Hi everyone, I’ve done some searching on here but I’m getting bogged down in the intricacies of everyone’s different network setups.
So, hopefully a simple question.
I have a Uniti Core attached to my BT Wi-Fi Mesh system. It is plugged into one of the Mesh discs using a cheap network cable. Is there any sound quality benefit in using a better network cable at this point?
(My ND555 and Muso QB are connected to the Network wirelessly )
The wireless network works seamlessly.
I very much doubt that changing a cable here would make any difference to your wirelessly connected ND555.
Thanks James. Pretty much my thinking, but just wondering what others may have experienced.
Hi @Steve57 
…
My experience in this lovely but strange interest is…
To take nothing for granted, instead always try it yourself in your own music-system.
As example:
I hear a difference in the soundquality just by reversing the direction of the ethernet-cable,.that sits between the incoming fiber-box and the router.
Hi Steve, big mistake, you’ve part opened Pandora’s box. You have an itch and it’s odds on you will (you must) scratch it.
Best way forward is to pick a reasonably priced forum favourite such as CatSnake or BlueJeans Cable and try it.
But PS: I tend to agree with James in that you probably won’t hear much difference.
What BT system do you have?
An older BT Hub with the white discs
Or the Smart Hub 2 Complete WiFi (black discs)
Hi Mike, sorry for the delay in responding. I have a Smart Hub 2 which has 5 of the the older white discs attached. We have only just had the router upgraded by BT, but the mesh was in place before that change.
I’ll be keeping the white discs as we may have to contemplate mobile broadband if BT don’t get their act together with full fibre in our area. (We struggle to get 8 or 9 Mbps ) it’s fine for audio but HD video can be a challenge! The black discs only work with the BT Smart Hub 2.
Anyway, that having been said, the WiFi works well and I can’t fault the mesh system for ease of use and performance.
I have now tried a used Chord Shawline Ethernet cable in between the Core and the mesh disc and to my surprise it has made a difference. The sound definitively has more body and detail rendition has not suffered. In fact I’d say it is more detailed and more realistic. The difference is certainly immediately audible and at used prices, a bargain to be honest. I was very sceptical but there is a clear uplift.
Cheap upgrade to be honest!
Hi Steve, no problems …
If its all working OK, I’d stick
I’m not a fan of the white discs as I had issues with trying to sort them in a friends house, he had an older BT hub, either a 4 or 5.
I get 74 mb/s from BT (not fibre, only CTTP)
The BT SmartHub2 has been excellent, its faultless, however I had low signal areas in an upstairs far corner & the side garden/garage area, so I had one black disc added under the BT complete home contract, that fixed the low signal areas and made other parts of house and garden even better.
My Naim & NAS are connected by ethernet straight off the SH2 via a switch, all the rest, including TV’s, are wireless, no probs with HD TV.
Nice to hear the ethernet change Core to disc turned out well.
…only bogged down…this subject has been covered ad nauseam. There is only one valid answer to your simple question…that which sounds best to you; simples. A P’s box has already been mentioned; you stand on the abyss; beware!
One trick which I believe can make a slight difference to internet speed, ymmv, is the initial faceplate. If you are so inclined, contrary to BT regs, experiment with changing the faceplate. I have an upgraded one, with FFTC (Mike-B calls it CTTP it seems, unless it is unique to Oxfurdshy’r).
Cables are personal, delighted with the (not expensive) changes I have made between NAS, switch + u/g ps, streamer and US SSD, with Core replacement yet to be fully installed, post some repeat ripping.
Your ears, your pocket!
