Republicoftexas69
Well-Known Member
Me LOL…. Going to keep it for background noise at parties.Definitely. Let us know when you've listed your digital gear at ridiculously low prices. No point in fighting it.
Best audiophile switch
- Thread starter Frankie67
- Start date
Thanks — you're right, the thread is about switches, so let’s get back to that. Still, I’m glad cables came up for a moment. From experience, good Ethernet cables can make a bigger difference than the switch itself. They’re more exposed (to EMI, RFI), you always need two, and a top-class switch can't fix poor cabling — just like a great streamer/DAC can’t save a bad interconnect. In my case, excellent cables with an ordinary switch easily beat the other way around. Anyway, back to switches!
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….LHY Audio’s new AS8 Pro looks like a real statement piece. Separate 2.5G switching and 1G audio zones, isolated by internal fiber. A serious SC-cut OCXO clock with clock I/O. Full linear power — no DC-DC anywhere — fed by dual 50VA toroids and triple-stage regulation. CNC-milled aluminum chassis, isolated power and network zones, and a proper star-grounding port.
On paper, for some it could be everything people argue a “best switch” should be. Will it live up to it? We'll see, but they didn’t hold back.
On paper, for some it could be everything people argue a “best switch” should be. Will it live up to it? We'll see, but they didn’t hold back.
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Republicoftexas69
Well-Known Member
Doubtful, have tried their current lineup and sent them all back. We will see I guess not running out and buying one anytime soon. Next on my list is Nigel’s gear at Rekki
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If you want to hear what Reiki has to offer, let me know. I think I live about 20 minutes from you.
~Todd
Good evening everyone. I am using a simple Cisco Business CBS110-8T-D Unmanaged Switch and the differences between the with and without are evident. I would like to switch to something better. What do you recommend in the price range up to 500 euros? If you have something for sale used or ex demo please propose it to me. Thanks
I’m betting inside of one day of its release, someone will have replaced the internal optical modules with their personal favorite and claim the switch sounds phenomenally better than stock. How many more freaking things do we have to tweak?
When you say “using”… what does your network look like from router to streamer including cable types (or makes/brands) and lengths? Thanks
My audio chain starts from the Vodafone fiber optic router powered by a 12 volt linear amplifier. From the router I exit with an Ampcom Cat 8.1 Ethernet cable about a meter long that has a ground wire on the router side and enter the Cisco 105 Switch (also powered by a 12 volt linear amplifier). From the Cisco 105 Switch I exit with an Ampcom Cat 8.1 Ethernet cable (it also has a ground wire on the switch side) and run for about 7 meters to the PC where I enter the JCat XE network card (also powered by a 5V linear amplifier that also supports the JCat XE USB card). The player is JPlay Femto refined with Fidelizer and I control it with JApp. From the PC I exit with a Neotech NEUB 1020 silver USB cable and enter the USB port of the AudioGd Di20 interface. From the latter I exit in HDMI with a Revelation Audio Labs silver cable to the AudioGd Master 7 dac via the I2S port. Both the dac and the interface are controlled by an external Afterdark Emperor Crown clock connected with a coaxial cable to the interface.
Ha, ha, well let’s not pretend SFP swapping is some new frontier — it’s standard practice, and by now we’ve mostly (?) settled on Finisar 1318 or 1475 anyway. If someone wants to drop their usual transceiver into the AS8 Pro, go ahead — it doesn’t make the switch any less legitimate. Btw this is what Vinshine / LHY recommends:I’m betting inside of one day of its release, someone will have replaced the internal optical modules with their personal favorite and claim the switch sounds phenomenally better than stock. How many more freaking things do we have to tweak?
- We suggest pairing LHY Media Converter / Network Switch with the Finisar 1318 SFP module (FTLF1318P3BTL) and the single-mode OS2 fiber optic cable (inverted/crossed) from FS.com.
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Thanks for taking the time to do this. You clearly care about maximising the performance of your network, with your use of linear PSUs (I presume this is what you mean by linear amplifier) and consideration of grounding.
Allow me to focus on the signal network and summarise in a format which might allow alternatives to emerge before you consider changes:
Ethernet
Vodafone fiber router > 1m Ampcom Cat 8.1 >
Cisco 105 switch > 7m Ampcom Cat 8.1 >
Post-ethernet
PC/Jcat XE > Neotech NEUB 1020 silver USB >
AudioGd Di120 > Revelation Audio Labs silver HDMI-I2S >
AudioGd Master 7 DAC
You are not using the Cisco in anything like the optimal position here, which means that replacing it with a better (quieter) switch will not improve sound quality as much as it might. To have the maximum opportunity to mitigate RFI noise, this switch should be just (say 1m) before your PC. It should also be dedicated to audio, not have othe devices hanging off it.
