beerandmusic Posted April 30, 2020 Share Posted April 30, 2020 Do most people that buy "audio grade" network switches use that directly off their modem? Or do they just feed it from another network switch in their home network? Mainly, i am curious if it matters the quality of the network switch that feeds it? Link to comment
0 davide256 Posted April 30, 2020 Share Posted April 30, 2020 16 minutes ago, beerandmusic said: Do most people that buy "audio grade" network switches use that directly off their modem? Or do they just feed it from another network switch in their home network? Mainly, i am curious if it matters the quality of the network switch that feeds it? Your modem would have to be a router also if you connected the switch directly... otherwise your devices wouldn't get an IP address assigned (DHCP) when they turned on. I try to keep my server & NAS on the audio switch Regards, Dave Audio system Link to comment
0 beerandmusic Posted April 30, 2020 Author Share Posted April 30, 2020 1 hour ago, davide256 said: Your modem would have to be a router also if you connected the switch directly... otherwise your devices wouldn't get an IP address assigned (DHCP) when they turned on. I try to keep my server & NAS on the audio switch so does the audio switch connect your main network or do you have 2 networks or does your audio swtich connect to your home network? Link to comment
0 ericuco Posted April 30, 2020 Share Posted April 30, 2020 The question you are asking is difficult to answer because there are an almost limitless number of ways to configure a home network, based in part on how your house is laid out and in part where your modem/router comes into your house. For instance, my modem/router is in the second story office while my music system is on the main floor. So my music system connects to the modem/router via WiFi. It also depends if you are using one or two computers setups. For instance, I have a two computer setup with a Linux server (HQP) and a Linux endpoint (Sonore opticalRendu - HQP NAA) that connects to my DAC. If you are using an "audiophile" switch, it would probably sit between the server and endpoint. If you are using one computer, then the "audiophile" switch would probably sit just before your computer. In other words, you probably want the "audiophile" switch as far downstream as possible. Here is simple schematic that @Miska put together to show how all the pieces (modem, router, switches, servers, etc.) typically fit together in a home network. Note that the modem, router and firewall are often contained in the one box that your ISP provides. thuandb 1 Eric Audio System Link to comment
0 beerandmusic Posted April 30, 2020 Author Share Posted April 30, 2020 1 hour ago, ericuco said: The question you are asking is difficult to answer because there are an almost limitless number of ways to configure a home network, based in part on how your house is laid out and in part where your modem/router comes into your house. For instance, my modem/router is in the second story office while my music system is on the main floor. So my music system connects to the modem/router via WiFi. It also depends if you are using one or two computers setups. For instance, I have a two computer setup with a Linux server (HQP) and a Linux endpoint (Sonore opticalRendu - HQP NAA) that connects to my DAC. If you are using an "audiophile" switch, it would probably sit between the server and endpoint. If you are using one computer, then the "audiophile" switch would probably sit just before your computer. In other words, you probably want the "audiophile" switch as far downstream as possible. Here is simple schematic that @Miska put together to show how all the pieces (modem, router, switches, servers, etc.) typically fit together in a home network. Note that the modem, router and firewall are often contained in the one box that your ISP provides. ok, thanks for the info... so in this diagram you only have one network, and whereever the audio switch is, it is connected to a non-audio switch. Question was basically does one need to consider any potential noise from the first switch....but apparently not if the audio swtich connects to the main switch. At one point, i was contemplating putting together multi-homed computer where the switch used for audio was on it's own network. Link to comment
0 beerandmusic Posted April 30, 2020 Author Share Posted April 30, 2020 thanks to jabbr, i bought some cisco routers and fiber hardware and cables, and was planning on putting together a network for network audio, and shortly thereafter, i got sidetracked, and then after that moved, and i have been out of the picture for a couple years....looking for threads to see if i can back to where my head was at back then (grin). Link to comment
0 beerandmusic Posted April 30, 2020 Author Share Posted April 30, 2020 also before i get too much into this, is there any network/dac solutions that utilize fiber under $1500. I read about the sonore fiber solution but for streamer only of $2k, that is over my budget. I am looking to spend $1500-2000 MAX including dac. I have cisco switches and fiber transcievers and cabling already. I don't want any DIY stuff like Jabbr has. Is there anything else that has fiber->usb or should i just go fiber back to twisted pair. Link to comment
