Best audiophile switch

[sbnx]

Hi Todd!

If you are able to recall, would you please compare for us your sonic impressions of the Ansuz versus the Reiki?

Was there any sense in which one was "warmer" more "full-bodied" or more "organic" than the other?

Which model of Ansuz Ethernet switch did you audition?

Hello Ron, I will try to answer your question and give a more general reply about switches.

It was the Ansuz D2. I preferred the Reiki Switch but the person did not want to spend the funds for something that was so close. However, as I mentioned, it really wasn't a switch to switch compare as he had an optical isolator and then the Muon Pro before the switches. I would have preferred a comparison without the other filters to see the real gap between the two switches.

I view switches as "noise buffers". Let's say the noise level coming through the router is 100. We would like the noise going into the streamer to be 0. The various switches have various abilities to remove noise. Switch A may remove 10 points of noise. Switch B may remove 30 points of noise. Switch C may remove 50 points of noise. We want to put the best switch right before the streamer. So if we have switch A and B we would want to put switch A and then switch B and we would have 40 points of noise removal. We also don't want noise to get into the streamer from the environment so it is best to use a shielded ethernet cable (especially between the last switch and the streamer). But if that ethernet cable has the shield connected at both ends then the shield just provides a low impedance path for the noise to go from the last switch into the streamer. So get an ethernet cable that only connects the shield at the switch end.

So to your point. Adding a switch before of after the etheregen will almost certainly be a good thing. But you have to assess if the new switch is better or worse than the ether regen to know where it belongs (before or after).

You asked about "warmth and body". To my ears noise always robs the music of body. I don't like the term warmth as in many cases it means "blur" and I don't want blur. So when you add a good switch you should perceive more body to the music. To use some of your vocabulary...The acoustic center of mass is lower.

I hope all of this rambling makes sense.

 

[audiobomber]

We want to put the best switch right before the streamer.

I agree.

We also don't want noise to get into the streamer from the environment so it is best to use a shielded ethernet cable (especially between the last switch and the streamer). But if that ethernet cable has the shield connected at both ends then the shield just provides a low impedance path for the noise to go from the last switch into the streamer. So get an ethernet cable that only connects the shield at the switch end.

I agree, unless your final switch is the EtherRegen, in which case a shield-tied cable is perfectly acceptable. An alternative solution would be to use a shielded cable with a LAN Isolator between the last switch and the endpoint.

 

[Amir]

Melco release S1 switch

S1 - Melco Audio

flagship network switch S1 Overview The S1 is Melco’s flagship data switch meticulously crafted for high-end audio performance. Building on our expertise developed through the S100 audio network switch, the separate linear power supply model S10, and the premier Music Library N1, the S1...

melco-audio.com

Most of the time I prefer Japan companies when the price is equal

 

[Republicoftexas69]

Melco release S1 switch

S1 - Melco Audio

flagship network switch S1 Overview The S1 is Melco’s flagship data switch meticulously crafted for high-end audio performance. Building on our expertise developed through the S100 audio network switch, the separate linear power supply model S10, and the premier Music Library N1, the S1...

melco-audio.com

Most of the time I prefer Japan companies when the price is equal

It is not a question of price it is a question of performance and value. I prefer European and North American companies.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

@Ron Resnick

i will comment that when i added the Reiki switch/LPS and Reku Network cable ahead of my Nordost QNet switch/LPS w/Sablon Ethernet cable, it did not warm up things; but it did lower noise and lower the sense of being processed, and added micro dynamics and propulsion to the music. all small things. adding these together the music was more vivid and alive, more analog. it lowered any tendency toward flat or bland. so it will take your dac/server more toward what it does. the network process is less an influence.

agree with Todd that added warmth would be a sticky wicket as it would be a coloration. other places better suited to pursue that. yet i respect that this is your hot button and are concerned not to push things the wrong way. best wishes with that.

 

[sbnx]

Oh yeah...What Mike said. I can't believe I forgot one of the main things the Reiki does. Dynamic drive and "propulsion". PRAT.

 

[Elliot G.]

I dont believe that noise removal should change the character of the sound. If it is "warmer" or "harsher' these are terms of coloration or distortions.
WHen one removes noise there is just more of the music and more of the space with the music and between the musical players. This is one of those you dont know you what you didnt know until you know times

 

[PYP]

So when you add a good switch you should perceive more body to the music. To use some of your vocabulary...The acoustic center of mass is lower.

That is a good way of explaining it. I also hear a greater ease in the flow of the music as if there was a slight pinch point previously. And then there are the qualities that are easy to hear without analytical listening and yet are very hard to describe. Like hearing further into the subtle interplay of musicians, which in turn encourages a more holistic listening attitude.

My current experiment places the switch in a different room from the audio gear, a different electrical circuit and before the passive filter which is positioned just before the streamer/DAC (MU2). I suppose the only way to test the theory of "closer is better" is to try that option. In my case, that would place the switch close to the digital gear (I have found that distance between such gear is best) using the same conditioner as the rest of the gear (thus some potential for cross contamination even with a Shunyata). There are trade-offs there.

Agree with your earlier point that a combination of active switch(es) and passive filter(s) works very well.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Hello Ron, I will try to answer your question and give a more general reply about switches.

It was the Ansuz D2. I preferred the Reiki Switch but the person did not want to spend the funds for something that was so close. However, as I mentioned, it really wasn't a switch to switch compare as he had an optical isolator and then the Muon Pro before the switches. I would have preferred a comparison without the other filters to see the real gap between the two switches.

I view switches as "noise buffers". Let's say the noise level coming through the router is 100. We would like the noise going into the streamer to be 0. The various switches have various abilities to remove noise. Switch A may remove 10 points of noise. Switch B may remove 30 points of noise. Switch C may remove 50 points of noise. We want to put the best switch right before the streamer. So if we have switch A and B we would want to put switch A and then switch B and we would have 40 points of noise removal. We also don't want noise to get into the streamer from the environment so it is best to use a shielded ethernet cable (especially between the last switch and the streamer). But if that ethernet cable has the shield connected at both ends then the shield just provides a low impedance path for the noise to go from the last switch into the streamer. So get an ethernet cable that only connects the shield at the switch end.

So to your point. Adding a switch before of after the etheregen will almost certainly be a good thing. But you have to assess if the new switch is better or worse than the ether regen to know where it belongs (before or after).

You asked about "warmth and body". To my ears noise always robs the music of body. I don't like the term warmth as in many cases it means "blur" and I don't want blur. So when you add a good switch you should perceive more body to the music. To use some of your vocabulary...The acoustic center of mass is lower.

I hope all of this rambling makes sense.

Yes; it totally makes sense. Thank you very much!

 

[OrigTweaker]

Has anyone experimented with placing a fancy audiophile ethernet switch in-line in front of or behind an EtherRegen?

I have been playing with various placements, power and connectors since purchasing EtherREGEN four years ago. Today, my preference is for a Finisar 1318 singlemode fiber transceiver into the ER from a Ubiquiti router, with the other "A" ports to a Roon NUC server, NAS and a double (cascaded) modified Cisco Meraki switch into my streamer via eno2 filter. -So, for me, the "fancy" two-Merakis-connected-by-Finisar-fiber switch sounds best AFTER UpTone's excellent ER.

BTW, ER "B" port serves a Meridian 218 endpoint in a secondary listening room connected with the original ENO filter.