Here’s a new review of EtherStream Network Switch published in local audiophile magazine in Italy called AudioGallery by Giulio Salvioni. He’s using Fidelizer Pro and interested to review EtherStream when it was launched in November 2019.
AudioGallery is local Italian magazine which is the sister publication of monthly magazine in AudioReview.it. As review is published in local audiophile magazine, language used in review is Italian. I’ll include paragraph about sound quality translated to English in this post below.
I will not waste precious space in the description of the setup which is the same used for the test of the JCat Femto network card. Let’s get to the point: are there distinct perceptible improvements?
Absolutely yes and if you notice it even in an already optimized system, which I think is mine, I imagine that it is even more evident in a less cared installation. For this purpose, I set up a slightly more basic system with a Windows laptop to which the Aqua La Scala MKII DAC was connected via USB; then there was a NAS and the usual modem / router for connecting to the Internet, all connected via Ethernet to the switch.
In this “simplified” configuration, I was able to make comparative tests between an inexpensive eight-port Netgear switch and the EtherStream.
The result was clear: the modified switch is quieter. It is clear that I am not referring to noises or hums, but to that background carpet that prevents the clear perception of the signals at a lower level, which the economic switch tends to return in a confused way and to the micro dynamics that cannot unfold as it should.
The other aspect that you notice, wanting to use an analogy, is the disappearance of a sort of halo or fog that flattens the scene, confuses the contours of the instruments and removes air between one and the other. Inserting the EtherStream after listening to the same track with the generic switch, it seems to look through a clean window with the Vetril, where before it was dirty and full of fingers.
Finally I have to report on the ratings via Streaming – essentially Qobuz – which presented itself with a completely new polish.
I would say that the elimination of the fog effect to which I referred here is even more macroscopic, with the addition of a higher articulation in low range – an aspect that had appeared less evident when listening to the files stored on the NAS – as well as a higher yield in terms of timing.
If so far I had considered listening to streaming as an excellent solution to discover new music but with limited appeal in a strictly audiophile sense, the inclusion of the switch “on steroids” certainly changed my perspective.
It is a fact: since the EtherStream was installed in my system I spent more time listening to Qobuz than from my NAS, this is because that unpleasant sensation that made me think has disappeared: “… nice record, sure if I could to have it on the NAS I’d listen better ….
For Italian audiophiles who’s interested in learning more about audio network switch and how EtherStream can work with your system, I highly recommend you to read full review article published in magazine or you can read public article for EtherStream here too. 🙂
