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Post by MartinT on Jun 12, 2018 17:24:40 GMT
If you subscribe to the view that everything matters in digital audio reproduction, pretty much as with analogue, and that bits most certainly do not define everything there is to know about the musical data, then you may find this mini-review of interest. The MeiCord Opal audiophile ethernet cable is the combination of Cat7 cable with a Cat6 plug with great attention being paid to materials and construction. Cat6 computer ethernet cable is designed to run at gigabit rates with the twisted pairs carrying high frequency communications as an analogue signal representing digital data. This is where it gets interesting, as anyone who has ever heard different S/PDIF co-ax cables will testify. The data is one thing, the timing (or frequency domain jitter) is another, and the quality of the waveform yet another dimension. All this is preamble to suggest that maybe not all ethernet cables are equal when they are being used for music reproduction. I've been using a standard 3m length of Cat5e between my dedicated router and the Raspberry Pi 3. Because of the limitations of the Pi, ethernet is being run at 100Mbps rather than the potential 1Gbps of the cable. I substituted this 3m length of MeiCord Opal in its place and had a good listen this evening. Yes, it really does make a difference. Just as with power supplies and isolation, cables make their contribution known in every step of the chain. However it is doing it, the MeiCord is preserving the timing and purity of the waveform and, I guess, keeping the noise out. The result sounds a bit like good re-clocking (that's happening later in the chain for me, at the DigiOne interface and again at the DAC). From my notes... James Taylor's Gaia opens from silence with gentle background vocals and guitar picking. The vocals are more highlighted and the guitar has more of a sense of the strings being used. As the song expands and JT joins in, there is a sense of a wider window on the music. Loreena McKennitt's The Mystic's Dream has a similar effect with background vocals again being more alive with greater clarity. The War on Drugs' An Ocean in Between the Waves opens with a drum machine with much more detail and very sharp focus centre stage. Juliette Commagere's The Big Middle has her startlingly clear voice sounding even more breathy with greater clarity. Jeff Beck in Scared for the Children has a fantastic solo in the middle and the bite on his guitar is quite startling. Jerry's Album Choice Saint-Saens Piano Concerto No. 2 in the opening really shows off the piano as a percussion instrument with the hammer strikes remarkably realistic. It's hard to make a global recommendation for this cable because I don't know how it will respond in different systems. However, if you are streaming from the internet or a NAS and your system is revealing enough I'm sure you'll find this a very worthwhile upgrade. For me, the MeiCord Opal has proven to be a very nice upgrade to my system.  meicord.de/index.php?id=82&L=3 |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2018 17:32:58 GMT
Haven used these for 7 or so years they work well sensible price have them on my server patches no I don't sell them!
other cables are available at various prices however these offer a very decent performance to pound ratio
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Post by John on Jun 12, 2018 19:11:58 GMT
Glad it worked for you Martin I been using one for a good few months now. In the past was using some Cat 7 and I was quite surprised by what I heard I have come to the same view that everything matters in the digital domain, paying respect to this will reward in more detail, depth, dynamics and scale.
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Post by Stratmangler on Jun 12, 2018 19:41:58 GMT
In the past was using some Cat 7 Switching to the Meicord has removed the screen, and with it the potential for transfer of ground plane noise. If the Cat 7 cable (just a patch cable I assume) is not used in an appropriate installation the screening is a very effective aerial and can pick up all sorts of detrimental RFI.
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Post by MartinT on Jun 12, 2018 20:44:35 GMT
Yes, it does seem that MeiCord experimented with screened versions early on and discarded them as not sounding as good. The Cat5e I was using was not screened.
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Post by John on Jun 13, 2018 3:53:17 GMT
In the past when using Jplay 2pc set up I went through Cat5, Cat6, Cat7 each were different in sound quality
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Post by Stratmangler on Jun 13, 2018 7:10:55 GMT
Cat 7 would be ideal if it were installed properly. The shielding on the cable needs to be at connected to the CMET, and at the same earth impedance throughout. The power circuits also need to have the same impedance on the safety ground.
Do all that and you have a proper Faraday cage, and the Cat 7 works as it should, creating an electrically silent environment around the transmission cores.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2018 8:50:57 GMT
Cat 7 would be ideal if it were installed properly. The shielding on the cable needs to be at connected to the CMET, and at the same earth impedance throughout. The power circuits also need to have the same impedance on the safety ground.
Do all that and you have a proper Faraday cage, and the Cat 7 works as it should, creating an electrically silent environment around the transmission cores.
