Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion HiFi & HT Chat Ethernet switches

I believe the data arrives intact (under nearly all circumstances), but the noise carried with this signal subtly corrupts the analogue output as a result of the that noise being superimposed on some other signal (for example, the audio clock signal). The clock 'trigger' point only has to be a very minute fraction of a second out for this to be audible. The clocking system uses a trigger point to determine the clock edges. If these are increased or reduced by a small fraction of a volt, then the timing will be off.

I'm running DSP7200SE's with an 818v3 and Shunyata power conditioning. The better the switches have become, the more you can hear the difference. I do not believe this is substandard design, Meridian builds some truly amazing kit. However, noise is a fact of life. The best we can do is reduce, not eliminate it.

Jeremy A-H,
Thanks for your post.

For me, it's one of those cognitive dissonance things. It's really tough for me to imagine that the level of noise coming through an ID41 (an interface already optimized for noise rejection) from an ethernet data stream (already very low voltage and current) could have any impact on something like an 818 which has multiple levels of regulation.

That said, I wouldn't deny the validity of your experience (i.e. I'm definitely not saying it's a perception without objective reality driving it). As someone who swears by the perceived effect my Shunyata gear provides, I'm convinced that obscure sources of noise plays a part in what we hear.

In this case, either I'm not getting it, or the cause is something else.

Great discussion

Battery tech has developed significantly since this was last in vogue, hasn't it? iirc, there were problems associated with batteries at the time, which were different issues to mains power(?).

It's an interesting thought - no clue what would be required to even set this up as a test, though.

Has anyone compared, e.g., a Chord Hugo powered by battery vs mains to see if there's a difference?

Akimo, I completely understand - I think there is a lot that is yet to be explained in the HiFi world.

I prefer to have solid reasons that give substantiated reasons for things to sound better a certain way, but I think there is a turning point where this becomes increasingly difficult and you have to trust your ears.

I do have a general rule, though, that any change has to make enough of a difference for me to consider it worth keeping. And an even greater difference for it to be worth writing about on here.

Smart rules!

+1

OK, here goes my application of your rule to the various tweaks I've tried in the past 18 months: Like you, I believe that my SE speakers have been significantly enhanced by Shunyata power products. I am also a big fan of the HAF room correction filters that I implement through Roon's convolution engine.

Now, after a month of listening, I think that the Uptone etherREGEN switch is a worthwhile investment for revealing more musical details, providing greater definition and separation of individual voices and instruments.

You also recommended GAIA feet for speakers, which I did not purchase. The anti-vibration products that I have tried, from AudioQuest and Herbie's, have not given me as much bang for the buck compared to power, room correction and network devices. Cheap, though, so easy for me to rationalize.

A bit off topic but someone mentioned battery power and fiber. This has been a topic on this site as well as the PS Audio site in the past.

I have successfully used battery powered FMC’s for about two years now. I do not use any switches in my system. My Roon server plugs directly into my Router and connects to my 818 (in the next room) via fiber. I am very happy with the SQ.

On a side note, the GAIA Feet sound wonderful on my 7200SE’s.

Could you give more detail on this, please?

My fiber setup consists of 2x TP-Link Fast Ethernet Media Converters (MC100CM) each is about 30.00 from Amazon. One lives in my listening area with my Kit and one is located remotely. They are connected to each other by inexpensive Tripp Lite Duplex Fiber (in the length you need) also available from Amazon.

I discarded the 2 wall wart power supplies that came with the FMC's and powered each converter with a Crave 50000 mAh rechargeable Power Bank. This worked well, I can power each converter for more than 24 hrs on a full charge.

This was a plug and play solution, the FMC's worked perfectly right out of the box with no configuration required.

I eventually eliminated one of the Crave power banks by powering one FMC with the Uptone LPS which is also powering my Mac Mini Roon Server. I originally considered powering the FMC with the 5v USB output of the Mac Mini but decided to keep the Mini dedicated to its primary purpose, Roon Server. I rarely need to access the Mini, it reboots automatically once every morning at 3:00 AM and has been living happily tucked away in a closet with my Internet Router for over 2 years.

Other than dedicated 20 amp dual power lines in my listening area, the only other connection to my Kit is the fiber.
I am not sure if the use of FMC's improved the quality of my audio, but I found no evidence that it harmed it. This design helped me to remove all wall warts and unneeded components from the vicinity of my kit. All of my components are powered by LPS or battery. Even though batteries aren't perfect sources of power, I feel that they are an improvement over noisy wall warts and they are less expensive than a good LPS.

David

I said I'd post a link to an upcoming white paper written by the designer of the EtherRegen describing why switches can make a difference and it looks like it was published in the last few days. Here it is: John Swenson's paper