Best audiophile switch

[Lee]

...I have used a few different SFPs in my network over the past five to seven years, or so, as well as a few different optical cables and FMCs.

For 2-3 years I used a Sonore OM, which was excellent, and much better than the cheaper Amazon off-shore options. I also used the high-end Sonore power supply with the OM.

The network experiments began with daisy-chaining the "expired" Cisco 2960 switches. I settled on two, but had as many as four during my investigations. I also used the UpTone eRG switch, which I still have/use in a different capacity. I had ethernet filters, USB cleaners, various cables, expensive or not.

I swapped over to fiber because I had a 35' run from the network closet, through the walls/ceiling, to the basement audio room.

The original copper network ethernet cable passed through spaces that had Romex wiring, can-light "pig-tails" and other lines not run by me. I thought it might be a bit of an electro-magnetic soup.

I am also about a quarter-mile away from a company that develops sat comm products for military and civilian use. Oh, the antennas I have seen! And Humvees testing products, etc.

I assumed I was in a great location for RF/EM traffic.

However, not having the tools or knowledge, I couldn't practically test this impact in my home. So, I thought it might be a best-practice to make the 35' run with optical, to reduce the exposure of my network to all this junk. That was the genesis of my investigations with optical solutions.

Eventually, fiber infrastructure came to my neighborhood, so I added this to the home, in addition to the copper ISP. Audio is on the fiber feed; everything else is on the copper. Sounds great.

I had previously tried to create a virtual version of this concept using the EdgeX device, but that was a huge PITA. I never did get it working, even with help. IMO this device is not user-friendly, unless you have more-than-casual networking skills.

Eventually, the Taiko network products arrived, and those guys seemed to have a different take on network noise and solutions for audio.

I added the Taiko Switch to my network, and switched back to copper. BTW, this is easy for me, because I ran CAT6, CAT8, SM and MM fiber at the same time. Materials are cheap. Labor/time is expensive. I ran it myself, so easy to manage (for me).

For about a year, or so, I had a modded Buffalo switch upstream from the Taiko Switch, contrary to general guidance to use only the Taiko product.

Eventually, I removed the Buffalo, and just used the Taiko Switch. After about a year, I added the Taiko Router, and went with the DAC cabling suggested by Taiko. I retain that set-up currently, using OEM adapters/transceivers from Taiko, although, one of the cables is an Amphenol from AfterDark.

Everything sounds amazing.

I have omitted some specific details re: product models, etc. as I am waiting for a friend to come out from surgery, and don't have access to the products to double-check for you folks.

Net-net:
--Good power, even to cheap products is an improvement.
--Better products are better, incrementally.
--Wi-fi transmissions may not be the killer you think, but managing the band-width and radio power is good.
--Copper can be as good or better than optical.
--You need to test this stuff in your place to determine the outcome that matters to you.

Just a small observation on good power. I noticed that good ac cables improved the performance on the Synergistic ethernet switch.

 

[Republicoftexas69]

Just a small observation on good power. I noticed that good ac cables improved the performance on the Synergistic ethernet switch.

I thought the SR Switch came with an SR power cord. What PC did you use?

 

[enzo1]

Just a small observation on good power. I noticed that good ac cables improved the performance on the Synergistic ethernet switch.

I thought the SR Switch came with an SR power cord. What PC did you use?

The SR UEF MkII switch normally comes with a Foundation SX 12AWG power cable, but I’m currently using a Nordost Heimdall 2 power cable with mine. I’ve also tried SR’s top-of-the-line, the SRX XL — it sounded fantastic, but the price is astronomical.

 

[kennyb123]

I thought the SR Switch came with an SR power cord.

Yes, but they also offer a discount to upgrade to one of their better power cords. See the Power Cable Bundles section on this page.

I heard improvements from a better power cord when we did some comparisons that included their original switch.

 

[Lee]

I thought the SR Switch came with an SR power cord. What PC did you use?

I use an SRX cable now.

 

[OrigTweaker]

I had previously tried to create a virtual version of this concept using the EdgeX device, but that was a huge PITA. I never did get it working, even with help. IMO this device is not user-friendly, unless you have more-than-casual networking skills.

I still hope to configure my Edgerouter X SFP.

Thanks for describing your networking journey. Like you, I started with a used Cisco Catalyst 2960, then the EtherREGEN and on to Finisar single mode transceivers and cascaded, modified Merakis. (Don’t have your budget yet.)

The most dramatic experiment so far has been the double Raspberry Pi with Diretta filter I’ve been raving about, which is being talked about by David Snyder on Audiophile Style.

 

[MarkusBarkus]

...I'll check in on that thread at AS @OrigTweaker

I began my digital music/streaming set-up with an RPi3, I think it was. External drive and output plugged into my Luxman SACD player, with JRiver software on an iPad.

