The Ethernet cables, Switches and Network related sound thread. Share your listening experience only.

[TRHH]

also a terrible idea to buy a 10Gbps DAC module if you have not manually forced the negotiation speed to 1Gbps on both ends/units.

As long as you have 1Gbps at both ends absolutely no problem

 

[Jake2]

For me sablon 2020 is my favorite for sensitive streamer. Bit more detail and precision than the others and most neutral.

LAN NCF beats stock Supra cat 8 carries less noise. Must say Supra carries quite a bit of noise but are good choice on a budget I have more confidence in them than cheapos, Supra cat 8 with a lan silencer is better than stock Supra. I have 4 Supra with lan silencers I don’t mind them like that for the back end. It is less for a Supra and silencer than lan ncf.

LAN ncf nice flexibility and quality feel to the cable by far is the best of these in this way. Don’t like Supra flexibility or putting pressure on connections, I like connections to lay naturally and with ease both Supra and sablon aren’t easy to do that in short lengths, the ncf is a breeze to use by comparison. Sablon is terribly stiff I will not buy another one because of this. Will hopefully find something with the detail of sablon and flexibility of ncf next that doesn’t cost more than $400 used or new if I must get another Ethernet cable

I am hoping at some point to upgrade my streamer to afterdark Rosanna diretta Mkii. This will link with afterdark NETone FMC and use afterdark 100 ohm DAC cable sounds like it will beat any Ethernet cable out there for about $500 fits right into FMC modules, it is a copper cable. Even smoother in potential than active optical or Ethernet which are both susceptible and unideal cables related to passing the flow in a perfectly smooth fashion between audio equipment imo this 100 ohm cable is maybe the ultimate for audio!

Great minds. I have the Netone & Rosanna II, currently connected by a Cisco AOC (previously Finisar 1318 SFPs), and have in my Mouser shopping cart the Amphenol DAC cable that @TRHH refers.

Go for the best: Amphenol SFP+ 10GbE direct attach passive copper cable (DAC)

Nice recommend, you beat me to it!

 

[Jake2]

@TRHH any sonic reason you had the 2m length selected, or just that fits your system layout best? As IIRC I I read over on the TAS forum Melco favour a 2m length from a chap who has tried that and the much cheaper Amphenol. Otherwise I’m leaning towards a 1m as it’s all I need.

https://nz.mouser.com/c/?q=523-SFPP2EPASS

 

[TRHH]

@TRHH any sonic reason you had the 2m length selected, or just that fits your system layout best? As IIRC I I read over on the TAS forum Melco favour a 2m length from a chap who has tried that and the much cheaper Amphenol. Otherwise I’m leaning towards a 1m as it’s all I need.

https://nz.mouser.com/c/?q=523-SFPP2EPASS

@Jake2 - No sonic reason. I don't think there will be one

Torben

 

[phoneslave86]

Great minds. I have the Netone & Rosanna II, currently connected by a Cisco AOC (previously Finisar 1318 SFPs), and have in my Mouser shopping cart the Amphenol DAC cable that @TRHH refers.

Nice recommend, you beat me to it!

I feel like this is the second time I will end up with the same network as you somewhat! I can’t deny I gleaned and copied the first time the gs108e fmc lhysw8. Wow that was huge clarity increase for the $

I did not know you had gone afterdark network, please share results

The afterdark 100 ohm cable sounds like it’s really good. Afterdark stuff has been so good it’s easy for me to believe in it. Has anyone compared the two cables properly?

I am now biased towards this other 100 ohm cable.

 

[TRHH]

The afterdark 100 ohm cable

All DAC cables are 100 ohm. Same goes for Amphenol.

If you buy one, just make sure it lives up to open-source SFF-8431 MSA standard. That makes everything easier.

Torben

PS: And make sure that your switch don't utilize customized EEPROMs that can create problems with different SFP (SFP optical module and Direct Attach Copper cable).

 

[Jake2]

I feel like this is the second time I will end up with the same network as you somewhat! I can’t deny I gleaned and copied the first time the gs108e fmc lhysw8. Wow that was huge clarity increase for the $

I did not know you had gone afterdark network, please share results

The afterdark 100 ohm cable sounds like it’s really good. Afterdark stuff has been so good it’s easy for me to believe in it. Has anyone compared the two cables properly?

