Digital Distress Cured
Dec 19, 2023 17:59:15 GMT
via Tapatalk
Bigman80, antonio, and 2 more like this
Post by stevew on Dec 19, 2023 17:59:15 GMT
Do you get that feeling when you know something isn’t right, which makes it far worse than it really is?
Well that’s been me and digital streaming now for a long time.
I have been chasing the digital dragon now for so long it seemed to misdirect to all sorts of other areas.
The room, reflective surfaces, cables all came under suspicion.
I knew that cd sounded terrific through the system, so everything pointed to the transport (two different SOtM streamers), having eliminated all sorts of other potential issues.
Still, the quality o what I was hearing never quite matched that of vinyl and other systems I’ve listened to down the road.
Curing the issue has become an obsession that looked like no other solution than throwing even more money at alternative transports/streamer.
The resolution to all this turned out to be a complete surprise and the reality was hiding in plain sight.
So a couple of days ago I came down to the basement to listen to some tunes.
Nothing doing as Roon had disappeared and the internet in that part of the house.
Now our house is one of those Victorian efforts that can destroy WiFi signals. So I’ve had to go to a lot of effort running Ethernet under floorboards, through holes in walls etc etc
So I have a long Ethernet cable running from the router two floors up into a couple of network switches.
These run music feeds, BT WiFi discs, Apple TV, a computer tv etc
Didn’t take me long to figure out one of these had ‘gone’. Quick trip to Curry’s (I’m in a rush this time of year) and I’m sorted with the attached. A bit of overkill but the 8 socket was all they had, and the 5 one I picked up in error. I could have gone cheaper, but had a hunch. Expectation bias be damned.
Anyway, plugging everything back got all working again.
As I switched on Roon and music started it was with a sense of disbelief. At last I had the sound I knew this system was capable of.
A three d soundstage!
Detail.
One of the most surprising things was that I discovered the bass these Ektas can produce. On a track called Goodbye England by Laura Marling there is a build up to around 2 mins 40 where an organ comes in. Ooeer missus. For the first time I can feel and hear the subterranean recording via Qobuz.
Everything sounds fundamentally different.
Just by replacing some Ethernet switches that must have been strangling the signal.
My wallet has sent me a Christmas card in gratitude.
Well that’s been me and digital streaming now for a long time.
I have been chasing the digital dragon now for so long it seemed to misdirect to all sorts of other areas.
The room, reflective surfaces, cables all came under suspicion.
I knew that cd sounded terrific through the system, so everything pointed to the transport (two different SOtM streamers), having eliminated all sorts of other potential issues.
Still, the quality o what I was hearing never quite matched that of vinyl and other systems I’ve listened to down the road.
Curing the issue has become an obsession that looked like no other solution than throwing even more money at alternative transports/streamer.
The resolution to all this turned out to be a complete surprise and the reality was hiding in plain sight.
So a couple of days ago I came down to the basement to listen to some tunes.
Nothing doing as Roon had disappeared and the internet in that part of the house.
Now our house is one of those Victorian efforts that can destroy WiFi signals. So I’ve had to go to a lot of effort running Ethernet under floorboards, through holes in walls etc etc
So I have a long Ethernet cable running from the router two floors up into a couple of network switches.
These run music feeds, BT WiFi discs, Apple TV, a computer tv etc
Didn’t take me long to figure out one of these had ‘gone’. Quick trip to Curry’s (I’m in a rush this time of year) and I’m sorted with the attached. A bit of overkill but the 8 socket was all they had, and the 5 one I picked up in error. I could have gone cheaper, but had a hunch. Expectation bias be damned.
Anyway, plugging everything back got all working again.
As I switched on Roon and music started it was with a sense of disbelief. At last I had the sound I knew this system was capable of.
A three d soundstage!
Detail.
One of the most surprising things was that I discovered the bass these Ektas can produce. On a track called Goodbye England by Laura Marling there is a build up to around 2 mins 40 where an organ comes in. Ooeer missus. For the first time I can feel and hear the subterranean recording via Qobuz.
Everything sounds fundamentally different.
Just by replacing some Ethernet switches that must have been strangling the signal.
My wallet has sent me a Christmas card in gratitude.
