Extreme Snake Oil

[Killingbeans]

I would file it under "occupational injury" then

No doubt I would have tremendous respect for lava if I worked with volcanology, but if I lived half a continent away from the nearest hotspot or fault line, it wouldn't make sense for me to take precautionary measures against volcanic eruptions in my own back yard.

No disrespect, but if hunting down noise sources is your profession, wouldn't it be easy as pie for you to give your home audio the same treatment? Simply pinpoint the problems that cause noise to such a degree that they become audible at your listening position, and then fix them "surgically". Why would shooting in the dark with dumb products like that ethernet switch even be an option?

I respect noise too, but if the noise doesn't do anything decremental to my listening experience, I'd rather worry about something else.

 

[pseudoid]

I am trying very hard to understand who you are trying to convince, why, and with what purpose.

No disrespect, but...

... rest assured that if I need any expert/professional help with noise "assaulting" me in any way... I would not choose you as my counsel!

 

[Killingbeans]

I am trying very hard to understand who you are trying to convince, why, and with what purpose.

Mostly trying to make it clear (if it wasn't blindingly obvious already) to any third-party reading this thread that they shouldn't buy products like these and expect them to lower the noise floor of their audio system.

I have a hard time seeing a linear PSU and an OCXO in an ethernet switch as "over engineering". It's a pure product of willful ignorance, if you ask me. It's designed completely around the idea of some components having an undefined "betterness" no matter how or where they are implemented, and I'd be surprised if any aspiration of achieving actual superior performance was ever in the mix.

If post #1467 was meant as a joke, then I'm sorry. It went completely over my head. My bad.

... rest assured that if I need any expert/professional help with noise "assaulting" me in any way... I would not choose you as my counsel!

Fair enough. I wouldn't classify myself as an expert anyway. I'm just a random dude on the internet seeing something I would call a ghost chase.

I rely on the actual experts for pointing out whether there's something real worth chasing. Haven't seen much of that so far

 

[pseudoid]

Thanx for the clarification! Although my first caveat was "...if... free..."!

I have a hard time seeing a linear PSU and an OCXO in an ethernet switch as "over engineering". It's a pure product of willful ignorance, if you ask me.

I wonder how you'd feel about the @amirm's latest SMSL SU-10 DAC hardware design. Dual and dedicated PSs; one for the analog and the 2nd for the digital sides of their design.

 

[Galliardist]

Thanx for the clarification! Although my first caveat was "...if... free..."!

I wonder how you'd feel about the @amirm's latest SMSL SU-10 DAC hardware design. Dual and dedicated PSs; one for the analog and the 2nd for the digital sides of their design.

Controlling for noise in the DAC output and in an Ethernet switch are two different things, surely?

Though the usual request for evidence of audibility can still be made for both devices, of course.

 

[Killingbeans]

Thanx for the clarification! Although my first caveat was "...if... free..."!

I know. But free nonsense is still nonsense.

Just so you know, I totally get the point you're making (...I think?), but it struck a chord on one of my personal pet peeves, and therefore I can't help taking it a tad too seriously

I wonder how you'd feel about the @amirm's latest SMSL SU-10 DAC hardware design. Dual and dedicated PSs; one for the analog and the 2nd for the digital sides of their design.

At least it does perform extremely well objectively. But yeah, those two linear PSUs most likely don't contribute to anything that isn't already way beyond the abilities of human hearing. The i2s input alone deserves a majestic facepalm.

Most of the time I wouldn't cry if stand alone DACs went the way of the dodo.

Do I sometimes lose grip on rationality and lust after SINAD masturbation products? Sure.

If the point of your post about that switch is that we all have those kind of emotional moments, then I absolutely agree

 

[pseudoid]

I know. [you don't] But free nonsense [sez U] is still nonsense.
Just so you know [don't] , I totally get the point you're making (...I think?), [QED] but it struck a chord on one of my personal pet peeves, and therefore I can't help taking it a tad too seriously [what? which?]
At least it does perform extremely well objectively. But yeah, those two linear PSUs most likely don't contribute to anything [lipstick on another pig?] that isn't already way beyond the abilities of human hearing. [Not the first nor the last] The i2s input alone deserves a majestic facepalm.
Most of the time I wouldn't cry if stand alone DACs went the way of the dodo. [relevancy?]
Do I sometimes lose grip on rationality [?] and lust after SINAD masturbation products? Sure. [Which?: SINAD? Human hearing? Noise? Free?]
If the point of your post about that switch is that we all have those kind of emotional moments , [Was not: Re-read my last 3 sentences] then I absolutely agree [with? I neither asked or needed the spintology of my statements.]

WOW!

 

[Killingbeans]

You lost me... I get a feeling I've offended you somehow. That wasn't my intention, and I'm sorry.

Yes, lipstick on a pig. It's a dumb product, just like the switch. No doubt about it.

But on my personal scale of dumbness, audiophile ethernet switches simply takes the weight class to a whole new level. You can say that's just my opinion. I'm fine with that.

