Which switch?

I heard an excellent video on HBC on how oversampling works, I never really understood it properly before then.

I use the F1 PS with the Chord EE8 and agree with Colloms.

G

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I have tried Etheregen, Phoenixnet & EE8 and the Etheregen for me is my preference. I do use 2 in sequence and thats my sweet spot. The Phoenixnet I tried for a month and when I went back to the ER’s I never plugged in the Phoenix again. Trust your ears and trust what you think when you revert back to the previous setup.

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The PhoenixNET power supply is based on Mundorf capacitors which take roughly 3 months to completely break in so in fact unless you had a demo unit you didnt actually hear it at anything like its best

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@Blackmorec I did have a demo unit. I was not the first to use it. How long it had been run previously I don’t know. The person who tried it after me who also resides here came to a similar conclusion as me I believe.

The difference was not small, very HiFi vs very organic. Some people will absolutely prefer the Phoenix but for me my ER’s and Mundorf P/S stayed.

The difference between run in and not can be significant but never in my experience enough to change the signature of the unit so dramatically to swing it in my favour. My dealer has the same preference as me also for what its worth. He only advised me of this after I returned the unit not wanting to influence me either way.

I am lead always by my ears and am solely interested in how the music affects me in terms of engagement rather than detail retrieval. It just so happens on this occasion the PN did not work for me. I was pretty gutted as the half width box would have saved me a whole shelf space and would have led to a tidier rack and better cable dressing.

I await the next best thing half width switch :slight_smile:

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Interesting. Which Mundorf power supply are you using?

I say interesting because in my system, I added a PhoenixNET precisely because it is so natural and organic sounding. My evaluation was with a loaner unit that was well run in and sounded wonderful, but when my unit arrived, it went through the typical Mundorf capacitor running-in process, which sounded quite ‘edgy’ for quite a while.
Knowing how important the PS is with switches, I figured that your results were in some measure due to the Mundorf PS but I can’t find any mention of DC power supplies on the Mundorf website?

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For what it’s worth, I used to have two EtherRegens running in series, powered by a Sean Jacobs upgraded DC3 power supply with Mundorf caps and preferred the PhoenixNet, which comically I found more detailed, less abrasive/ashy and more organic. Different systems, different choices, I suspect.

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@Blackmorec I use a custom Sean Jacobs DC3/4 hybrid in a full size case with his silver cables to the ER’s and his black series mains cable on the unit. The PS uses his statement transformer, mundorf caps, dc4 wiring (i think) and other upgrades.

Maybe the Phoenix was not fully run in but it had several demos before mine and I gave it a month. Its more detailed as @Michaelb says but lost the soul from the music. Maybe I am an oddity as I ditched all my SL cables as well as I preferred the normal ones and ks1 speaker wires. Chord cables do not work for me either and I have tried all including music.

All sorts of things could have influenced what we found.

Musical tastes, too.

FWIW, though, I also didn’t like the SL DIN interconnect (the only one I’ve tried) and have to date never heard a Chord cable that I’ve liked.

So, it sounds like we’re pretty much on the same page for many things.

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Hi Steve,
Thanks for the reply. Again, very interesting. My network is powered by several of Sean’s DC 3/4 hybrid power supplies with Statement transformers, ARC6 boards, Mundorf Silver/Gold cabling and all the DC4 regulators, chassis screening, footers, input sockets etc. They sound brilliant, no question. A couple of points.
When chaining together 2 or more switches, the first switch does a major clean-up and re-timing of the data stream, so the 2nd switch has a MAJOR upgrade to its input quality and as I’ve found with networks, better in = better out, so the second switch compounds the first switch’s benefits.
The patch cord ethernet cable included with the PhoenixNET will downgrade its performance compared to say a Synergistic Research Atmosphere X or similar low loss cable.
Regarding running in……a fully conditioned PN has me jumping out of my chair with total involvement with the music….but during running in I often find myself reading forum posts on my iPad. At one point I did a major simultaneous upgrade to all the supplies in my network and for the first few hours its was like standing 2 fields away from a category 5 tornado. The sound soon settled down but it took about 3 months to produce its ultimate, super-involving performance.

Judging by what you’ve said it does sound like you may be underestimating the affects of running in and the time it takes for components to reach their peak performance. In my experience, the better and more resolving your system becomes, the more you hear and are disturbed by its effects.

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Whilst looking at one of those other threads, I noticed a suggestion from Richard at Naim pointing out that you should try for the best quality broadband signal possible. The inference was that fibre as opposed to miles of copper wire could preferable in sound terms. No doubt he’ll correct me if I’ve misunderstood.

If so - then shouldn’t we be looking at 5G and wifi rather than fibre, switches and Ethernet cables ?

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I use etheregen powered by Uptone lps 1.2 with so so results. Removing lps 1.2 from chain clearly downgrades sound quality. I did an experiment last week and the results surprised me: removed lps 1.2 power from etheregen and move it to power telco wifi cheap router that provides wifi, adsl+, and mobile internet . Then connected only my audio related ethernet cables to this router (naim core and etheregen). Sound was a clear improvement over the past setup (etheregen /lps 1.2 connected to a switch that connects to the cheap tel. company router). Music is better defined more dynamics, can play louder with less fatigue, rhythm better, bass more extended. Next step i think is to add another linear ps for etheregen (now operates with stock) and maybe find a better router or switch and power it with a linear ps. Unfortunately can not try without buying PhoenixNet which if works is optimal solution (less fuss, ps, cables etc)

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I had before the Cisco 2960 alone then in cascade mode, which improved marginally over one Cisco.
Then Etheregen powered by the top MCRU. I preferred the ER alone, without the Cisco in the chain.
Then finally the PhoenixNet, which I tried two or three times with the Etheregen, in cascade. I preferred the PhoenixNet alone also, finding the sound more balanced than with adding the ER.
I am not personally convinced that cascading several switches is always the best thing to do.
My router is fiber optical, powered by a linear ps.

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I am beginning to think that as long as the switch is decent with some effort made to reduce and screen noise off, including case etc, it’s more about which PSU rather than which switch?
Clearly the good PSUs are not made equal and quite a few options, but when I added the UpTone JS-2 to my E8 I feel the improvement was nicer than from the switch itself. Overall punchier and more realistic but this is really about increments rather than leaps and bounds and the “transformations” sometimes described.

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That is interesting. Still running the SOTM switch here and the power supply is the included one.

It may be good, I have their mains block and absolutely love what it does.

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Well, either that or you google “how I learned to scroll on when I have nothing friendly to add to a thread”…:smirk:

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Awww, let’s all cuddle up and applaud each other for spending each other’s money.
You too could’ve scrolled on!

Well, it wasn’t me who ran over the OP question as if I knew better…:smirk: