Best audiophile switch

Well, I am sure you tend to a Reiki ;-)
Probably silly on my part, but I am aspiring towards a switch that is a single box. Reiki not on my list for that reason. Tempus would be excluded to if I hadn’t heard how good it was in my own system.

The multiple box thing can work fine for me if the chassis is small as in the case of the EtherRegen. I wouldn’t be asking about other switches now if their Gen 2 switch was shipping now. It’s just that I’ve arrived at the point that I am willing to spend a few grand to finally be done with the hassle of slow file copy over a 100 mb pipe.
I suspect the post from "jasond" was in response to my own deliberately blank post, not to you... fair cop, I do indeed tend towards a Reiki Audio switch!

I should point out that some highly regarded switches are also available as a single box and that the external LPSU is an option. :)
 
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https://www.synergisticresearch.com/digital/ethernet-switch-uef-mk2/ Can try before purchase. Not quite 50% the price of those. Not saying it is the best. The Grimm MU2 streamer/DAC is known to be fairly immune to upstream noise, so perhaps just needs a bit of help. My UEF is version 1. It is sensitive to power cords. Not sure about the MK2.
The Grimm MU1/2 are very much appreciating a better power cord to improve performance. Also a better switch or filter (there is an own thread about it at PS Audio forum)
 
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eahibrid_ela2000_050ss.jpghifistatemnet.netEAHybrid.jpg
EAhibrid EAL1000 & EAL2000 Ethernet Filters

An interesting take on Ethernet filtering. Hans Beekhuyzen tested one between his switch and streamer and immediately preferred it over his long-time reference, the NA Muon Pro.

What’s nice here is that EAhibrid is totally open about what they’re doing. Inside you’ll find four miniature isolation transformers (one for each twisted pair in the RJ-45), all hand-wound with single-crystal copper. After that the signal runs through a proper multi-stage filter chain — common-mode filters, inductors, and capacitor networks — designed purely to block/attenuate noise riding on Ethernet cabling. No reclocking, no switching, just a passive device.
 
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EAhibrid EAL1000 & EAL2000 Ethernet Filters

An interesting take on Ethernet filtering. Hans Beekhuyzen tested one between his switch and streamer and immediately preferred it over his long-time reference, the NA Muon Pro.

What’s nice here is that EAhibrid is totally open about what they’re doing. Inside you’ll find four miniature isolation transformers (one for each twisted pair in the RJ-45), all hand-wound with single-crystal copper. After that the signal runs through a proper multi-stage filter chain — common-mode filters, inductors, and capacitor networks — designed purely to block/attenuate noise riding on Ethernet cabling. No reclocking, no switching, just a passive device.
A new Muon Pro (open to be corrected) is supposedly in the works.
 
A new Muon Pro (open to be corrected) is supposedly in the works.
Great! Maybe they try to achive the same in different ways. Apparently the EAhibrid is built into a solid, CNC‑machined aluminum enclosure with multi‑layer shielding, also multiple shielding layers for the ethernet cables. The case even ties into the design’s ‘star‑grounding approach’ for less noise and they talk about ‘analogue, warm sound,’ which may just be a translation quirk; think natural and flowing rather than colored (just read on).

Still, EAhibrid is unusual in linking their filter design to a specific tonal ‘sound signature,’ aiming for a more analogue, warm, and flowing sound. Most other switch and filter makers, focus on noise reduction, transparency, timing, and signal integrity rather than claiming a tonal effect.
(…) While our integrated distortion reduction technology could achieve an open and natural soundstage similar to analog-like sound and open reel tapes, but we couldn't make the prototypes
retain the density and detail of great analog-like sound...
(…) Combining our "Battery Power Supply" and "Integrated Cyber Filter," EAhibrid helps you create an Ultra Star Ground system that ultimately cuts off the distortions from the AC power supply and reaches the unified ground, bringing analog-like listening back to your system
.(…)

That said, surprisingly, Beekhuyzen doesn’t mention anything sounding analogue or warm in testing the (passive) filter with 3 different streamers — even when connected to the Grimm MU2, compared to the Muon Pro the sound is extremely clear and transparent, with sibilance almost perfect (no A-B necessary he says). Remarkable !? As always, the best judge is your own ears in your own setup.
 
