Do upgraded LAN cables/purifiers/switch box make a difference. What is recommended, if so?

"unless the last bit of cable is unshielded the noise (EMI/RFI) is allowed to travel along a conductive path and pollute the analogue side of your DAC"

@gournard - If the switch provides galvanic and noise isolation, how much EMI/RFI is likely to ride on a 1M length of shielded Ethernet cable between the switch and a DAC?  How about isolating filters like the Muon Pro, does the final pigtail of cable between the filter and the DAC negate all the purported noise reduction improvements?  Have you heard these differences by comparing a short length of shielded vs. non shielded cable from switch to DAC?

I am curious because I thought the purpose of shielding Ethernet cables was to protect against electromagnetic interference (EMI)? Also, don’t Ethernet connections inherently include galvanic isolation via transformers?

 If the switch provides galvanic and noise isolation, how much EMI/RFI is likely to ride on a 1M length of shielded Ethernet cable between the switch and a DAC?

@mitch2, Hi Mitch I do not know exactly just how much noise will be passed on to the next stage, just that it is and it is easily audible. To answer another of your questions:    Have you heard these differences by comparing a short length of shielded vs. non shielded cable from switch to DAC?  Yes indeed and as I have mentioned try and keep the cable length to 2ft. or less (0.5 to 0.6m) 

From my posts above whether the switch is an inexpensive or audiophile unit the reduction in noise is unmistakeable. All the benefits of lowering the noise floor are evident. I have no experience with isolating filters like the Muon Pro. I'm not pretending to be an expert on this but I do understand that any noise contained by the switch will, if connected by a shielded cable, defeat the purpose of said switch. Fortunately this conductive path can be broken by using a short unshielded cable from switch to streamer or streamer/DAC.

There is much on this topic to be found on the forum  'audiophilestyle'

🤔

Congrats on the new DAC ! 

Note:  for those that still have "copper" going to their house with limited rooms enabled,  I made the following "realtively inexpensive" changes that helped my sound quality.  I found most of these recommendation on "you tube".

First converting my copper to optical to get rid of any noise from the line coming to the house - after the router.  Then going to an EERO mesh system to increase my WIFI strength.

Then, using another EERO Mesh node hardwired to my Stack Audio SmoothLan network Filter with a Audioquest Cinnamon Cable, then, the Smoothlan filter to my Volumio Rivo+ streamer.  I am using an LPS & a Shunyata power conditioner for this EERO Mesh node and the same for the streamer and monitor

Great discussions, inputs, views and recommendations -  but the options available now become almost impossible to test qn review. It is becoming a complicated tri-nomial decision tree. So I am going back to basics - throwing the proverbial one pebble at a time in the pond and observing the ripples - then start  adding more pebbles and trying to make sense of the changes in the ripples.

1. Confirmed that all network cables from Etisalat (servive provider) to property are fibre

2. Netgear switch arrived  - swapped with current TP-link switch. No audible difference. Netgear returned. 

3. iFi Lan silencer arrived via eBay on 30 day return basis. Listened for 2 days with silencer inserted at streamer (after TP-link) and 2 days inserted at wall receptacle (before TP-link). Audible difference with silencer at wall (nothing audible with it after the switch). Didn't expect that. Keeping at least for next 2 weeks to test with BJC cables and SmoothLan.

4. Stack SmoothLan delivered either Tuesday/Wednesday from UK. Will test over the rest of the week. 60 day return policy

5. Benchmark DAC 3b arrived from TMR (BTW - great service - triple packed and FedEx to Abu Dhabi - less than $50. Arrived within a week). Alas, require a UK power cable - so until that arrives from UK on Tuesday/Wednesday (no decent ones below $1000 in UAE), it stays in the box. Will be last item to insert in chain to test. This will be a keeper in my system - synergy, revealing and all that.

5. Blue Jeans Cables (shielded and non-shielded) currently on FedEx plane in France, hopefully leaving tonight for UAE. Expected on Thursday / Friday after customs inspection and further costs to be paid.

6. Fidelizer became an option based on above discussions. DMOR (variant of DYOR)

For now testing is 1 change at a time and monitoring impact. Its fun

Will keep you posted and again - Thanks to all for input/views!

Cheers