Audiophile "Ethernet"... Oh brother

[jinjuku]

John Darko has a 3 part series on AQ's 'Audiophile' Ethernet cables. It's absolute horrible writing. He'll probably come out with a best seller on Amazon and have it turned into a multi movie series and make $200 million. That's how bad his writing is.

http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/2015/02/audioquest-pearl-and-vodka-ethernet-cable-review/#comment-122791

No rigorous testing. He also links to a AQ pdf on their V0dka cables that talk about how they reduce the amount of RF in the shield before it goes to ground.

I have to ask this: How many streamers or switches have a network port with shielded port tied to ground?

Even IF you have a streamer with a shielded Ethernet jack you are required to tie ground to the rack/premise equipment side. Not client. That is per code. Texas Instruments has several papers that talk about this.

 

[Rickster71]

From article: "The first one had more Micro-Dynamic jump.
So I guess they have that going for them...

 

[Montucky]

That's hilarious. Funny you mentioned this because I was JUST about to start a thread on this very thing. I've been cracking up reading the ads in Stereophile Magazine. Audiophile ethernet? Are these guys for real? I'm pretty certain that the patch cables I crimp myself perform flawlessly. As long as all (or most) of the 1s and 0s make it to the other side intact, we should be good, right?

"Audiophile ethernet cables." Ha! The funny thing is how they have a whole range of them.

I can just picture some AQ rep out there: "Well, sir. I see that you have our Pearl cable, which is fine and all, but if you REALLY want to improve your sound quality, I suggest that you upgrade to our Diamond line."

 

[jinjuku]

Looks like Chord got their hands slapped in the UK for what basically amounts to false advertising:

http://www.asa.org.uk/Rulings/Adjudications/2014/11/The-Chord-Company-Ltd/SHP_ADJ_274211.aspx#.VU68tZNyW1r