Hi Thomas,
your advices regarding the cables and the tip to test the different ports of the switch brought me a big step forward.
Thank you very much!
I have tried two 3 m Microconnect cables from NAS (QNAP) to switch (TP-Link TL-SG105) and switch to DS (AKDSM). They are a clear improvement over the standard cat 5 cables.
But the biggest (unexpected) improvement was achieved by discovering the ‘right’ port in the switch. The TP-Link switch has 5 ports. The port 5 was the most musical port for the NAS. Port 4 for the AKDSM.
When I opened the metal case in order to screw the bolts for the circuit board with the torque driver (0.38 Nm), I saw, that the 1. and 2. port have one chip, the 3. and 4. port have one chip and the 5. port has one chip on its own. Could this be an explanation for the best sound - improved efficiency?
I can confirm that the disconnection of the router - after filling the playlist - is an audible improvement which affects all my sources (QNAP, LP 12, UNIDISK 1.1, and sound of the Panasonic-Plasma-TV).
I have also tried a GISO isolator for galvanic separation of network connections in digital audio (
www.acousence.de) between router and switch (and between switch and AKDSM), but the result was worse compared to the disconnection of the router. (The music was a little restrained.)
I have tried a direct link between the QNAP and the AKDSM (after filling the playlist) with one 3 m Microconnect cable, but this was also not an improvement. Perhaps the cable is too short.
Switch, QNAP and AC/AD-Adapter (with Longwell Power cord!) are placed on a TimeTable stand (
http://www.timetable-hifi.de).
By now I enjoy the streaming results more and more, albeit the LP12 SE (still with AKIVA) is more enthralling with good records. Yesterday evening I listened to ‘Tin Can Alley’ from Jack DeJohnettes Special Edition Album (1981). The music is still more vivid with the LP12 compared to the streaming result from the cd.
I use dbpoweramp for ripping cd to flac with my laptop which is connected directly to the switch. (Encoder setting: Lossless Uncompressed).
My question: Can you recommend a separate CD/DVD drive for best ripping results?
Regards
Peter