[naynay]

I see no point in buying an expensive network switch like say the Etherregen if you have the CX-EX combo as the CX acts as the network switch to eliminate noise before it enters the EX.
Sent my Etherregen back as heard no difference and after talking to Tony of Antipodes he has said the CX when combined with EX is designed to do just that.

 

[Clive101]

I see no point in buying an expensive network switch like say the Etherregen if you have the CX-EX combo as the CX acts as the network switch to eliminate noise before it enters the EX.
Sent my Etherregen back as heard no difference and after talking to Tony of Antipodes he has said the CX when combined with EX is designed to do just that.

Thanks for this post confirming... I was going mad trying to hear the difference of a 2k switch at least I know my hearing is not defective

 

[frankensmurf]

It's actually a relief to think that the CX - EX sufficiently cleans up the ethernet signal that you wouldn't be able to hear upstream switch changes. With that said, there are a lot of people in forums with extremely lengthy lists of equipment in their digital chains : D

Anyway, has anyone tried that experiment with the EX alone? I will do so when I have some time to do critical listening.

 

[andrewd01]

It's actually a relief to think that the CX - EX sufficiently cleans up the ethernet signal that you wouldn't be able to hear upstream switch changes. With that said, there are a lot of people in forums with extremely lengthy lists of equipment in their digital chains : D

Anyway, has anyone tried that experiment with the EX alone? I will do so when I have some time to do critical listening.

I am running a Cisco 2960 switch into my stand-alone EX. I initially took the switch out in the interest of simplicity, but I thought this deteriorated the sound so I put the Cisco back in line. I mostly listen to Tidal streaming.

I tested the supplied black ethernet cable for two weeks, but have now switched back to my Supra cable. The differences are very small and both cables sound good. I thought the supplied cable had more detail and the supra has a touch more warmth.

It would be interesting to hear a high end switch like the Jcat M12 Gold, since these get glowing reviews. But the price is not that far off a used CX. Annoyingly there is one on the market in the UK for a good price, but my toy fund is depleted for now!

 

[Progisus]

I’m trying a bit of EX/CX emulation. The CX is being emulated by a NUC running roon core. An ethernet cable from my router/switch into the EX. The black supplied ethernet cable from network 2 to the NUC. It sounds marginally better without the roon core on the EX. The NUC is a 7i3 with 128 m2 running roon rock and 8gb ram. The library is on a usb drive. Roon core runs a bit quicker. If I decide to keep the core on the NUC then I would probably move the ssd from the EX to the NUC. This does add another box but a CX would as well. Fun!

 

[Progisus]

Update online for HQPembedded with sinc-l.

 

[frankensmurf]

I am running a Cisco 2960 switch into my stand-alone EX. I initially took the switch out in the interest of simplicity, but I thought this deteriorated the sound so I put the Cisco back in line. I mostly listen to Tidal streaming.

I tested the supplied black ethernet cable for two weeks, but have now switched back to my Supra cable. The differences are very small and both cables sound good. I thought the supplied cable had more detail and the supra has a touch more warmth.

It would be interesting to hear a high end switch like the Jcat M12 Gold, since these get glowing reviews. But the price is not that far off a used CX. Annoyingly there is one on the market in the UK for a good price, but my toy fund is depleted for now!

Thanks, interesting info.

I have the Uptone Audio EtherRegen, at a much lower price point. It made a noticeable difference when I was using the Bridge II ethernet input to my PS Audio DirectStream. It's still connected to the EX, but I haven't swapped it out. I'll report back.

 

[Clive101]

I am running a Cisco 2960 switch into my stand-alone EX. I initially took the switch out in the interest of simplicity, but I thought this deteriorated the sound so I put the Cisco back in line. I mostly listen to Tidal streaming.

I tested the supplied black ethernet cable for two weeks, but have now switched back to my Supra cable. The differences are very small and both cables sound good. I thought the supplied cable had more detail and the supra has a touch more warmth.

It would be interesting to hear a high end switch like the Jcat M12 Gold, since these get glowing reviews. But the price is not that far off a used CX. Annoyingly there is one on the market in the UK for a good price, but my toy fund is depleted for now!

Interesting you found a slight difference with the stand alone EX (I have not tried with either a CX or EX standalone) but I could not find any difference with the two boxes joined together.

My strong advice before would be try the CX and the switch with the EX on demo I would be very surprised if you ended up with the switch instead of the CX.

I disconected the CX EX combo from the network while playing files and streaming (got around ten seconds or so before it disconnected) and could not hear any difference.

If any one wants to sell me the standared cable EX CX black cable please let me know. I would like a spare.

 

[andrewd01]

Update online for HQPembedded with sinc-l.

Thanks, I just installed. From a quick perusal of the Roon thread I understand sinc-L runs at 2M taps for 16x PCM upscaling.
Listening tests tonight...

 

[Progisus]

Thanks, I just installed. From a quick perusal of the Roon thread I understand sinc-L runs at 2M taps for 16x PCM upscaling.
Listening tests tonight...

I’m liking it into my Hugo TT.

 

[andrewd01]

I have just listened to a few tracks so far and initial impressions are very positive. I will listen a lot more and then try swapping back to sinc-M.
Who’s going to volunteer to break the news in the M scaler thread that HQP is now doing 2M taps?

 

[Progisus]

Today I’m back to poly-sinc-long-lp. That was my favorite for a long while and what I was using when I decided to switch to HQP from the mscaler. Sinc-L was a bit harsh in the upper mids and hi’s to my ears today. Mood has more effect than anything and the beauty of HQP is the ability to make changes that play to your mood. The CX emulation seems to be success. I think it will stay. I still have the opportunity to change my upgrade order from a TT2 to a CX.

 

[andrewd01]

I think I would prioritise TT2 over CX in your shoes, but until you actually get these things in your system and try its difficult to know which has the most bang for buck. Shop demos are not great because there are so many other variables in play.

 

[Progisus]

How often do you Antipodes owners power down (not just reboot)? Do you find a sound change after re-powering?

I power down (Including my dac) every three to four days. I feel it refreshes the sound and seems to remove a sense of congestion.

 

[andrewd01]

I power down after every session now, because with HQP at 16x upscaling there are USB handshake problems if I only power down the DAC only. The inconvenience is a small price to pay for the improved sound of HQP.