Ethernet Cable and USB type

I use one between wall socket and by hhb6 - twisted copper pair. Better than the freebie that came with the router.

Glad it’s working for you.
I’m always open to considering it again.
Not quite sure whether it’s worth it if one has nothing to switch, i.e. non-NAS or other bits to join together.
Or is there another benefit that I’m missing?

at the moment I’m still discovering masses of new stuff that I love on tidal.
e.g. last night lots of John Zorn stuff I’ve never heard, and would probably never have heard unless it was there at my fingertips
I’ve got hundreds of tracks saved to listen to but still unearthing more than I’m able to listen to, so the list is still expanding
I may one day move over to Qobuz, but tidal is working a treat for me at the moment…

thanks Xanthe
I have a vague memory that you described some kind of ‘sandwich’ of types of wood and/or resin that had relevant damping properties for your room…
perhaps others on that same thread were using concrete blocks and marble slabs
all the best
Jim

Having finally taken home from my Dealer a selection of various ‘HiFi’ Ethernet cables and began working my way through them I’ve found they vary a lot and I may have had some bad luck with the matching of one I tried way-back when I took delivery of the ND555.

Half-way through and so far the best sounding is the Audioquest Cinnamon, which does do something more than my CAT5e without (so far) adding any spoiling effects.

From what I’m hearing these cables all ‘voice’ differently and you may prefer different ones depending on the rest of your system characteristics.

DB.

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Yes DB, it’s only my experience. I can’t say that there’s not cheap cables that can’t do better vs the ones i have. I have just not found it yet. I prefer for now just enjoy what i have. When funds will be better i will probably first concentrate on the nd555…
I tried the audioquest forrest , but the meicord was for me a lot better sounding. The best, as you know, for me, is the audioquest diamond i have now.
I didn’t tried the cinnamon.

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I borrowed what my Dealer had to hand to try over the weekend for a few days. He had a Melco one, a Audioquest Forrest and Cinnamon. The Melco cable in my system was quite good but a little too bright (but may suit another system balance) - the Forrest was very clear and melodic but the Cinnamon does female vocals far better with my system with better harmonic rendering in the upper-ranges.

Some others to try but already pleased with the Cinnamon so far so will run that for a while. The tonal balance is very different with all these - I prefer the mid not to be over-lean which some of the cables tended toward.

Bits are Bits…:joy: :bear:

DB.

the audioquest vodka, after the cinnamon in the range, is perhaps the most dynamic, with the most muscular sound. The best place in my system is between the router and the switch.
The diamond, the top of the range, is the most refined , colorful and fluent, the most natural sounding for me. The voices, piano…are more real and have body.

…for now I’m getting the Melco to ND555 link sorted - then I’ll go for the next network link down the line.

I rejected standard CAT7 cable elsewhere and my default is CAT5e for a baseline for me and it does not seem to ‘shout’ or have other effects that I found the commercial version of CAT7 had wherever I put it downstream where I should not have heard it having any effect - I had though until I heard it did.

The other links I’ll upgrade later, but from what I’m hearing at present the critical link for my system is Melco to ND555, which I’d expect.

DB.

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Yes, that’s the place I’m looking to put it, from wall socket to PlusNet router. This will replace the thin grey freebie flat cable that came with the router, which was an RJ11 to RJ11 and which I think was not twisted and therefore will have more chance of picking up EM noise.
What plugs does the one you bought have?

The rj11 type also :+1:

So data flowing between NAS and streamer is not going through it??

What type of cable is it?

the best place for the vodka cable…the 2 diamonds are in the most important places…

Hi jimdog- it’s the eBay cable yuh we’re looking at earlier in the thread…

Interesting after the SR Reference Ethernet let down and removing the fibre bridge i had a spare Meicord Opal, so did a few easy swaps.

I replaced the Chord Indigo (sits on the last leg, switch to streamer) with a Meicord meaning from Raspberry Pi, Router, Switch and Streamer my whole loom was Meicord Opal, the result was a major let down, best description was a very limp, light weight sound with a shrill to it.

I then thought let me try the Chord Indigo router to switch, result was very encouraging, but moving it back to the last leg is best.

I personally feel the Cisco switch responds very well to power, fuse and ethernet TLC, but more thinking what another Chord Indigo router to switch with one on the last leg would sound like :thinking:

It’s funny - this thread seems to be a microcosm of the wider debate on ethernet cables.
There are some theoretical reasons why a ethernet cable that’s compliant with the categories should be enough to transfer the data efficiently. There are also people who have tested a range of ethernet cables and found either no differences, or very small ones, or that the cheaper cables sounded better (e.g. Xanthe).
But there’s lots of empirical evidence that expensive ethernet cables can sound better.
In this and other threads there are many including Nigel B, Obsidian, French Rooster and now DB saying they hear very distinct differences in the tonality and other qualities of various cheap and expensive ethernet cables at various places in their vaired systems and rooms and tastes. And there’s the interesting fact that Naim demos in at least one place used a specialist Chord ethernet cable.
One thing that makes it hard to reach a consensus in this area is that most of us can’t afford to buy the top end cables and cannot borrow them either. So many people who are interested just have no evidence to go on. And also that some of the effects may only become apparent for those whose systems are sensitive enough to register them, and these are often systems where everything else has been very carefully attended to and invested in.
anyway - it’s a fasincating area that can only become more important as (if) streaming continues to take hold as perhaps the main way of listening to music…???

Dealers will usually lend you demo cables, and online retailers are obliged to let you return items that you find to be unsuitable, so borrowing cables us easy.

Good point.
(There are no dealers near where I live, but I can buy cables and return them if they don’t work - although that is a fairly risky and complicated way of trying a cable.)

The problem with these sorts of discussions is that there are so many variables involved (including subjective perception of improvements). System setup and layout is different for all of us and system complexity varies too (more interconnect cables for example in say an active system). The ‘noise’ environment the system sits in is different as well (is there a high level of background RF – lots of wireless networks nearby for example, other local interference sources).

One thing to consider - As well as the possible ingress of noise into the streamer via the Ethernet cable, there will also be noise radiated out from the streamer via the Ethernet cable into the local environment (ie around the other system components). Its effects will vary due to cable construction, cable routing, proximity to other sensitive devices (pre-amps, interconnects etc) and the more sensitive component’s RF susceptibility.

Best just experiment with a few budget cables and don’t get too hung up on cable types and bold claims from the boutique suppliers. These really are small tweaks to get the best out of the system, rather than box swap level changes.

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