To bring a smile to someone’s face perhaps? It’s clear from tag line who I am… perhaps I should have used a different emoji!Hi Nigel: Why are you referring to yourself in the third-person?
All the best
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Best audiophile switch
- Thread starter Frankie67
- Start date
All the best
Always good to keep the thread about the gear, not the people.Hi Nigel: Why are you referring to yourself in the third-person?
I recently heard the double SwitchX + WifiX setup at the Capitol Audiofest. It was connected to a portable T-Mobile 5G WiFi Router upstream and an Innuos Zen Next Gen Music Server. The Zen Next Gen was connected to a Thrax Enyo MKII all in one Integrated Amp/DAC-Streamer/MM/MC Phono via Final Touch Audio Meis RJ45 CAT 8 cables.
The speakers were the Thrax LyraSE bookshelves paired with the Thrax Maxima passive bass towers. Speaker Cables were Albedo Monocyrstal Silver cables.
The system sounded fantastic in this configuration. In addition, it was around 6PM at the end of the show day and the room owners decided to change out another switch they had been using earlier in the day. They had been using Innuos Phoenixnet switch for most of the day and I thought that setup sounded fantastic as well. The interesting thing for me was I asked them if they could go directly from the router to the Server and bypass the Innuos switch. They said they would do that as they had not heard that config. When they took out the Innuos switch and went directly from the T-Mobile router directly to the Innuos Zen Next Gen Music Server the sound quality did not noticeably change. There may have been a very very subtle difference in transparency and bass definition. But I honestly could not make out any clear difference.
We listened to 4 tracks off their playlist and they then installed the Double SwitchX + WiFiX in place of the Phoenixnet switch. Within 5 seconds of AC/DC Thunderstruck going on it was an omg moment. The SwitchX turned what was previously a great sounding system in a fantastic system. It was hard to believe how the music seemed to have more energy/drive/clarity and bass punch. We listened to the same 4 tracks that they used when they removed the Phoenixnet out of the system. It was hard to believe how dramatic a difference I experienced going to the Dual SwitchX. Just before I left the room, they packed up the Phoenixnet switch in its box. The next day the double SwtichX + WifiX remained in the system.
With all of the discussion around the NA Tempus Switch, it would be great if someone has compared the SwitchX to the NA Tempus.
I'm also in the market for a higher end switch and narrowed it down to these two. From a 'value' perspective seems like the Tempus has a slight edge since they recommend a single switch, whereas the SwitchX performs best with two in series. Now which is better... a single tempus or a double switchX is the question...
Nimbly skipping past your process for narrowing it down to just these two
...It seems pretty obvious that the higher performing a switch is, the less difference adding a second one in series will make. There are nuances of course but I'd wager this is pretty generally applicable.
Of course there is only one way to find out. Step forward volunteers!
The SwitchX has one zone totally isolated, so you will need the WifiX connected to that zone to act as the controller.
You could use any wifi access point, but the guy behind SwitchX mods the Aruba IAP access points for this. Those are made for NSA/FBI regulatory compliance, have insane build quality, low noise to begin with.
You could use any wifi access point, but the guy behind SwitchX mods the Aruba IAP access points for this. Those are made for NSA/FBI regulatory compliance, have insane build quality, low noise to begin with.
It is worth remembering that I have seen the Network Acoustics team recommend having streaming system after the Tempus to their reviewers. So maybe it is not as clear cut as you outlined on dual switches V one single better switch.
Reiki Audio also have a multi switch system as their leading offering, which tells me do not discount anything, give it a try and see what you hear. Obviously listening to these things back to back is not that simple. Although they all offer home trials, you have to buy them first, so that can be a 10K needed to get for example the Tempus and Reiki Audio switches side by side in your home to try.
For clarity, the latter is for a slightly different scenario and is not meant for direct stacking/daisychaining/cascading.
The scenario: some people consider installing a second router in their home, dedicated to audio. The same degree of separation can be achieved more neatly by adding a second switch directly after the router and hanging the audio chain off this. It's an alternative topology to a separate router. There is no audible benefit from stacking two SuperSwitches just before the streamer becasue the second has nothing to do.
Whatever the switch, if the manufacturer has dealers in the US then the enquirer's first port of call should be to a US dealer who may be able to facilitate a home demo with no upfront payment.
I added (chained) a second Switch-X to my system and the difference was not subtle. I was surprised given the magnitude of improvement the first one made.
Interesting about not needing two switches. I am UK based, but the dealers are not close.
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Demo’ing a single Switch X should be more than sufficient to assess it’s effectiveness. I used a single Switch X for 2 years before adding a 2nd one. The single Switch X was just so superior to the many switches I had experimented with over the previous 5 years. And don’t underestimate the importance of WiFi X. I was highly skeptical at first, but I quickly heard how bad a typical home wifi signal can be for your audio system compared to WiFi X.
And adding a 2nd Switch X allows to when listening to locally stored music files to turn off the Switch X connected directly to my home network, isolating my music only network. The nice thing is I can’t hear the difference which suggests my music network is effectively isolated from noise in my home network.
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I'm not sure I fully understand the point of Wifi X. From what I gather, it's a dedicated access point placed on the "clean" side of the switch, used only to control your audio streamer. The idea is that this setup keeps Wi-Fi signals from interfering with sensitive analog audio equipment.
