Audiophile router configuration

Windows X

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Feb 28, 2011
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I'm not sure why no one shared their experiments with router configuration that can improve sound quality after years of audiophile network switch hitting mainstream audiophile. So here's my recommendation for you guys to try and see if it will help in your system.

1. Use WiFi 2.4GHz for lower noise level
2. Setup 2.4GHz to use legacy mode (So you can disable WMM)
3. Disable WMM Support for lowest possible latency

Although your maximum bandwidth will be limited to 54Mbps only. However, you can get smooth bandwidth with lowest ping spikes with more micro detail. I'm quite surprised how WiFi can sound better than my expectations.

And if you want to have faster internet, you can always use 5GHz network and leave 2.4GHz for dedicated audio only. Some other options also affected sound quality too and I'm still testing to find optimal configuration.
 

matthias

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Some other options also affected sound quality too and I'm still testing to find optimal configuration.

Great topic :)
I am also using only 2.4GHz WiFi with great results.
Looking forward to your optimal configuration.

Matt
 
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Windows X

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Feb 28, 2011
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www.fidelizer-audio.com
Glad this helps. It seems 54mbps may not have enough speed to handle highres streaming but I don't have Quboz to test myself. Tidal seems to work well enough here.
 

Mikem53

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Oct 1, 2020
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Some other things to consider and try with WiFi, If your router has the ability to configure wifi settings, Use channels 1, 6 or 11 as these channels don’t overlap. I use channel 1 or 6 with good results on reception.
I also adjusted my transmit power down from 100% to 80% which corrected some random “hangs”. I believe at full power, the transmission was causing some distortion from over amplification or just extra noise from the circuit. I still get full signal strength at 80% transmit power. This is for the 2.4Ghz band on a Netgear Nighthawk router, not all routers allow you to modify all settings..
 
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matthias

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Slightly OT but anyway:

After loading files into RAM with Qobuz/Audirvana/Mac I turn WiFi (2.4GHz) off at the Mac menu bar for serious listening.

Matt
 
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Thuan

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Thanks for a great topic. Having read your post, I've configured my network accordingly (dedicated 2.4GHz, channel, low transmit power) and enjoyed better sounding local files playback anything up to DSD 256 and 192/24 format.

Here's the issue: whenever I go streaming on Qobuz, nothing works. Playlist appears okay up to the moment I hit the Play button, and the player refuses to play, instead keeps running from one tract to another without making a sound. This silent behavior applies to all formats: 16/44.1, 96/24, 192/24.

If I turn the 5GHz band back on, sound will come out from Qobuz as if nothing happened. SQ is not too bad but not the same as 2.4GHz exclusive. I wonder what I missed in setting up to achieve streaming Qobuz successfully.

Thanks in advance.
 
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Mikem53

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Thanks for a great topic. Having read your post, I've configured my network accordingly (dedicated 2.4GHz, channel, low transmit power) and enjoyed better sounding local files playback anything up to DSD 256 and 192/24 format.

Here's the issue: whenever I go streaming on Qobuz, nothing works. Playlist appears okay up to the moment I hit the Play button, and the player refuses to play, instead keeps running from one tract to another without making a sound. This silent behavior applies to all formats: 16/44.1, 96/24, 192/24.

If I turn the 5GHz band back on, sound will come out from Qobuz as if nothing happened. SQ is not too bad but not the same as 2.4GHz exclusive. I wonder what I missed in setting up to achieve streaming Qobuz successfully.

Thanks in advance.
I dont use Qobuz for streaming, so I dont know the configuration requirements or options.. Sometimes my browser is controlling playback to another device besides my main system and I have to point to the playback destination Manually. Possibly the 2.4 connection is not setup properly with a unique SSID, or mismatched ? I would compare configurations and make sure each has correct corresponding information for each SSID/band .
 

matthias

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Mar 14, 2019
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Thanks for a great topic. Having read your post, I've configured my network accordingly (dedicated 2.4GHz, channel, low transmit power) and enjoyed better sounding local files playback anything up to DSD 256 and 192/24 format.

