Hi,
using my Bartok with Scarlatti Transport and clock (plus additional SRS atomic clock) I am now looking for a good router starting to use Spotify. Any recommendations? Thanks
Eckart
If you’re looking for an ethernet switch, I found the top of the range SOtM sNH-10G to be one of the best (the one with all the options such as the master clock sounded better than the entry level to me), however the Innuos Phoenix Net seemed to work at least as well as two of the SOtM’s daisy chained together and I’d therefore recommend the Phoenix, if buying today.
If you can wait a few weeks, I know of another brand about to announce their own switch, which might just prove itself to be better than all of these at a similar price point.
At a lower price point, there is the Uptone Audio EtherRegen and the English Electric 8. The former is likely the better of the two (I never got to try them head-to-head), but I found that feeding one ethernet cable in the front and the other in the back of the EtherRegen a bit of an inconvenience.
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Something I should add is that the Bartok appears to have excellent resistance to noise from the ethernet port. I wouldn’t cheap out and buy a $50 switch, but I don’t think you need to go mad either!
Thank you all.
I bought a Nuprime switch. What a difference thanks to the clock. I also exchanged the power supplies with bigger ones of Weiliang for FritzBox and Nuprime, of course with new fuses of Refine. Now I am rethinking the Etnernet connection, using a good and stable line, maybe with a bridge coming from the Bartok (not sure about the bridge support yet).
Interestingly, the Nuprime looks identical to the English Electric. I gather there are a few brands that use the same electronics (and box). Either way, I think it’s a great switch.
Both the English Electric 8Switch and the Silent Angel Bonn N8 are made by the one outfit; Thunder-Data (in China). Zyxel (Taiwanese) also has the same Switch, they call it the GS-108B v3, which sells for between $25 - $40.
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Zyxel should be different. Guess what the clock as single piece costs.
Doesn’t matter. While the switch might have other benefits, such as reducing noise in your system, clocking an asynchronous stream won’t matter much.
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Did you have a clock in your system already?
Doctor, are you asking me whether I have a clock in my system already? For me, the answer is yes. I have a Vivaldi Master Clock for the Vivaldi DAC, and I have been through three reference 10mHz clocks for the Vivaldi (including the SRS Perf10, which is an excellent clock). Currently, my reference clock is a Novus Kronos1. As I have noted elsewhere, just for fun, I have connected that clock to other network equipment with—no surprise—no effect.
Ah, Greg okay. Agree the SRS Perfection 10 used as a master with the dCS clock is excellent. I asked because I realize a big difference with the Nuprime clock - despite it is clocking an asynchronous signal!?
Just to be clear, the master clock and reference clock are two different beasts. In your case, the SRS Perf10 is the reference clock, though it is not clear to me what your master clock is. In your first post, you referenced the “Scarlatti Transport and clock,” but it wasn’t clear to me if you meant a Scarlatti Master Clock. I assume you did. Anyway, if you heard a significant difference with the Nuprime switch, I cannot help but wonder if there might have been a problem with whatever it replaced. Certainly, it’s difficult to attribute any improvement to the clocking feature.
I am using a Scarlatti clock in 44.1 modus running to the Scarlatti transport. The SRS is put after the Scarlatti clock and improves the clocking. Using my Bartock I am able to transport signals via Vivaldi modus (AES 1 , AES 2) from the Scarlatti transport. This is my setting in my big system.
I began streaming with the Bartock using a 20m SupraCable CAT8 LAN to the Nuprime Switch containing clock (!) and noise reduction features. Between the router (FritzBox) and the switch (Nuprime) I put a galvanisator/ionisator from Emosafe EN70 e connecting with Furutech LAN 8NCFO 0,6 m. Another Furutech cable connects the router to the switch. I am also using two separate power supplies for router and switch having exchanged fuses and especially made power connections from silver (25 years old from Degussa). The power supplies, router and switch are put into a power stabilisation unit from Dynavox (There might be better ones but it is ok for the moment).
Do you have a technical explanation why the clock in the Nuprime Switch should not have any influence on the signal? Thank you.
James Cook just got done explaining this the other day in his technical posts, which I linked above. While the router could conceivably have other effects in your system, timing of asynchronous data is simply not one of them.
Greg, I do not see the link. Please post again. The router does not have the capabilities of the switch, the clocking is done by the Nuprime.
Check the post above. It’s right there. And I was referring to the router and switch generically. There’s just no reason to think that any clocking at either will produce a change in musical information. As I mentioned, there might be other reasons why something sounds different—and I am most specifically not saying that these devices cannot produce audible results—but for asynchronous data, it most likely won’t be about timing.
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Hi Greg,
Just in the interest of learning here:
What motivated you to change from the SRS to the Kronos 1?
Thank you,
R
Thanks Greg. I was familiar with one of those two threads but not the other.
What I gather from your posts is that it wasn’t a direct A/B test with the SRS or the Kronos, but an exploration of what could be better, and to a lesser extent the latter company’s enthusiasm for the product and our market. Is that correct?
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Exactly. There was no A/B/X testing whatsoever. Just exploration. And you know that feeling when you get your hands on a piece of kit, and your brain and your heart both say: “This. Is. So. Right.”
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