Would not disagree with the theory at all Strat I have installed many 1000 of KM's of RJ45 cabling from basic Cat5 to 7 and beyond and some of the non branded supplies can be very good indeed, other more illustrious brands not so beneficial. However the MeiCord Opal in shorter runs upto 5m's does produce more desirable results in audio, my own master streamer uses a pair of RJ45's for data transmission of audio, one contains the clock and control data the other the audio components. In this situation the choice of RJ45 is very critical for best sonic reproductive outcome. |
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Post by Stratmangler on Jun 13, 2018 18:02:17 GMT
The Meicord is still just a patch lead at the end of the day. And being a patch lead it is stranded, which doesn't do anything beneficial for clock signals - it's also the reason why installation cable is solid core.
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Post by The Brookmeister on Jun 13, 2018 20:42:26 GMT
The Meicord has been voted hifi critic audio excellence 5 years in a row and continues to be awarded one of the best ethernet cables every year or thereabouts. Not much to look at but it does the business so people say! www.meicord.com/fileadmin/files/HIFICRITIC_en.pdf |
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Post by Stratmangler on Jun 13, 2018 20:53:34 GMT
The Meicord has been voted hifi critic audio excellence 5 years in a row and continues to be awarded one of the best ethernet cables every year or thereabouts. Not much to look at but it does the business so people say! www.meicord.com/fileadmin/files/HIFICRITIC_en.pdfYou got a 3m one?
I'll post an honest impression, good, bad or neutral if you're up for it.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2018 9:26:12 GMT
The Meicord is still just a patch lead at the end of the day. And being a patch lead it is stranded, which doesn't do anything beneficial for clock signals - it's also the reason why installation cable is solid core.
Morning Strat I should have clarified my set up more, apologies. My personal system is a totally internal network and NOT connected to the NET, it runs four server banks each capable of 80TB, this is running into a Cisco professional distribution hub (these are where the Meichord's sit) This feeds via a specially run CAT 7e with extra shielding and a RLi-GB Ethernet filter to a dedicated single socket in the listening room. Internet downloads are handled by a dedicated PC I built just for that purpose only via a 200meg pipe with similar considerations applied. Playback is via a fully designed for purpose PC playback device (A mix of professional audio, home and personally designed) that feeds a digital distribution hub which I can output any current format I wish to my chosen dac. The two small under 1m RJ45 patch cables (One for clock and audio data) sit between the PC iotself and digital audio signal distribution hub (which has 8TB of SSD) use of the upstairs servers is for 90% storage only, if I need to change music I will just draw down what I require. In the above described position the quality of the RJ45 lead is very evident. I have tried making my own version, but our individual conductor size cannot be drawn down to an acceptable diameter to allow fabrication and not for the want of trying! Good of you to offer to try it Start  |
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Post by Stratmangler on Jun 28, 2018 21:29:36 GMT
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Post by John on Jun 29, 2018 4:20:29 GMT
Looks the same
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Post by MartinT on Jun 29, 2018 5:02:47 GMT
Nice find if it's the same.
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Post by Stratmangler on Jun 29, 2018 6:24:19 GMT
I had the opportunity to handle Meicord patch leads last Saturday. I was particularly interested in the RJ45 connectors and strain relief sleeves. The cables also have a very particular feel, which is unlike any other patch lead I have handled.
The cables linked to use the same RJ45 connectors and strain relief sleeves. It has the same particular feel. And more to the point, the wire spec shows that it's stranded, and the same 24AWG.
I bought what I thought were 2 patch leads, and I missed that the purchased quantity was a bag of 10, so I now have 20 patch leads of 3m length, and it has cost me less that £22.00 all in for that lot.
I've replaced 4 patch leads in my network, working out at under £4.00 The foo version would have cost £340.00 And yes, my cheap as chips version did bring improvement in perceived sound quality, over and above the standard Cat6 leads that were there before. And they cost less than the standard Cat6 leads that were in use before.
Meicord appears to be a rebadging operation from where I'm standing.
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Post by MartinT on Jun 29, 2018 6:48:01 GMT
I'm more interested in the fact that you heard a perceived improvement in sound quality as it matches my findings with the MeiCord. I need another one for my NAS drive so I'll try and buy a CommScope if Netshop can confirm availability.
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Post by MartinT on Jun 29, 2018 9:54:47 GMT
I've ordered two of CommScope Krone TrueNet Cat6 UUTP LSOH RJ45 Patch Leads Blue 2m 6830-2-821-07 and will let you know if they appear to be the same as the MeiCord and sound as good. Netshop were very helpful in taking my small order.
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Post by ChrisB on Jun 29, 2018 15:20:12 GMT
Excellent. Thanks for pointing this out Chris. It might just save a lot of people some significant sums of cash. That's something I love to see.
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Post by Stratmangler on Jun 29, 2018 16:38:40 GMT
I'm more interested in the fact that you heard a perceived improvement in sound quality as it matches my findings with the MeiCord. I need another one for my NAS drive so I'll try and buy a CommScope if Netshop can confirm availability. Your jump was from a Cat5e patch lead to a Cat6a patch lead certified to handle 10Gbs, which was probably a fairly profound one.
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