Yup. got it wrong again ! 'doh, mixing it up with other stuff
FTTC is Fibre To The Cabinet
FTTP is Fibre To The Premises
Ethernet cables may affect sound because they may increase or reduce spurious electrical noise, which if it reaches the DAC can modulate the conversion process and affect the sound. Two things here: firstly with any change one person’s improvement us another’s worsening (e.g. received wisdom tells me that ground plane RF modulation in at least some DACs degrades the sound, causing a false impression of "brightness@ - but to dome people a ‘brighter’ sound might be better.). Secondly the pick and effect of noise deoends not just on the specific cable, but the entirety of the network, and on the electromagnetic environment in which it sits, while DACs vary in their susceptibility snd outcome
But as your connection to streamer (&DAC) is wireless the network and its cables would seem to me to be irrelevant
If it was only a matter of noise reduction, then most users would adopt fiber optic, which is supposed to carry no noise.
Then you could respond that if many still prefer Ethernet cables, it’s probably because they prefer noise shaping.
Or because the noise reduction is not only the only one characteristic in a high quality Ethernet cable.
Well, an ethernet cable cannot modify the data stream itself, so any audible effect won’t be due to that. And AFAIK timing is not affected by anything before the file has reached the renderer in the streamer or transport, but I’m no expert and perhaps @Simon-in-Suffolk may care to comment.
As fir fibre optic, maybe if people wanted bit perfect reproduction of what was recorded, however as I pointed out people like different things and some may prefer certain effects.m caused by some noise.
So your answer points as expected in the noise shaping preference by Ethernet cables users…
I don’t believe in it, because Ethernet cables sound very differently each to other.
Some are very forward, with a big bass but lack refinement. Other are lean and dull, or quick but dull. Other organic and full and refined……etc
The only noise reduction can’t give such different characteristics. At least what I think.
Hi, yes the TCP/IP model prevents any change of data… and timing of that data using regular TCP is immaterial, unless there is a timeout of a few seconds of some sort.
Now on Ethernet there is a serialisation clock… this is the clock that sends the symbol encodings over the wire or fibre. This clock will have phase noise, that is it will be varying ever so slightly in frequency … this clock is decoded by the Ethernet hosts to recover the symbol data. This clock can produce out of band EM modulations in say a streamer product which can couple into other sub systems on the streamer like the digital sample clock, or the SPDIF clock or analogue output stages. As such this can influence any resultant SPDIF, or analogue signal audio.
Common mode circulating currents passing through any connecting cables or induced voltages from inaccuracies of balanced Ethernet cabling or impedance based reflections can have a similar effect.
Cable changing can increase not just decrease noise, and potentially might filter so that different frequencies of noise get through, affecting things differently.
Maybe….I wouldn’t be so categorical. There things are relatively new and not enough known, but discovered progressively, at the contrary of the industry domain or domestic applications.
I think I almost understand that Simon ! (Almost being a broad term) wine probably doesn’t help my comprehension though.
In simplicity… it is the side effects of the digital data transmission we hear in terms of audio changes rather than from the digital data itself.
[quote=“Simon-in-Suffolk, post:18, topic:35944, full:true”]
In simplicity… it is the side effects of the digital data transmission we hear in terms of audio changes rather than from the digital data itself.
[/quote
This is what I’ve been trying to get through with when trying to describe the effects of the Shunyata Ethernet cables. They even carry some sort of passive filter device mounted on them. The way @Simon-in-Suffolk is explaining effects on digital data transmission here is the same way it has been explained to me and they make sense.
To make it practical, it’s likely testers of the Neotech that gets problems with the bass has some sort of noise that shapes the bass in a negative way when using an unfiltered cable such as the Neotech. The same seem to be true about the problems in the top end. If using the Neotech and getting harsh sound you most likely have noise that shapes the sound to that effect since the Neotech didn’t filter that noise away. I’m using the word noise for all kinds of side effects affecting the sound you hear.
Sorry, but I can’t share that point of view about Neotech performing the best in a silent environment.
Some guys, as you know, be it Dunc , Geko, Drago, has a top system and well set up. Apparently in a higher league than yours and mine.
I seriously doubt their system is noisier vs yours.
But we have just opposite opinions here, it’s the spirit of a forum.