I'm also sorry for putting words in your mouth regarding the point of your posts. I did it as an attempt at probing whether or not I had understood said point. Apparently I missed the mark completely, and I'm still very confused.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the gist of it is that you see something as professional caution, and I see the same thing as anxiety. It's not meant as a personal attack. I've just never encountered any kind of data that would indicate that these kind of precautionary measures has any kind of justification in home audio. Again, I'm no expert, and I'm open to any kind of sound reasoning that underlines it as a real problem.

 

[bquimby]

I know. But free nonsense is still nonsense.

Indeed, it will literally make no difference whatsoever. It simply cannot.

More than that, as I noted this on another thread, none of these "audiophile" switches that I've seen is managed, which means they are very basic in terms of functionality: no QoS, no VLAN capabilities, no link aggregation, no cable integrity checks, no monitoring (and no "a whole bunch of other stuff", like spanning tree, that probably most home users wouldn't need; but things like QoS, VLANs and LA can actually be quite useful in home networks ) . Consequently, even if they were giving the things away, I personally would not want one, because I like having that level of control over my network, and these days a £40 switch can do all that.

 

[Killingbeans]

To be fair, I could imagine some freak design oversight where an RF signal could couple to the analogue audio signal via parasitic capacitance. And maybe that noise could go through an unfortunate signal chain with no filtering to deal with those kind of eventualities causing instabilities, but that would require an exceptional combination of dumb design choices?

Even if this is a more common situation than I thought, linear PSUs and OCXOs will do absolutely nothing to prevent them.

Then there's EMI, but if a normal ethernet switch spews enough garbage into the surroundings to wreak havoc at close proximity, maybe just don't place it directly on top of gear that's susceptible to this.

I'm possibly just preaching to the choir here. Or maybe I'm lost in a bubble of discontentment in my own head. Either way, I should probably take a break

 

[sq225917]

OCXO, in a device who's signal is packeted, going to be sent asynchronously, and then completely reclocked, at least once before conversion. It beggars belief

 

[egellings]

It sounds impressive to those not familiar with the technology, though.

 

[Spkrdctr]

The force is strong with this one!

 

[Spkrdctr]

Someone should ask them how that 10 MHz gets turned into the 125 MHz required by Ethernet.

Audio magic. It is the answer for most things.

 

[Spkrdctr]

I am trying very hard to understand who you are trying to convince, why, and with what purpose.

... rest assured that if I need any expert/professional help with noise "assaulting" me in any way... I would not choose you as my counsel!

Hey, would you pay money to get assaulted? I might know a guy who can hook you up.

 

[the_brunx]

 

[AudioSceptic]

Ambient Field Conditioner. Wow need to get this implanted in my skull!

LessLoss Blackbody - Optimize Your Audio Space with Ambient Field Conditioning

Transform your listening environment with the LessLoss Blackbody, an ambient field conditioner designed to refine your audio space. By altering electromagnetic interactions, it enhances sound quality, depth, and realism, offering a pristine listening experience for audiophiles and music...

www.lessloss.com

Sorry about the late reply but I have to quote this.

It is the Earth's large magnetic field which focuses the Sun's high energy ionic precipitation to enter the Earth's atmosphere from the North and South poles. Thus, regardless of where a Blackbody user is situated on the Earth, with our customized stand, one can be sure to reap the highest benefit from the Blackbody's interaction with undesired cosmic precipitation from this specific local direction.

Tops any spoof I could come up with.

 

[mansr]

Sorry about the late reply but I have to quote this.

Tops any spoof I could come up with.

GPT-3 can help:

This video shows Rian from the Netherlands holding a Blackbody in direct interaction with cosmic showers of electrons and ions. The purified air around at his face is hydroxyl-free. The high concentration of negative ions is creating a whirlwind of purification, as his facial hair blows straight back. This also has a slight energizing effect upon him as it would minimize visible EMF (Electromagnetic Frequency) while he uses his phone to film this test.

 

[AudioSceptic]

GPT-3 can help:

This video shows Rian from the Netherlands holding a Blackbody in direct interaction with cosmic showers of electrons and ions. The purified air around at his face is hydroxyl-free. The high concentration of negative ions is creating a whirlwind of purification, as his facial hair blows straight back. This also has a slight energizing effect upon him as it would minimize visible EMF (Electromagnetic Frequency) while he uses his phone to film this test.

Here's another from LessLoss

For best results, the Blackbody v.2 is placed onto our custom stand made of organic glass, and situated pointing celestial North or South depending on your specific latitude on Earth. Each location will require a specific angle, so LessLoss will custom build your stands based on your location.

Can you actually buy any of this stuff? The whole site has to be genius-level prank/parody, surely? I wish I had the imagination to do something like that.

 

[pseudoid]

Our "hobby" is dominated by low life's, criminals and scammers of the highest order. They are true professionals at their trade.

Then, there are the well-meaning and innocent ones:

They can't be that 'revolutionary and a breakthrough'; if you did not even think about a less aWful name for your product.