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Article: SOtM sNH-10G Network Switch Review


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7 hours ago, incus said:

I'll admit this review sounds more like a marketing piece however I am the owner of two such tricked-out versions of the SOtM switches and can attest that they have introduced very nice improvements into both my speaker and my headphone systems. I have them linked across a good distance via optical. There is increased ease to my listening experience as well as greater detail retrieval, which I attribute to less noise and better timing. I don't want to get into the very thorny subjects of clock phase noise and leakage currents (which probably belong in a that other thread), but I attribute the ease and detail bumps to those factors. I currently run a Small Green Computer Roon Core i7 feeding the first SOtM switch with a dCBL CAT 7 + iSOCat6 combo and then same cable combo to an sMS-200 Ultra that feeds a Qutest dac for two channel. Optical leads to the next switch which feeds another sMS-200 Ultra via the same cable combo which feeds a Holo Spring II KTE for headphones. I formerly had Aqvox switches - both versions - as well as "clock tapped" TP-Llink switches provided as part of the "switch mod" from Crux Audio. The SOtM switch tops them both by a good margin. Outside of the addition of the Spring Dac, the switches are the best upgrade in my digital chain yet. Looking forward to the etherRegen to see it can top this.

My question to you would be, assuming the results you report: would a much cheaper solution like the upcoming opticalModule and switch starter kit from Sonore be just as good? If the noise reduction is in large part due to the optical isolation, and a good clock, it  should.

Main listening (small home office):

Main setup: Surge protector +>Isol-8 Mini sub Axis Power Strip/Isolation>QuietPC Low Noise Server>Roon (Audiolense DRC)>Stack Audio Link II>Kii Control>Kii Three (on their own electric circuit) >GIK Room Treatments.

Secondary Path: Server with Audiolense RC>RPi4 or analog>Cayin iDAC6 MKII (tube mode) (XLR)>Kii Three .

Bedroom: SBTouch to Cambridge Soundworks Desktop Setup.
Living Room/Kitchen: Ropieee (RPi3b+ with touchscreen) + Schiit Modi3E to a pair of Morel Hogtalare. 

All absolute statements about audio are false :)

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1 hour ago, LowMidHigh said:

 

It shows a lot a about the company's ethos when it charges top dollars for its products and then chooses to save on a professional translator.

I used to work in the area of writing English text for company web sites for non native English speakers. Lots of companies/site owners don’t see this as an issue. Even when it is explained to them - with examples - that the English on their site isn’t correct or is lacking stylistically, they don’t think it is something important to correct or to spend money and time on. I don’t understand why, but I can attest that it is not an uncommon attitude.

Main listening (small home office):

Main setup: Surge protector +>Isol-8 Mini sub Axis Power Strip/Isolation>QuietPC Low Noise Server>Roon (Audiolense DRC)>Stack Audio Link II>Kii Control>Kii Three (on their own electric circuit) >GIK Room Treatments.

Secondary Path: Server with Audiolense RC>RPi4 or analog>Cayin iDAC6 MKII (tube mode) (XLR)>Kii Three .

Bedroom: SBTouch to Cambridge Soundworks Desktop Setup.
Living Room/Kitchen: Ropieee (RPi3b+ with touchscreen) + Schiit Modi3E to a pair of Morel Hogtalare. 

All absolute statements about audio are false :)

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I'm getting the US link okay, but the international buy link results in a warning for an unsafe site, and the URL displayed isn't SOTM.

Main listening (small home office):

Main setup: Surge protector +>Isol-8 Mini sub Axis Power Strip/Isolation>QuietPC Low Noise Server>Roon (Audiolense DRC)>Stack Audio Link II>Kii Control>Kii Three (on their own electric circuit) >GIK Room Treatments.

Secondary Path: Server with Audiolense RC>RPi4 or analog>Cayin iDAC6 MKII (tube mode) (XLR)>Kii Three .

Bedroom: SBTouch to Cambridge Soundworks Desktop Setup.
Living Room/Kitchen: Ropieee (RPi3b+ with touchscreen) + Schiit Modi3E to a pair of Morel Hogtalare. 

All absolute statements about audio are false :)

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38 minutes ago, LowMidHigh said:

 

Because everyone on this forum is interested in the truth and nothing but the truth, I did some digging and reached an audio engineer, who had taken a number of SOtM products apart.

 

Fasten your seatbelts:

 

In the heart of the iSO-CAT6 is the $3 HanRun single port Ethernet transformer, with a pile of caps and a couple of diodes on each side. In other words, mediocracy screaming to high heaven.

 

As SOtM openly shares, that low-grade pseudo-isolation (iSO-CAT6) is the foundation of their $800 switch. If one opts for the $1,700 version, one gets their clock synthesizer board, but because the switch doesn’t have actual active digital isolators, it’s restricted to only one clock domain. The other 3 available clock lines are wasted (there are 4 with the SiliconLabs synth chip they use). So in essence, that $700 clock board runs the same performance as a $10 Crystek 575.

 

I expect some flakes: SOtM and its associates have financial interests here and actual buyers detest cognitive dissonance. Still, I’m not heaping on the company for the sake of it, rather sharing facts that some may find useful in their decision-making process.

 

As always when people discuss parts, I'm not sure any of it matters. You can make a good sounding unit with cheap parts, and a bad sounding unit with expensive parts. 

 

I have no idea if these devices do anything - and I don't care whether they do or don't. If people try them and think they make their system sound better - good for them. It's also their business if the price/performance/looks ratio is suitable to their budget.

I have nothing to say to them unless they start promoting the device as doing something other  than making THEIR setup sound better to THEM. Once they start making broad claims about the device, then I'd like some proof other than one person's sighted subjective listening impressions about what it does.

Main listening (small home office):

Main setup: Surge protector +>Isol-8 Mini sub Axis Power Strip/Isolation>QuietPC Low Noise Server>Roon (Audiolense DRC)>Stack Audio Link II>Kii Control>Kii Three (on their own electric circuit) >GIK Room Treatments.

Secondary Path: Server with Audiolense RC>RPi4 or analog>Cayin iDAC6 MKII (tube mode) (XLR)>Kii Three .

Bedroom: SBTouch to Cambridge Soundworks Desktop Setup.
Living Room/Kitchen: Ropieee (RPi3b+ with touchscreen) + Schiit Modi3E to a pair of Morel Hogtalare. 

All absolute statements about audio are false :)

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30 minutes ago, lasker98 said:

This is a new review from Hans Beekhuyzen:

 

Let's just say that after his ignorant posts about MQA (and I'm not referring to his sonic opinion of MQA), I wouldn't trust anything he says. 

Main listening (small home office):

Main setup: Surge protector +>Isol-8 Mini sub Axis Power Strip/Isolation>QuietPC Low Noise Server>Roon (Audiolense DRC)>Stack Audio Link II>Kii Control>Kii Three (on their own electric circuit) >GIK Room Treatments.

Secondary Path: Server with Audiolense RC>RPi4 or analog>Cayin iDAC6 MKII (tube mode) (XLR)>Kii Three .

Bedroom: SBTouch to Cambridge Soundworks Desktop Setup.
Living Room/Kitchen: Ropieee (RPi3b+ with touchscreen) + Schiit Modi3E to a pair of Morel Hogtalare. 

All absolute statements about audio are false :)

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