Today, I experienced something interesting that I just had to share.
The Extreme DC Power Distributor (in short, DCD) is designed to provide clean DC power to the Extreme Switch and Extreme Router. However, its purpose is not limited to these applications. The DCD simply outputs any voltage you supply and can be used with any component that requires DC up to 25V and 10A, which should cover the vast majority of anything you'd like to connect.
As mentioned, I ran into a nice situation today that perfectly illustrated this. As I work for Taiko and want to avoid a conflict of interest, it's best not to include anything Taiko in my reviews. Thus, the Grimm MU1 and Antipodes Oladra usually come into play instead of the Extreme Music Server and they are connected via a standard Cisco switch. By the way, all my CH Precision components are networked, and surprise, surprise, you can hear the influence of a switch or network cable even with components such as the preamp and power amplifier.
Anyway, after finishing my review of a high-end network switch (*) and returning to my standard Cisco switch, I found myself not enjoying the sound anymore. It was lacking solidity, body, and even crispness. Where it had been a little rough, for sure, at least it was expressive. But by comparison, not anymore.
Sure, as I have heard on several occasions, the humble Cisco can easily be bettered in a wide range of audiophile aspects by any number of high-end alternatives. However, most switches I heard are less capable in other areas that I find of paramount importance, such as tightness, articulation, expression, linearity, and neutrality. In these areas, so far, the Cisco had sufficed just nicely. Every switch that bettered the Cisco in any one area introduced downsides in one or more of the areas that matter most to me. If only there were a switch with a configurable sonic profile... But of course, there is!
Not expecting much and more out of curiosity, I connected the standard Taiko-supplied switched power supply to the Extreme DC Power Distributor and connected its default output to the Cisco switch.
Blam! The first couple of notes already blew me away. Immediately, the sound was considerably more solid and impactful. It was tonally so much more convincing and texturally so much more realistic that, right there and then, I knew I was not willing to go back anymore. Next, I tried the DCD's two Alt outputs and ended up with the Alt1 for maximum articulation, clarity, and expression.
The impact was so significant that going back to the Cisco's standard wall-wart power supply was very nearly as big a deception as when I went back from the high-end switch to the Cisco with its standard power supply.
Having worked for Taiko for almost 2,5 years now, you'd think I'd be used to such results by now, and indeed, I'm not that easily impressed anymore, but hearing such a profound impact with this simple switch as a result of injecting the DCD, just blew my mind.
Of course, this solution does not fully equal using a genuinely high-end switch, let alone using a complete Taiko chain, but this little experiment illustrates the effectiveness of the DCD just perfectly.
*To avoid getting into trouble, that switch shall remain unnamed.