That’s interesting Pat, please remind me which one you use?
I think you’re right in terms of price. I did have a chat with the chaps at Chord when I first heard the EE and they were saying that, with an LPS, they just didn’t like what it did to timing. That’s something I’d not want to ruin, how did you find that when you tried your LPS?
Hi BF
Did you try the Sonore opticalRendu with a Naim streamer?
Jim
Hi Jim, no I didn’t. By the time I bought the OR, I had already auditioned all those dacs & streamers and decided that the Chord, MSB and DCS dacs out performed the ND555 to these cloth ears.
I bought the Chord combo and then heard how matters improved when we streamed via the OR versus going straight from the Audiostore Prestige to the M Scaler. The Aurilac G2 was good too but outclassed by the DCS Network Bridge, so ultimately my choice became DCS Network Bridge or OR.
Best regards, BF
Thanks BF.
Do you know anyone who uses a Sonore opticalRendu with a Naim streamer?
No Jim. Reverting to your previous question though, Sonore and the Audiostore in the UK both claim that EtherRegen + OpticalRendu together deliver better sound than Cisco 2960 switch + Sonore OpticalModule + OpticalRendu.
Cynics may claim that they would say that, just to sell more product. However, Martin Smith doesn’t come across that way to me, so an EtherRegen will be coming to our system at some point for a trial. However a pair of Wave High Fidelity BNC cables will come first for the M Scaler to DAVE connection.
Best regards, BF
Interesting.
So if you currently have Audiostore server, Cisco 2960, Sonore OpticalRendu streamer, DAC.
Then you will have Audiostore server, EtherRegen, OpticalRendu, DAC?
With or without a Cisco in the chain depending on whether it sounds better?
Two points spring to mind:
They are probably correct that in most systems ER + oR will beat Cisco + oM + oR. (But an ER costs 10 times more than a used Cisco and is explcitly design for audio.) And actually Hans B does say that adding the ER with his oR did make it sound better. But he said the uplift was a lot less dramatic than the uplift he gets from pairing an ER with other streamers.
Have Sonore and Audiostore ever tested Cisco 2960s? Or Cisco 2960s in a PoE configuration? Frankly, I doubt it. (And I am also a fan of Martin from Audiostore and have discussed switches etc with him a few times). But I don’t recall Martin telling me that he’s ever tested a Cisco.
Hi Jim,
Cisco 2960 was the reference switch that John Swenson & Sonore chose as the benchmark to beat for the etherRegen project, so they are very familiar with that family. As to which version of the 8 port Cisco 2960 family, I have no idea.
The etherRegen has to run “backwards” with the opticalRendu, so it effectively only has one B side RJ45 input, with the output taken from the “A” side optical SFP socket. For this reason, we are going to keep the Cisco 2960 switch in the system, feeding the etherRegen’s B side input. The Cisco will also feed the TV, the Virgin Media box and a couple of other networked devices.
I’ll take Martin Smith’s advice on whether to feed the Prestige server in via the Cisco or directly into the etherRegen.
This streaming stuff isn’t 'arf complicated!
Best regards, BF
Fascinating. I didn’t know that Swenson used the Cisco as a benchmark when designing and testing the ER.
Is that all written about on those long threads on audiophile style et al?
Now, without wishing to upset anybody, (because these threads have become rather pleasant exchanges of experience), are we still in the “suck it and see” stage of experimentation ?
Or are there a few reliable “indicators” as to what might be worth trying and what is probably worth discarding ?
“indicators” might be either consistently and widely acknowledged improvements in sound quality, some consistent combination of components or some consistent element of specification or manufacture.
Well said Don, an exchange of experiences - whats changed ?? - don’t answer that.
AFAIC I’m watching this & other forums & waiting for some meaningful www/magazine reviews on the Thunder Data Co based switches, their own Bonn H8 & the Chord EE 8Switch.
I’m not ready to go with any at the moment, interesting posts on this forum & more so on Linn. The up coming Hifi Critic review will be useful, then maybe the CC will start twitching.
