Network switch: how hard can it be?
It’s just a network switch, right? I mean, how hard can it be?
Well it depends on a few things: let’s assume that you’re not here because you’re simply looking for something to sit next to your router and give you more ethernet ports…
What’s that noise? ElectroMagnetic Interference (EMI) and the subset called Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) are the bane of the audiophile; it’s only when you hear your system without EMI/RFI noise that you can really appreciate its true potential. Backgrounds are quieter, music is less fatiguing, everything comes to life and comes together.
Some time ago, experimental audiophiles realised that installing even a basic/budget network switch just before their streamer made a difference to sound quality. It does this because of ethernet port magnetics, intended to protect onward connections from any electrical surges, which break the link between the signal coming down the ethernet cable and the signal leaving the switch after it has repacketed the data. This galvanic isolation is why a good amount of the noise accompanying the signal into the switch does not accompany the signal out of the switch.
No bits are harmed or enhanced in the process! There is nothing to see here in the digital domain where bits are most definitely bits and all arrive and leave the switch in bit-perfect order. RFI and EMI noise impact the analogue signal further down the playback chain, specifically the analogue side of the DAC, and it is the mitigation of this noise which improves sound quality.
A quick word on ethernet clocking: we’ve written a fuller article on the widspread misunderstanding around clocking in the ethernet domain here. The job of the streamer is not just to control music selection and playback; it is to reconstruct the data it receives as ethernet packets into a continuous bitstream which the DAC will recognise. In doing this, it re-times the signal so the accuracy of the streamer's clock is important to sound quality. However, because of this complete rebuilding of the incoming signal there is no mechanism by which the accuracy of a clock in the ethernet domain can affect sound quality. This still appears to be a source of confusion for some manufacturers and audio enthusiasts.
So what is an audiophile quality network switch? Basically, it’s a higher quality and more effective (at mitigating EMI/RFI noise) switch, installed just before a streamer to remove as much noise as possible. For maximum effectiveness, we need to:
remove the conducted noise coming into the switch via the ethernet cable
stop external radiated noise getting into the switch itself
minimise the noise generated by the switch’s own circuitry
soak up any residual noise before the signal leaves the switch
Of course you’re not reading this because you’re happy to settle for any old difference. You seek the biggest possible difference a switch can make… and so do we.
At Reiki Audio:
we use proven audiophile quality circuitry - low noise components to provide highly effective galvanic isolation and minimise self-generated noise, and a complete absence of LEDs and their drivers. We compared a number of commercially available boards in our initial R&D and chose the quietest as the basis of our SuperSwitch, then modified it to make it even quieter. In 2026, we started to partner with a specialist board manufacturer; while the board starts as one which is commercially available to other sectors, ours is modified in ways we cannot detail for reasons of commercial confidentiality.
we provide double shielding from external noise. Aluminium is an excellent conductor and our cases are milled with 5mm (or in the case of the X Series 10mm) walls from a single billet of high grade aluminium; copper is an even better conductor: we layer both for the ultimate protection from EMI/RFI noise. The case of the SuperSwitch is far more than a pretty face!
we apply high quality EMI absorption material to the case and selected circuitry to absorb any residual noise at source
Did we stop there? No. We also challenged and rethought from first principles the purpose of a network switch when used for audiophile applications:
Why do we need 8 ports? For audiophile purposes, we need only 2 (or in some cases 3) ports. Shielding any redundant ports is a logical and highly effective way of sealing off a substantial number of routes for EMI/RFI noise to enter the switch
Ditto, why do we need indicator lights flickering across the front of the switch? LED drivers are notoriously noisy, each light needs a tiny hole in the case and if you were being generous to RFI you’d describe it as “agile”: as it is very high frequency it needs only the tiniest gap to enter and negatively affect the switch’s performance. We know which of the two ports we’re using, and we don’t need an indicator light to tell us whether the switch is working: the presence (or absence) of beautiful music will do this! So our switches have no indicator lights, just a beautifully smooth front face.
Yes, it’s obsessive, but it’s this attention to detail which sets the SuperSwitch apart in both design and performance terms.
Does it matter what ethernet cables I use from router to switch? From your router to your switch, shielded cables provide greater protection from radaited RFI ingress. The SuperSwitch will massively mitigate whatever noise which reaches it but it makes sense to minimise this and there is certainly no disadvantage to doing so.
Does it matter what ethernet cables I use from switch to streamer? Firstly, the shorter the better as there is less opportunity for the cable to pick up radiated noise on the final run from switch to streamer which will ultimately reach your DAC. Secondly, you should avoid using a cable in which the shield is grounded to both metal plugs as this will allow noise to pass along the shield to your streamer - so avoid stock CAT 6A, 7 or 8 cables. and indeed many boutique cables.
Of course the ideal here is a cable which is shielded but which has the shield grounded only at the “upstream” plug; any radiated noise the cable shield does pick up is then drained to the switch rather than to the streamer. Our own network cables are designed like this. If in doubt or under budget constraints, standard CAT6 or similar Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) cables will do a fine job, and every Superswitch comes with a 0.5m and a 1m CAT6 cable.
