Post by stellabagpuss on Jul 28, 2024 11:22:40 GMT
So there's a new kid on the block. The Emperior's New Clothes, and all the usual cliques.
Gustard N18 Pro sees Gustard move into the Audiophile lnternet switch arena, where the competition is hotting up,and prices and thankfully travelling down to reasonable costs.
It's funny how things change, 3 years ago, l was in the USB camp, using reclockers, outputting HDMI l hadn't really thought about change,and when l had tried to access files via my Network, it sounded pretty poor.
Then a few things happened, all at once. When swapped over from a SMSL M400 Dac to the Gustard R26, l then discovered the Leo Bodnar Clock, and it was while helping a Romania Audiophile with settings of the LB, l had a rather excited reply about his weekend listening session with his makes, and the discovery of running 3 x Netgear GS108E switches before his streamer,and the improvements it made.... Naturally l tried this method,and incredibly he was correct. The rest as they say is history, as l now run 3 x Cisco 2960 modded as per Matts instructions, and use my network and nearly no use for USB.
The N18Pro is pretty weighty affair, and makes the likes of Netgear or Cisco switches seem like tin can effort.
Now presumably l'm guessing you all now how a switch operates, and l won't tell you all how to suck eggs, and if your not sure, think of it as a extension lead for your network. Like all Hifi, noise and reducing it,is the aim of the game. It's big rabbit hole of information, and plenty of information is on TAS should you need to educate.
Naturally l want to condense the information. But you can fill your boots with all the info on N18Pro from this link
www.gustard.com/?post_type=products&page_id=17777
So you may ask yourself, already having 3 x Cisco 2960 switches with Zero Zone Supercaps, why bother.
Well firstly.. l waited until there was 10% off deal, secondly I like the possibility that I could reduce my box count, and the fact it also has a 10mhz clock input, meaning l get could raise levels further with the use of my Leo Bodnar clock.
Also keep in mind, these are my subjective views... So anyone from the ASR brigade, you can stop reading now 🤣.
For the first test, l started with..
Sky Router-Cisco-Cisco-R26
Very pleasant, and slightly missing the insight,or dynamics of 3 Cisco.
l resisted trying the N18Pro, and confirmed my earlier impressions..
Sky Router-Cisco-Cisco-Cisco-R26
Immediately the,dynamics,insight increased, this is my latest listening configuration.
So l had to try both the following combinations,of 3 Cisco's and the N18Pro.
In a nutshell,l experienced a similar effect,by going from two to three Ciscos, although what was noticeable,things sounded more relaxed with the N18Pro at the end of line, cleaner high frequencies, an improvement, all be it by a small margins,which is testament to the Cisco 2960.
Now... The next stage brought a bit of a surprise, l removed two of the Cisco's,leaving one only, and went direct to N18Pro.. This again seemed to offer a more realistic sound, that slight edge l had mentioned, no longer apparent. Of course, this is what you would expect.
Lastly l roll out the Leo Bodnar Clock.. ln a word... Wow.. The influence of the LB clock really does bring things to the table, a amazing level of insight, instrument placement, l even notice some edits on one of Tom Robinsons "Listen to the Radio" that had never caught my attention.
l can highly recommend the N18Pro. As a nice jump in sound quality. I'm pretty confident that it will improve even more, with more use.Add a 10mhz clock... And you'll be thrilled.
Damien
Gustard N18 Pro sees Gustard move into the Audiophile lnternet switch arena, where the competition is hotting up,and prices and thankfully travelling down to reasonable costs.
It's funny how things change, 3 years ago, l was in the USB camp, using reclockers, outputting HDMI l hadn't really thought about change,and when l had tried to access files via my Network, it sounded pretty poor.
Then a few things happened, all at once. When swapped over from a SMSL M400 Dac to the Gustard R26, l then discovered the Leo Bodnar Clock, and it was while helping a Romania Audiophile with settings of the LB, l had a rather excited reply about his weekend listening session with his makes, and the discovery of running 3 x Netgear GS108E switches before his streamer,and the improvements it made.... Naturally l tried this method,and incredibly he was correct. The rest as they say is history, as l now run 3 x Cisco 2960 modded as per Matts instructions, and use my network and nearly no use for USB.
The N18Pro is pretty weighty affair, and makes the likes of Netgear or Cisco switches seem like tin can effort.
Now presumably l'm guessing you all now how a switch operates, and l won't tell you all how to suck eggs, and if your not sure, think of it as a extension lead for your network. Like all Hifi, noise and reducing it,is the aim of the game. It's big rabbit hole of information, and plenty of information is on TAS should you need to educate.
Naturally l want to condense the information. But you can fill your boots with all the info on N18Pro from this link
www.gustard.com/?post_type=products&page_id=17777
So you may ask yourself, already having 3 x Cisco 2960 switches with Zero Zone Supercaps, why bother.
Well firstly.. l waited until there was 10% off deal, secondly I like the possibility that I could reduce my box count, and the fact it also has a 10mhz clock input, meaning l get could raise levels further with the use of my Leo Bodnar clock.
Also keep in mind, these are my subjective views... So anyone from the ASR brigade, you can stop reading now 🤣.
Now due to my setup, my Sky Router is some 45 metres away from my listening area, basically in a different building. This means l the point of entry, l have to run a Cisco 2969 switch, that then run another 25 metres. So that is the base line, l will be commenting from. So with this in mind, l'll offer a few different connections methods.. Like what does the N18Pro sound like having an additional Cisco switches in front of it? or indeed does adding the Leo Bodnar, make the Cisco switches redundant... lots of questions... And hopefully soon answers.
For the first test, l started with..
Sky Router-Cisco-Cisco-R26
Very pleasant, and slightly missing the insight,or dynamics of 3 Cisco.
l resisted trying the N18Pro, and confirmed my earlier impressions..
Sky Router-Cisco-Cisco-Cisco-R26
Immediately the,dynamics,insight increased, this is my latest listening configuration.
So l had to try both the following combinations,of 3 Cisco's and the N18Pro.
In a nutshell,l experienced a similar effect,by going from two to three Ciscos, although what was noticeable,things sounded more relaxed with the N18Pro at the end of line, cleaner high frequencies, an improvement, all be it by a small margins,which is testament to the Cisco 2960.
Now... The next stage brought a bit of a surprise, l removed two of the Cisco's,leaving one only, and went direct to N18Pro.. This again seemed to offer a more realistic sound, that slight edge l had mentioned, no longer apparent. Of course, this is what you would expect.
Lastly l roll out the Leo Bodnar Clock.. ln a word... Wow.. The influence of the LB clock really does bring things to the table, a amazing level of insight, instrument placement, l even notice some edits on one of Tom Robinsons "Listen to the Radio" that had never caught my attention.
l can highly recommend the N18Pro. As a nice jump in sound quality. I'm pretty confident that it will improve even more, with more use.Add a 10mhz clock... And you'll be thrilled.
Damien