It was pretty cool, and let me see the immense potential of digital files and streaming.

I built up to where I am over seven years or so, I guess it's been, with incremental stops along the way. Over the past few years, I went from incremental to just plain old "mental," but any number of plateaus would have been A-OK to stop, at a different version of excellence.

I have enjoyed it immensely.

 

[OrigTweaker]

an RPi3, I think it was.

Yes, the Allo DigiOne (about $150 at the time?) had a RPi 3B inside, which was my first alternative to the much more expensive Meridian gear I had been using.

Still having fun today…

 

[jasond]

There is a very interesting pre-production report (over at the PS audio forum) about the upcoming Network Acoustics Muon2 (successor of Muon Pro streaming system) which is obviously a massive improvement over the current model.

 

[NigelB]

There is a very interesting pre-production report (over at the PS audio forum) about the upcoming Network Acoustics Muon2 (successor of Muon Pro streaming system) which is obviously a massive improvement over the current model.

Pre-production "a massive improvement"... have you heard this?

 

[jasond]

Pre-production "a massive improvement"... have you heard this?

It’s stated in the report there, didn’t want to copy the text here or the link to the thread (don’t know if it’s allowed by forum rules).

 

[Republicoftexas69]

There is a very interesting pre-production report (over at the PS audio forum) about the upcoming Network Acoustics Muon2 (successor of Muon Pro streaming system) which is obviously a massive improvement over the current model.

Obliviously? Have you had a chance to audition?

 

[NigelB]

It’s stated in the report there, didn’t want to copy the text here or the link to the thread (don’t know if it’s allowed by forum rules).

Thanks. I'm not on that forum but had a quick look. You must be JDee over there as he seems to also have the inside track on what's upcoming from NA. Nice one.

 

[jasond]

Obliviously? Have you had a chance to audition?

Yes I was able to test it for a few days and report my findings. Obviously in the sense that this is based on my setup / experience. But as the difference is so big, I guess this will apply to other setups nearly the same way.

 

[jasond]

Thanks. I'm not on that forum but had a quick look. You must be JDee over there as he seems to also have the inside track on what's upcoming from NA. Nice one.

Your welcome. Yes and also wanted first to copy/paste here but think that is not allowed. If it’s okay (still couldn’t find any info on that) will do so because as you mentioned it’s more convenient when linking to external site etc.

 

[Di-fi]

Your welcome. Yes and also wanted first to copy/paste here but think that is not allowed. If it’s okay (still couldn’t find any info on that) will do so because as you mentioned it’s more convenient when linking to external site etc.

Thanks for sharing that ’I couldn’t resist and had to compare ’ info about the pre-production Muon2 streaming system (filter + streaming cable) you tried against the Muon Pro and the EAhibrid EAL2000.
As for links, the rules don’t explicitly forbid posting to external forums, so it should be fine as long as it’s relevant, not spam/ads, and not inappropriate.

 

[Di-fi]

They offer the SFP port mainly to be used as the incoming data line from the router, not so much as the outgoing to a streamer with SFP capability.
Note both Network Acoustics and XACT recommend using the LAN ports for connection to a streamer.

Not to the streamer, correct. But if the issue is that having an FMC inside the switch itself is not ideal for SQ, then both companies likely found ways to make their switches immune to that noise/pollution.

 

[NigelB]

Thanks for sharing that ’I couldn’t resist and had to compare’ info about the pre-production Muon2 streaming system (filter + streaming cable) you tried against the Muon Pro and the EAhibrid EAL2000. As for links, the rules don’t explicitly forbid posting to external forums, so it should be fine as long as it’s relevant, not spam/ads, and not inappropriate.

Thanks @Di-fi. Having entered the trade relatively recently, that was a useful prod to check I was fully compliant with industry disclosure etc. All good.
Looks like you're right about posting links to other forums, as I can find no specific rule about that so the post just needs to comply with the general rules for posts.

 

[jasond]

Thanks for sharing that ’I couldn’t resist and had to compare’ info about the pre-production Muon2 streaming system (filter + streaming cable) you tried against the Muon Pro and the EAhibrid EAL2000. As for links, the rules don’t explicitly forbid posting to external forums, so it should be fine as long as it’s relevant, not spam/ads, and not inappropriate.

Your welcome. And thank you for the feedback! After so many years it has been very difficult to achieve or even surpass the top level performance of a CD setup with a network / streaming setup. I think this will be a new milestone and many will appreciate it what it does to their setup.

 

[agisthos]

Not to the streamer, correct. But if the issue is that having an FMC inside the switch itself is not ideal for SQ, then both companies likely found ways to make their switches immune to that noise/pollution.

No doubt when the FMC is active and in use it would generate noise internally, and maybe that’s why they recommend to use lan ports, as their implementation is not isolated enough.