I should be able to come out with some detailed comparisons of the Ciscos, Melco and EtherRegen in my system next week.
Please let us know highlights/conclusions of this research, when you have any.
Also, what does ‘more so on Linn’ mean?
More conclusive, easier to understand
Yes, I am waiting for that too.
Well, I’ve emailed Richard to send the Melco S100 back.
I’m quite frankly astonished than anyone could find it to equal a “naked” EtherRegen never mind one with an external reference clock like the SoTM or Mutec.
There’s no doubting the Melco has a very unfatiguing, rich sound with a low noise floor, wide soundstage and “pop-out” separation. The latter is quite impressive on some music but however entirely unnatural and can have strange effects on acoustic instruments, spraying pianos, guitars and drum kit across the sound stage.
The biggest and most unpalatable defect of the Melco for me, however, is that it smears and dulls the tones and textures of classical instruments.
Some people may find piano treble or violin a little harsher without a switch or with the Cisco or EtherRegen, but that is what they sound like, and losing this loses a considerable degree of expressiveness. Everyone who was tortured with blind testing agreed with this, though using their own terms, which included, dull, flat and closed off amongst other adjectives. There was also a full consensus that the S100 was less involving than the EtherRegen.
If you mainly listen to rock and electronica you may find this less of a problem, depending on whether or not you are also a PRaT fanatic. Everything is softened and mellowed on the Melco. It definitely wasn’t for me, and after near on 150 hours burn-in from new I was very happy to get it out of the system.
Adding an external power supply does lift things in most areas, but not massively and certainly not anywhere near enough where fidelity of classical instrument replay was concerned.
There is no doubt in my mind that this switch was designed with a particular sort of sound in mind rather than to get rid of ground plane interference/jitter/phase noice etc., and it’s definitely not a sound I’m looking for. It has put me even more off Melco, overall, and confirmed my impression that certain types of high-end gear pursue very different priorities to my own.
This was all in a system consisting of Roon Nucleus+ with internal Samsung pro SSD drive and Sean Jacobs DC3+ LPS, ND555 with 2x555DS PS, Naim NAC 552, Naim NAP 500 and Shahinian Diapason speakers. I use two Sean Jacobs Powerblack mains distribution blocks, which outperformed my old Powerigel.
Your mileage may of course vary with other equipment.
Where the new English Electric fits in with all this I have no idea, never having heard one.
Instrumental tone and texture are superior in my system with no switch than with the Melco. I think it loses some of this as a trade-off for a very low noise floor. The S100 sounds like it works as a filter.
I certainly wouldn’t recommend that anyone get a Melco S100 without an audition or sale or return home trial. I’d also recommend that you do the same if you are thinking of a linear power supply for one. I did not find it made nearly as big a difference as adding one to the EtherRegen for example (or Roon Nucleus for that matter). Possibly the stock SMPS has been improved since the early models or something else has happened. The SMPS certainly doesn’t look that impressive. But then, the S100 has a low current draw (12V 1A).
I’m a little sad to be so negative, but although having a quite nice sensuous lower midrange/upper bass hump, I found this a very disappointing product for the aspects that most matter to me: acoustic instrument fidelity and PRaT.
I would certainly recommend a PD Cisco with bundled external power supply over the Melco at a tenth of the price and very definitely the EtherRegen at less than half the price. I find the EtherRegen immeasurably more satisfying musically and so did everyone who heard both it and Melco in my system.
I just ordered the Catsnake cat 6a. Will report how it will interact with my ER and Melco.
I’ve just emailed them to see if they’d supply to Aus. 
Let us know how you get on… 
I ordered from EBay and asked them to send me the floating option.
However, as said Nigel, I find it curious that the uplift is so big vs the Vodka.
For now all the inexpensive cables I tried, included the Meicord, Blue Jeans cat 6a…were clearly inferior to the vodka I have in my system.
I will try this last test for ethernet cables, I hope it will be my last test.
For now my pre is out for service, so the cable will have some many days to run in.
Back just listening to music with the EtherRegens tonight and the system really does sound so much more lifelike and natural and expressive to my ears than with the Melco switch!