Could Wireless Be Better or Worse Than Wired Ethernet?

[Calvin & Hobbes]

I got a Pro-ject Stream Box S2 Ultra that I started using in WiFi mode. I got a WiFi extender to create an Ethernet access point and switched to an Ethernet connection and turned off the WiFi connection. Of all of the tweaks that I tried (USB cable, Ethernet cable, Jitterbug noise filter), switching to an Ethernet connection and turning off WiFi produced the largest beneficial effect on sound quality 

 

These were some of the sound quality improvements that I heard: Streaming via Ethernet has more presence & clearer. Better pace than when streaming via WiFi. Like a veil has been lifted off of the music.

[Calvin & Hobbes]

@lmitche Great post! My experience fits with what you've found.

 

7 hours ago, lmitche said:

Important - Stay away from any gear that includes embedded wifi unless the radios can be powered down.

 

That's a great suggestion. By nature, I'm open to figuring out what sounds better, but also skeptical. I got the Pro-ject streamer precisely because it could work on Wi-Fi, but also could shut down Wi-Fi as well. My thought was that the idea that Ethernet only might sound better, but didn't want to foreclose on the option to use Wi-Fi as it is just simpler to use if it wasn't too different in sound quality. I've realized that using a Wi-Fi extender with an Ethernet output via cable to the network streamer is just as convenient was having Wi-Fi built into the streamer, but with much better sound.

[Calvin & Hobbes]

9 minutes ago, audiobomber said:

I still wonder, how does a system with a wi-fi to ethernet bridge compare to a system connected using cables only? I suspect it is system dependent, i.e., how good is the implementation?

Return on effort is a big consideration for me in audio. Even if cables only sounds better (and I think it likely would), the perceived effort of dragging 100 feet of cable through my house dissuades me from wanting to try that. I'd rather try optimizing the output from the Wi-Fi extender.

[Calvin & Hobbes]

On 2/7/2021 at 3:35 PM, The Computer Audiophile said:

I had a Devialet Expert series set of amps here many years ago and when it wasn't connected to a wireless network, the amps would place the wifi card and antennas internally into blast mode to search for networks. This was easily audible to even the most unlearned listener. 

@The Computer Audiophile I wonder if non-digital audio companies have since learned more about the value of isolating WiFi signals from the rest of the signal path.