[sresener]

One of my good friends is the head of IT for a fairly large global company. I talked to him about using this item and also using fiber optic...… Lets just say he did not recommend it at all.


I have my current switch plugged directly to my providers router then it goes to everything in the house.

 For music I have my roon server and streamer plugged directly into the router. Would there be any benefits in adding a switch like this between the router and my two music devices?

[rustydoglim]

Yes, I was very skeptical at first. I have a MSEE degree, and spent half of my life (prior to audio) designing microprocessors, and software (C++, Java, client/server, app server, etc), you can say that I am a hard core engineer. I find it hard to explain from digital logic.

But all our ears don't lie. All of us who have heard it were very surprised. There are two explanations:
1. Network performance - this is easy to understand that when network packets do not need to be resent, multi-zone streaming will perform better
2. The noise in the network affected the audio components.

There was a blind test using Bonn N8 and Omnia SW-8 in a private review in UK for the purpose of finding out a) if there is a difference with and without the enhanced switch, and if SW-8 has any difference from N8 (afterall, both uses exactly the same circuit board).  It was a big surprise that SW-8 consistently offer better sound for the audio system.

Order one from your dealer and give it a try.  For US customers, you can order from your dealer or online store (sonicunity.com just added this item, not sure if it is available on Amazon.com or other online dealers).  Check with your dealer if you can return for a refund if you can't tell the difference.

[muellec3]

Oh boy, I can confirm that I hear the difference.

The music is more present, more real and easier to follow. All in all It presents a „beefier“ sound which lacks more of the distortions and noise it did contain before (although that was no a lot in my eyes) which provides more recorded information.
I especially like it‘s impact when listening at low volumes where I now enjoy more involvement into the music.

I would not want to miss it now that I have it. Yes it is pricey, but in my eyes it is worth the cost.

BTW in my set-up it is integrated in the living room after the master switch in the house, serving the components in the living room only. Hence no direct connection to the router nor the NAS with the FLAC files. And the impact is as described above.
Thank you nuprime team for building this switch.

[rustydoglim]

It is important that for SW-8 to work, audio devices should be connected to it (including NAS / music server), so that it isolates them from the router.

[sresener]

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/silent-angel-bonn-n8-audio-grade-ethernet-switch.12360/