It's so Ethereal

All general audio posts go here.
User avatar
Lindsayt
Posts: 4213
Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2012 9:06 pm
Has thanked: 1079 times
Been thanked: 692 times
Nauru

Re: It's so Ethereal

Unread post by Lindsayt »

CN211276 wrote: Wed Jan 22, 2020 5:15 pm Ethernet cables and switches are attracting attention. This and the links are interesting.

https://www.stereo.net.au/forums/topic/ ... l-suffice/

There is a link to a comparison of switches in Dutch which Fret might have seen. The two ahead of the Silent Angel cost considerably more.
No they don't cost considerably more! Not on ebay!

The review - as far as I can tell - is annoyingly vague. What model of Meraki did they use?

You'd have to be mad to buy a Meraki switch new, for your home network. Buy one used off ebay for under £100!

And Meraki switches, according to Cisco are for "small branches". For bigger branches I'd consider something like a HP 1810 or 1820 as a better switch than the Meraki. You can buy 1810 or 1820's off ebay for £20 to £70. The 8 port and 24 port versions are fanless. The 24 port versions have 2 x SFP (fibre) ports but would use more electricity (about £25 per year compared to about £10).

Fanned business switches like the Cisco 3750 are good and cost about £20 on ebay.

I can't see any used Silent Angel switches on ebay. Cisco and HP switches, on the other hand, are plentiful on the bay.

User avatar
CN211276
Posts: 6523
Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2016 9:29 am
Location: Cardiff
Has thanked: 1401 times
Been thanked: 976 times
EUROPEAN_UNION

Re: It's so Ethereal

Unread post by CN211276 »

Lindsayt wrote: Thu Jan 23, 2020 1:04 am
CN211276 wrote: Wed Jan 22, 2020 5:15 pm Ethernet cables and switches are attracting attention. This and the links are interesting.

https://www.stereo.net.au/forums/topic/ ... l-suffice/

There is a link to a comparison of switches in Dutch which Fret might have seen. The two ahead of the Silent Angel cost considerably more.
No they don't cost considerably more! Not on ebay!

The review - as far as I can tell - is annoyingly vague. What model of Meraki did they use?

You'd have to be mad to buy a Meraki switch new, for your home network. Buy one used off ebay for under £100!

And Meraki switches, according to Cisco are for "small branches". For bigger branches I'd consider something like a HP 1810 or 1820 as a better switch than the Meraki. You can buy 1810 or 1820's off ebay for £20 to £70. The 8 port and 24 port versions are fanless. The 24 port versions have 2 x SFP (fibre) ports but would use more electricity (about £25 per year compared to about £10).

Fanned business switches like the Cisco 3750 are good and cost about £20 on ebay.

I can't see any used Silent Angel switches on ebay. Cisco and HP switches, on the other hand, are plentiful on the bay.
Very informaive as this is new to me, thanks. Do the smaller fanless ones require technical knowledge to set up?
Main System
NVA BMU, P90SA/A80s (latest spec), Cube 1s, TIS, TISC(LS7)
Sonore OpticalRendu, Chord Mscaler & Qutest, Sbooster PSs
Network Acoustics Eno, ifi iPurifier3, AQ JB FMJ, Cisco 2940 & 2960
DH Labs ethernet, BNC & USB cables, Farnells cat 8 ethernet cable

Second System
NVA P20/ A20, Cubettes, LS3, SSP, SC
Sonore MicroRendu, Chord Mojo 2 MCRU PSs, AQ Carbon USB cable & JB FMJ

Headphones
Grado SR325e/Chord Mojo, Beyerdynamic Avetho/AQ DF Colbat

RIP Doc

User avatar
Latteman
Posts: 1220
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2018 7:20 pm
Location: S. Yorkshire
Has thanked: 553 times
Been thanked: 297 times
Contact:
Great Britain

Re: It's so Ethereal

Unread post by Latteman »

