acousticsguru

Actually, what Amir and the guys on that site are doing isn't science. They're naysayers. To claim one can't hear a difference because one couldn't measure it is a waste of time. Historically, there's always been a time when we didn't know what we know now. I'm old enough to remember a time before there were jitter measurements in digital audio, yet those who trusted their ears insisted on hearing differences in S/PDIF connections (another example would be "cable" reflections due to terminations, e.g. RCA versus BNC plugs, etc. & etc. - one could go on listing examples of how to measure the wrong thing all day long). All the naysayers had to contribute was that "bits are bits" - which they are. To me, someone who keeps coming up with truisms and/or refuses to find a way to measure what's relevant, possibly invent methods or build measuring equipment, is just lazy. I sometimes wonder if those self-proclaimed "scientists" have engineering jobs, let alone a life? Who'd hire anyone who, instead of trying to solve a problem, keeps replying something "can't be", professing an utter and complete lack of scientific curiosity? Don't get me wrong, I use and like measurements for what they are: a means to an end, time-saving etc. It's obvious to me those people can't be designers or they'd know better than to use measurements to prove the absence or inexistence of things. That would imply they're omniscient. Which ironically would be the only scenario, rationally speaking, in which measurements would not be needed… Greetings from Switzerland, David.

Easy to order direct via the website. Greetings from Switzerland, David.

Good decision! I have no idea why people claim a longer one would sound better? It's an optical cable. I know all the usual reasons when it comes to reflections off terminations in e.g. digital cables (electrical), but optical, no clue what difference that would make. Maybe they're hoping the cable itself would work as an attenuator (if so, how many kilometers are we talking about?), in which case I'd say they picked the wrong SFP module to begin with… Greetings from Switzerland, David.

To answer one question specifically: yes, you can "bunch up" an optical cable, including up to several kilometers, no difference. Since there's no electricity, there's no inductance (which is why you absolutely cannot "bunch up" electrical cables). Greetings from Switzerland, David.

There are lots of recommendations as to which brand to choose (again, no use mixing and matching, use the same on both ends), but best to find a short-distance opto-coupler (identical modules, don't just buy one for the EtherREGEN because it comes without, whereas there's usually one included with the Sonore) that does not require attenuators. Greetings from Switzerland, David.

Might add the EtherREGEN is itself one of those products that I got to test in my system and that I would not have considered buying otherwise. Can't honestly say the white paper made much sense to me… Greetings from Switzerland, David.

I've travelled the U.S. and been to some audiophiles' homes, and been wondering if in general, (polluted) power is more of a concern, and if we (Europeans? Swiss?) may be privileged in this respect (I honestly do NOT know, just a thought, or an impression I got). I have nonetheless owned equipment that thrived on e.g. the use of a great mains filter, having said that, some, such as modern Spectral preamplifiers using Keith Johnson's "floating" PSU clearly sound worse whatever aftermarket gadget one throws at them and are best plugged into the wall. These are aspects of our hobby in which it is near-impossible to give or find advice on forums like this. I've been lucky to try lots and lots of gear, cables, tweaks etc., partly of course because I was asked to do so, free from the expectation bias that inevitably comes with investing one's hard-earned money, for better or worse. It's one of the reasons I rarely participate in forum discussions except to caution people to try for themselves, if at all possible. There's a limit to what one can tell or learn from others, and it's never going to replace first-hand experience. Greetings from Switzerland, David.

In my system, with the Vivaldi stack, adding any gadget whatsoever tends to make the sound fractionally duller. Using the EtherREGEN with good cables is a worthwhile tradeoff as there's even less noise, which in turn means lesser modulation of low-level resolution, which in turn adds a bit to timbre and spaciousness, and even lesser listening fatigue than without. In short, it's beneficial, but if I didn't mainly listen to classical, some jazz and 70s (prog) rock, and comparatively little pop, I can see others might not like the slightly "calmer" and more relaxed sound. An audiophile acquaintance of mine said he could hardly tell a difference at all, and he had the EtherREGEN in a similar system for weeks if not months. So you're right, YMMV. That's why I find it difficult to trust "best Ethernet cable" recommendations etc. In a high-end system, all comes down to synergy, and in case of doubt, less is more. Greetings from Switzerland, David.

