Hi Everyone,
Been trying out a few ethernet cables the past 2 weeks. Asked 2 AI platforms and got conflicting responses and advice.
My question is … will unshielded (utp) or shielded normally let more high frequencies pass through? I’m trying to increase sparkle. Something to do with capacitance…explanation I didn’t quite understand.
Thanks
Cables won’t add anything. The best you can hope for is to reduce noise and data loss. Generally shielded cables will be better for this than unshielded cables. Quality of cable connection is probably where the best improvement can come from, unless of course you are running your ethernet cables past high speed motors and generators.
Edit: In a home environment, keep your cables away from fluorescent lights and don’t run them alongside power lines.
Don’t trust AI, yes it contains a wealth of information, but it’s gathered from all over the inter web and that can have contradictory or even incorrect information.
Ethernet performance is not affected by capacitance or other variables that can affect audio as it can with IC or speaker cables.
Which cables have you tried?
“Richard…they’re talking about Ethernet cables again!”
I have 20m+ of armoured Ethernet cable running from my house to cabin at the top of the garden. It contains shielding but is not grounded so I guess it’s unshielded. Works fine for me, SQ is excellent.
You want it connected one end ( normally the beginning of the cable ) if not the shield can act as an antenna, picking up external electromagnetic interference (EMI) and radio frequency interference (RFI
I know but I fitted it myself and omitted that because it didn’t show on the Ethernet wiring diagram I was using. Sounds fine to me so not worried. It’s connected to a WiFi booster at the house end and my streamer is connected via WiFi in the cabin so it’s not a purist setup anyway 
I would not be concened about using a STP without grounding the shield.
BlueJeans Cable have a floating shield with their Cat 6a.
It prevents both possible LAN ground loops & protects against external interference.
First of all, whether or not the ethernet cables are shielded will not affect the digital data carried through them (unless they run through andextremely electrically noisy environment, when that possibility might arise). Shielding, if done properly will reduce electrical noise pick up. Electrical noise, twice primarily in the form of RF, if it reaches the DAC it can modulate the analogue audio output altering the sound, some DACs being far more sensitive susceptible to this than others. If you are interested in your system reproducing music as closely as possible to the recording , and if everything else in your system is neutral, then there will s nothing negative about reducing noise picked up by the Ethernet cable, so nothing negative about screening IF done properly (done wrongly, as others have said, could make worse as the shield could act as an aerial).
Whether you would hear a difference in your system, with your electrical environment and your DAC, is impossible to predict. Meanwhile bear in mind that the effect of RF modulating the audio mught not necessarily be negative to your ears: e.g. one reported effect of ground plane modulation is an increase in perceived “brightness” of the sound: people with dull sounding systems (or esrs!) or simply preferring a brighter sound might feel it is beneficial.
