I have a discussion with a high end audio dealer. He is specialized in selling cables. We have an ongoing discussion about the setup. Currently I have this setup:
But he would prefer this solution:
What do you think? What’s your opinion?
Modem > router > ethernet cable > switch > ethernet cable > streamer / DAC
and
Mac Mini > ethernet > switch
where preferably the switch and the streamer/Dac are on a separate power socket than the Mac Mini.
TBH, it is impossible to predict which config will sound better.
You have to try both for comparison.
I would use an ethernet cable with a minimum lenght of 2.5 meters.
@Densagined
USB
I use the first connection and I think it’s excellent.
??? The best practice is to have all components on a common power/ground/earth circuit preferably distributed from a common socket to avoid ground-loop related noise… Otherwise, the components would need isolation via optical or transformer or wireless (not preferred) Galvanic isolation (greater than Ethernet). There is no guarantee that multiple sockets on a wall outlet are on the same circuit to ground, unless you know for sure that they are… It is better to distribute power from a single socket from the wall when possible. If not possible then the components require isolation to avoid ground-loops (which can damage equipment and present a potentially deadly electrical shock)
With the second connection, what connection will be used between the Mac mini (running Audirvana, I presume) and the network player? Wireless? Does the Primare allow wireless UPnP/DLNA input at the same resolution as the current USB input? (I scanned the manual very briefly and I think this is the case but couldn’t quite be certain.)
One last comment: Cat 6a should be used rather than Cat 8. The latter has a ground connection between the two ends which can transmit electrical noise, while Cat 6a does not.
Thanks for all you comments. They are very interesting. The arguments from the dealer are: The WiFi connection is less sensitive against Jitter. But the WiFi connection of the Primare is not quite good. So he would prefer a high end cable Ethernet Cable for the connection.
I wasn’t worried about the ground issue so far, but I will dive in deeper into this topic. And I’ll test a CAT6a instead of CAT8.
BTW - related technical data of Primare:
USB-B up to 384kHz/24 bit; DSD256
LAN: 192kHz/24 bit; DSD 64/128
WLAN: 192kHz/24 bit; DSD 64/128
@Densagined and @Jud
Here I use CAT6 from the modem/router to the Mac mini, and from the computer to the DAC a short USB 3.0 cable.
The USB cable that came with the DAC.
Since you’re using a Mac mini, USB input of DSD will be something called DoP (DSD over PCM). This uses some extra bits compared to regular (“native”) DSD, so maximum DSD input resolution over USB-B will be DSD128, same as LAN or WLAN. No difference there.
Assuming the USB input is asynchronous, as is the case with nearly all DACs these days, that input will be more resistant to jitter than others. This is because with such an input the controlling clock is right in the DAC, as close as possible to where the conversion is done. It is the optimal situation for minimizing jitter.
At the end of the day we can theorize all we want, but the best thing to do is probably just to try both and see if you have a strong preference.
Wi-Fi introduces unpredictable transmission reliability.
Neat little solution for connecting the computer and audio components
I reiterate again: put a switch between the router and the streamer.
Router is a Ubiquity Dream Router. It has a switch included.
The router has no LAN optical isolation … the SilentPower LAN iPurifier Pro provides optical isolation from the router for the Mac, where the Mac and the DAC can be electrically isolated from the router in your first configuration scenario, where the Mac, the Lan iPurifier Pro and the DAC share a common power/ground/earth circuit.
Thanks, that’s a very nice article. I haven’t delved into the links from it, so can you provide the OP with a couple of switches that are recommended?
@Jud @jmtennapel @Densagined
This is a new player in the audio-centric switch marketplace:
No I don’t work for IFi-Audio… They seem to answer a lot of issues with their solutions…
I suppose the OP has the ability to read.
Short update
After some research I found out that CAT6a is not shielded on one side per default. There are some differences in shielding (U/FTP, S/FTP, SF/UTP, …), but they are all connected on both sides. You can change this by building your own cable. This is what I found, if you know more let me know.
I did this, so far:
And here is my impression:
I can hear a difference between the USB connection schema and the network solution (WiFi for MacMini, Ethernet for my Primare). Via network it sounds a little bit more open and some very small increase of details.
Between the Highend Ethernet cable and the cheaper, but still good cables, I couldn’t here any difference.
I also tried WiFi only. This sounds very close to the mixed network solution. Perhaps sometimes some crackles.
But with WiFi I have an issue in any configuration. Sometimes after 10, sometimes after 30 minutes the music stops. Can’t find out why. I just found this in the Log:
2025-05-11 18:53:51.186 [error]: UPnP audio device unreachable (powered off ?), aborting playback
2025-05-11 18:53:51.186 [error]: UPnP Error setting queued DMR chunk after receiving AVTransportURI event
2025-05-11 18:53:51.194 [error]: UPnP select device: can't find the device Primare SC15 Prisma MK2 with UID: uuid:01efd6d8-ce86-11ef-a6a3-...
followed by some more lines. In my opinion it’s a WiFi issue. As long as the Mac mini was connected via Ethernet I didn’t have any issues.
But long story short: The improvements in sound quality do not justify the price of the cable.
The shielding on Cat6a cable allows RF to drain to the source component ground/earth…
Putting a wireless router close to your DAC and computer is a recipe for the induction of noise into the devices architecture topologies.
What does your power/ground/earthing scheme look like when using USB and copper Ethernet with or without the Wi-Fi connection to the Mac?