Re short ethernet cables: There is no specification that stipulates minimum cable length in any protocol.
Some switches have an EEE feature that lowers or raises carrier voltage against sensed cable length. Depending on brand & spec some have this feature as an optional on/off setting, others are always on, others have no EEE, but this is concerned with switch power consumption rather than cable optimisation.
I looked into Cisco www & the cable length (voltage) change point was for 30m or 50m cable length dependant on ports Gigabit speed, so unlikely to have much relevance for the home environmentā¦
But if you think you hear different - no probs
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I intend to replace the 3 metre runs of cat5e with shorter runs of cat6. If 0.75 metres sounds OK (for this application) to those in the know that would help with cable dressing. I am happy to experiment with alternatives between NAS-switch-272 but do not want to extend into the realms of exotica for financial reasons. For further info the cat6 runs externally 15 - 20 metres to kitchen and spare room. As you can see I have a bit of a mix and match and wondered if a few changes would help.
One issue I have recently noticed is following a download fro HD tracks 96/24 flac. I cant seem to be able to play the album simultaneously on the 272 and Muso. One or the other works fine but not together. I wondered if this was a network issue. All other cd rips work fine.
Netgear GS208 switch
Synology Nas DS216J
Thanks
Hi Peder, thatās not an intrinsic property of the cable, that a property of the interaction of the cable, the system and the environment in which you are using the cable.
Have you done the same for many (~31 to make the comparison fair) āordinaryā Ethernet patch or install cables - as opposed to those with audiophile pretentions)?
Did you take precautions to prevent expectation bias and group consensus influence?
(If not then, statistically, your results will reflect the nature of your group rather more strongly than the cables themselves!)
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@anon4489532,ā¦Interesting,.which cables have you compared to Blue Jeans Cable cat6a in your music-system,which costs twenty times more.?
Iāve only read in the thread āEthernet Switch and Cables Maniaā,.that you have compared to Audioquest Vodka,that you owned.
But I may have missed some post from you in that thread.
And,.that cable (AQ Vodka) costs Absolutely Not,twenty times more than Blue Jeans Cable cat6aā¦!!
A strange statement,.which gives me associations to what Nick.Lees wrote in the thread āEthernet Switch and Cables Maniaā,see belowā¦
ā¢ Nick.Lees wroteā¦
"And as a general thought - anyone on a Hi-Fi forum who suggests someone stop posting their thoughts and findings and ājust listen to musicā has ājust lost the argumentā. "
Stay safeā¦
/Pederš
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I think your problem is that Naim multiroom will not work with HiRes material.
More precisely, the 272 only works as multiroom server with files up to 24/48 in WAV, FLAC and AIFF.
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Well that solves that. Thanks Chris SU
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If you use multiroom a lot, there are a couple if possible solutions.
The expensive one is to get a new generation Naim streamer that will play in multiroom mode with 24/96 files.
The free one is to convert your 24/96 files to 24/48. I doubt the difference in sound quality will be significant.
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Please accept my apologies for my exaggeration. An AQ Vodka 0.75m costs Ā£249. A BJ Cat 6a costs Ā£13.25. Thatās 18.79 times as much.
I fully understand that some people like nothing more than testing and assessing hifi and accessories. I was merely saying to the OP - if they simply want something reliable that you can fit and forget - that BJC 6a are a good choice and work well. I prefer them to a cable that costs 18.79 times as much and recommend them to the OP, who can follow that recommendation or ignore it; it matters not to me.
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Thanks again. Although I seem to have started something.
I think I may try some short cat6 patch cables from switch to distribution socket. Donāt think I need anything fancy here as two are unconnected atm, the other 2 connect to the TV and Muso in kitchen. Will go for the cable monkey for this.
For now I will try BJ cat6a between switch and 272 and keep the C stream between switch and Nas. I could use the spare C stream between router and switch or replace with a short patch cable - cable monkey or even BJ. I presume those who advocate longer length cables are suggesting this is only important between nas-switch-streamer.
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Ca5e, Cat6 or 6a are ideal - they all work and BJC is highly reputable source. I use Connectix Cat 6a from Cable Monkey for my home network with Blue Jeans Cat 5e patch leads to connect devices to my in room HP switches.
You can pay a lot more if you want to, but personally I wouldnāt nor would I worry about cable length as you are looking for long runs. Your network looks fine to me. You can experiment with where to put the C-Stream if you want to retain it, Iād put in on a non-critical part of the network or replace it, but try it.
There are much better things to spend money on and as long as you use fully qualified network cables then all will be as good as it gets.