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Great! Maybe they try to achive the same in different ways. Apparently the EAhibrid is built into a solid, CNC‑machined aluminum enclosure with multi‑layer shielding, also multiple shielding layers for the ethernet cables. The case even ties into the design’s ‘star‑grounding approach’ for less noise and they talk about ‘analogue, warm sound,’ which may just be a translation quirk; think natural and flowing rather than colored (just read on).

Still, EAhibrid is unusual in linking their filter design to a specific tonal ‘sound signature,’ aiming for a more analogue, warm, and flowing sound. Most other switch and filter makers, focus on noise reduction, transparency, timing, and signal integrity rather than claiming a tonal effect.


That said, surprisingly, Beekhuyzen doesn’t mention anything sounding analogue or warm in testing the (passive) filter with 3 different streamers — even when connected to the Grimm MU2, compared to the Muon Pro the sound is extremely clear and transparent, with sibilance almost perfect (no A-B necessary he says). Remarkable !? As always, the best judge is your own ears in your own setup.
I'm not sure why you say "surprisingly". Analogue, warm and flowing are meaningless in ethernet; all a device can do in this domain is let more or less of the noise coming in go out. It's either marketing or as you say a translation quirk. Your earlier "designed purely to block/attenuate noise riding on Ethernet cabling" is spot on.

A substantial reduction of noise may well (indeed often does) manifest as a more analog(ue) sound, but no signal "tuning" beyond noise reduction is going on; it just isn't possible to do this with asynchronous packets of data.
 
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I'm not sure why you say "surprisingly". Analogue, warm and flowing are meaningless in ethernet; all a device can do in this domain is let more or less of the noise coming in go out. It's either marketing or as you say a translation quirk. Your earlier "designed purely to block/attenuate noise riding on Ethernet cabling" is spot on.

A substantial reduction of noise may well (indeed often does) manifest as a more analog(ue) sound, but no signal "tuning" beyond noise reduction is going on; it just isn't possible to do this with asynchronous packets of data.
You are absolutely on point!
It’s crazy sometimes what press releases and marketing stuff are trying to tell about products.

@Di-fi
Regarding the EAhibrid filters I have one coming to try from a friend. He also made the comparison to Muon Pro and it’s not similar to the findings of Hans B., as there appears to be issues with soundstaging and stereo imaging as well as being quite / too much forward. I’ll reserve judgement until I’ve heard for myself and report back.
 
Regarding the EAhibrid filters I have one coming to try from a friend. He also made the comparison to Muon Pro and it’s not similar to the findings of Hans B., as there appears to be issues with soundstaging and stereo imaging as well as being quite / too much forward. I’ll reserve judgement until I’ve heard for myself and report back.
Designing a filter that has no unintended consequences is very difficult to do. Downstream devices can react to filters in ways that are detrimental to sound quality. Such as what your friend described. The tricky part with them is that they might sound great at first. It can take later pulling them to hear the harm they were doing.
 
Designing a filter that has no unintended consequences is very difficult to do. Downstream devices can react to filters in ways that are detrimental to sound quality. Such as what your friend described. The tricky part with them is that they might sound great at first. It can take later pulling them to hear the harm they were doing.
and it can get tricky later if one adds another cable, tweak, etc. It is all one large circuit and sometimes one variable needs to be removed after a variable is added. Over time, we get to know our setup and what might cause which sound signatures. That may give us an indication of which piece to remove to verify our assumption.

An audiophile friend has a very different setup than mine, but we sometimes have the same issue and talk through our theories and possible experiments. I've found this to be very helpful. These threads can serve the same purpose.
 
and it can get tricky later if one adds another cable, tweak, etc. It is all one large circuit and sometimes one variable needs to be removed after a variable is added. Over time, we get to know our setup and what might cause which sound signatures. That may give us an indication of which piece to remove to verify our assumption.
You made an excellent point. I will just add that a well designed filter can work across more systems without the need to perform this balancing act to the same degree that as one would with a filter that wasn’t as well designed. A great example of a well designed filter is the NR filter found in Shunyata’s noise reducing power cords. They claim that their latest generation “is more compatible across a broader spectrum of electronic component types” and I suspect that’s true because it was even true of their previous generation, which I’ve used in both my systems. They been at this for years and that’s part of the reason that I wrote above that ‘designing a filter that has no unintended consequences is very difficult to do.’ Their much earlier filters were no way as good.

