Front end digital foundation

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by For The Love of Music

Grounding is Performance!

I moved my AQVox SE switch out of music room into my mechanical room when I redid my front end, and when I did this, I lost the benefit of the passive grounding connection from the Nordost QKore 6, or so I thought.

All was not lost, the AQVox SE has a grounding terminal on the power side of the switch. Lucky for me, right behind the switch is the connection box for cable coming into the home, and this includes a grounding cable and connection coming from the outside.

I went to Home Depot and purchased 2’ of 6 gauge solid Copper for $1.40. The plan was to create two loops and screw it in to both the switch and the grounding post in the connection box.

On the drive home I thought to myself there was no way the screw had enough thread to wrap around 6 gauge, and I was right. Then it hit me, copper is soft, so hammer down each end flat, drill two holes and mount - it worked, and boy did it!

Prior, KingRex ran a grounding line from the sub panel to great effect, but there was a slight hum on the Aurender N10 that you had to get close to hear, it’s now gone. The tweeter and mid’s on the Wilson Alexias emitted a faint electrical noise where again you had to get up close to it to hear, it’s now gone. My system is quiet from stem to stern.

What’s odd is even music stored on the Aurender hard drive even sounds significantly better.

I’m hearing black, meaning no noise. Instruments and vocals sound open, smooth and simply amazing and more parts embedded are coming out and clearly pronounced. I always use a handful of songs to critique what I am listening for.

The takeaway:

- Addressing grounding from outside the dedicated circuit is equally as important, meaning network gear.
- As good as the AQVox SE switch is, noise still gets to the switch whether it’s in the line, caused upstream by the modem and router or the switch itself.
- If you have a grounding screw on your switch seriously consider using it!
- I have lost nothing in sound quality, everything now is sounding better than when the switch was connected to QKore 6, I mean night and day.

If I was better at fabricating or perhaps more patient I could have made the flattened terminations more professional. The one in the cabinet in particular but it will never see the light of day, so FK it, I’m done!

Your experiences are consistent with others who have used similar grounding techniques, so this is great to read.

Just a side note, does your modem/router/switch use a switch-mode power supply? If so, this is the source of the noise you're referring to above with respect to "noise still gets to the switch whether it’s in the line, caused upstream by the modem and router or the switch itself"

If it does, these SMPS are passing high-impedance leakage currents causing ground loops that impact the sonic quality of your system; they cause all sorts of problems with respect to digital streaming not the least of which is increased jitter that is passed on from your modem/router/switch, all the way to the DAC, as well as clock phase noise. Clock phase noise is significant because it is also passed down fiber networks, including FMCs and the Gigafoil.

I just learned about this last week regarding a length article by Uptone Audio/Sonore audio engineer John Swenson on that computer audiophile forum. Here are quotes from Swenson regarding these leakage currents:

"If you have leakage from a source (PS), it can show up in several ways. One is direct flow to earth ground. If the PS that is the source of the leakage has an electrical path to something that is grounded (such as a DAC, preamp, poweramp etc), maybe an interconnect, USB cable, Ethernet cable etc, the leakage current will create a voltage across the impedance of the cable, frequently the "ground wire" or shield of the cable. This can add noise to the intended signal. This is how leakage current has traditionally shown up in audio systems, as low frequency "hum or buzz" at the preamp or poweramp, because they were grounded."

and

"Another way leakage can get into systems is through a DAC, the leakage current can go through the ground plane of the DAC PCB, that current creates a small voltage which modulates the oscillators(s) producing the clocks in the DAC, adding jitter to those clocks. Even if the leakage doesn't get to a preamp or power amp it can add jitter to the clock in the DAC, thus subtly distorting audio output."

These high-impedance leakage currents were only discovered by Swenson at the very end of 2017; they were never detected because no one had test equipment that would detect them; he had to build a bespoke test instrument to detect and measure them.

There is an easy fix for this these high-impedance leakage currents: simply shunt them to ground.

