Just received a 3m and a 1m Ethernet cable from Blue Jeans cat 6.
£60 for both delivered to the UK.
They replaced a free old cat 5e and a very cheap Ugreen solid core cable.
They do sound noticeably cleaner and clearer, but without being sterile.
So a worthwhile upgrade for 0.5% of the value of the system.
One odd thing is that the audible volume of the system has changed significantly. It is now quite a bit louder at a given volume number on the dial.
So the top volume that is now comfortable playing Tidal is about 38, whereas with the old free/cheap cables it was more like 45.
Does this make any sense and why is it louder?
Blue Jeans Cables are nice cables for sure. I remember when I switched to them from super cheap cables and had the same reaction as JimDog. I didn’t notice it louder per-se but definitely SQ improved for me. I immediately replaced all my ethernet cables with BJC.
I use Blue Jeans cables since they are tested/qualified to be in spec. That’s all you need for an ethernet cable. I don’t waste my money on anything more expensive with fancy market-speak claims and shiny packaging/presentation. I have not heard any difference between ethernet cables.
I have,.but the most important thing is to find the synergy between the product and the cable, this no matter what cable it is.
I have had the opportunity to test incredibly many different ehternet-cables.
As well as when I came to know my friend Cableoholic,.well then I also got the opportunity to test ehternet-cables I would never buy myself.
I’ve heard difference on all the cables I tried,.better,worse or just different.
Then, if it all times is worth the money they cost…Yes that’s another question .
So I have previously bought 1 Meicord cable (used between router and switch) and 2 Designacables (used also between switch and 272).
These other cables all sounded really bad when I installed them and even after running them for a day or two.
(Yes, I should have run them for a week or two, but didn’t know that then, so I sent them back.)
But if there is ‘burn in’ then surely there are differences between cables?
And surely the electrical and magnetic and radio frequency transmitting properties of cables can make some cables sound different to others, depending on the design of the equipment used, and perhaps other factors?
I have no idea why these 2 cables sound louder (and a bit clearer) at a given volume setting than the other two I’ve been using for the past year or more, but the volume difference is marked.
I believe you hear differences, but I don’t believe it’s due to differences in ethernet cables, unless there is something wrong with it that introduces noise.
Ethernet cables are not audio cables. They don’t interact with the application layer where the digital audio data lives. They live at the physical transmission layer and are just data packet transmission cables. All the audiophile market-speak behind them is nonsense.
I just don’t buy it. I think confirmation bias and/or noise introduced by out of spec cables is what’s going on.
But there are plenty of other threads about this so I’ll leave it at my recommendation that BJ cables are good. More expensive cables may or may not be as good, depending on whether they are built to CAT spec or not (and some are not).
Well said! @JosquinDesPrez I think everyone can agree that Blue Jeans Ethernet cables are much much better than the inexpensive/free old cat 5e cables the OP was previously using.
There have been various explanations as to why these cables make a difference; something about analogue and RFI interference rather than digital. It’s not possible to say ‘they don’t make a difference’ as if it’s a fact, when many people have clearly heard differences, including yours truly. It’s interesting that JimDog tried the designacables and was underwhelmed, when others have waxed lyrical about them.
I’ve got my AudioQuest Vodkas, which have all sorts of marketing speak attached, but they are fine cables and work well. I certainly can’t be bothered to try others.
I too can vouch for hearing differences between ethernet cables. I have tried Audioquest Vodkas, Wireworld Starlights, Designacable Belden Catsnake, and Chord C-Stream.
I get that ethernet cables are not supposed to make a difference as they don’t carry audio signals. Since upgrading my switch to Cisco 2960, I’ve tried a combination of ethernet cables from Core to Cisco and from Cisco to NDX2.
Weirdly, the combo that works for me is Wireworld Starlight from Core to Cisco, and designacable Belden from Cisco to NDX2. I have tried matched pairs of all the others but nothing compares to the SQ I get with the Starlight and Belden Catsnake combo. No idea why. I’ve now given up swapping cables around, just enjoying the music.
It is nothing related to digital stream, the main reason is probably due to the mechanical construction of the Ethernet cables, some are well-built, some are lousy assembled and constructed with poor connectors.
100% agree, but maybe I’d say its a contributing reason.
I tried a few, from cheap to expensive, more cats than Battersea & other non-definable with & without smoke & mirrors.
After a while going round in circles trying to get to grips with changes in sound, I went back to my roots with electrical & mechanic basics & was sold on how that is applied to Meicord Cat-6. I have it between NAS-Switch-NDX & a well made Cat-6 to the wireless hub.
No more desire to experiment
I bought two sets of Cat 5e Blue Jeans Cable a week or two ago and I thought they were a marginal improvement on my bog standard Cat 5e cables. Should I have bought Cat 6 instead then?
I’m using Cat 6 BJ cables b/w the modem, router, and switch, and in a airport express Muso mesh and love them. They definitely improve sonics over cheaper cables.
I considered getting a couple more BJ cat 6 runs to swap out my Cinnamon cables b/w the QNAP/switch and SU/switch and see if that makes a difference but haven’t tried that yet.
My local area network uses qualified Connectix Cat 6a - every patch lead and HDMI cable I use is from Blue Jeans Cables.
These are as good as it gets IMO. I would definitely advise anybody interested in trying Cat 5e or Cat 6 and currently using other patch leads especially audiophile ones to give BJC a go. Certainly, the construction is better than audiophile cables I tried. I’m delighted with BJC leads.
I can’t say I’ve had an increase in volume level, but I can say that using an AudioQuest cable my firmware updates across the network failed, with BJC leads the updates work without problem.
Well, that was one of the least arsey cable threads I’ve ever been on.
Almost collegiate in tone.
Thanks everyone.
System sounds superb right now, at Volume 17 - but then it is 4am!
Cheers
Jimdog
I have,.but the most important thing is to find the synergy between the product and the cable, this no matter what cable it is.
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