Do I really need an " Audio Grade Network Switch "?

Preston8452

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Jan 5, 2022
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I think it's been a quite controversial topic for years, like what's the difference between normal network switch and an audio grade network switch, the price difference is certainly obvious though...
Anyway, I've done some researches, most audio reviewers say that under this " new digital streaming era " that an network switch is a must for an audio system, which is understandable for me, I mean because if I wanna play TIDAL or Qobuz or Spotify, I gotta use network so I can stream these online services, so yeah I get that if the network quality is good enough, it can possibly level up the music performance.

But anyhow, I'm new to this area, so I don't like to spend big bucks on my first purchase hahaha... there's a very wide range of the prices though, the top one is Ansuz Power Switch I think, the inner circuit and design look pretty sharp, and surely over my budget lol

So I'm choosing between Bonn N8 and SW-8, these two both got good reviews, and the prices seem so darn much friendly to me as I'm looking for an entry level switch now, do any of you have any insights to share?
or should I just go for the higher level ones?

Best,
 

bryans

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Dec 26, 2017
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I personally haven't jumped into the deep end of all of the network modifications people seem to be doing. The best advice I could give you would be to try to get one of these switches for a demo in your system. I do believe adding/changing network switches, etc. can make a difference in sound. I'm just not sure it is always positive or enough of a difference to justify the price/change. I guess it just depends on what you are currently using.

Good luck in your search.
 
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pweg

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Jun 7, 2014
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in my system - the bonn made no difference. Dont know the SW8. After the Bon i bought etherregen and that made a positive difference and then i bought an SoTM - that made a massive difference. After that i added another SoTM and again SQ jumped up.
 
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rDin

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Oct 28, 2019
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Do you really need an audiophile quality switch? Only you can answer that question, but, in my experience, a good switch is transformative for streaming audio. However, like everything in hifi there is the ladder of diminishing returns to climb. Start where you are comfortable, and if you find the new switch improves your sound, you can be certain there is a journey ahead where you can keep pushing sound quality further with better switches, or even multiple switches. Power supplies on switches can also make a huge improvement. There are a few threads on this forum discussing this topic in detail.

Do *I* think an audiophile quality switch is needed? Absolutely.
 

marty

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Apr 20, 2010
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The opinions on switches are all over the place. Some think they are essential, others don't think so. There are extensive measurement analyses on other forums that compare widely available switches by Netgear and others to the high priced spread and find no measurement differences, but that does not mean there are no sonic differences. One thing that I'm convinced of is that if you are going to use a switch, then you really must use a linear power supply. These are all far superior sonically from the typical wall wart power supplies that are supplied with many/most switches. Cheap wall wart PS units are inherently noisy and will corrupt your system for certain. LPS devices do not have to be expensive. Ali Express offers excellent quality LPS units for about $100. I currently use 4 of them for switches, cable modems and low voltage table lights. One typical Chinese LPS outperformed the $500 LPS that came with my SOtM switch in a convincing manner. It also makes no sense to buy an inexpensive (<$100) switch and buy a $500 LPS to run it. And can you imagine spending thousands of dollars on a highly touted LPS such as those by Paul Hynes only to learn the company closed due to insolvency? Ugh. Wall wart PS should be banished at all cost from high quality stereo rigs. Fortunately, the cost of doing so is very low.
 

Tuckers

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Nov 18, 2020
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I think that a fiber firewall is so much more important than an audiophile switch to sound quality. A Fiber firewall being a box that converts ethernet to fiber on one side, a fiber cable connected to another box that converts back to ethernet on the other (or instead a fiber connection directly into your equipment). This creates a electrical and noise gap between your network, and your internet provider. Adding a switch after this, might yield useful benefits depending on a number of factors.
 

fbhifi

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Dec 20, 2013
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Okatie, SC
Every switch sounds different. If you were to buy every switch Best Buy sells each one will sound different. A $100 Cisco switch should not only sound different but will likely sound better from an audio fidelity standpoint Than the BB stuff. From there the sky’s the limit.

I’m using a fully modified Buffalo switch with Pink Faun clock powered by a custom Sean Jacobs DC3.5 LPS and Mundorf Silver/Gold dc cables. This unit dramatically outperforms any switch I have mentioned above. BTW, this Buffalo switch is the base unit which the Melco switch Is built upon.
 

RikkiPoo

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Nov 4, 2020
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I second the recommendation for the etherregen and a LPS to start with. I also have a SOtM switch and English Electric 8 switch and use all 3.
I ran fiber between the Etherregen and SOtM and did not like the sound after trying several SFP's and fibers have gone back to ethernet- I like the SOtM ethernet cables but they are a bit pricy.
 

7ryder

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Jan 31, 2015
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FWIW, I tried the EtherRegen in my system and didn't hear a difference. I then tried a Melco S100 and did hear an improvement and it wasn't subtle. SQ improved further after I replaced the stock power supply with a Farad Super3 and, after reading good things about the Pink Faun mod, I had it done to the S100 and I'm very happy with the result.

Regarding some of the comments about fiber - I started off not using it with the Melco (it has two SFP ports in it), but then did add it to the system. To be honest, I didn't hear much difference adding it, but less noise is less noise. I then ran fiber out to my Linn KDSM's optical ethernet and decided that I like using copper into my streamer better than fiber - PRaT is better having some copper in the mix.

Like @bryans said, the best thing to try to do is demo these in your own system if you can.
 