Here's the simple fix that John Swenson described, so you may want to consider this for your modem/router/switch if they use SMPS (and they likely do)

1) make up a male/female set of DC barrel plugs that have screw terminals on them. Connect via copper wires (you have to flip on over so that + is to + and - is - connect them with bare 16 or 18 gauge wire (you can strip insulation off an existing wire to do this).



Then, simply attach a ground wire from the negative (-) terminal of one to the ground pin of an electrical plug. See the two photos attached.



Plug this adapter into the DC power jack on your modem, router or switch and then plug the the DC barrel plug from the devices power supply into the female DC jack.

You then plug the electrical plug with ground wire into the same power strip or distributor that your modem/router/switch is connected to.

Alternatively, you can get the iFi Groudhog, and use the "spade convertor" cable that has a little clip that goes around the barrel of the DC barrel plug, and plug that cable in to the adapter that plugs into the same power strip your iFi is on.



This is the simplest, least hassle fix, but its costs more than the very inexpensive adapters shown above.

Guys who have done this tweak have reported SIGNIFiCANT improvements to their digital streaming systems.

Another key to prevent these high-impedance leakage currents is to NOT use an Ethernet cable that shielded where the shields connect to the metal RJ45 plugs; this will result in the leakage current ground loops going right through your Ethernet cable to your streamer or network bridge; this is not good. Its best to use Ethernet cables that have 'floating shields' or utilize the "JSSG" Ethernet cable shielding/grounding paradigm.

[Formerly YB-2]

If were my system, would move everything further away from the power-strip and junction boxes. They can all generate noise which can be picked up post-power supply in your gear.

[For The Love of Music]

Originally Posted by Puma Cat

Your experiences are consistent with others who have used similar grounding techniques, so this is great to read.

Another key to prevent these high-impedance leakage currents is to NOT use an Ethernet cable that shielded where the shields connect to the metal RJ45 plugs; this will result in the leakage current ground loops going right through your Ethernet cable to your streamer or network bridge; this is not good. Its best to use Ethernet cables that have 'floating shields' or utilize the "JSSG" Ethernet cable shielding/grounding paradigm.

Thanks for the response.

I have a Keces P8 on the Modem, but use the AQVox SE SMPS.

AQVox recommends only use the included SMPS and not upgrade, including use of their upgrade offerings. I did try to change out using the Keces P3 that the Gigafoil is on - performance was noticeably bad.

Are the grounding suggestions in addition to what I have done?

I have no idea on Audioquest Diamond and Vodka, but the long running Ghent indicated JSSG. Thoughts there?

[For The Love of Music]

Originally Posted by Formerly YB-2

If were my system, would move everything further away from the power-strip and junction boxes. They can all generate noise which can be picked up post-power supply in your gear.

Thanks and I agree, I plan on moving the switch and modem to the far left as I’m somewhat limited in the mechanical room - one thing though is I like all this stuff well away from the music room.

[clpetersen]

I would be careful with forced grounding of a current-carrying path.

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by clpetersen

I would be very careful with forced grounding of a current-carrying path. Filtering and physical separation should be preferred whenever feasible.

These leakage currents are extremely low, they are a set of AC harmonics that leaks over to the DC line voltage (which is why they are called leakage currents) that are on the level of microamps because the the impedance is so high (on the order of megohms). The reason they need to be shunted to ground is because of the ground loops they create. Its no different in principle than how the Entreq or Nordost grounding products work. The barrel adapter tweak shown above that Swenson developed is exactly what the IEC-approved iFI Groundhog product does.

Filtering and physical separation will not work in this case, because the leakage currents are on the DC line voltage from the switch mode power supply.

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by For The Love of Music

Thanks for the response.

I have a Keces P8 on the Modem, but use the AQVox SE SMPS.

AQVox recommends only use the included SMPS and not upgrade, including use of their upgrade offerings. I did try to change out using the Keces P3 that the Gigafoil is on - performance was noticeably bad.