However, I assume you would still need another access point for general Wi-Fi for the rest of the house, connected to the "dirty" side of the network. Wouldn't the Wi-Fi signals from that separate access point still reach your audio equipment and potentially cause interference? If that's the case, I'm not sure what the point of the Wifi X is?
I'm sure I'm missing something here.
However, I assume you would still need another access point for general Wi-Fi for the rest of the house, connected to the "dirty" side of the network. Wouldn't the Wi-Fi signals from that separate access point still reach your audio equipment and potentially cause interference? If that's the case, I'm not sure what the point of the Wifi X is?
I'm sure I'm missing something here.
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Nimbly skipping past your process for narrowing it down to just these two
It seems pretty obvious that the higher performing a switch is, the less difference adding a second one in series will make. There are nuances of course but I'd wager this is pretty generally applicable.
Of course there is only one way to find out. Step forward volunteers!
Yes, this seems like a logical deduction.
Regarding how I narrowed it down to these two options: combination of user feedback and I'm also drawn to their technical explanations for each product. For customers like me, who value such details , I'd say this kind of marketing can be very effective.
Good question. If you haven’t already you should explore the website of Chris Stevens who designs and builds these products. His descriptions and videos are very informative, much more so than any other manufacturer I’ve come across.
There are 2 concepts to understand:
One is your home internet is a must have today with many devices connected and constant traffic on the home network, which is not a good low noise environment for digital audio. Switch X is a single box that can be added to your home network, on the “dirty” side. But internally connects to a separate network dedicated to only your digital audio components, the “clean” side. The internal connection allows the clean side to communicate with the internet without significant interference from the noise in your home network. To operate your digital audio devices with a tablet or smart phone the clean side needs a dedicated wifi access point with its own SSID. Setting up a 2nd dedicated wifi network for your digital audio system is inconvenient at first but the benefits to great sound are worth it. Note that any brand access point can be used.
Two is a typical wifi access point contains a powerful radio that broadcasts on the 2.4 and 5GHz frequency bands. At one time I had a Netgear Orbi satellite, part of my home network, sitting next to my audio system. When I finally wised up and moved the satellite to an adjacent room I could immediately notice a lower noise floor. WiFi X utilizes a specific model made by Aruba, which has been modified to transmit over a narrow portion of the 2.4GHz band, minimizing interference picked up by your audio system. I was skeptical of Chris’ findings. But since I listen mostly to locally stored hi-res music files I was able to play a music file and listen with the access point on and after I powered down the access point. I could hear an improvement with no access point trying commercially available products, but only WiFi X had no degradation in sound.
So ideally keep your home network access points as far away as possible from your audio system. And use WiFi X just to control the playback software on your music server.
I hope that helps
I fully agree to this. Have just installed an access point ( Asus) around 9 meters away from the stereo. I could not believe how much adding this move could do for reducing noise, and even better when I changed psu powering it. So this was also very important at least for me.
I made the experience that a second router which is dedicated only to have the audio stream could be replaced by a second switch. The second switch has only one input and one output, manages only the audio stream. For the time beeing I use the Taiko extreme just before the streamer and a LHY AS8 as second switch before. The increase of soundquality in terms of clearity and dimensionality is significant. Btw after tests with Ansuz, Ediscreation, Reiki, Network Acoustic and Melco I finished up with Taiko extrem + DCD + Farad Super 6 as a phenomenal combination as the main switch. For me this shows that a trial at home is necessary to find what could be the best. Because with a stable and good network only small nuances show up.
I don't believe that isolating an audio network with its own wi-fi will resolve the inherent issue with wi-fi. I initially had a high quality access point feeding the audio system. Replacing it with ethernet cable was an improvement, and replacing the copper cable with optical fiber was a greater improvement. Reliability was not a problem, but with a wi-fi link the stereo imaging was more ethereal, did not provide the more solid image I hear from a wired connection.
I can hear any change I make in my network, ethernet cables, switches, SFPs, sources. The sound does not change when I turn wi-fi off, therefore my conclusion is that wi-fi is irrelevant in my system, as long as it is only used for control and not directly in the replay chain.
I can hear any change I make in my network, ethernet cables, switches, SFPs, sources. The sound does not change when I turn wi-fi off, therefore my conclusion is that wi-fi is irrelevant in my system, as long as it is only used for control and not directly in the replay chain.
Do you live far enough away from neighbors such that a scan reveals that no other wifi network is still being beamed into your listening room. I don’t and have been amazed by how many different SSIDs have sufficient signal strength to show up when I do a scan. As such, I’m doubtful that a product like WiFi X would benefit me much.
Quote from the WiFi X web page: “WiFi access points / WIFi routers are engineered to be as fast as possible and as powerful as possible to cover a whole house. This is VERY bad for use around audio gear blasting WIFi energy out at the highest legal power with the widest channel for distance and speed. Audio Interconnects and gear can pick this up and it can cause issues.” I’m guessing that’s true but in my case I would have to move to avoid that.
Republicoftexas69
Well-Known Member
I know it is hard to follow in these longish threads, I think Nigel was referring to contacting the folks at SoTMHi Nigel: Why are you referring to yourself in the third-person?
Re Reiki Audio vs SoTM, that would be this review https://gy8.eu/review/magnificently-minimalist/
Today, they offer two outlet ports but not three: https://www.reikiaudio.com/explore/p/reiki-audio-superswitch-3-master-dual-output
Probably worth contactig them via their website as if they understand your networked audio chain they might be able to advise on how to configure for maximum benefit
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