Ethernet Switch and Cables Mania

I ordered the cables with floating shields as per MichealB’s suggestion and the ones I’ve checked, which is all of them apart from the one installed on the Tivo have no continuity between the metal shrouds. My switches are Cisco SG110D-08s which is maybe why I get different results with this cable than most here.

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The Cisco SG110D does not have screened ports, so that fixes all questions about LAN screen grounding.
SG110D #me too.

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:small_blue_diamond:Today,.Skiing, Sauna and Beer :beer:, Dinner.

And now we,.some friends,will listen to a couple of new speaker-cables from Acoustic Revive.
So right now,.life feels pretty good :heart_eyes:.

Have a nice Saturday-evening…
/Peder😃

Surely Peder you should be listening to music not how the cable sounds. For me it’s about the music not listening to cables.

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How are you powering your OpticalModule? I’ve tried a battery pack but could not tell the difference compaired to the 5v out of my HDPLEX.

Uptone LPS-2 on the receiving end (right before the streamer) and at the moment iFi 5v at the sending end. I was powering the sending with an HDPLEX but for some reason the 5v rail went dead on me. Don’t notice any difference for the sending, but did notice a change on the receiving going from an LPS-1 to an LPS-2.

I agree with you the OpticalModule is a very worthwhile addition. Mine attaches my Roon Nuc to my Melco S100 switch which has 2 optical inputs, the other goes to a Cisco switches optical input.

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Does the EtherRegen have an optical input?

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I have also previously pointed out that in my system UTP cables routinely outperform STP cables.

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Yes.

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Can you say a bit more about how you use the optical module (or optical rendu) in your setup?
And what it does for sq?

This becomes indeed interesting!
No cable shielding and no pair shielding, outperforming shielded cables in terms of sound. Less/different noise transmission, different interaction with the streamer’s network section?

This is a cheap tweak to try.

I never really spent time trying or “auditioning” Ethernet cables.

I own an AQ Vodka (I bought for some silly reason). That “boutique” cable provided no audible difference. A couple of month later plugged the cat.6a back, made no difference. Plugged the AQ Vodka back again. The Vodka looks nicer :joy:

But I spent quite some time terminating myself all our Ethernet cables (including wall sockets). I wasn’t satisfied with the job done by the electrician. That probably could have made a difference. But didn’t pay attention.

Trying an unshielded cable could make sense!

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I use Connectix Cable Systems Cat 6 UTP (not the 6a, that’s SFTP and didn’t work as well as the Cat 6 UTP), they’re available from CPC Farnell (for about 1% of the price of the AQ Vodka).

Incidentally, in my system, I found the Connectix Cable Systems Cat 6 UTP slightly better than the Meicord UTP.

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That was consistently the case for me until I tried BJC Cat6a and then DC Belden CatSnake Cat6a. Both, however, have floating shielding so are strictly speaking not Cat6a

Cat 6a is defined by its electrical characteristics, not by it’s construction, it’s actually possible to get Cat 6a UTP.

I use MeiCord ‘Opal’ Cat-6 UTP from NAS to switch to NDX. MeiCord is a bit expensive for what is in effect a basic Cat-6, but it does have some sensible engineering that MieCord have researched & applied to optimise performance - plus each cable is conformance tested, so you do get what you are paying for.

The other is BLC Cat-6 UTP from wireless hub to switch. I needed to replace that cable (Lindy Cat-6) which was too long & coiled up, so as BJC was this weeks fave-rave, why not. A marginal change for the better.

The MeiCords replaced a cycle of Supra, AQ & some others borrowed for demo/testing, that was a year or two ago, I’m not going anywhere looking for something that does it better.

Ah. Thanks for pointing that out. I’d read somewhere that the shielding was part of the deal in the difference between Cat6 and 6a. Just goes to show…

Having believed that was all there was to it, I was surprised to find I preferred the BJC Cat6a to their Cat6 - more detail and texture in my system.

Indeed, crosstalk reduction which means performances up to ~500Mhz

What I don’t get is why/how unshielded cables would provide better results. Shielding acting like an antenna?

The foils of SFTP cabling should prevent potentiel EMI from interacting with twisted pairs and crosstalk between pairs.

But I have to admit I have very limited knowledge thereon.

Just so, I have seen mention of Cat-6e which is supposed to improve further.
I have also read in a number of places (BJC if I recall was one) that with shorter runs, Cat-6 can out-perform Cat-6A. Not that we need it, 100Mb/s & 100MHz “fast” ethernet is more than all we need