OK thanks, Cat6 is unscreened & Cat6A has a screen, but its a ‘passive’ screen meaning it does not carry a connection between any of the shrouded ports on your 272 & switch.
FYI: I believe the Vodka has its screen disconnected at one end, so it too does not carry a port to port shroud connection.
I’ve been with unscreened for a while, screens have the potential to add more problems than they solve - albeit at the bat eared listener level.
Have fun with the colours, I will not however be impatient waiting for that result.
Metallic or metal shrouded RJ45 plugs are only needed for those cables that are designed to connect to the STP screen, this will typically be with Cat-6A & Cat-7 cables, but not limited exclusively as Cat-5 & 6 can also be screened.
Both Cat6 and Cat6a can be screened or unscreened, however Cat6a is far more likely to be screened. The screen may be connected at both ends or unconnected. The ‘Cats’ don’t specify cable construction only signal transmission specifications.
Cat6a is ‘augmented’ and for some of the values meets a somewhat tighter set of specs.
What problems? I just don’t get it. If the music is flowing as it should and everything is crystal clear and it is involving, where are these ‘potential’ problems?
That’s the problem Stephen. Someone can be over the moon with their system and get great enjoyment from it. They come across a thread on a forum and find they may have a ‘problem’ that they never knew existed. They go and try to fix the ‘problem’ and end up fiddling around, not sure if they are going in the right direction and finding they are spending more time worrying about the little things and not enjoying what they once had. Get the basics right and all will be fine - fine tuning can be the icing on the cake of an already good balanced system. Constant fiddling shows problems elsewhere (and not necessarily with the Hi-Fi…)
The problems with Ethernet cables are all due to interaction of electrical noise with the music player.
Electrical noise is all around and can never be completely eliminated. Everything plugged into the mains is a source of noise, and every bit of wire connecting things together affects the noise.
Noise is generated by the streamer and the switch (and the router/NAS/telephone system/mains etc). This noise is modified (referred to as ‘shaped’) by the cable and this is seen as an additional (unwanted) input to the streamer along with the digital signal that carries the music. The designers of the streamers do their best to ‘block out’ this noise but some of it inevitably still gets through and upsets the analogue electronics.
So, although the main digital signal carrying the music is unchanged, this extraneous noise is changed by the cable, and so the effect it has on the streamer is different depending on the different noise ‘shaping’ done by each different cable.
Thanks for your explanation here Xanthe, I sort of understand a bit clearer now. Crikey I best leave well alone then. Im at a good place right now, I don’t experience any noise or have any network problems as such, everything just works. Saved me some money too. I think i’ll just buy more music instead. Interesting thread though, even though I do feel a little lost with the technical stuff. Thanks again.
I did peek in the window at my local dealer as I was passing through and all I could see was Vodka written on a box, I was tempted but I’ve managed to beat addictions before, so I just carried on. Ended up buying a couple of pizzas in Lidl instead! Phew!
Good move, keep taking the tablets & regular lay downs in a darkened room,
then re-e-e-e-lax, deep breaths & then take a low slow considered look at this list, all are prices in GBP for 5m of cable, where would you like to be ??
Connectix Cat-5e UTP 3.50
Startech Cat-6 UTP 4.00
Connectix Cat-6 UTP 4.59
Blue Jeans Cat-5e UTP 12.50
Blue Jeans Cat-6 UTP 17.00
Blue Jeans Cat-6A STP 26.50
AQ Pearl Cat-7 STP 59.00
Cord C-Stream Cat-7 STP 75.00
MeiCord Cat-6 UTP 90.00
AQ Cinnamon Cat-7 STP 149.00
AQ Vodka Cat-7 STP 759.00
AQ Diamond Cat-7 STP 3439.00
Chord Music Streaming Mini-Coax 11199.00
That’s just crazy scary prices!!
Luckily for me the longest cable I will ever need is just 1.5 metres long - I only have one Vodka and two Cinnamons so far - still crazy prices I know but they have all been on a trial before buy basis. The Vodka cable brought with it a significant upgrade in my system, I just need to resist going any further with it as i’m really enjoying my music at the moment. Could of I have done things cheaper? well yes but I could of also bought a Bose system for a lot less money too. Anyway my point was, is that I have resisted going any further for now and just getting on with my life thus far. I’m tempted to purchase some BJCs myself as HH is doing and then maybe claw back some money if things turn out better than expected…?
I am not a frequent poster here, but always reading and I thought I might throw in my recent experiences. All the usual caveats apply since everyone will have different network conditions, different ears and preferences. Have been very happy with my system for years and so far, everything digital, upstream of my NDS, has been standard gear. BT router and qnap nas and into Netgear gs104 in office, cat 6 stp underfloor to music room straight into NDS. Latterly have added Cisco 2960, Roon Rock and Sonore upnp bridge into the music room. All with cheap cat5e cable. For years I have worked on the principle that if this sounded as good as a usb stick into the NDS, then all was well with the network. After much testing and tweaking, I now believe there is much to be gained upstream of the NDS Ethernet port. The Cisco was a revelation and was further improved considerably with a decent kimber iec cable. This leap in SQ led me to investigate Ethernet cables. For the first time, via the Cisco, I could hear clear differences between low cost cat5e and cat6a (with and without shielding). The cat 5e, with a couple of ferrites added, sounded to me more natural, less immediately impressive HF and ultimately more musical than cat 6.
I have since had a number of posh ethernet cables on home trial and eventually went with a Shunyata Sigma. Not a cheap cable and to be clear, I wanted the cheap cat5e to show up the Shunyata as a silly indulgence, freeing my upgrade budget for other things (552 piggy bank for example). However as an overall value proposition it worked very well for me. I think it is wrong to expect massive changes from an Ethernet cable, but after 3 days with the Shunyata, I found that it brought a great deal to the table in that it lowers the noise floor and gives space around instruments, makes vocals more natural, transients come across with more vigour and even low bass is more articulate. However it is in the timing stakes where I continue to be most impressed - I am making out beginnings and endings of notes much more easily, everything just flows with a natural ease. I can hear much of the same basic detail on cheap cat5e, but the Shunyata does a lot to improve the overall presentation of that detail, or data if you will.
Having opened a window to the NDS, I honestly feel like I can really hear it for the first time. Tragic really as I have had it for almost 5 years! Subsequently added some Melco Ethernet cables for the roon server and bridge which again adds a sense of composure, thought not as important as that last connection to nds.
If you are in the bits are bits camp, just ignore all the above. I can’t provide an acceptable scientific or engineering hypothesis. That has never been a barrier for me, I couldn’t tell you how a basic amp works either!
Funny, I’ve just looked on the Shunyata site and came across this - “Venom & Alpha cables have the option to upgrade the ethernet connectors to the metal ones as used on the Sigma cable”.
before each listening i begin to contemplate the telegartner plugs, and speak to me” whouah! how beautiful are my tegartners! “. I gives me positive feedback before listening.
keep taking the tablets & regular lay downs in a darkened room,
