Ethernet upgrade for Computer Audio - Audioquest Diamond X Sotm Combo

[Advieira]

What could be better to improve sound?

 

1.5m Audioquest Diamond Ethernet - US$ 1.100,00

 

X

 

1.5m Sotm DCBL-CAT7 + Sotm ISO-CAT6 + Sotm Black Cable Ethernet - US$ 1.100,00

 

Hans Beekhuyzen, in his last video review, told he could improve SMS200 sound with a Lan Isolator (Pink Faun). My doubt is: AQ Diamond, at same price, can do the same or better the Sotm Combo?

 

Thanks

[skyline]

I've never heard the Lan Isolator or ISO-CAT6, but I have a Waversa hub that does something similar to those products and there's no going back after you've heard it.

[Advieira]

I will look for it. Thanks.

[plissken]

I wouldn't spend more than $20 on a cable and if you like $100 on a LAN isolator.

 

I posted tracks to members here with a  $700, 3 foot, Nordost, and a $90, 315 foot (yes 100 times longer), generic CAT5e. No one could tell the difference.

[sandyk]

1 hour ago, plissken said:

I posted tracks to members here with a  $700, 3 foot, Nordost, and a $90, 315 foot (yes 100 times longer), generic CAT5e. No one could tell the difference.

 

 And the total number of members, out of the several thousand C.A. members who could have  tried this , but didn't , was ???  

[plissken]

9 minutes ago, sandyk said:

 

 And the total number of members, out of the several thousand C.A. members who could have  tried this , but didn't , was ???  

 

Why would the significant majority that knows audiophile Ethernet is horseshit bother with it.

 

And the total number of subjectivists here who could have tried it but didn't was??? I wonder why that is.

[sandyk]

1 minute ago, plissken said:

 

Why would the significant majority the knows audiophile Ethernet is horseshit bother with it.

 

And the total number of subjectivists here who could have tried it but didn't was??? I wonder why that is.

 

All that money waving around, and you STILL don't know the answer to that question ?

[plissken]

6 minutes ago, sandyk said:

 

All that money waving around, and you STILL don't know the answer to that question ?

 

Well there's been some movement on that front.... I made $200 in October!

[sandyk]

12 minutes ago, plissken said:

 

Well there's been some movement on that front.... I made $200 in October!

 

From another candidate for the annual Darwin Awards ? 

 People sit in front of the pokies, feeding them  for hours at a time , and buy Lotto tickets knowing full well that the odds are stacked against them, just as they are with the files you prepare !

[The Computer Audiophile]

24 minutes ago, sandyk said:

 

From another candidate for the annual Darwin Awards ? 

 People sit in front of the pokies, feeding them  for hours at a time , and buy Lotto tickets knowing full well that the odds are stacked against them, just as they are with the files you prepare !

I hope the smiley face means you are joking.

[plissken]

42 minutes ago, sandyk said:

 

From another candidate for the annual Darwin Awards ? 

 

No. Just someone that didn't understand how this stuff works.

 

After having him run through two rounds @ 10 samples per we sat back and just started enjoying music. He was using Tidal and while we had an animated discussion I started taking the Ethernet cable out, holding it up, and then plugging back in while Tidal played.

 

He looked at me quizzically at first and then on an 11 minute track I remove the cable after 30 seconds and just held it up and set it to the side. He started getting anxious at this and I just asked him to wait. We listened to the track all the way through and then I asked the pertinent question:

 

What did the cable have to do with playback in Tidal for 10 minutes and 30 seconds? He agreed with me: NOTHING.

[sandyk]

14 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

I hope the smiley face means you are joking.

 Of course.

 I don't doubt that the person who attempted this thought he had a good chance after his own testing at home.

Anybody who has participated in serious DBT sessions knows how hard it is to obtain  the desired results when under stress.

It may be a different matter for the professionals who have nothing riding on the results.

[sandyk]

9 minutes ago, plissken said:

What did the cable have to do with playback in Tidal for 10 minutes and 30 seconds? He agreed with me: NOTHING.

 

 However, the cable did initially.

I get caught out myself occasionally when I have made changes to my USB playback area which uses a Regen with a battery derived supply. I suddenly realise that the LED on the USB memory stick isn't flashing, despite the music still playing.

That doesn't mean however that what is playing from System Memory, necessarily sounds the same as before the changes.

 I would hope that you really didn't take the money on this occasion though.

[plissken]

14 minutes ago, sandyk said:

 

 However, the cable did initially.

 

Sure did: It transferred 11 minutes worth of music in mere seconds. Same as any other Ethernet cable.

 

Doesn't matter how many different cables one is going to use to get that 11 minute track. It's going to sound 100% the same every time guaranteed. It's why when I ADC'd the tracks I posted here and switched cabling during playback w/o interruption that no one could tell the difference.

 

The data is perfect from an MD5 hash perspective, it's all been buffered to RAM, and any cable 'peculiarities' don't matter because those peculiarities simply don't get stored with the file being transferred. I'm on the road map for GBe Internet here and that means an entire track of 16/44.1 can be delivered in fractions of a second from a server that is 7500km away.

 

I don't have to worry about any intervening cable. Whether its at the provider, intermediary transits, or my ISP or my home network.

 

How about I get another high end cable, you snail mail me a 24/192 track, I'll setup and stream it to you over two cables in my system and you tell me which is which? I would love to see you validate your hearing. I can setup a periscope stream to Twitter.

[plissken]

24 minutes ago, sandyk said:

Anybody who has participated in serious DBT sessions knows how hard it is to obtain  the desired results when under stress.

 

Anyone that goes into any sort of discrimination testing with a desired (pre-known outcome) has bigger issues than 'stress'.

[sandyk]

4 minutes ago, plissken said:

How about I get another high end cable, you snail mail me a 24/192 track, I'll setup and stream it to you over two cables in my system and you tell me which is which? I would love to see you validate your hearing. I can setup a periscope stream to Twitter.

 

I am not about to play your silly games.

 

 I already have all the proof I need from people and C.A. members who are well qualified in their various areas of expertise.

 In any event, my hearing has aged considerably since first making my original reports over 10 years ago in DIY Audio,

( I will be 79 in just over another month !) where I  had another report of mine confirmed , regarding the audible improvements with VERY close matching of the Collector Currents of the Input Differential Pair in an amplifier.

 

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/solid-state/133018-current-mirror-discussion-15.html