Ethernet cable extension upgrade

[TransFi]

Came across this article recently:

https://ethernet-sound.com/das-drosselkabel-minimierung-der-gleichtaktstoerungen-auf-dem-letzten-meter/



Since I stream using an ethernet cable, I decided to make one and try it myself. The choke goes on the end of your existing cable before entering the streamer.

I sourced the parts off Amazon!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0BS91RJLK?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B072JBK9DN?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08ZSD7FFG?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Final result:



You only need 8 coils. You can do more but of no benefit according to the article. I used a meter extension cable. You can also use the cable as one run, just allow an extra meter.

I was shocked by the result. Was not expecting much, but immediately noticed a cleaner more spacious presentation with the background coming more into focus. I dont want to go into a sonic hifi rant,  but I told some of my hifi buddies. Here is a quote from one of them:

I’ve just tried the “throttle cable” with my FMCs and SFP+ DAC cable. First off I believe the translation should really be “choke cable” but anyway….

I wasn’t sure what to expect with the FMCs in place, maybe they aren’t needed but I don’t suppose they do any harm and probably multiple methods of noise reduction should be advantageous. I’ll compare when burn in is complete.

I used Ugreen CAT8, it wound tighter over the ferrite doughnut than I thought it would. I took care not to stress the cable structure.

Was it good? It was a slam dunk. Some slight traces of vocal harshness are cleaned up. Soundstage is even better (more space), mostly in the treble region. Greater separation and the sound is even more vivid, which is probably due to improved dynamics. I now need to burn in the cable as I bought a longer Ugreen than I hade been using to allow for the extra length need for the choke windings.


Just posted here in case anyone interested!

Cheers

Vic

[hatehifi]

Thanks Vic! 

Cheers!

[ian]

That's interesting Vic, might give it a go.

[willbewill]

Hi Vic

I've been following the thread on Wiim Forum - this certainly looks interesting, thanks for posting here with the Amazon links

[TransFi]

Great guys! Pretty sure you will agree its a worthwhile mod. On the German forum they are calling it best tweak for 2024, altho the 2023 tweak looks pretty interesting too!

[hatehifi]

Already eBayed my order, all in under 15€ incl p&p.

Cheers!

[TransFi]

Cool John! Look forward to results......

[willbewill]

[ian]

  mine's just arrived too!

[willbewill]

Only took a few minutes to construct.

Testing will have to wait though as I'm too busy on other stuff.

[mred]

Easy enough to try.
Thanks for sharing this.
Malcom do you have a link to thread you have been following?

[willbewill]

Easy enough to try.
Thanks for sharing this.
Malcom do you have a link to thread you have been following?

https://forum.wiimhome.com/threads/difference-between-wifi-and-ethernet.3753/

[ian]

Voodoo.......

I so love it when folk who haven't tried something come in with disparaging remarks. You are of course entitled to your opinion but if you'd started with something like "This doesn't make sense to me...." that would be OK but you're basically saying Vic and his friends are idiots 

Anyway I've tried it.



I played quite a few tracks from my test playlist using my Auralic Altair streaming DAC.  At first I thought I could hear a difference but as I tried more songs I decided I really couldn't hear any improvement.  Lots of factors in play here of course, different system to Vic's, different room etc.  Auralic, according to reviews, have gone to great lengths to reduce noise so maybe it the Altair doesn't need any extra help in this area or maybe my hearing isn't good enough to hear the difference but it's usually good enough to hear other changes to my system.

So, it was worth a try given I respect Vic's opinions but not for me.  If anyone else wants to have a go I'm happy to post the bits on for the price of postage.

[pde2000]

Could it be that the ferrites are preventing the network cable from emitting noise that would get picked up by some amplifiers?  I've only ever had to use a doughnut like that on a din to din cable between a tapedeck and receiver because of radio interference.  So much tech comes with clamp rings on the cables to suppress RFI (CE?).

I went for almost a week without listening to music (and very little alcohol) and the other night the music was magical.  The brain is desperate for novelty.

[stratokaster83]

Ethernet cables are designed to emit as little EMI as possible, and to pick up next to no external interference. In real world applications (not in toy systems used by audiophiles) there are often many such cables laid together in narrow cable gutters, so they have to be well-behaved to preserve data integrity.

Also as someone who literally had to design QAM and PSK digital modulation schemes to pass my CTA exam, I can tell you straight away that there’s no way that any of the usual audiophile mumbo-jumbo can affect data transmission in such systems. Any cheap full copper core Cat 5e cable is as good as anything from snake oil peddlers, and even copper-clad aluminium behaves the same electrically, its main disadvantage is the lack of mechanical strength.