Waversa LAN EXT Reference Plus Ethernet Isolator
I fondly remember the Zenith clock radio I had back in the mid-sixties. I listened to the local radio stations endlessly and made sure that I had tuned those stations in with utmost care because, after all, I wanted the clearest signal possible. Listening to music was so simple back then, and music was simply better than it is now, too. Not in every respect, of course, but – simpler.
Throughout my life, audio has occupied my home and has been my primary hobby. With my becoming a computer nerd, computer audio naturally became a focus of this hobby. Goodbye Nakamichi cassette deck, hello CD player. Oh, but do not worry: I kept my Technics SL1800 and albums.
Computer audio and high-end audio are like a death sentence one imposes on one’s hobby. I broke my first really good CD player doing modifications I had no business performing. When you wanted something truly good in digital land, you paid dearly for it. Nowadays, good digital can be had for relatively small amounts of money. Still, there are endless innovations and products to enhance one’s digital experience. And then there is, of course, the absolute convenience of streaming audio, both locally and from afar. And this is where the idea of sending data over ethernet comes into my review. It should be so simple, but this is ‘high-end’ audio, so it is not.
So, I set about with a high powered fanless server, HQPlayer, micro then ultraRendu, EtherREGEN, linear power supplies, cables, you know, typical stuff one needs for computer audio. In doing so, there were countless hours learning HQP, setting up the server, determining the best hard drive, best memory and just trying to keep things lit. Thank goodness for my turntable. The network is stable now and sounds great. Still, however, I invested in a solid CD Transport and an amazing DAC, the Allnic D-10000. But this isn’t about that DAC; this is about a LAN filter.
Some months ago, I reviewed the Waversa Systems Wstreamer and the Waversa LAN EXT Reference (an ethernet “filter”). Here was a product that moved me both in the way of musical enjoyment and in “just WTF is going on here with my network”? How was this passive device able to clear up the audio signal? I ended up writing a review on that product, the Waversa LAN EXT Reference Ethernet Isolator. It is posted on WBF.
After having lived with the Reference unit for some time and appreciating what it did for my network streaming setup, I was able to get my hands on the top-of-the-line Waversa LAN-EXT Reference Plus. More filtering? It showed up as a much larger version of the EXT Reference, even though with the same configuration, which is simple: 2 ethernet jacks. CATx goes in, CATx goes out, and nothing more. No power, no settings, no software. Boy, do I like simple. Unfortunately, reviewing this device was not so simple. I wanted a clean slate – that is – As simple as I could get, to show what the Waversa is doing with my network and how it compares with other sources, including different routers and services! And, of course, how it compares to its little brother, the EXT Reference. This was going to take some work.
I started with a network cable (CAT8) fed into a network switch (a cheap D-Link switch) plugged directly into a computer port. The computer uses a Dell brick power supply. I am using a USB output port on the computer to an Allnic D-10000 DAC’s USB input.
I played a number of tracks, new and old, familiar tracks and some new. I had no complaints about what I was hearing, knowing that new speakers will replace what we have. However, my wife would complain on occasion, stating that her ears noted a buzz. I did not detect that. It was a sound I could live with (not the perceived “buzz”), but of course, this is a hobby and nothing will ever be good enough it seems. My wife never really warmed to our speakers and will remind me of those line arrays we once owned. Still, she certainly enjoyed listening patiently while I performed the necessary swapping and testing for this review. She’s a very good, patient wife.
On to the Waversa LAN EXT Reference Plus. With this new filter inserted between the network switch and the computer, it was easily noted how much calmer the music played. It was immediately noted as I went for the remote to turn up the volume. It wasn’t that the actual decibels were lower, the filter does not affect volume; it was much more than that. Music had more space, the lines of instruments were drawn more distinctly, and one could see deeper into the tracks. The tone did not change IMO; it was simply rendered with less, using my wife’s word, “distortion.” The LAN EXT Reference performed the same feat only on a much lesser scale. The EXT Reference Plus is in a different league in this regard. Whereas you might sit at the edge of your seat and be aware of a bit of say for lack of better descriptor “stridency”, the Reference Plus filter set you back in your chair as music flowed so very cleanly, projecting the brilliance of the D-10000 DAC, which is to say, there is no DAC in the system. Once again, I had to ask myself, what is actually wrong with my network that the filters improve the sound so much? I switched the CAT8 for a CAT6 cable, shielded and as cheap as possible because that is what came with the house. I could not detect a difference between the 2 CATx cables.
