Ethernet Cable and USB type

Good question. The cable will be 4m and will be plugged at the send end into a plastic PlusNet router, along with a Humax STB and Samsung TV box and a solar PV panels box - so lots of chances for noise to enter the cable that end - and presumably zoom along it up into the 272. That makes me want no screen.
Then it will run along next to: 5 power leads and some nasty PSUs, satellite cable, mains extension cable, speaker cables, toslink cable, Snaic, etc.That makes me want screen.
It’s certain to touch the optical Toslink cable because they are next to one another on the 272.
Mike - is that under the industrial levels of noise pollution you describe: ‘The screen is to protect from the effects of EMF & such like that is found in industrial installations with power levels in excess of 32 amps.’?
thanks
Jim

Yes
The only thing in normal house that gets close to 32 amps is the cooker.

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Last Q on this: is this screen guideline one that is general to the industrial use of ethernet cables? i.e. might a much more sensitive/lower interefeence measure be applicable for hifi cabling as the equipment and use of it for careful listening is not comparable to general electrical signalling interference problems?
Or is this guideline specifically about hifi audio applications?

Yes its specific to industrial, but that encompasses a whole raft of super sensitive installations & some a lot more sensitive than home audio.

Its not so much a question of using a screen or not, & there is a sub-set with screen type use as well. It actually concerns power & data cable separation.
The regs are spec’d in EN 50174-2. This previously allowed for the final 15m of horizontal 230V single phase <32A power and IT/ethernet to not require separation. The latest rev of EN 50174-2 has been simplified and if power is single phase 230V and <32A and there is no strong source of EMI nearby (i.e. typical home environment as opposed to a data centre) - then no separation is required between power and IT/ethernet wiring.

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Jim - there is no harm in using screened ethernet cables at home. The issue comes with the connected screens possibly introducing another ground path if you’re not careful hence the recommendation not to bother using these at home. As Mike and others have mentioned, screened cables are useful in an industrial environment where there may be high electromagnetic fields or where lots of cables need to run together. In a domestic environment, this should not be a concern.

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If you want to ensure that the sheild is not connected to your streamer, you can use one of these to break the connection:


This was a fashionable forum tweak a couple of years ago, and some claimed it bought about an audible improvement.

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By breaking unintentional ground paths - something that could have been avoided in the first place by avoiding the screened cables…

Indeed, but if you have a screened cable already…

…Then you deserve all you get :grinning:

So either use unscreened cable and not need to add this component, or use screened cable with this.
It’s one thing to find an SQ improvement using this compared to the screened cable alone, but I suppose the more relevant comparison would be with the unscreened cable.

Humm - not sure whether there is a screen on that £5 inc delivery 5m Ugreen very thick ethernet cable I’m using now…will have a look at it and the bag it arrived I when I get home.

The old forum tweak was to fit the Lindy angle thingy at the NAS. This kept the Naim streamer as the single earth/ground point & floated the NAS end.
It assumed the network included a switch with shrouded ports to carry the connection between streamer & NAS. However if the switch (or router) did not have shrouded ports then that breaks the screen connection & the angle thingy is not needed.

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Is it unlikely that my stock PlusNet router will have shrouded ports?

Yes, but you may already have bought a screened cable. If this has been installed in your walls, and you don’t want to excavate it, you can just break the screen connection with this. Or if you have a fancy audiophile cable, it will almost certainly be sheilded, and you may feel the need to assuage your paranoia about what that sheild is doing.

Just buy cables assembled with Belden cat5e such as ones from Blue Jeans and your likely getting one of the best ethernet data cables. Belden is renowned as the best in class and Blue Jeans cables use it and are fully fluke tested and passes all the standards. Why buy a much higher priced cable that fails to meet the standards for the protocol it’s made for. It just amazes me they get away with selling these things at all.

I can understand DB’s comment on dressing being important. Ethernet cables are not all equally made especially the cheaper chinese ones that most of the outlets sell or come bundled. There was a good videoon the internet showing how bending and coiling the cables increased/decreased inductance and voltages in the cheaper cable and how Beldens double bonded cables helped reduce this.

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The Plus Net router does not have shrouded ports, I’m not sure any router has them to be honest. This tweak was only applied to a network with a switch.

I just bought a Ugreen cable for a fiver inc delivery and plugged it in – so I have that as a base case.

And Tidal sounds excellent at the moment.

I’ve ordered one and will see if it redeems my CAT7 lead, presently sitting in reject pile.
I got a LH version for the back of the ND555 end on order for £5 so cheap to try.

DB.

It’ll be interesting to hear what effect this has, if any. No doubt it’s easier to assess such things on your very revealing system.
As Mike mentioned above, some used it at the other end of the cable, or on the NAS, and reported some audible effects there too.

:small_blue_diamond:It is never good to use “adapters”,…no matter where in the signal chain.
These I regard as toys,and would never put into a music-system.

/Peder🙂