I am now biased towards this other 100 ohm cable.

Cheers. Only a partial implementation at present TBH, with Rosanna just using its FMC/switch functionality.. not yet Diretta.. feeding my HQP server. Sounds very good (sorry that’s vague for now), with insertion of Netone a nice jump in resolution and refinement over SW8. Chain:

SW8 > Netone* > Rosanna* > Mac Mini M1 (Teradak ‘24 gen LPS awaiting install) > LHY UIP* > LAiV Harmony

*Tweaked OCK-2 clocked
Modem & router powered by LifePo4 battery, for which cable changes are annoyingly still very audible. All components at least chassis grounded to ground box and/or dedicated ground rod via Puritan Groundmaster.

 

[TheR0v3r]

Cheers. Only a partial implementation at present TBH, with Rosanna just using its FMC/switch functionality.. not yet Diretta.. feeding my HQP server. Sounds very good (sorry that’s vague for now), with insertion of Netone a nice jump in resolution and refinement over SW8. Chain:

SW8 > Netone* > Rosanna* > Mac Mini M1 (Teradak ‘24 gen LPS awaiting install) > LHY UIP* > LAiV Harmony

*Tweaked OCK-2 clocked
Modem & router powered by LifePo4 battery, for which cable changes are annoyingly still very audible. All components at least chassis grounded to ground box and/or dedicated ground rod via Puritan Groundmaster.

What are you aiming to accomplish with this as opposed to using something like

For me sablon 2020 is my favorite for sensitive streamer. Bit more detail and precision than the others and most neutral.

LAN NCF beats stock Supra cat 8 carries less noise. Must say Supra carries quite a bit of noise but are good choice on a budget I have more confidence in them than cheapos, Supra cat 8 with a lan silencer is better than stock Supra. I have 4 Supra with lan silencers I don’t mind them like that for the back end. It is less for a Supra and silencer than lan ncf.

LAN ncf nice flexibility and quality feel to the cable by far is the best of these in this way. Don’t like Supra flexibility or putting pressure on connections, I like connections to lay naturally and with ease both Supra and sablon aren’t easy to do that in short lengths, the ncf is a breeze to use by comparison. Sablon is terribly stiff I will not buy another one because of this. Will hopefully find something with the detail of sablon and flexibility of ncf next that doesn’t cost more than $400 used or new if I must get another Ethernet cable

I am hoping at some point to upgrade my streamer to afterdark Rosanna diretta Mkii. This will link with afterdark NETone FMC and use afterdark 100 ohm DAC cable sounds like it will beat any Ethernet cable out there for about $500 fits right into FMC modules, it is a copper cable. Even smoother in potential than active optical or Ethernet which are both susceptible and unideal cables related to passing the flow in a perfectly smooth fashion between audio equipment imo this 100 ohm cable is maybe the ultimate for audio!

Why would you want to move away from Ethernet?

 

[phoneslave86]

@Jake2 SW8 > FMC > NETone is what I'm using at the time as well. Best network yet still breaking in. I will try NETone by itself again after adding clock to the NETone. I have noticed my NETone breaking in the last week it is sounding really good and also grounding it with the afterdark audio note seemed to have helped but hard to say for sure. I noticed things get more neutral when I added SW8 but too early to judge it take my first impressions with grain of salt please

Thanks for sharing. I will try to share some more in depth maybe in a month or two. It takes me a long time to figure it out. 2 clocks breaking in for 1k hours... and another clock which will be 35 days as they say. I usually feel like it's broken in at 2 weeks but then it takes more time to digest properly

@TheR0v3r Where I can it's a good idea to me to replace ethernet cables. It is cheap to implement optical FMC in between places and it cuts off electrical noise so a few of my ethernet cables disappeared there. The 100 Ohm cable at the end of things where I can into DAC/streamers with SFP port should have smoother stream so a couple more ethernet cables disappear there as well. I like running 10 meter active optical vs a 10 meter ethernet cable and it's plenty good for me much cheaper than an audiophile ethernet cable and no electrical noise. Still will be using ethernet cables for now where I need them though

 

[TheR0v3r]

I take notes when evaluating gear so the cables are: Belden Catsnake, Shunyata Delta, Shunyata Alpha, Shunyata Sigma and Supra CAT8. At this point I only look at opportunities around the reduction of noise when it comes to anything Ethernet.