RikkiPoo

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Nov 4, 2020
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What SFP's and fiber are you using?
 

fbhifi

Well-Known Member
Dec 20, 2013
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Okatie, SC
I have an EtherREGEN and Farad Super 3. That’s a great place to start your switch journey. It very well could stop there! I thought the EtherREGEN performed well in my system.
 

fbhifi

Well-Known Member
Dec 20, 2013
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Okatie, SC
I wouldn’t get tangled up with fiber at the point you are at. This gets super complicated and expensive fast.
Keep it simple starting off.
 

cjf

Well-Known Member
Nov 19, 2012
452
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948
I think it's been a quite controversial topic for years, like what's the difference between normal network switch and an audio grade network switch, the price difference is certainly obvious though...
Anyway, I've done some researches, most audio reviewers say that under this " new digital streaming era " that an network switch is a must for an audio system, which is understandable for me, I mean because if I wanna play TIDAL or Qobuz or Spotify, I gotta use network so I can stream these online services, so yeah I get that if the network quality is good enough, it can possibly level up the music performance.

But anyhow, I'm new to this area, so I don't like to spend big bucks on my first purchase hahaha... there's a very wide range of the prices though, the top one is Ansuz Power Switch I think, the inner circuit and design look pretty sharp, and surely over my budget lol

So I'm choosing between Bonn N8 and SW-8, these two both got good reviews, and the prices seem so darn much friendly to me as I'm looking for an entry level switch now, do any of you have any insights to share?
or should I just go for the higher level ones?

Best,
Unfortunately I suspect you wont find any conclusive answers to this topic based on the replies in an audiophile forum. This is because its one of those topics that has a long list of followers in each camp.

Personally I find many of the things people do from a network standpoint in this hobby quite silly but that's probably because Networking/IT is what I do for a living. The same can probably be said for many EE's who read about some of the stuff people do to their audio gear to try and make it sound better I guess.

I think your best bet is to just buy a known good quality/brand switch and be done with it. Ubiquiti makes pretty nice stuff and if your budget allows, enterprise Cisco gear would be ideal. Most good enterprise switches dont use wallwart power supplies which would be the only thing I might consider if I were forced to pick something that cheaper switches tend to use that can be known inject noise into the home power grid. But even in that case, I have strong doubts this noise is effecting the Ethernet stream in terms of SQ. If anything, a poorly designed wallwart might be effecting another piece of audio gear, not the sound of the stream passing thru the switch.
 
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RikkiPoo

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Nov 4, 2020
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I wouldn’t get tangled up with fiber at the point you are at. This gets super complicated and expensive fast.
Keep it simple starting off.
I didn't think it was complicated or expensive, the cost of 2 SFP's and fiber is just a few hundred dollars, of course I tried more than a few SFP's and some were just bad and others interesting but fatiguing to me in the long run. It seems to work for some. But based on my experience I agree save it for later.
 
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bryans

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Dec 26, 2017
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Personally I find many of the things people do from a network standpoint in this hobby quite silly but that's probably because Networking/IT is what I do for a living. The same can probably be said for many EE's who read about some of the stuff people do to their audio gear to try and make it sound better I guess.
I'm in the same camp as you on this one.
 

RikkiPoo

Well-Known Member
Nov 4, 2020
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Sometimes ignorance is bliss.....and sometimes silly works and always nothing ventured nothing gained.

I am OK with trying something new and failing, there is an excitement to trying. And there is a thrill when it works. I learned for me that SFP's and fiber was different than ethernet but not as good. I found benefits to using the etherregen, SOtM switch and English Electric switch. I found SOtM ethernet cables to be very beneficial. I found clocking the etherregen and SOtM switches to have amazing benefits.

It can be a silly hobby.
 

Echolane

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Apr 24, 2018
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I found clocking the etherregen and SOtM switches to have amazing benefits.
This is a comment that I don’t understand. Can you explain what you mean by “clocking the Ether Regen and SOtM switches?”
 
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Yeti

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Dec 25, 2020
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Need? no. Could benefit from? Maybe but there’s no consensus as to which. Get a baseline, say a repurposed enterprise Cisco and make the costlier alternatives earn their place in a home demo. Don’t necessarily discount wireless either.
 

Lee

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Feb 3, 2011
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Ted Denney did an interesting demo at the Florida Audio Expo. He had a switch on his ethernet switch that could be moved on or off. No other variables on the system were changed. The on position on the Ethernet switch definitely helped clear the presentation up noticeably. It was a more open sound.
 

Lee

Well-Known Member
Feb 3, 2011
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Unfortunately I suspect you wont find any conclusive answers to this topic based on the replies in an audiophile forum. This is because its one of those topics that has a long list of followers in each camp.

Personally I find many of the things people do from a network standpoint in this hobby quite silly but that's probably because Networking/IT is what I do for a living. The same can probably be said for many EE's who read about some of the stuff people do to their audio gear to try and make it sound better I guess.

I think your best bet is to just buy a known good quality/brand switch and be done with it. Ubiquiti makes pretty nice stuff and if your budget allows, enterprise Cisco gear would be ideal. Most good enterprise switches dont use wallwart power supplies which would be the only thing I might consider if I were forced to pick something that cheaper switches tend to use that can be known inject noise into the home power grid. But even in that case, I have strong doubts this noise is effecting the Ethernet stream in terms of SQ. If anything, a poorly designed wallwart might be effecting another piece of audio gear, not the sound of the stream passing thru the switch.

Good post but I think that having IT experience here could be a partial handicap in a way if it prevents you from trying these network based tweaks. Noise is a huge deal in a system and many things can generate it. But I also think you make a good point about wall warts. They can contribute a lot of noise in my experience.

The great thing about your background is that it could help us focus in on more likely culprits.

I continue to have new experiences that show that everything in the chain matters.
 

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