The Shunyata Research OMEGA-X-Ethernet Cable

Cable impedance matching (75 ohm for coax), shield quality, and connector quality all affect signal integrity at the physical layer in ways that influence jitter at the receiving end. Even with jitter rejection in the DAC, you're asking that circuit to work harder with a worse cable, and no rejection is perfect. For USB, noise on the cable's power lines can couple into the source device's clock domain. Shielding quality matters for RF rejection, which affects the noise floor of the entire receiving circuit. Cables affect the analog output through timing and noise mitigation that are real and measurable, even when data integrity is perfect.

This thread is about Ethernet cables. As far as Ethernet is concerned, one run of SFP fiber between router / switch and streamer effectively eliminates all parasitic noise, and since TCP/IP is an unlocked protocol no timing issues can possibly exist up to the input of the streamer (the output is a different story). Add to that the fact that streamers buffer 1-2 minutes of data (it’s data not music until it exits the DAC) and the odds that the titular $3,800 Shunyata Ethernet cable will have an effect on sound quality are absolutely nil. But it’s a beautiful cable, and there is nothing wrong with audio jewelry.

I've had somewhat different digital problems than what the folks previously posted.  I started with Xfinity cable service.  The installer ran used the previously installed cable that ran 150 feet around the house to the modem. Circa 1970 cable, whatever that was. Computer stuff, emails, web browsing, etc. worked perfectly. 

Once I started streaming audio, I started having problems.  Lossy formats were okay at best, high res ROON was impossible.  I ran a cat5e cable though the hallway and across the floor to see if that would help. Well, it sorta helped at best. I struggled with this for a couple years until T-Mobile came along with their network.  It was Wi-Fi to the house, I put their modem near the stereo and connected it up with a short cat 5e cable.  Bingo! Way better fidelity!  I could stream hi-res with out a problem. 

My son is a principal engineer for an ISP in CO.  He fixed up my connection with galvanic isolation, isolated AC Mains with a medical grade isolation, and picked out a solid network switch, all rated for cat 6e cabling. Digital has never been better in the house.  

The problem is T-Mobile upload speed is very slow.  I can't run the security cameras on it, I have to use Xfinity for that.  Computer is now Wi-Fi to T-Mobile, and now that's slow.  So the computer is back on Xfinity. Keeping two networks online is expensive! 

I think the solution is to wire the house with good cat 6e cable and skip Wi-Fi.  I called the three home theater companies in the area. Two would do the wiring if I bought all the equipment from them. The third doesn't respond to emails or phone calls. 

I'm thinking of dumping T-Mobile, stick with low res audio, and doing the wiring myself when we get ready to paint the insides.  Trying to get T-Mobile to upgrade their upload speed hasn't gone anywhere, they really aren't interested in increasing their upload speed to match Xfinity. 

So, needless to say, I haven't bothered to play with audiophile digital cables.  I'll have to get the inbound data right before playing with spiffy cables. 

@spatialking thus won’t help your issue with old interior wiring, and sounds like your idea of doing it yourself when you are ready to make (and then repair and repaint) some holes in the walls is a good one, but is there a fiber optic ISP in your area? We’ve got Century Link/Quantum (now owned by AT&T) and I added them so my streaming can be on its own network. (Need to keep the TV on the evil Comcast for now.) But sounds like you could put everything one that one ISP account.  Unlimited data and 1gig speed —which of course I don’t come close to using, but sounds like you would.  And I believe they’re still offering guaranteed pricing for life.  I was very impressed with their customer service in getting the account set up and with the installer.  
just a thought ….

@kirkwallace 

I’m glad you had a good experience with Quantum. I think it’s highly dependent on your location and on which sub they decided to hire that day. My experience with them was miserable. The installer sub was an imbecile. He knackered the installation to the point that it took 3 months and a half dozen visits by actual company-employed techs to straighten it out. Quantum made Comcast look like a concierge service.