Since RFI into control systems can lead to serious injury / death(s), I'd say it was more carefully looked at / controlled than in an audio system.

Is this another attempt to call Ethernet data analog (i.e. The LAN isolator thread)?

Adding RFI to Ethernet discussions seems odd, since the data itself is RFI, other than basic precautions (cable shielding, appropriately sized ferrites to prevent pickup from, or interference to other devices), the only people that can deal with this correctly are the product designers, since you can't isolate the data - which should be swamping the noise, and doesn't just disappear at the receiver which still needs internal shielding/segregation. (transmitting via optical is not complete isolation, since this is being converted back to electrical within the end devices, giving you back the unwanted RFI).

The basic design of the transmission system is that you are literally spraying crap into your endpoint, changing the materials of the hose, isn't going to audibly influence much, the best you can hope for is to make sure you don't have a leaky hose.

Discussions about bits not being bits tend to be by people that don't seem to be running systems with ECC memory / checksummed storage, and since a single bit out of place in the bits of the computer running at nearly 100,000 times the speed of the audio output can lead to crashes / mass data corruption it seems odd at why the hard bit is assumed to be working fine, but the 'easy' bit needs desperately to be fixed.

A single bit out on a firmware/software update can cause major problems - however, we are happy to send these files around (or across, depending on belief) the earth.

Lots of technical information, that is potentially technically correct isn't necessarily applicable, the analog behaviour of Ethernet is a fixed issue, although you can deliberately degrade the signal (I.e. Repeatedly adding additional isolators to the ones already present as part of the fundamental design - You have have a minimum of two - adding external ones doesn't make the analog properties of the signal any better, trying to argue it's analog and then deliberately degrading it seems odd for anyone not trying to sell both isolators and Magic cables)

I see references to experimentation - unfortunately (assuming the listener is human) to actually test the audibility of a change is extremely difficult unless you can get rid of the subconscious bits of the mind and any other external factors (like getting your ears back to within a few millimetres of the last test).

Non-scientific experimentation can also lead to serious problems (I.e. People playing electrician and removing / uprating safety fuses or playing with mains polarities defeating the internal fuse protection, leading to potentially fatal results) I also seem to remember reading here that LAN cable shielding was good at hiding interference created by loose connections behind ring-main sockets - personally I'd prefer the 'your house is in danger of burning down' audible alert so I could fix the problem, not the symptom.

Whenever I hear someone tell me to trust my ears, I assume I am being accused of either not being human, or not having a brain. (Or someone is trying to use the known biases/deficiencies of the human auditory system to try to sell me something)

I like the human auditory system - for zero conscious processing, you get position, speed, direction and a ton of other information dumped into your brain, my ability to enjoy music comes from being able to relax and not have to worry about manually processing the sound.

When I really want to listen and enjoy something, I have a quiet room I can completely black out - so the only thing is the sound - however, not being able to see what they are listening to seems somehow to stop some peoples enjoyment (although this isn't blind testing, since I know what I am listening to)

Long ramble over, always get annoyed when people seem to claim that computer data (travelling at gigahertz and not tolerant to bit errors - the data, not the protocol) is somehow different to computer data (audio) that is being received by something a lot less picky about timing and precision.

Matt.