Here's the issue: whenever I go streaming on Qobuz, nothing works. Playlist appears okay up to the moment I hit the Play button, and the player refuses to play, instead keeps running from one tract to another without making a sound. This silent behavior applies to all formats: 16/44.1, 96/24, 192/24.

If I turn the 5GHz band back on, sound will come out from Qobuz as if nothing happened. SQ is not too bad but not the same as 2.4GHz exclusive. I wonder what I missed in setting up to achieve streaming Qobuz successfully.

Thanks in advance.

In my set-up Qobuz works perfectly via Audirvana up to 24/192 with 2.4GHz only and 5GHz turned off.
I have directly upstream of the DAC about 50Mbps internet speed via wifi measured by fast.com.
I can check other router settings tomorrow.
 
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Thuan

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Thanks guys for your inputs. In an effort to utilize 2.4GHz band not only for local files playback (which sounds really good) but also for Qobuz streaming, I moved the ethernet connection between audio Wifi AP and audio switch to a higher priority. Also, I'm giving each band its unique name such as "JPLAY 2.4G" or "JPLAY 5G". Monitoring network speed using fast.com has been helpful, too. Applying those tricks seems to help improve my streaming quite a bit. If I was unable to stream anything from Qobuz on 2.4GHz Wifi, now I can stream 44.1/16 100% smooth, 96/24 and 192/24 between 70% - 100% without reverting to 5GHz band.

Since I'm suspecting the major culprit may be the existing Wifi speed, I plan to upgrade my control point and my Wifi AP to a faster one. If either or both of them won't help, next step would be increase home Internet speed.

While happily listening and streaming La Stravaganza (Vivaldi, Podger, 192/24), Aida Garifullina (96/24), I'm waiting for delivery of these two items and will report back.
 
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Thuan

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Progress report:

1/ upgraded control point from Samsung Tab A to Galaxy S6: didn't help.
2/ upgraded audio dedicated TPLink AC1750 to same brand Wifi 6 AX1800: no help.
3/ increase internet speed from 200Mbps max to 600Mbps does help though not completely. Streaming up to 192/24 on 2.4GHz band is now achievable though a bit more time consuming to start playback.

This is immediate impression. I'll let the higher speed stabilize further and make friends with the in-house computer audio team. Verdict: looks like a speed increase (costing $3/mo difference) beats control point+wifi router upgrade (costing $500). This combo is going back to seller.
 

matthias

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Mar 14, 2019
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Streaming up to 192/24 on 2.4GHz band is now achievable though a bit more time consuming to start playback.

Thanks for sharing.
May I ask which software/hardware combo you do use for streaming with Qobuz?

Matt
 
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Thuan

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Sorry Matt for the delay. I'm using JPLAY FEMTO as streaming server and Windows server 2019 dualPC for Qobuz streaming.
 

mcduman

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Aug 9, 2014
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very interesting topic. will test later today. i also have 20 or 40 hz under bandwidth settings. which one is better?
 

Thuan

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Apr 20, 2020
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In my set-up Qobuz works perfectly via Audirvana up to 24/192 with 2.4GHz only and 5GHz turned off.
I have directly upstream of the DAC about 50Mbps internet speed via wifi measured by fast.com.
I can check other router settings tomorrow.
Wifi speed increased above 30Mbps between AP and control point, and problem solved. Thank you.
 
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Blackmorec

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About 3 years ago I began to implement a new all digital hi-fi based on local and remote streaming. With 3 branches of major electronics retailers in my vicinity I was able to try a variety of different set-ups to get a data stream from my incoming cable modem to my system, which is on a different floor and across a hallway and staircase. I tried several different strategies including:
Direct ethernet cable using consumer grade Cat5 cable
Synergistic Research Cat6 active ethernet cable
Internet over power lines (temporarily installed by the ISP)
Mesh networking (Netgear Orbi, Google mesh)
Wi-fi network extenders
Wi-fi - Ethernet bridge
2.4GHz vs. 5GHz wi-fi bands
ISP Modem/router vs dedicated router