Since we’re talking switches in this thread, Network Acoustics likely provides us with another example of well designed filter. I’ve only seen positive feedback posted about their eno and muon filters.

Consensus has yet to be reached as to whether this EAHibrid filter can be counted as a well designed filter. I’ll be looking forward to what @jasond reports.
 
I'm not sure why you say "surprisingly". Analogue, warm and flowing are meaningless in ethernet; all a device can do in this domain is let more or less of the noise coming in go out. It's either marketing or as you say a translation quirk. Your earlier "designed purely to block/attenuate noise riding on Ethernet cabling" is spot on.

A substantial reduction of noise may well (indeed often does) manifest as a more analog(ue) sound, but no signal "tuning" beyond noise reduction is going on; it just isn't possible to do this with asynchronous packets of data.
Fair point and I agree the mechanism is noise reduction, not some kind of tonal “tuning” of Ethernet packets. My “surprising” comment wasn’t about expecting that, but more that the manufacturer uses terms like analogue/warm/flowing, and I thought Beekhuyzen might echo that. Instead he described it as very clear and transparent, which stood out to me. For my own part, I see those analogue-like descriptors more as shorthand for how lower noise can sound in listening terms.

There definitely is a language gap between technical framing and listening impressions. Because our vocabulary comes from the analogue world, people often describe those results as “warm,” “flowing,” or “organic.” The trick is sharing listening impressions without making it sound like Ethernet packets are colored. I think Beekhuyzen managed that well in his review and I’m not claiming to have it perfectly figured out myself.
 
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You are absolutely on point!
It’s crazy sometimes what press releases and marketing stuff are trying to tell about products.

@Di-fi
Regarding the EAhibrid filters I have one coming to try from a friend. He also made the comparison to Muon Pro and it’s not similar to the findings of Hans B., as there appears to be issues with soundstaging and stereo imaging as well as being quite / too much forward. I’ll reserve judgement until I’ve heard for myself and report back.
Switches come from all over the world, and marketing language often misses the mark (lots gets lost in translation). Same here in the thread. So best is: read, read, and above all, listen for yourself before judging, like you do!
 
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You made an excellent point. I will just add that a well designed filter can work across more systems without the need to perform this balancing act to the same degree that as one would with a filter that wasn’t as well designed. A great example of a well designed filter is the NR filter found in Shunyata’s noise reducing power cords. They claim that their latest generation “is more compatible across a broader spectrum of electronic component types” and I suspect that’s true because it was even true of their previous generation, which I’ve used in both my systems. They been at this for years and that’s part of the reason that I wrote above that ‘designing a filter that has no unintended consequences is very difficult to do.’ Their much earlier filters were no way as good.

Since we’re talking switches in this thread, Network Acoustics likely provides us with another example of well designed filter. I’ve only seen positive feedback posted about their eno and muon filters.

Consensus has yet to be reached as to whether this EAHibrid filter can be counted as a well designed filter. I’ll be looking forward to what @jasond reports.
Agreed. The Shunyata products have matured greatly as the designer continues his experiments.

But even the Shunyata products raise the question about what is a "neutral" benefit -- that is just taking away noise without leaving a sound signature behind (and whether that is possible). How would we know that?

For example, I'm assuming I know that the NA Muon Pro is neutral because I was familiar with the MU1 (previous streamer) long before adding the filter. The filter didn't seem to change the tone, timbre or timing. It didn't change the essential voice of the MU1. To my ears, it refined the HF and there was a better sense of "flow," therefore I assumed the effect was simply a noise reduction. But I'm not certain. Overall, the presentation drew me further into the music. I'm not a purist enough to ask for more than that.
 
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Oh wow, where can I read up on that? Been looking to get a Muon Pro. Perhaps I should wait
I just heard it through the grapevine on another forum.
 
Oh wow, where can I read up on that? Been looking to get a Muon Pro. Perhaps I should wait
It was obviously very long in the making and they invested a lot of time into the new model to make it a new long time milestone again. Maybe you contact NA directly about more details.
 

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