I was going to use Supra Cat8 cabling. Any comments from forum members?
I replaced Audioquest Vodka Ethernet cables with Tera Grand CAT 7 cables (Amazon) and noticed an immediate improvement in virtually every aspect of my test files played on the DirectStream via ROON:
- much clearer and deeper bass; for example, on the Boston Symphony Shostakovitch 9 (recommended by Peter McGrath at the last RMAF) I could hear the stick hitting the solo bass drum (towards the end of the first movement) and then the boom, vs. an undifferentiated boom in the past.
- voices appropriately placed in the mix; on Paul McCartney's "Kisses on the Bottom" he was at least a step back from where he was placed before and was now clearly in the same room as his group.
- much cleaner percussion; on Paul Simon's "Fifty Ways" the two drums had much better pitch and the shaker (very slightly to the right of center) was clearer, the rhythm more distinct, and it was audible whenever Paul was not singing. And the accompanying voices on the chorus were now placed to the left (instead of appearing behind and Paul) and were separate voices, with absolutely no trace of overload..
Definitely the cheapest upgrade to significantly better sound ever.
jrango, thanks for this report.
Iād like to try this tweak because Iām currently using Audioquest Vodka to feed my DS DAC. Exactly which Tera Grand cable did you purchase? I just looked on Amazon and there are several different ones ā the regular, the double shielded, the flat, one with the funky purple jacket . . .
magister: My report was based on the double shielded version. I also bought two packs of the flat cables: a 25 ft. and a 50 ft. Iām using the 25 ft. between the computer that I use for ripping and my NAS-works fine, but I canāt comment on the sound. I can say that it is very easy to fish through a half inch hole.
Thank you ā I will order the double shielded version and see what happens!
magister saidThank you ā I will order the double shielded version and see what happens!
I have several on the way as well. Will be fun to compare against my AQ Cinnamon cables!
If anybody is using the Blue Jeans 6a you can compare it to I'd like to hear your thoughts.amgradmd saidI have several on the way as well. Will be fun to compare against my AQ Cinnamon cables!
After reading this thread I decided to change the ethernet cable that was running from a Netgear switch to my DSD Bridge II. I bought the Wireworld Starlight Cat8 Ethernet Cable to try out. I was amazed by the difference I heard. I was skeptical about making the change and was shocked at the difference I heard. It seemed to sharpen up everything. Itās as if you had been writing with a pencil for a while and then took it over to a pencil sharpener and now everything has a fine point on it. I cannot believe what a difference changing only one cable made. If I didnāt hear it myself (and it aināt subtle) I would have never believed it. Now I am thinking about changing everything. Certainly not to the Wireworld cables but to something Cat7 or better for sure.
I received my order of two Tera Grand Cat 7 cables today and have been listening to them for a couple of hours.
I was somewhat skeptical of the stated improvement in sound quality in earlier posts. But, I can confirm that the differences are not subtle. I was using generic Cat 5 cable and was thinking of upgrading to Audioquest cables. But, for a total of $28 for a 7 foot cable and a 14 foot cable, I thought I would give these a try. And I am very impressed.
Early listening is revealing much more detail and refinement. And the bass is tighter too. I have been listening to Norah Jones in DSD and Christopher Cross in 96/24.
I look forward to going through the rest of my collection of high resolution music on J.River.
On a somewhat related issue, I was wondering what Ted thought of using something like a TP Link ethernet to fiber optic converter between the media server and the Direct Stream as a way of isolating any noise from the server?
Interesting -not quite the same outcome in my system. Or I am unable to notice it.
You see, prior I had experimented with a variety of cables, mostly Cat 5, then Cat 6 and I seemed to āsettleā with the Furutech Lan-10G (category 6a). However recently when I removed the LanRover and managed to move on to a Bridge II based, I had to go back to your good olā (well your average) generic Cat 5 because I needed more lenght. 6 metres minimum as I am now connected via a TP-LINK Powerline kit and the audio rack is pretty far away. The Furutech cat 6 had to go as itās way too short.
