Originally Posted by Robert.W
The "grounsdside" of the GISO has a shielded plug and has to go to that side of the connection where the "earth" / "ground" is available.

The 861 has a grounded/shielded input connection, a switch typically does not have this.

So the "better" shield is the goal here and the 861 is also "quieter" in electronic noise terms as ethernet equipment.
Hi Robert

I appreciate that English is not your first language (my German is no where near as good as your English and thats only when I am apparently talking in my sleep after a long night of consuming *many* local beers near Cochem) but I'm not sure on your comment about switches and grounding/shielding.

Screened or shielded network cables have an outer metal surround to the RJ45 plug. Depending on the network socket (ie switch) this is being inserted into, this may lead to different scenarios.

Looking in the network socket, you may or may not see a little metal flap either side of the socket. If present, this will mate with the metal outer of the shielded RJ45.

Sometimes a switch will have these flaps and are not connected to anything else, sometimes they will be connected to the flaps in the other ports to provide continuity through the switch, sometimes the flap will be connected (indirectly) to an earth lug (so the user can decide to provide separate ground/earth to the whole switch) and sometimes it is provided via an earthed mains connection.

Some manufacturers provide similar networking functionality in different enclosures and this can affect how shielding is implemented. For instance, Netgear do a range of switches in plastic cases where the shield/screen continuity is maintained through the switch but they also provide a pro range with identical functionality but in a metal case providing a separate earthing point for the user to bond the whole switch chassis to ground if they choose.

It would be interesting to know if people have noticed any audible differences depending on the material network switch case and whether it was separately bonded to ground or not.

Meridian owner since 1992
Prime & PSU, Focal Elear headphones, Roon (ROCK 8Gi5 NUC), Explorer 1 & 2, F80. 200/203, various Sonos (via Roon).