During this time, I was asked a question by an astute WBF member regarding the quality of USB with the Waversa LAN filter. Great question! I use a Network Acoustics USB Muon as my reference. I decided to replace that with a Supra Excalibur, also a good USB cable for not a lot of money. It didn’t take long to come to the same conclusion I had with a review I had written some time ago on the Muon. The Supra added a bit of edge and simply could not match the qualities of the NA Muon. The Waversa USB cable too, not tested here but compared some time ago against the Muon, was on equal footing with the Muon.
Now let us compare the LAN EXT Reference Plus with my CD Transport, a Pro-ject RS2-T, using an inexpensive AES cable to the D-10000 DAC. The Pro-ject had always edged out any streaming option I put against it. Now it was too close to call. My wife and I went back and forth on this one, trying to detect a signature, but in the end, still too close to call. Fascinating. OK, let’s add the Uptone Audio EtherREGEN, a network switch that removes electrical noise from the network. I thought there would be no difference, but I was wrong. We believed there was a slight improvement. In fact, we compared this streaming method now to the CD Transport and felt the Waversa streamer, with the EXT LAN Plus, the USB NA Muon and the EtherREGEN slightly edging out our transport!
Another comparison. I played one of my wife’s favorite songs, Led Zeppelin's Kashmir. We compared the streamer to the transport. It was a very tough call. It came down to Robert Plant’s voice, really. You could go either way so I will not call a winner – yet. Let us see what happens when I grab my 1975 ‘Physical Graffiti’ album, played to death (only vinyl never dies, it seems), against the digital solutions.
As one might expect, the vinyl version gave more of a 3D landscape. Plant’s vocals felt a bit more human. The vinyl did not have the utmost clarity, but it made up for that by presenting a holistic picture of the performance. Maybe It's nostalgia? It just seemed as though it added a bit of warmth. Yes I know vinyl right. And going back and forth, I can easily see that there could be a split between the vinyl crown and the digital crowd. We had to admit that we both preferred the vinyl version. I am guessing this is why the market for turntables continues to flourish. Naming vinyl as a winner IN OUR SETUP does not mean we won’t be streaming music. I haven’t found a way to create a playlist in vinyl, and it is difficult to discover the latest music with one’s vinyl collection, and expensive to buy records based only on their album covers.
At the last minute I decided to attempt one more go at the Waversa. I really wanted to beat this device because it's expensive and again, what is holding back the bits of my network? I added the Ultrarendu which takes the USB cable off the computer motherboard and adds too, HQPlayer, a software solution with seemingly an unlimited amount of filters to play with as long as you have the computer horsepower to deal with the more exotic ones. My server, being a pretty powerful unit, was able to utilize some processor intensive filters. I found a good combination and used that for comparison.
After adding all the components I had it did get closer to the Waversa standing alone. Adding the Waversa back in the chain (adding it to the Ultrarendu, etherREGAN, HQPlayer software chain) I believe we experienced the best streaming sound yet. It was a complex solution however and during this test, making handshakes with all these network components, tested my patience. The Waversa however, does not need a handshake, just network cable in and out.
The Waversa LAN filters presented us with a new landscape for streaming audio. If you are thinking you haven’t any “distortion” in your network chain, you might be amazed at what you won’t hear when the Waversa LAN filters are inserted. The LAN EXT Reference Plus was a major step up from the Reference. Expensive yes, but a serious bit of gear. As a bonus, too, no power cord and no linear power supply needed, just as the lessor Waversa LAN products. As I mentioned at the beginning, the clearest signal possible, and simpler, like my Zenith clock radio.
I’m sure it is obvious that I’m not an accomplished reviewer. I enjoy trying new gear and trying to give back to the community that has given me so much insight into this hobby. I continue to be a student of high-end audio.
