English Electric 8Switch

Long night in my bed, yes .

1 Like

Some listen to:
1 Details
2 the track as a whole
3 the meaning of the playing
4 their system
5 only the best recorded albums
6 only the music they like, be it well or bad recorded
7 Only to see how well their system is sounding
8 Or a mix of 1 to 8

I think it is the decisive factor (for you). :wink:

I personally have never bothered too much about switches, just having a Netgear in place to enable a wired connection to my router. In light of the scale of and the differing opinions of this thread I thought why not give the EE a try from my local dealer. There is part of me that likes facts and data (to prove things / understand how something has an impact) and a part of me which is purely feeling (how does it feel ‘ sound). Prior to insertion my mindset was very much facts and data please, however, from the get go I was soon into feeling mode…why ‘ how? The ‘why’ I think I can answer, two specific albums sounded warmer, less shrill and with a more rounded bass sound. In fact I believe I noticed such a difference I went back to the beginning of this thread to compare notes with others…the ‘how’ I have no idea currently and may never know (thou there is an itch that still needs scratching) and candidly I would rather save the money and spend it on more music…

So what next, I will spend some time this week listening to music I know in differing ways, I.e stored music, streaming and configuration of set up…and then next weekend switch back to the old set up and see how it feels…if I believe it sounds better then I’m ok with it, but if I don’t believe it does (and I’m happy if it doesn’t) then I save some money…do I want to be right or happy…happy please🙂

6 Likes

I’m following a similar topic on the PS Audio forums, and someone there made an interesting comparison to digital TV / video:

Since the video decoder chips in TV’s or set-top boxes basically do a similar thing as an audio streamer, similar differences in network equipment used would be expected to apply there.

I was wondering if anyone has compared different ethernet cables or switches such as the EE8 with their video systems, and if it also produced noticeable differences in the output? Meaning perhaps better visual texture, color reproduction, contrast or framerate etc? If this were the case that would be very interesting, and could lead to more insight into the effects that these components have on the signal chain.

3 Likes

Summarises my feelings about it too. The 2960 I used previously was a mess of cable with front and back plugging so was hidden away on the floor under the unit. The EE is much neater beside the NAS & Router.

Sonically I sensed (whatever that means) a more natural (whatever that means) presentation. The music sounding just that bit more like real musicians, whereas the 2960 put a slightly too clean glare over the sound.

Whatever, mine was second hand and won’t be getting moved on.

G

2 Likes

Stick some fibre in the mix then see if swapping switches makes a difference.

1 Like

I’ve had my EE switch for a good few months now. When I first got it I felt that the music sounded more enjoyable than with the Cisco. As others have said, it’s smaller and neater and its little lights are very discreet. I really don’t care if it’s all in my head. If I think the music sounds better then it does and that’s all that counts. So what if it’s a placebo? Placebos are known to be genuinely effective in some medical experiments. Maybe if I replaced it with a Netgear I’d hear no difference and could sell the EE for £250 on eBay, but I simply can’t be bothered.

It’s fine that people want to understand how or why it works but that doesn’t worry me. I don’t know how my car works but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying driving it. I’d suggest that this is a perfectly valid viewpoint and it shouldn’t be belittled by the more technical amongst us who seem to want a reason for everything. Sometimes the quest for understanding can get in the way of simple enjoyment.

7 Likes

An interesting concept. I remember years ago when magazines were reviewing the Mana tables in multiple stacks and trying to understand why they improved the sound so much, that one review put his TV on a stack and remarked that; not only did it improve the sound it also improved the picture!

I agree. What is measurement anyway? In the quantum world the more you measure something the less you know about it!

1 Like

Of course, whether a car works or not is more easy to compare.
The EE is more akin to fuel additives that are offered for a lot of money that supposedly improve fuel consumption and engine life.

This is a misunderstanding. They built the LHC to measure more

And 70% of the universe is still unmeasurable! Doesn’t stop it work though!

This is true, but we as humankind are also not stopping to try and understand it. (And if we did, we would have neither hifi nor ethernet)

Nor should the people who do like to investigate why something purportedly works be belittled for that, don’t you agree? Wanting to know why something works and not being satisfied with “it just does” is also a perfectly valid standpoint.

The two sides are not mutually exclusive, and trying to suppress any form of sceptical inquiry is not a very productive or welcoming approach either. If it works well for you and you are not interested to find out why that is just fine, there is no reason why you should be bothered by people who do want to know more.

It is difficult for me to understand why some people seem to get so defensive when others are just asking questions.

1 Like

Of course, that’s absolutely right. A bit of sceptical enquiry never goes amiss. It’s when it ventures into the ‘it cannot be measured therefore any perceived differences are all in your imagination and you are therefore a fool’ territory that it becomes irksome. It’s like the measurers are claiming some innate superiority. And they don’t half go on about it. On and on and on.

6 Likes

True. Just like “you are asking too many questions and so you are a troll”

Yes, that’s a silly response. There needs to be balance all round. The discussion can get far too obsessive at times, about something that really doesn’t matter in the wider scheme.

2 Likes

I’ve spent most of my working life measuring data. I know that the insertion of the EE8 switch in my system changes how it sounds. Am I worried that this can’t currently be measured? Not really. I suspect, like others, that either we are measuring the wrong thing or the scale of the measure isn’t great enough. We talk of electrical 1’s and 0’s but these are the size of a small planet compared to quantum 1’s and 0’s. When hi-if gets into the realms of superconductivity and quantum supercomputing, and we still hear a difference but can’t measure it, then I’ll get really worried, really really worried! :grinning:

3 Likes

The troll is not the one asking questions. It’s the one saying continuously that a product he has even not heard is forcefully bad because it shouldn’t sound better given there is no known scientific reasons for that.
The most tiring is also to discredit continuously what some well known brands as for instance Uptone has achieved technically with their switch, but for these persons this achievement has no credit. And they even don’t work in the audio area.

3 Likes

I don’t think that’s the best approach, but I also don’t think that doing that makes one a troll. And if it does, then not more of a troll than repeating “but I heard it so it’s true”, which I do not think is the best approach either.