There are plug in n play - I have a 5 port- 1 in 4 out- I believe these are known as a ‘non-managed’ switch
Analogue Source -
Denon DP47f- Ortofon mc20 supreme
Ifi Zen Phono
Doug Self balanced Pre amp
Akai 4000DS mk2 R2R
Digital Sources- IfI stream, Ifi Neo idsd Dac; Tidal / Radio Paradise
Amplification Nva 30vdc mono blocks
Speakers Lii Audio F-15 in Open Baffle; Ls6
Weiduka AC8.8- for digital sources
Mini BMU for analog sources

vrazjigwb
Posts: 31
Joined: Sun Feb 01, 2015 1:35 am
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: It's so Ethereal

Unread post by vrazjigwb »


User avatar
Lindsayt
Posts: 4213
Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2012 9:06 pm
Has thanked: 1079 times
Been thanked: 692 times
Nauru

Re: It's so Ethereal

Unread post by Lindsayt »

All programmable (configurable) switches that I've come across will work with no configuration. IE using just the factory default settings for everything. However to get the best out of them I would recommend at least some basic configuration.

The easiest and fastest to set up are switches with a CLI - Command Line Interface - if you have someone to knock up a config for you and a console cable.
IE proper business switches like the Cisco 3750G's. All you do is copy a series of lines of text from a text file to your PuTTY window.
Proper business switches are designed so that a roll-out engineer can configure 20 of them in a morning. The roll out engineer needs basic knowledge on how to connect a laptop to such a switch. And then he can use a text file created by someone else for the actual configuration.

It depends on the model of business switch whether they have a CLI or whether they only come with a web interface.

User avatar
CN211276
Posts: 6523
Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2016 9:29 am
Location: Cardiff
Has thanked: 1401 times
Been thanked: 976 times
EUROPEAN_UNION

Re: It's so Ethereal

Unread post by CN211276 »

Have been looking at the 8 port Cisco Meraki MS220-8P-HW on Ebay for under £50. One of the sellers is saying a Meraki licence is required to use the prjoduct. Am a bit confused as it does not seem to be plug in and play.
Main System
NVA BMU, P90SA/A80s (latest spec), Cube 1s, TIS, TISC(LS7)
Sonore OpticalRendu, Chord Mscaler & Qutest, Sbooster PSs
Network Acoustics Eno, ifi iPurifier3, AQ JB FMJ, Cisco 2940 & 2960
DH Labs ethernet, BNC & USB cables, Farnells cat 8 ethernet cable

Second System
NVA P20/ A20, Cubettes, LS3, SSP, SC
Sonore MicroRendu, Chord Mojo 2 MCRU PSs, AQ Carbon USB cable & JB FMJ

Headphones
Grado SR325e/Chord Mojo, Beyerdynamic Avetho/AQ DF Colbat

RIP Doc

User avatar
Lindsayt
Posts: 4213
Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2012 9:06 pm
Has thanked: 1079 times
Been thanked: 692 times
Nauru

Re: It's so Ethereal

Unread post by Lindsayt »

My understanding is that the Meraki switch will work just fine on the default settings.
However if you want to "manage" it, you need a license or someone with a license to manage it on your behalf, or allow you to use their management computer to manage it.
https://www.comms-express.com/products/ ... p-license/

I hate subsription based computing in all forms. This is just another example of this.

My advice: don't buy the Meraki switch. It's only a switch for "small sites". And the subscription based management license is the nail in the coffin.

If you were to buy a switch would it have to be fanless or would fanned be OK?

How many devices would you be looking to connect to it?
Would you want it all to be part of one logical network? Or would it be better if you could split your home network into 2 or more logical sections? EG you have a lodger and don't want him hacking into your banking details on your home PC?
Would you like to try fibre connections? Possibly at some time in the future?
Would you like to try 10 Gbps connections, so that the bottleneck would be shifted to how quickly your hard drives can work?

