if I used a wired interface, eg AES/EBU, from the EMM NS1 to the DAC. If I used Toslink with a DH Labs glass master cable anything upstream of the NS1 did not matter. Bottom line, separate DAC and optical (Toslink if well implemented or ST fibre) into it. |