As I read what I wrote it dawned on me that my setup has changed alot since I did the comparisons between the Ethernet cables above. Decided to circle back and retry some of the Shunyata’s (plus a newer model). I’ll report back.

 

[TheR0v3r]

As I read what I wrote it dawned on me that my setup has changed alot since I did the comparisons between the Ethernet cables above. Decided to circle back and retry some of the Shunyata’s (plus a newer model). I’ll report back.

Brief notes
From my initial listening sessions and comparisons it’s obvious that the new Shunyata Theta is very, very good. It improves on the Shunyata Delta and is markedly better than my Furutech LAN-8 NCF. Highly recommended.

I’ll summarise my findings and report back.

 

[OCC7N]

Brief notes
From my initial listening sessions and comparisons it’s obvious that the new Shunyata Theta is very, very good. It improves on the Shunyata Delta and is markedly better than my Furutech LAN-8 NCF. Highly recommended.

I’ll summarise my findings and report back.

The Shunyata Omega USB can make people doubt they bought the Innous Phoenix. Why not

 

[kingoftown1]

@TheR0v3r excited to hear more. That's the main sub-$1k cable that caught my eye.

 

[m-i-c-k-e-y]

After some experimenting and contemplation, I decided to go to Fiber optic USB route for my next mod instead the LAN Fiber route.

AfterDark has this Nocturnes USB Conditioning Over Fiber Optics that can have a built in OCXO plus bundled with 1m Cisco AOC SFP modules. And just ordered it. Both worlds. Will see...

Update 1: Just talked to AfterDark. You could also upgrade the OCXO clock to their various offerings. However decided to leave it as is (w/ BNC clock input, higher clock later when budget allows) and the difference, towards a good LPS.

Update 2: Pairing this with a Plixir Elite BDC MKII as LPS.

 

[TheR0v3r]

Brief notes
From my initial listening sessions and comparisons it’s obvious that the new Shunyata Theta is very, very good. It improves on the Shunyata Delta and is markedly better than my Furutech LAN-8 NCF. Highly recommended.

I’ll summarise my findings and report back.

Report
So I’ve compared the Furutech LAN-8 NCF, Shunyata Delta and the new Shunyata Theta Ethernet cables:

- Furutech LAN-8 NCF: It’s a clear improvement over the stock Ethernet cables I have. It has good tonality, speed and resolution (which mainly seems to come from low noise). The drawbacks is that, in comparison with the two Shunyata’s, the bass is ”loose” (not floppy) but more as lacking definition and instrument separation or layering is a weak spot. That lack of instrument separation is actually why I consider it’s stronger resolution an effect of low noise rather than actual resolving capability.

- Shunyata Delta and Theta: Because when it comes to actual resolving capability the Shunyata Theta is fantastic! One song I love to listen to and enjoy using when evaluating gear is Rickie Lee Jones ”Woody and Dutch on the Slow Train to Peking” from the album ”Pirates” (amazing!). On that track there is chattering like when you overhear people meeting on the street. It’s much easier to pick up what they are actually saying with either of the Shunyata’s vs the Furutech. Otherwise the Theta is excellent all around with great dynamics being a highlight, I’d like to describe it as ”energetic”.

IF your system already is borderline too ”energetic” I might actually give it a pass and instead consider the Shunyata Delta. The Delta is more ”laid back” and still very good (as in better than the Furutech) but not as good as the Theta. I’d actually go so far to say that the performance of the Theta is on a level that I’d pass on the (even more) expensive Shunyata Alpha and consider either the Shunyata Sigma or Omega as upgrades. (And let me add that IMHO the choice between the Sigma and Omega is not as clear-cut as the Omega being better than the Sigma - make sure to evaluate both in your system!)