Best audiophile switch
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I don't see that at all. The discussion is regarding whether the clock in a switch affects sound quality. You say it does not, and as far as I can tell, the clock in your Reiki switch is the one that comes stock with the Zyxel board. Some other manufacturers, including UpTone, disagree, and some audiophiles who have upgraded to a better outboard clock claim sonic improvements. Is this an accurate depiction?
The thread is about Best Audiophile Switch. Presumably it’s a discussion about which switch sounds best rather than any other sort of best. The “problem to be solved” is how best to make this happen. This is what I meant when I said this is the goal we all share…
And this means mitigating noise as much as possible in order to help the rest of the hifi system deliver the lowest distortion sound. I didn’t think there was anything controversial in this.
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Indeed, a very controversial review… A friend of mine owns what I consider one of the best switches out there — the Telegärtner M12 — and was surprised to find that the Silent Angel combo slightly surpassed it in his system. His setup is truly high-end. Later, he brought the M12 over to my place, and I was shocked at how it sounded — simply analog-like.I did read that review. Michael Lavorgna definitely takes a more skeptical stance on high-end switches and mostly compares the Bonn NX + Genesis GX against a $30 generic switch. He even writes:
That’s a very different perspective from Christiaan at HFA, who compares across several high-end switches and streamers. Michael also admits he had a hard time hearing a clear improvement. On this forum we’re all past the “do switches matter” debate and are comparing the benefits between different audiophile-grade options, so context matters here
So in his system, the Silent Angel had the edge, and I trust his impressions. But hearing the M12 in my system made me believe even more in the importance of a high-quality switch. That’s why this review puzzles me… who’s the crazy one here?
I used to believe switches and USB cables were a joke.Di-fi said:
I did read that review. Michael Lavorgna definitely takes a more skeptical stance on high-end switches and mostly compares the Bonn NX + Genesis GX against a $30 generic switch. He even writes:
That’s a very different perspective from Christiaan at HFA, who compares across several high-end switches and streamers. Michael also admits he had a hard time hearing a clear improvement. On this forum we’re all past the “do switches matter” debate and are comparing the benefits between different audiophile-grade options, so context matters here
Tired of people arguing about it online - most of which had never tried it for themselves - I decided to experiment.
I bought and tested 16 switches from $27 - $300 back to back and was amazed at the very clear, audible, and frankly sometimes massive difference switches could make.
Then I experimented with the 16 through DOZENS of combos and found a combo of 3 cheap switches, using Blue Jeans ethernet cable, that for years beat out even the most expensive switches that came and went (the Telegartner was the first to best it, but it still added benefit when used with the TG).
I Aldo discovered that typically switches with PoE sounds more lifeless, and the 8 port versions of the same 5 port version swtich usually sounded better. There also generally was a very slight betterment in sound when you used the port furthest from the input port.
Generally upgrading the PS's on them did not yield as much of a positive result as using stock PS's on them and plugging them into a $300 AQ power filter.
If your system is really dialed in to the room, and you are in that last 10% of tweaking a system, the audible difference between switches is not subtle.
If you have opportunities for improvement in other parts of your system, you need to focus on them first.
100% yes.
I hope to be at that stage, and have just added a relatively inexpensive tweak that you might find interesting. The designer, David Snyder, calls the project “rpi-for-Roon” even though it is just as applicable to other players such as Lyrion or Audirvana.
The idea is to implement the Diretta network protocol using two Raspberry Pi’s in what he calls a three-tier system: Server > RPi Host > RPi Target > DDC or DAC with the Pi’s on their own isolated direct link. In my case, a NUC running Roon Server connects over RAAT through my final LHY switch to a Ethernet-to-USB3 dongle into a RPi4 with Diretta out to the second RPi4. USB is then converted by a Singxer DDC into AES/EBU for my Meridian DSP9 active speakers.
I had already fooled around, for years, with various network configurations -though not as many as you!- including Diretta to find better and better sound quality, but was very surprised at the difference a separate Host and Target on their own network makes. A revelation.
Yes, separate devices generating less electrical activity to minimize noise, and then isolating them as best we can so that “perturbations” (John Swenson’s term) don’t have a path to our DACs.
In the analog world OTOH we want fewer complications: “a straight wire with gain.”
Here is the link
Less than 100$
I don’t hear the difference with this switch and directly without
Less than 100$
I don’t hear the difference with this switch and directly without
@jasond, thanks for mentioning the Aqua LinQ — it’s worth pointing out how different this is from most streamers. It’s a network bridge/streamer with a purpose-built, fully isolated “final-stage” network switch built inside. It handles switching, galvanic isolation, and clocking right before the audio stage. It’s also available with UPnP/DLNA or Squeezelite, besides HQPlayer NAA (which can act as a Roon endpoint via HQPlayer integration). No USB here — only AQlink I²S output and FPGA-managed outputs like S/PDIF and AES/EBU using proprietary logic.
Based on the praise from high-end review sites, this could be your last audiophile switch. And no more obsessing over the “final best Ethernet cable” before the streamer/DAC.
It has the potential of shortening the audio network: in practice you’d still have your router, a good switch, then straight into the LinQ’s RJ45 input — and that’s it. If your home network is noisy, upstream isolation (like fiber) and keeping audio traffic separate can still help — but Aqua’s design makes downstream tweaks far less essential, and may reduce the need for extra upstream filters or switches. (I guess you’ll keep the Tempus though ;-)
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aqua LinQ (website here)
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I was VERY interested in buying this unit however it had some unique challenges that too me made it a bit too complicated. Maybe it was just my not understanding but it kept me from trying one.
Very happy with my Aqua "LinQ" (with the HQPlayer Core + NAA cascaded module) have had streamers from Aurender and Lumin along with the T+A SDV 3100 HV in the past, I have been very happy with the LinQ paired with the Aqua La Scala (mk2), I sit for hours listening to Qobuz through Roon (No direct ROON DSP involvement which was one of the main attractions for me)
From Aqua Acoustics website:
"Roon can be configured to implement of HQPlayer into a Zone. HQPlayer owns the final connection to the Audio Engine, and Roon is just passing along a stream of bits from your media files / Streaming servises as Qobuz and Tidal. This allows you to enjoy the benefits of HQPlayer SQ and the library management capabilities of Roon at the same time".
I also use the APL ANS-MR switch just before the LinQ, which had a nice incremental uptick in SQ (a smidge more of everything, blacker background, more air, tonality and instrument separation among the most common audiophile bandied about terms), imho it's critical to get those packets of data information as clean as is possible before entering your system.
Maybe you can give it a try sometime. It’s architecture is really special and it outperforms for many users even far more expensive ones like Grimm Audio etc
While the LinQ looks promising, I’m dubious about the claim above as, in this crazy hobby, the better a component performs the more everything else around it matters.
I've heard such great things about it I would totally give it a try. My Aqua DAC - when I upgraded the tube to NOS - was such a really good unit. It took a much more expensive unit (the Aries Cerat Helene) to better it in my system.
Yep, the La Scala really scales well with some some good tubes , Mullard, Telefunken and a few others, mainly from the 50's through to early 70's
Hello,
No , not something I have thought about really, have you implemented a filter into HQPlayer !, and if so, how would you rate and describe the results !, thus far I have relied on acoustic treatment in my listening room, though I suspect there is room for improvement..
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