Have not looked back since. Nor have I heard any kind of difference, for good or evil currently using this cheapo generic 6 metre one.
Perhaps I need to get my hands on a Cat 7 if I manage to find one which is long enough. If there is indeed some kind of sonic / SQ improvement that is?
Goetzfam saidOn a somewhat related issue, I was wondering what Ted thought of using something like a TP Link ethernet to fiber optic converter between the media server and the Direct Stream as a way of isolating any noise from the server?
I donāt know if youāve seen the posts from people that have done that? Anyway it doesnāt seem like a bad idea.
Thanks Ted. No disrespect to the various posts, but I wanted to ensure that it made sense from an engineering perspective.
I have found optical isolation interesting. I did find a bit of difference running the TP-link MC100CM in between the DS Sr and the switch in addition to in between the switch and the Mac Mini. Things seemed a little more crisp with optical isolation. Slightly more musical. Better PRAT, and all that. Now when I figured out how to bridge my ethernet connection and run a direct ethernet cable from my Mac Mini to the Bridge II of my DS Sr, this was the best sound Iāve heard through my DAC, while keeping the optical to the Mac. Just amazing. It was officially significantly better than my optimized USB chain with LANRover. My DSD vinyl rips now sound almost indistinguishable from the recorded vinyl, for example. Roon is fantastic. And I was excited to add the optical isolation to further improve things. Problem is, it didnāt. I donāt notice any difference with and without isolation to the DAC with direct connection. Iāve kept it in my chain, just because Iām lazy. I think all one really needs, if one uses optical isolation with a direct connection, is a single run of optical isolation to the server (Mac Mini in my situation) but not between the server and the DAC. Just my opinion.
Interesting. Iām currently setting up a Melco N1A directly connected to the DS. It may be worth a try to isolate the connection between the Melco and the ethernet switch.
Iād say thereās nothing to lose. Itās not an expensive tweak, for sure. I think you may find some benefit. I think some find more benefit than others based on their system baseline and switch/network integrity, honestly. I forgot to mention that after using optical isolation, Iāve no longer encountered occasional distortion I attributed to EMI/RFI from ethernet cables crossing the conglomeration of wires behind my rack. I canāt say for that that was the problem, but it might have been and I no longer seem to have the issue with optical isolation in place.
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The bridge blows my CDās awayā¦You need to call PsAudio and get that figured outā¦
Good luck
Ok, totally nutsā¦I just plugged in Cat7 cable not expecting anything and Holy Crap it works, but Why?
Whats next? put peanut butter on your connectors and transform in to a lizard???
Crazy hobbyā¦
BTWā¦
I do not like the DSJR I plugged in last saturday and have been running 24/7 sinceā¦ALSO I am seriously considering suing Paul Mcgowan and all of his minions especially that kooky Smith guyā¦
I have been thinking of quitting my job so I can just listen to digital stream all day every day, and I canāt remember what my wife looks likeā¦āwha? who was that? is that my wife? Im married, right?ā
Like I said I donāt like the DSJR, I am infatuated with itā¦
Unbelievableā¦and now this Cat7 non-senseā¦Iām really pissed
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I came out of the IT industry after 25 years and I believe in a solid Ethernet connection. Our long runs in the house are cat6 and switches and delivery are cat7 and I couldnāt be more pleased. Iām starting to do configurations for 10gb as itās inevitable as the next standard. Fortunately we can get 10gb out of a cat 6 cable at the length we run.
Tedās put forth an idea on this thatās interesting. Since Ethernet is connected via transformers that should isolate the DAC from the cable and thus negate any differences, he points out that they are very high frequency pass throughs (they have to be or the digital data wouldnāt get through) and that noise can easily find a path through the transformers and into the system. It could be that a better shielded cable might reduce that noise and thus sound different.