Edit, for about £50, I personally would take this fanless 8 port switch over the Meraki. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CISCO-Cataly ... Sw2O1d~92i

BTW, the letters in Cisco model numbers are very important in deciding what's worth buying.
For example, this WS-C2960-8TC-L is junk because the max port speed is only 0.1 Gbps https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cisco-2960-8 ... SwJb9Wsp3J
Wheras the WS-C2960G-8TC-L I linked to above is an OK deal because all the ports will do 1 Gbps.
In this example it's the G in the model number that makes all the difference.

User avatar
CN211276
Posts: 6523
Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2016 9:29 am
Location: Cardiff
Has thanked: 1401 times
Been thanked: 976 times
EUROPEAN_UNION

Re: It's so Ethereal

Unread post by CN211276 »

Thanks LindsayT, very helpful. I have put the one you recommended on my watch list and asume it is plug in and play. Being a computer numpty I would not want to attempt to configure a device. I would run four devices from a switch; streamer, NAS, Sky box and PC.
Main System
NVA BMU, P90SA/A80s (latest spec), Cube 1s, TIS, TISC(LS7)
Sonore OpticalRendu, Chord Mscaler & Qutest, Sbooster PSs
Network Acoustics Eno, ifi iPurifier3, AQ JB FMJ, Cisco 2940 & 2960
DH Labs ethernet, BNC & USB cables, Farnells cat 8 ethernet cable

Second System
NVA P20/ A20, Cubettes, LS3, SSP, SC
Sonore MicroRendu, Chord Mojo 2 MCRU PSs, AQ Carbon USB cable & JB FMJ

Headphones
Grado SR325e/Chord Mojo, Beyerdynamic Avetho/AQ DF Colbat

RIP Doc

User avatar
Fretless
Posts: 9290
Joined: Wed Nov 12, 2014 12:15 pm
Location: Somewhere in Holland
Has thanked: 1487 times
Been thanked: 2280 times
Netherlands

Re: It's so Ethereal

Unread post by Fretless »

... and on the third day God said: 'Let the bits under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the network appear. ' And it was so. And God called the network Ethernet. and the gathering together of the bits called He Audioquest Cinnamon; and God saw that it was good.

:dance: :dance: :dance:

Upstairs:
Vinyl
Pro-Ject 1.2 + Grado Sig Jr + Cambridge Alva Duo
DigiVolumio PC + Kiss DP-500 + Sabaj A20d
NVA: P50sa - Cube2 - SSP - LS6+ Sabaj A10a (x2)
Downstairs:
Vinyl
Logic DM101 + Syrinx LE1 + Grado Sig MCX
DigiDenafrips Ares II + Volumio PC + Cambridge CXC
NVA: P50 - BMU+ Aiyima A07 MAX (x2) + Arcam One
HP: HifiBerry Digi+ PRO + Sabaj A10d
Office:
Allo DigiOne SIG + SMSL M300se + Douk G4 (x2)
Mission 760 + Monolith THX AAA 887
Headphones: German Maestro & AudioQuest

User avatar
slinger
Posts: 9233
Joined: Wed Aug 22, 2012 4:30 pm
Location: The Garden of England
Has thanked: 4567 times
Been thanked: 3118 times
EUROPEAN_UNION

Re: It's so Ethereal

Unread post by slinger »

Fretless wrote: Sat Jan 25, 2020 12:57 pm ... and on the third day God said: 'Let the bits under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the network appear. ' And it was so. And God called the network Ethernet. and the gathering together of the bits called He Audioquest Cinnamon; and God saw that it was good.

:dance: :dance: :dance:
:lol:

But just think how good an AQ Carbon would be... :whistle:
Amps - NVA P50, AP30, A40, Stanislav Palo Tube Headphone Amp BB 85
Speakers - Monitor Audio Silver RX2
Cables - NVA LS1+LS3, SSC, Gotham S/PDIF, IBRA Optical
Digital - NAD C516BEE, SONY ST-SDB900 DAB TUNER, TEAC UD-H01 DAC
Analogue - Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Esprit SB, Graham Slee Gram Amp 2 Phono
Cans - Grado SR80, ATH-M50X

Post Reply