Experiment 1: Move your switch to the other end of the line:
Vodafone fiber router > 7m Ampcom Cat 8.1 >
Cisco 105 switch > 1m Ampcom Cat 8.1 >
Experiment 2: replace Ampcom with unshielded Cat 6 or perhaps Melco C100. Any noise stopped by the switch can travel down the Cat 8's shield because part of the Cat 8 spec is that the shiled must be grounded at both metal RJ45 plugs. A short unshielded cable at this last stage ofter sounds better (though not always as it can pick up radiated RFI in your room so there is a balance to be struck between conducted RFI from the switch and this radiated RFI).
The Melco C100 has the advantage of being shielded but having the shield grounded only at one plug, so it can't act as an RFI noise conductor from switch to PC. Install with this plug upstream at the switch not downstream at the PC.
Your mileage may vary but you should hear an improvement in sound quality, and if you do then a higher performance switch in this optimised position will make a bigger difference. Definitely worth optimising what you already own before investing more money in your network.
The fly in the ointment might be your PC; I am no expert as I prefer to use a purpose-built streamer to convert my asynchronous ethernet data to the synchronous bitstream my DAC will recognise. Some PCs can be noisy and reintroduce noise of their own, negating the benefit of a properly designed and properly deployed switch.
Hope this helps.
Nigel
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I would not move the Cisco, I prefer to add a second switch. The best place is as proposed next to the PC.
So I had a switch behind my router. All devices are pluged in here. Then a second switch for cleaning and only used for the audionetwork. Behind this switch I have an Paradin Audio Switch and only short ethernet cables directly to my audio Devices.
So I had a switch behind my router. All devices are pluged in here. Then a second switch for cleaning and only used for the audionetwork. Behind this switch I have an Paradin Audio Switch and only short ethernet cables directly to my audio Devices.
After having tried all the recommended Finisar units, and combinations, I prefer the Optospan.
Republicoftexas69
Well-Known Member
That got me curious — did you modify the Ethernet cable? The Ampcom Cat 8 seems to have shielding grounded on both ends by default. Did you perhaps mean you replaced the RJ45 connector on one side, or isolated from the shield somehow?
Just checking, because the integrity and grounding of Ethernet cables — especially in the final stretch — can really matter for sound quality. I wasn’t entirely sure.
After going through above excellent advise let me add that your setup is already quite robust and well-thought-out. But the areas that could offer potential improvement beside the network switch (try a dedicated audiophile-grade one), are isolation of components, grounding, and ensuring the power supplies for critical devices are optimized. Some things to check and possibly improve:
- Upgrade (to a low-noise) LPS for the switch to minimize noise.
- Consider an audiophile-grade switch for reduced jitter and better signal integrity.
- Switch to a low-interference audiophile-grade Ethernet cable.
- Separate (upgrade? )the power supplies for the network and USB cards to reduce noise.
- Upgrade to a higher-quality, shielded USB cable to reduce jitter and improve clarity.
- Add isolators to prevent noise and ground loops from affecting signal quality.
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Why? My comment was with respect to my own LHY switch (perhaps not clear as I didn’t mention it, but as implied from my response to Di-fi). If this thread is about best network switches, are we to talk about them irrespective of what fiber module we feel makes them work “best” in our own systems? How does one know which switch is best if it’s not optimized?
Republicoftexas69
Well-Known Member
Okay. So this is a thread only about best switches. So if the switch has an SFP cage and we happen to use it, we can’t talk about the switch because we’d have to mention which module we’re using to consider - what is now a working switch in our system - “the best”. Thanks for the clarification.
Totally understand the intent to keep the thread focused, but in practice it's nearly impossible to separate the switch from the transceiver. Many of the best-performing audiophile setups deliberately use optical isolation (as I see in your signature), which makes the transceiver part of the conversation. It's housed in a cage and removable — a fairly rare and significant property that lets users choose a transceiver with specific electrical and noise characteristics. You can’t ignore the transceiver if you’re serious about isolating with fibre. And besides, many switches now come with at least one SFP cage alongside the usual row of RJ45 ports — it’s an increasingly ’removable’ part of the standard design.
Not trying to steer the thread off course — just felt this detail was too central to ignore. Happy to move the discussion elsewhere if needed.
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