Compared with the EE 8Switch in my system, yes by a considerable margin. My Neat’s are now much more nimble and responsive. I’ve even removed the blue slate slabs from underneath them as they are no longer required. When i had cascaded Ciscos the bass was bloody awful. I was forever getting complaints from my neighbours and i blamed the speakers. It turned out to be those damned Ciscos. Dropping back to one is just about tolerable with a Vodka cable. Now of course that’s history. Which is why asked about running in. I don’t want this new switch to start getting fatter. At the moment it’s perfect.
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Same here, the bass is cleaner and less boomy. Timing improved a bit too.
Instruments decay improved, as naturalness and liveliness.
It’s more colorful. Cisco tends to homogenize the sound and it’s a bit forceful.
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I now know that i was not getting the best from my sources with those old switches in my system. They’re not built for audio and neither are they quiet enough for our high end equipment. It’s only since i’ve installed the EE 8Switch that i have now drawn to this conclusion. I mean the Cisco did it’s job, but the way i see things now, it was a makeshift until someone tackled the problem, as i was never truly convinced, hence all my yo-yoing. Fortunately, it appears that a few now have.
Poor recordings always sound poorer the better the reproduction system. If it were not so, our hobby would not exist.
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Does this mean that the Cisco has been knocked off the top spot?
I have never found that true, but that the gulf between poor and outstanding becomes greater…
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Those who stream directly to their MM -> DAC or Linn or some other streamers won’t see any effect from any switch or router provided the these devices and the ethernet cables work reliably.
However, it is interesting to note that some claim to hear the SQ differences if the EE or ER is used with the Naim streamers.
ThunderData is a small OEM manufacturer in Guangdong, China.
They designed a basic switch. Here is the board. It is pretty simple, nothing fancy, probably not more than about $30 assembled.
No ‘selected‘ voltage regulators, Crystal clock circuits etc.
Then offer it themselves–with an inexpensive upgraded clock replacing the $0.30 oval crystal–as the Silent Angel Bonn N8 at €400. Here is a pic of it:
Clock board
They also offer it in a nicer case to other manufacturers, still with exact same circuits and clock. Here it is as the Nuprime Omnia SW-8 at €499
“NuPrime licenses Omnia SW-8 from Thunder Data Co. Ltd., maker of Bonn N8. Omnia SW-8 differs from Bonn N8 with an upgraded low noise power supply and aluminum chassis”
And the outside:
And then as here it is branded by English Electric as the 8Switch
£450 (note currency change & difference) but ships with a 0.75m C-Stream cable worth £40.
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And a huge profit margin , almost (actually more than) 99%. Looks like a good business to be in?
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Not an invention of people here, but IIUC a well known proven psychological effect.
Whether it is significant to your impression of course is unknown to readers, and unknown to you if you have done nothing to take possible subconscious bias out of the equation - but is something fairly easily fir you to find out, though only if you want to. But if you’re £800 happier then perhaps irrelevant to you.
Based on your history, maybe that is premature? 
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Not really. The EE 8Switch is quite a bit better so there is need to have a noisy, obsolete, ugly switch in my system. I have four Ciscos to sell, if i can’t sell them then they will be going to the local tip. It’s quite simple really. Enjoy your day.
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I did discover, through my dealer sending me the distributors invoice by mistake instead of his own, that there was a 50% mark up on the EE8. So there is plenty of clipping the ticket in the food chain. Not sure whether the same applies to the big black boxes…
They will sound still poorer vs very well recorded ones, but in the meantime they will improve also.
As for my ears and improved network, some bad recordings sound better now. Not you ?
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Its possible , when I was in electrical retail many many moons ago the mark up was very high on some products. Most where about 30% though plus vat.
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Nice. I think the EE8 looks nicer as it sports a lovely set of feet. Really grippy for when one wants to plug-in heavy super cables such as the Vodka or Diamond.
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…And this live album from Yello is a really good example of how great things can sound from our digital front end systems. 
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Hope they are audio grade feet.