0 ericuco Posted April 30, 2020 Share Posted April 30, 2020 Perhaps a Sonore opticalModule > Sonore microRendu (no longer available new but probably find used) > Toppings D90 DAC Eric Audio System Link to comment
0 beerandmusic Posted April 30, 2020 Author Share Posted April 30, 2020 35 minutes ago, ericuco said: Perhaps a Sonore opticalModule > Sonore microRendu (no longer available new but probably find used) > Toppings D90 DAC thanks...i wasn't aware of that product, and that actually may be a good idea to make sure i have minimal noise...since it was designed with audio in mind, i could probably swap out one of my transciever modules for it....not sure if that would be any better than just using a regular transciever though with a better ps?? Jabbr would probably be excellent at answering that question. I haven't looked at the toppings either...since i have been off market for a couple years....actually i just looked it quickly..it doesn't have a network port so that wouldn't work....i would need a dac with an enet port or fiber port...i am sure there aren't any fiber dacs in my range? so will have to decide on an enet dac to pair with the fiber xceiever. Link to comment
0 ericuco Posted April 30, 2020 Share Posted April 30, 2020 Good luck finding a DAC with a Ethernet input, regardless of price. Eric Audio System Link to comment
0 beerandmusic Posted April 30, 2020 Author Share Posted April 30, 2020 13 minutes ago, ericuco said: Good luck finding a DAC with a Ethernet input, regardless of price. regardless of price, there are probably 100 of them and the number keeps growing...and that is not counting bluray players and avr's....the one that comes closest to what i believe i am looking for is auralic altair G1, or even the original model that came out years ago. I was using a sony bluray player to stream DSD over 5 years ago for around $80. Link to comment
0 davide256 Posted May 1, 2020 Share Posted May 1, 2020 4 hours ago, beerandmusic said: so does the audio switch connect your main network or do you have 2 networks or does your audio swtich connect to your home network? I use a wireless router off the cable modem and Gb POE to remotely connect the EtherRegen switch where my audio gear is located to the Ethernet ports on the router. Running two IP network segments can be a PITA, devices on different segments sometimes won’t talk to each for audio protocols Regards, Dave Audio system Link to comment
0 mfsoa Posted May 1, 2020 Share Posted May 1, 2020 A few days after adding some switches around the house I notice that the system was not sounding normal. I then re-routed the switches so that the switch at my stereo system was fed directly from the PC used for audio, and then I ran the rest of the lines from that audio switch. Bang, sound quality restored to where I remembered it. Of course, many who have never heard my system and were not present at the time know better than I that this did not happen.🙄 None of these are audiophile switches, just whatever $20 thing I picked up. Link to comment
0 ASRMichael Posted May 1, 2020 Share Posted May 1, 2020 If any help, I have...... Vigor modem-Edge X SFP Router- - Edge 16 port switch (all other ethernet & wifi devices) Ethernet coming in to Edge router had JCAT lan isolator - Edge Router fiber - EtherRegen - EtherRegen A-Side - NAS - EtherRegen A-Side - Server Link to comment
0 beerandmusic Posted May 2, 2020 Author Share Posted May 2, 2020 i was hoping for an audio engineer to respond to tell me if it would make any difference what the hardware is for a dnla server if the only thing i am using it for is to feed a switch upstream....my thinking is that it will not, and i saw someone responded that it does not make a difference, and just looking for confirmation. For now i just decided to install minimserver on the NAS.... Link to comment
0 beerandmusic Posted May 2, 2020 Author Share Posted May 2, 2020 as long as i am here, i might as well also ask is there any difference between using an "audio grade xceiver" moreso than just using an off the shelf xciever with a better power supply (thinking like the ifi power). Link to comment
0 adamaley Posted May 7, 2020 Share Posted May 7, 2020 Which Ubiquiti Edge SFP router are folks preferring to? I see two models with the SFP option, one for ~$100 and the other ~$260. Link to comment
0 ASRMichael Posted May 7, 2020 Share Posted May 7, 2020 Edge X SFP. Low wattage router. I didn’t see the point going for something bigger. No need unless your a large organisation. adamaley 1 Link to comment
Question
beerandmusic
Do most people that buy "audio grade" network switches use that directly off their modem? Or do they just feed it from another network switch in their home network?
Mainly, i am curious if it matters the quality of the network switch that feeds it?
Link to comment
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