Sonic differences between high cost and low cost switches

[pk_LA]

I have tried quite a few different switches in my system. All of these are switches dedicated to the audio system and they are all downstream of the ONT->router->cluster of switches that serve the home. (Upstream equipment is datacenter grade Juniper firewall and QFX switch cluster as I need both high availability and commercial level bandwidth in the house) Some of the switches I have tried include Cisco, Juniper, Netgear, TPLink, Ubiquiti and Nordost. Notably, the Nordost QNet switch was not the best sounding to my ears.

My questions are,
1) Do faster or more industrial switches generally sound worse due to the power?
2) Do some switches just have better clocking? If so, how do you find out a priori?
3) Does the speed of the ports matter? I have noticed that many of the audio-grade switches favor 100Mbps ports while the latest Taiko uses a 25G SFP28 SFP+ plug.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

I have tried quite a few different switches in my system. All of these are switches dedicated to the audio system and they are all downstream of the ONT->router->cluster of switches that serve the home. (Upstream equipment is datacenter grade Juniper firewall and QFX switch cluster as I need both high availability and commercial level bandwidth in the house) Some of the switches I have tried include Cisco, Juniper, Netgear, TPLink, Ubiquiti and Nordost. Notably, the Nordost QNet switch was not the best sounding to my ears.

My questions are,
1) Do faster or more industrial switches generally sound worse due to the power?
2) Do some switches just have better clocking? If so, how do you find out a priori?

can't answer your questions in isolation. maybe others can.

did you use the Qsource LPS and premium DC cables with the QNet switch? over 2 years ago the Qnet/QSource/Premium DC cables provided a nice boost over my generic switch; i'd call it first level. at the time i appreciated it.

but then 6 months ago i added the Reiki Superswitch Pro with the Reiki LPS and Rakustream + network cable made a significant positive difference, keeping the Nordost QNet stacked behind it.

now, 6 months later i am still impressed by the added realism of my digital.

 

[pk_LA]

can't answer your questions in isolation. maybe others can.

did you use the Qsource LPS and premium DC cables with the QNet switch? over 2 years ago the Qnet/QSource/Premium DC cables provided a nice boost over my generic switch; i'd call it first level. at the time i appreciated it.

but then 6 months ago i added the Reiki Superswitch Pro with the Reiki LPS and Rakustream + network cable made a significant positive difference, keeping the Nordost QNet stacked behind it.

now, 6 months later i am still impressed by the added realism of my digital.

I did use the QSource LPS and I tried several different PCs including Transparent Opus and Cardas Clear Beyond. With all of that in place, it sounded almost as good as two Cisco Catalyst switches in series (retail ~$350 each).

To be fair, I never found synergy with Nordost gear. I tried the Nordost QKore as well. It added upper midrange clarity. And siblance.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

I did use the QSource LPS and I tried several different PCs including Transparent Opus and Cardas Clear Beyond. With all of that in place, it sounded almost as good as two Cisco Catalyst switches in series (retail ~$350 each).

To be fair, I never found synergy with Nordost gear. I tried the Nordost QKore as well. It added upper midrange clarity. And siblance.

could be maybe a system/synergy thing to some degree. the Nordost did not cause any of tipped up tonal shift to my ears in my system.