-MichaeHiFi
I fondly remember the Zenith clock radio I had back in the mid-sixties. I listened to the local radio stations endlessly and made sure that I had tuned those stations in with utmost care because, after all, I wanted the clearest signal possible. Listening to music was so simple back then, and music was simply better than it is now, too. Not in every respect, of course, but – simpler.
Throughout my life, audio has occupied my home and has been my primary hobby. With my becoming a computer nerd, computer audio naturally became a focus of this hobby. Goodbye Nakamichi cassette deck, hello CD player. Oh, but do not worry: I kept my Technics SL1800 and albums.
Computer audio and high-end audio are like a death sentence one imposes on one’s hobby. I broke my first really good CD player doing modifications I had no business performing. When you wanted something truly good in digital land, you paid dearly for it. Nowadays, good digital can be had for relatively small amounts of money. Still, there are endless innovations and products to enhance one’s digital experience. And then there is, of course, the absolute convenience of streaming audio, both locally and from afar. And this is where the idea of sending data over ethernet comes into my review. It should be so simple, but this is ‘high-end’ audio, so it is not.
So, I set about with a high powered fanless server, HQPlayer, micro then ultraRendu, EtherREGEN, linear power supplies, cables, you know, typical stuff one needs for computer audio. In doing so, there were countless hours learning HQP, setting up the server, determining the best hard drive, best memory and just trying to keep things lit. Thank goodness for my turntable. The network is stable now and sounds great. Still, however, I invested in a solid CD Transport and an amazing DAC, the Allnic D-10000. But this isn’t about that DAC; this is about a LAN filter.
Some months ago, I reviewed the Waversa Systems Wstreamer and the Waversa LAN EXT Reference (an ethernet “filter”). Here was a product that moved me both in the way of musical enjoyment and in “just WTF is going on here with my network”? How was this passive device able to clear up the audio signal? I ended up writing a review on that product, the Waversa LAN EXT Reference Ethernet Isolator. It is posted on WBF.
After having lived with the Reference unit for some time and appreciating what it did for my network streaming setup, I was able to get my hands on the top-of-the-line Waversa LAN-EXT Reference Plus. More filtering? It showed up as a much larger version of the EXT Reference, even though with the same configuration, which is simple: 2 ethernet jacks. CATx goes in, CATx goes out, and nothing more. No power, no settings, no software. Boy, do I like simple. Unfortunately, reviewing this device was not so simple. I wanted a clean slate – that is – As simple as I could get, to show what the Waversa is doing with my network and how it compares with other sources, including different routers and services! And, of course, how it compares to its little brother, the EXT Reference. This was going to take some work.
I started with a network cable (CAT8) fed into a network switch (a cheap D-Link switch) plugged directly into a computer port. The computer uses a Dell brick power supply. I am using a USB output port on the computer to an Allnic D-10000 DAC’s USB input.
I played a number of tracks, new and old, familiar tracks and some new. I had no complaints about what I was hearing, knowing that new speakers will replace what we have. However, my wife would complain on occasion, stating that her ears noted a buzz. I did not detect that. It was a sound I could live with (not the perceived “buzz”), but of course, this is a hobby and nothing will ever be good enough it seems. My wife never really warmed to our speakers and will remind me of those line arrays we once owned. Still, she certainly enjoyed listening patiently while I performed the necessary swapping and testing for this review. She’s a very good, patient wife.
On to the Waversa LAN EXT Reference Plus. With this new filter inserted between the network switch and the computer, it was easily noted how much calmer the music played. It was immediately noted as I went for the remote to turn up the volume. It wasn’t that the actual decibels were lower, the filter does not affect volume; it was much more than that. Music had more space, the lines of instruments were drawn more distinctly, and one could see deeper into the tracks. The tone did not change IMO; it was simply rendered with less, using my wife’s word, “distortion.” The LAN EXT Reference performed the same feat only on a much lesser scale. The EXT Reference Plus is in a different league in this regard. Whereas you might sit at the edge of your seat and be aware of a bit of say for lack of better descriptor “stridency”, the Reference Plus filter set you back in your chair as music flowed so very cleanly, projecting the brilliance of the D-10000 DAC, which is to say, there is no DAC in the system. Once again, I had to ask myself, what is actually wrong with my network that the filters improve the sound so much? I switched the CAT8 for a CAT6 cable, shielded and as cheap as possible because that is what came with the house. I could not detect a difference between the 2 CATx cables.