Same here, spent some $60 on three 2m CAT 6a cables from Blue Jeans Company and I am very happy with them. Auditioned against AudioQuest Cinnamon and Atlas Hyper Streaming cables and preferred the BJC for exactly the same reasons mentioned before in this and other threads.
I found it hard to believe at first that there was a difference, but it was quite audible in my setup which is not even very fancy compared to some others on this forum.
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Look at the āEthernet Switch and Cables Maniaāā¦ but briefly - I donāt advise reading the whole sorry story)! I donāt think you need to be concerned about āstarting somethingā!
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This thread is beginning to be similar to the very long one cited by Xanthe.
@frenchrooster,ā¦Exactly,.and itās our technical specifications-people who are āon itā again,BUT,.good luckā¦
The rest of us listen,.and listen again,draw conclusions,.share experiences and listening impressions.
And choose the best that we can afford.
ā¢This from a musical perspective,.not a technical specification perspective.
I personally have so much knowledge and experience in testing and evaluating products,.so I find it tragic to read such statements as above.
I am not even going to put energy in responding to these statements.
My advice to those of you who read in the threadā¦āEthernet Switch and Cables Maniaā isā¦
Listen to those who have really tested seriously,.what they are talking about.
The others you can ignoreā¦!!
If you follow that advice,.there is incredibly relevant knowledge and experience to download in that thread.
Good luckā¦
/Pederš
Up to @StuW, but there are people on here who simply like playing with cables and others who prefer to follow the science and best practice when it comes to networking. The second way gives superb musical presentation without great cost or messing around. The first way is described by its advocates as mania.
Good luck, stay safe and enjoy the music.
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One thing very interesting is the variation in opinion between different people, and sometimes changing conclusions over time.
The effect of any particular cable(s), switch(s), or permutation thereof, will depend on the specific streamer or renderer+DAC, some possibly being quite immune to network related effects through effective inbuilt isolation, and others very susceptible (which may be unrelated to price or audio quality). It will also depend on the rest of the network. It is therefore a pity that some of the people posting on the other very long thread seem to have been reticent with information. To be meaningful to others it really is important that people identify these. How revealing the rest of the audio system is may also be significant, so for full clarity should be identified, though the room influence may need to be excluded as often not readily identified. Effects will also depend on the electrical environment the network is in, though of course there is no way people are likely to be able to give meaningful information about that.
Something I find odd is the apparent lack of popularity of blind testing, despite how easy it is to do - I commend it to anyone comparing expensive boutique cables or switches or whatever with less expensive alternatives, as price is no guarantee of beneficial effect, and the marketplace is open to anyone wishing to exploit peopleās willingness to believe hype and marketing.
Meanwhile course, one solution if you have your own stored music is to avoid streaming across a network - and even disconnect the network entirely subject to control capability.
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It appears everyone has an opinion which is surely goodā¦ if you are interested in mine, all I can say, and I work in the ICT business including DCMS, is that I can definitely recommend Cat 5e or Cat 6 cables for home network use. They are fine and designed to work well for the speeds we use upto 100 metres.
These days there is very little difference between the cost of 5e and 6, so if you might as well as go for Cat 6 if available.
I canāt really recommend 6A for patch leads, as it really was intended for infrastructure wiring and higher speeds than most consumer network equipment supports, I also would not recommend 7 as there is no benefit for our applications, and seems to attract a āconsumerā premium aimed at those assuming a higher number is automatically better, until very recently it wasnāt even officially recognised for Ethernet use.
I use predominately Cat5e for my home infrastructure wiring with sync speeds upto 1Gbps and I use managed network equipment, and over the last 4 years I have transferred many billions of bytes of data, and I can see that I have not had one single bad data bit of data through corruption anywhere on my networking cables.
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The majority of members enjoyed the cat 6a from Blue Jeans. Audio world and pro ā¦
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OK thanks, lots of differing opinions and some useful info. In an attempt to find some middle ground (and without disappearing down the rabbit hole) Iām going to order 4x bog standard cat6, 0.5 metres from cable monkey for switch to distribution socket.
1x0.75 metres of BJC cat6 from router to switch and 2x2 metres of BJC cat6a for NAS - switch - 272.
Seems like a safe bet on reviewing all the recommendations. I may try experimenting with C stream vs BJC to see if I can hear any difference. Will report back when set up. Although I am also getting my naca5 amp plugs re-terminated as it isnāt up to standard. This may confuse the evaluation.
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Excellent plan, Iām sure you will not be disappointed
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