Are the grounding suggestions in addition to what I have done?

I have no idea on Audioquest Diamond and Vodka, but the long running Ghent indicated JSSG. Thoughts there?

That's really good you are using the Ghent JSSG Ethernet cable for the long run. That's exactly the type of cable you want in this position.

I would still recommend the tweak mentioned above for the barrel plug for your SMPS for the AQVox switch. Or, get an iFi Groundhog and use the DC barrel jack ground spade cable.

[For The Love of Music]

Originally Posted by Puma Cat

That's really good you are using the Ghent JSSG Ethernet cable for the long run. That's exactly the type of cable you want in this position.



I would still recommend the tweak mentioned above for the barrel plug for your SMPS for the AQVox switch. Or, get an iFi Groundhog and use the DC barrel jack ground spade cable.

Yes, that Ghent made a huge difference into the Gigafoil versus the home grade Cat 6.

The DIY version, would have cost me close to the same on Amazon so I ended up getting the iFi Groundhog, it’ll be here Wednesday.

I did just rerun the grounding wire to the cold water clamp, a bit more distance but nothing crazy and returned the cable box to its original configuration.

These last round changes were nothing in expense compared to my system and have delivered unprecedented quality of sound - just tells you you can get so much more by paying attention.

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by For The Love of Music

Yes, that Ghent made a huge difference into the Gigafoil versus the home grade Cat 6.

The DIY version, would have cost me close to the same on Amazon so I ended up getting the iFi Groundhog, it’ll be here Wednesday.

I did just rerun the grounding wire to the cold water clamp, a bit more distance but nothing crazy and returned the cable box to its original configuration.

These last round changes were nothing in expense compared to my system and have delivered unprecedented quality of sound - just tells you you can get so much more by paying attention.

Yep, that Ghent Ethernet cable is very well-designed as your "first-run" up to the GigaFOIL. It was specifically designed along the grounding guidelines developed by John Swenson at the end of 2017. I just ordered two of the Ghent Gotham GAC JSSG DC cables, for the connection between my power supplies and the OpticalModule, and soon, my SOtM UltraNeo network bridge. Alex at Uptone told me these cables would be a big improvement in sound quality over the cheap generic DC cables. They also have Oyaide connectors.

The iFi Groundhog will work just fine and its a tidier version than a home-crafted version.

I put mine together today, though, and it turned out pretty well. I bought a 10-pack of both the male and female DC barrel adapters shown in the photo below on Amazon for $7. The plug cost me $3.49. I put the two DC barrel adapter plugs and jack together, ran an 18 AWG green silicone twisted wire off the negative terminal and then "heat-shrinked" the assembly. I used a gray-style 3-prong plug that is tidier than the yellow one previously pictured. Here's a shot of my "high-impedance leakage current shunting" ground strap. It turned out pretty well, actually. Including DC adapter, plug, wire and heat-shrink, this adapter cost me about $7.50, all in.



I put it on the Pace router this evening to good effect.

Originally Posted by For The Love of Music

These last round changes were nothing in expense compared to my system and have delivered unprecedented quality of sound - just tells you you can get so much more by paying attention.

Truer words were never spoken.

[For The Love of Music]

Puma, yes, I’m happy with the Ghent / Belden cable into Gigafoil, cable in makes a difference and so does before and after. Ghent’s Gotham are very nice as well, very impressed overall with Ghent, highly recommended.

I had the Audioquest Diamond, Audioquest Vodka, AQVox Edge and Nordost Heimdell 2 coming out, and settled with Vodka as I moved Diamond up from the Gigafoil in between the modem and router, and Vodka from the Router to AQVoxSE Switch. I will back fill Diamond in both spots once the dust settles.

Heimdell 2 are great but Audioquest sounded better in my application, I’m selling them.

Good job on assembly!

It took me a few readings but understood on what you were saying relative to assembly.