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Either net over power plugs


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Hi Folks,

 

I am currently using Devolo wall plugs, and have decent hi Fi I use to stream my music from NAS and also stream Tidal.

 

Would I be better running a network cable from the router direct to streamer? Some Hi Fi dealer said they don't use wall plugs as they introduce noise to the signal path.

 

Thoughts?

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Contemporary large-signal and digital components should be able to deal with the additional "noise" on the power line. Vintage components and small-signal sources (e.g. vinyl MC cartridges) will suffer badly. In my setup, Power-LAN and playing vinyl records do not harmonize.

 

The question comes up from time to time on CA:

 

Ethernet over Powerline

Network over power

Powerline vs hardwire network

Primary ::= Nabla music server | Mutec MC-3+USB w/ Temex LPFRS-01 RB clock | WLM Gamma Reference DAC; Secondary ::= Nabla music server | WaveIO | PrismSound Lyra

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When some people worry so much about the effects of computers, etc. on power supplies, I would never suggest using Powerline.

 

Wired networking is ideal, if you are running hidden cable you might want to also run some optical fibre while you are at it which some people feel offer an improvement.

Eloise

---

...in my opinion / experience...

While I agree "Everything may matter" working out what actually affects the sound is a trickier thing.

And I agree "Trust your ears" but equally don't allow them to fool you - trust them with a bit of skepticism.

keep your mind open... But mind your brain doesn't fall out.

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In my experience, the noise dumped on the line from a crappy wall-wart is much more problematic (and can screw up IP-over-powerline data transmission). My solar panels transmit data in this way. It does no harm whatsoever. The music sounds the same whether it is sunny, cloudy or night time.

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Ok. Some clarification. When you are using Tidal or playing files from your NAS you are not streaming. You are simply opening a file from a networked location. The protocols that are used to open these files run over TCP. TCP is a reliable connection-oriented protocol that guarantees data delivery. There is nothing in the powerline network that could cause degradation to your packetized file data the TCP would not be able to recover from. This isn't to say that there could be a problem along the network path that does create dropouts but there is no magical noise that is somehow affecting the digitized data quality. The software process that's opening up the remote file is buffering and allowing time for TCP to recover any lost packetized data which it then reorders into the correct place in the musical bitstream.

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Hi Folks,

 

I am currently using Devolo wall plugs, and have decent hi Fi I use to stream my music from NAS and also stream Tidal.

 

Would I be better running a network cable from the router direct to streamer? Some Hi Fi dealer said they don't use wall plugs as they introduce noise to the signal path.

 

Thoughts?

 

Direct via Ethernet cables is always best. If it is feasible to go direct, don't even think about it. Just do it.

 

I looked into Powerline last year for a new bedroom video streaming hookup, and it works fine for some but not for many others. Sometimes, the Powerline connection could not negotiate a hop from circuits on one side of your breaker box to the other, if different electrical circuits were involved. Also, the age of the wiring, etc. seemed to play a role.

 

I decided instead to try MOCA, which is Ethernet over coax cable tv wires. It is a little more expensive than Powerline, but it worked fine for me and it generally has a better success ratio among other users than Powerline. MOCA is what the big cable cos. use to link their cable DVR boxes together in the home so you can record a show on one, then watch it on a different box. Or, you can bring Ethernet to a smart TV, as I did, without new wires. But, if you do not have coax cable going to where you want it, MOCA is pointless.

 

As you would expect, both Powerline and MOCA are slower than direct Ethernet cables, but still usually fast enough for most applications, like video or audio streaming.

 

I did not want to trust my Wi-Fi at all, though I am using it as I type this.

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Direct via Ethernet cables is always best. If it is feasible to go direct, don't even think about it. Just do it.

 

Over here, despite a direct Ethernet cable to the audio system, a separate network tributary to a bedroom using Moca was found to add a great deal of noise that carried to the audio system. It was subsequently replaced with a direct cable for a nice increase in SQ.

 

Much later, on the end of the 100 foot direct cable to the music room, a wireless router was added on a separate subnet. Six inches away, a wired, standalone WiFi NIC was wired to the server PC and bridged to the player PC. It seems that 100 foot cable was transporting an huge amount of RFI given the SQ improvement observed after it was isolated.

 

Each of the three devices WiFi NIC, server and AudioPc are galvanically isolated with EMOsystems Ethernet transformers, and powered by LPSes. The wired WiFi NIC is an Asus EA-N66.

Pareto Audio aka nuckleheadaudio

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