Adding fibre may be beneficial in scenarios where the additional isolation is needed. The key word is "may". Remember there are two additional conversions/optical couplers involved - all else being equal, adding those cannot improve matters. It's a tradeoff, so the question is, do you have a RMI/RFI issue that needs too addressed? If not, you risk adding a little dullness to the sound without gaining anything in return. Greetings from Switzerland, David.

A cable can only "win" a comparison in a given context. The important thing to learn from that comparison is that the unshielded CAT6 cables outperform shielded CAT7 etc., as indeed they should. To use a shielded Ethernet cable for audio and/or the EtherREGEN basically defeats the purpose of using Ethernet at all. Greetings from Switzerland, David.

Needless to say, an added advantage of something like the Meicord (which is an unshielded CAT6, as per the recommendation for audio purposes) is the price, so one can use the same cable throughout, for runs to and from the EtherREGEN, from the Router to the NAS etc. & etc. In my experience, it never sounds better to mix and match cables, I'd rather use the best I can afford throughout. Greetings from Switzerland, David.

The relevant part is, you want to use unshielded as per John's recommendation, and yes, the plugs and termination may make more of a difference than the cable itself. I use Meicord for this reason, which I compared to more expensive cables, and to my surprise, there were differences (I honestly expected none). The Meicord has the advantage of making the Ethernet input sound just like any other digital input on the Vivaldi stack, versus tailoring the sound one way or the other (but of course if one's system sounds e.g. bright, I might prefer a cable such as the Cardas etc. & etc., so it's really system-dependent as well as a matter of taste, there's no right and wrong here). Greetings from Switzerland, David.

I don't have any master tapes nor an A/D-converter, so I cannot truthfully answer your first question, but Masterclass does sound pretty amazing, it's true, and I know Mark loves using the equalizer and feels he can improve on the sound of almost any piece of music that way - the use of which I personally don't find quite as intuitive. I completely agree with you - the ability of using A+ shouldn't be an audiophile gadget. I don't own or use an iPod etc., but I'm convinced it would appeal to the masses playing back e.g. MP3 files if their iPod, mobile phone etc. included it as an option. To make it available to the select few who've heard about it at all, and force them to buy a costly media player with equalizer, plus force them to reserve an I/O for a USB dongle to be able to use it, is a mystery to me. Why not include A+ in every such gadget for a dollar a piece and make billions off it? At least that's what I'd do if the invention were mine… Yes, you can convert all the files within an album folder provided you click those files via the "Add" button (no such thing as Drag & Drop in Masterclass!), then you have to manually type a folder name (no such thing as Copy & Paste in Masterclass!) and it'll convert all the files and add "-MC" at the end of each one of them. Converting several thousand CDs (= folders!) that way would seem like a major PITA to me, and I'm universally known for my patience, but then, I'm getting older, so my patience may be gradually wearing off. Do not think you can throw a bunch of folders at Masterclass, leave and expect it to have converted them by the time you return. Not going to happen - at least not in the Version 1.03 I have. More importantly, I don't think you'd even want to equalize a number of CDs using the same settings. The only reason to have a 6-band equalizer that's like the digital reincarnation of the Cello Audio Palette is to do this for every album individually, if not for every single song! Also, I do not see the need for such an epic venture if you decide to get Masterclass, as you'll have realtime conversion at your disposal. In my experience, it sounds better than to play back rendered files with any other media player, possibly better than playing back rendered files using any media player if the files aren't AIFF to begin with. In my comparisons, I got the best sound from Masterclass playing back, with A+ engaged (and equalizer, if you so wish), WAV files in realtime conversion. Greetings from Switzerland, David.

Ah, yes, the promo talk… Mark Levinson isn't a tech person, can't say I paid much attention to that part. The real-time conversion is clearly from PCM to PCM. What's being added (the difference a null test reveals) is PCM. What else? Greetings from Switzerland, David.