In a non-etherwired house, the first thing i realised was that the audio wi-fi solution has to co-exist alongside regular wi-fi requirements, which divide into 4 areas:
Audio streaming
Video streaming
Fixed installation wi-fi devices
Mobile wi-fi devices

Considerations:
Some wi-fi clients only support the 2.4GHz band
Some devices are located behind walls which effectively attenuate 5GHz signal
Mobile devices need a stable connection
Audio and Video need high data speeds to avoid interruptions
It is important that hi-fi devices see as little internet traffic as possible
I required stable connections for all devices, no buffering interrupts on audio or video, no interrupts when moving mobile devices, best sound quality
Security is critical
Reliability is critical ….no drop-outs, ISP support remains viable
Minimal latency and high data rates so user interfaces are almost as fast as local GUIs

Feedback:
Of all the different connection strategies I evaluated, the best sound quality I could achieve was by using a Wi-fi to ethernet bridge, with an ethernet cable from the bridge to a switch and from switch to server.
Having established that this link provided best SQ I set about further refining the link. I found that the whole data stream was affected by:
Vibration isolation
Quality of ethernet cable
Ethernet cable screening
Power supply quality
DC cable quality and screening
Network traffic volume
EMI/RFI

My ISP (Virgin) insist that the connection to their network is done using their Superhub 3, but with a PUMA 6 chipset, this is anything but state of the art, so I switched the unit to Modem mode and added a separate router. Again given the above requirements, I found that the best results were achieved with a Broadcom based TPLink Archer AC5400 Tri-band router, which allowed me to dedicate a 5GHz band exclusively to Audio. Using a TPLink RE650 at the receiving end I was able to switch off the 2.4GHz band completely as well as set up the link with audio as the only client, with polling switched off. All network devices are fed by fully optimized Linear Power Supplies and both network modules and power supplies are placed on anti-vibration platforms or racks. The standard RE650 has a its own built-in SMPS and integrated wall plug, both of which were removed and replaced by an anti-vibration wall mounting (to maintain ideal antennae orientation) and an optimized LPS with screened DC cable.
All DC cables use JSSG360 screening and all network cable screens are star earthed to a low impedance ground. There is no continuity between screens and components to exclude a pathway for radiated interference to reach components and their signal grounds.

My server SW (InnuOS 2.5) operates on a ’push’ basis, so with the server as the only client, the Hi-fi only sees music related traffic and with a transmission speed of >500Mbps network activity is fleeting and for the vast majority of the time the hi-fi network is quiescent and all user interface activity executes with no noticeable delays.

Now that everything is completely run in I’m delighted with the SQ. I’ll probably try optical once FTTP is available
 
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ricjor1

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Oct 13, 2012
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Several weeks ago I returned my Spectrum modem and router. I purchase a NETGEAR AX6000 WiFi cable modem router, Nighthawk 3.1 6Gbps Wifi 6 router. No matter what I tried, I couldn't get it to work with my Antipodes music server. NETGEAR, nor Antipodes could get it to work, so I had to return it.
 

markkpa

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Mar 9, 2022
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I’m just curious. Is there a reason why the 2.4 GHz band has inherently less noise than the 5 GHz band? I’m actually using the 5 GHz band exclusively with excellent results. Should I switch the other way and use 2.4 GHz exclusively? Will it improve the sonic quality of streaming?
 

Windows X

Well-Known Member
Feb 28, 2011
138
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www.fidelizer-audio.com
I think it's safe to try 2.4GHz and compare to 5GHz, see if you prefer 2.4GHz sound over 5GHz one.

By the way, you guys mayconsider audiophile grade router with highly optimized firmware configuration and intensive hardware modification from here.

-Upgrade Capacitors with high capacitance and low impedance tuned in 3 different stages for optimal sonic performance
-Upgrade Safety resistors with high power from Vishay Dale on DC input stage, power regulation stage, and isolation transformer stage
-Re-energize power supply with special tantalum capacitors to reducing noise and interference in processor chip effectively
-Crystal clock is upgraded with high precision clock optimized for network application with noise reduction tweaks
-Components are soldered with high quality solder providing solid bass and dynamics
-Router is configured for low-latency audiophile streaming applications


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