During this time, I was asked a question by an astute WBF member regarding the quality of USB with the Waversa LAN filter. Great question! I use a Network Acoustics USB Muon as my reference. I decided to replace that with a Supra Excalibur, also a good USB cable for not a lot of money. It didn’t take long to come to the same conclusion I had with a review I had written some time ago on the Muon. The Supra added a bit of edge and simply could not match the qualities of the NA Muon. The Waversa USB cable too, not tested here but compared some time ago against the Muon, was on equal footing with the Muon.
Now let us compare the LAN EXT Reference Plus with my CD Transport, a Pro-ject RS2-T, using an inexpensive AES cable to the D-10000 DAC. The Pro-ject had always edged out any streaming option I put against it. Now it was too close to call. My wife and I went back and forth on this one, trying to detect a signature, but in the end, still too close to call. Fascinating. OK, let’s add the Uptone Audio EtherREGEN, a network switch that removes electrical noise from the network. I thought there would be no difference, but I was wrong. We believed there was a slight improvement. In fact, we compared this streaming method now to the CD Transport and felt the Waversa streamer, with the EXT LAN Plus, the USB NA Muon and the EtherREGEN slightly edging out our transport!
Another comparison. I played one of my wife’s favorite songs, Led Zeppelin's Kashmir. We compared the streamer to the transport. It was a very tough call. It came down to Robert Plant’s voice, really. You could go either way so I will not call a winner – yet. Let us see what happens when I grab my 1975 ‘Physical Graffiti’ album, played to death (only vinyl never dies, it seems), against the digital solutions.
As one might expect, the vinyl version gave more of a 3D landscape. Plant’s vocals felt a bit more human. The vinyl did not have the utmost clarity, but it made up for that by presenting a holistic picture of the performance. Maybe It's nostalgia? It just seemed as though it added a bit of warmth. Yes I know vinyl right. And going back and forth, I can easily see that there could be a split between the vinyl crown and the digital crowd. We had to admit that we both preferred the vinyl version. I am guessing this is why the market for turntables continues to flourish. Naming vinyl as a winner IN OUR SETUP does not mean we won’t be streaming music. I haven’t found a way to create a playlist in vinyl, and it is difficult to discover the latest music with one’s vinyl collection, and expensive to buy records based only on their album covers.
At the last minute I decided to attempt one more go at the Waversa. I really wanted to beat this device because it's expensive and again, what is holding back the bits of my network? I added the Ultrarendu which takes the USB cable off the computer motherboard and adds too, HQPlayer, a software solution with seemingly an unlimited amount of filters to play with as long as you have the computer horsepower to deal with the more exotic ones. My server, being a pretty powerful unit, was able to utilize some processor intensive filters. I found a good combination and used that for comparison.
After adding all the components I had it did get closer to the Waversa standing alone. Adding the Waversa back in the chain (adding it to the Ultrarendu, etherREGAN, HQPlayer software chain) I believe we experienced the best streaming sound yet. It was a complex solution however and during this test, making handshakes with all these network components, tested my patience. The Waversa however, does not need a handshake, just network cable in and out.
The Waversa LAN filters presented us with a new landscape for streaming audio. If you are thinking you haven’t any “distortion” in your network chain, you might be amazed at what you won’t hear when the Waversa LAN filters are inserted. The LAN EXT Reference Plus was a major step up from the Reference. Expensive yes, but a serious bit of gear. As a bonus, too, no power cord and no linear power supply needed, just as the lessor Waversa LAN products. As I mentioned at the beginning, the clearest signal possible, and simpler, like my Zenith clock radio.
I’m sure it is obvious that I’m not an accomplished reviewer. I enjoy trying new gear and trying to give back to the community that has given me so much insight into this hobby. I continue to be a student of high-end audio.
-MichaeHiFi
