Help me fix my ethernet.. Switch vs filter? Deadline Monday

[b345t]

So after getting my new dac (MSB Premier) it is about time to address my ethernet and streaming/server. Right now, I have a 30 meter ethernet cable coming from my main home router directly into my Innuos Zen Mk3. I have a few questions regarding the best way to address the ethernet.

Firstly, I keep reading that a switch should be able to play at 1gbps and ideally not lower the speed to 100mbps. Is this true?

I need to decide by Monday if I want to buy a Waversa WLAN-ISOLATOR-EXT-REFERENCE . I read great things on this and I am getting a good price on it, but need to decide by Monday. Would this be enough to address the network noise with a good ethernet cable going from the Waversa to the Innuos? Or do you also necessarily need a switch like the Melco s100 or Innuos pheonix Lan among others?

Cheers

 

[MaxwellsEq]

Would this be enough to address the network noise with a good ethernet cable going from the Waversa to the Innuos?

How are you experiencing the network noise? Is it consistent or does it vary during the day?

 

[b345t]

How are you experiencing the network noise? Is it consistent or does it vary during the day?

I am not experiencing any obvious noise, but since there is nothing in between the 30m direct line from my home router (where many devices are connected to it), I am sure there are audio enhancements to be had by addressing this and optimising the signal path. Like a good USB cable upgrade, nothing is 'wrong' until you hear the benefits of reduced jitter and lower noise floor.

 

[StreamFidelity]

Or do you also necessarily need a switch like the Melco s100 or Innuos pheonix Lan among others?

For this length I recommend you fiberglass. This can effectively prevent common mode interference and is made for long distances.

The Melco S100 has SFP, which allows you to connect fiber. On the other side you only need a media converter like Startech. Or you can buy two Melco S100. Or SOtM sNH-10G, which is also very good.

Melco S100 is based on Buffalo BS-GS2016 which is good to modify. I just published a post about it:

DIY project Buffalo BS-GS2016 as a clone of the Melco S100

 

[msimanyi]

I'm not familiar with the Waversa, but I'm going to mention another solution - one that I heard about here and had never heard of previously. Here's the link if you'd like to read about it. I bought the Extreme version and it's fully broken in now. The improvements to my copper ethernet networking are substantial.

It is a simple box with a power plug receptacle and two RJ-45 network connections - one in, one out. It converts your copper-based input to fiber internally, reclocks with an OCXO clock, and converts back to copper for output.

It's the easy button if you only have one device to "clean up" on your network. Delivered price in the U.S. was around $1800, I believe. I think the standard version is about $500 less. If you're in the U.S. you can email the engineer who developed and sells them to get pricing and other info: edison@ediscreation.com.

If you're in Southern California, PM me. I'd be happy to coordinate with you so you can try it in your own system.






Edit: Based on the review I found of the Waversa, if you have an option to audition it, I think you should. (By that, I mean if you're given a trial period with it and can get a refund of the purchase price if you're not wowed.) I am not sure what it's doing internally to accomplish its goals, but it sounds like a similar - and possibly better - effect that I hear from the Fiberbox II.

And if you *do* live in So Cal and happen to proceed with the Waversa, I'd love to get together and compare it with the Fiberbox II.

 

[MarkusBarkus]

@b345t since you're on the MSB train, I believe Vince G often recommends this product. FYI. Cheers...

Streaming Audio EMI Filter - EMI/RFI Filter for 10/100 and Gigabit Ethernet

The ACTIV AUDIO and GigaFOILv4-INLINE Ethernet EMI Filters are the only 100dB EMI/RFI filters for 10/100, Gigabit, 2.5G, 5G and 10G Ethernet.

www.djmelectronics.com

 

[surfing_dude]

@b345t since you're on the MSB train, I believe Vince G often recommends this product. FYI. Cheers...

Streaming Audio EMI Filter - EMI/RFI Filter for 10/100 and Gigabit Ethernet

The ACTIV AUDIO and GigaFOILv4-INLINE Ethernet EMI Filters are the only 100dB EMI/RFI filters for 10/100, Gigabit, 2.5G, 5G and 10G Ethernet.

www.djmelectronics.com

Not just with MSB . It is really effective and improves sound quality.
Found it much better than the other "audiophile" solutions available. In addition, I also suggest to add a network isolator on the internal network interface you plan to use

 

[b345t]

Hey guys, sorry I haven't replied, such a busy weekend. However today I spent a good amount of time with a loan piece of the cheaper Waversa, the EXT 1. It came with its own very short ethernet cable to connect to my Innuos. I left it in my system for 2 days and I streamed music through it constantly while I was mostly away and sat down now for a few hours to listen while A/B ing the unit in and out of the chain. I am not joking when I tell you that this little thing pretty much sounded like an amplifier upgrade.. Not so much in tone, but in clarity and bass slam/authority and air around everything. It felt like the system was freed from a bottleneck and the signal reaching the streamer had more 'juice'. Special. Granted, my application with this unit was probably a best case scenario for something like this. I have nothing upstream in terms of switches, fiber conversions, audiophile modems etc. I'm going forward with purchasing the Waversa Reference unit, the dealer told me this is small one is only a taste of the higher model..

So naturally, I am now looking more into all of these network adjustments. It seems wrong to have such a long run of the ethernet directly from the router. Would an access point be worth looking into? Or is the fiberoptic conversion, and back to ethernet yield better results?

 

[Alrainbow]

So after getting my new dac (MSB Premier) it is about time to address my ethernet and streaming/server. Right now, I have a 30 meter ethernet cable coming from my main home router directly into my Innuos Zen Mk3. I have a few questions regarding the best way to address the ethernet.

