[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by kleinbje

Have you compared to chord Company Music streaming? Comparisons, I run Naim and although I am using cinnamon and Vodka, was thinking of going to Sigma/omega/vs Music? I am shocked what these cables can even the 60$ cable from modem to router and computer to router. Such a difference, shocking to me actually.

Jeff

It was shocking to me, too, but I've spent the last year and a half studying this area of audio reproduction (i.e., network-based high-end audio) and I have learned there are all sorts of noise factors using Ethernet and USB cables that have only been elucidated in the last 2-3 years. These include susceptibility to phase noise, two classes of leakage current, which cause increased "threshold jitter" and a concomitant increase timing errors due to the noise they put on the ground plane, and also the impact of phase noise from crap clocks in generic consumer-grade networking devices. I feel like I could almost write thesis on this, at this point. BTW, I will be discussing a lot of these noise factors in more detail in my upcoming UpTone Audio EtherREGEN review in TAS that should be out in the December issue.

My advice is to just get one of the Shunyata Ethernet cables; the best one that is within your budget. I did a comprehensive competitive benchmarking of half a dozen or so Ethernet cables last year and even the Venom completely smoked everything else I had rented in to evaluate. It was by such a large margin that I remember laughing out loud one night when I replaced the Vodka, which actually is a nice-sounding Ethernet cable, with the Venom. I mean, it wasn't even close; the Venom blew the Vodka into weeds.

The Delta, Alpha, Sigma, and Omega are all absolutely superb within their respective price ranges, and each one notably outperforms the one below it in the portfolio.