Firstly, I keep reading that a switch should be able to play at 1gbps and ideally not lower the speed to 100mbps. Is this true?

I need to decide by Monday if I want to buy a Waversa WLAN-ISOLATOR-EXT-REFERENCE . I read great things on this and I am getting a good price on it, but need to decide by Monday. Would this be enough to address the network noise with a good ethernet cable going from the Waversa to the Innuos? Or do you also necessarily need a switch like the Melco s100 or Innuos pheonix Lan among others?

Cheers

First add a router in your audio room. Use it just for audio. give it it’s own network address an example
Typical is 192.168.1.xxx.
make your new router 192.168.0. Xxx
Next if you do need data in this room place a switch before the router
on the router in your home make this port used in your audio room a priority

I doubt you will hear any noise on data ports
Emo sys lakes true isolated net work couplings
They are good but don’t use them at first

 

[Alrainbow]

90 feet is a long run and needs to be routed to avoid power lines
if you must pass by line voltage cross at 90 degree so it had the least contact
Most network idolaters don’t use galvanic iso
This makes them still attached
emo sys is about 125 or so usd
to use a cat 6 or 7 shielded may help but needs to be connected to a ground of the network it come from this gets complicated and maybe not useful either

 

[jerrybj]

I'm currently looking at addressing my run of 15m ethernet cable from router to streamer.
Unfortunately I am unable to replace this cable.

In my research I have found many instances suggesting the best thing to do is replace ethernet with fibre.
Supposed to clean up much of the noise introduced into the line.

 

[msimanyi]

First add a router in your audio room. Use it just for audio. give it it’s own network address an example
Typical is 182.168.1.xxx.
make your new router 192.168.0. Xxx
Next if you do need data in this room place a switch before the router
on the router in your home make this port used in your audio room a priority

I doubt you will hear any noise on data ports
Emo sys lakes true isolated net work couplings
They are good but don’t use them at first

Typical home routers commonly use 192.168.x.x, which is a standard private network. 182.x.x.x isn’t private, so I suggest staying away from that unless your ISP assigned you a public IP address in that range.

IPv4 Private Address Space and Filtering

A list of IPv4 address ranges that have been reserved by the IANA for private internets, and are not publicly routable on the global Internet.

www.arin.net

The real point is a new router in the 192.168.0.x range might conflict with an existing network.

 

[b345t]

I might be able to reduce the run to a 10 meter cable, although aesthetically worse.. Any suggestions on a good cable for this purpose, or would fiber still be more beneficial? I don't like the idea of many boxes and linear power supplies etc.. But if it really makes a big difference I will consider it.

 

[drrsutliff]

I have been running a 20 meter hardwired connection from my Wolf Server in the audio room to a managed switch in my home office. Last week I added a simple Unifi switch (my home network is a managed Unifi system) before my server and an ENO Streaming system filter between the new switch and the server. The improvement was not subtle.

 

[Republicoftexas69]

If I were making a 2 meter run I would switch to fiber. Mulch cleaner sound and just more efficient not sure why fiber is not the standard for streaming and severs for audio.

 

[b345t]

If I were making a 2 meter run I would switch to fiber. Mulch cleaner sound and just more efficient not sure why fiber is not the standard for streaming and severs for audio.

Some people have found the sound to be more 'dry' and 'sterile'? That is what I have read at least.

 

[audiobomber]

It seems wrong to have such a long run of the ethernet directly from the router. Would an access point be worth looking into? Or is the fiberoptic conversion, and back to ethernet yield better results?

I was using a good quality wireless access point (TP-LInk 580D) with a linear power supply. I then found a way to route a 15m copper cable and run hard-wired. The sound improved in a significant way, becoming more solid, less ethereal. Later, I was able to compare three different copper cables, CAT6 and CAT8, vs. single mode fiber with Finisar SFPs and basic FMC. Both setups were plugged into my EtherRegen. Tonality and soundstage improved with glass fiber and I've stayed with that system. I upgraded the basic FMC to a Sonore opticalModule Deluxe v2.3 and Teddy Pardo MiniTeddy and heard further improvements. So IMO, go with the fiber.

 

[b345t]

I was using a good quality wireless access point (TP-LInk 580D) with a linear power supply. I then found a way to route a 15m copper cable and run hard-wired. The sound improved in a significant way, becoming more solid, less ethereal. Later, I was able to compare three different copper cables, CAT6 and CAT8, vs. single mode fiber with Finisar SFPs and basic FMC. Both setups were plugged into my EtherRegen. Tonality and soundstage improved with glass fiber and I've stayed with that system. I upgraded the basic FMC to a Sonore opticalModule Deluxe v2.3 a Teddy Pardo MiniTeddy and heard further improvements. So IMO, go with the fiber.

When you say 15m copper cable, you mean a standard ethernet cable?

 

[Republicoftexas69]

Some people have found the sound to be more 'dry' and 'sterile'? That is what I have read at least.

I guess that could be the case if you are using cheap $20 converters from Amazon and not doing your home work. I am using all Finisar modules and 10G Converters with HQ F/O Cables. Should give it a listen my systems sounds SPECTAULAR. It all makes a difference.

 

[audiobomber]

When you say 15m copper cable, you mean a standard ethernet cable?

Sorry I meant 15 meters of generic CAT6, generic CAT8 and Supra CAT8 Super (cryogenically treated Supra CAT8 with Telegartner connectors).