Network Acoustics Passive Filter, Anyone Have 1st Hand Experience?

Let us know, NickBacon!

I had the Network Acoustics ENO which was effective into my K50. The Muon is superior. The music flows effortlessly and it sounds more lifelike without changing the tonal balance. I thought it was a worthwhile upgrade.

I am interested in the Muon for my K50. I have been frankly underwhelmed by the impact of my PhoenixNet Switch and SOTM Cat 8 cable, so perhaps simply removing noise is a better solution. I found removing the PhoenixNet and SOTM and just feeding the K50 with my Black Cat 6 cable produced a more dynamic and open sound which I much preferred. With the switch in case the sound was a little richer but dull and sligtly lifeless?

The switch, itā€™s power cord and the ethernet cable affect the sound. I have found that a quality audiophile switch improves the sound. Perhaps you should demo some other power cords and ethernet cables with your switch.

Thanks for the suggestion. Did try some different ethernet cables but the sound with the switch in the system did not really improve - a little different. Have not tried a different power cable on the switch from my AQ PC - did not use the Innous standrd one. Worth a shot though.

I realise that my view on the Innous switch goes against many counter opinions but wonder if the K50 simply does not need extra help and the K50 works best with a full bandwidth ethernet signal> Cheers

Do you mean like boring/unengagingā€¦.as opposed to say, calm/easeful/effortless? If not, be warned the Oladra is easeful & effortless in the way it delivers music.

You may be confusing two concepts:

  • speed (Mbps) = how fast data can transfer
  • bandwidth (MHz) = how much data can transfer at that speed.

Also, bandwidth in ethernet is not the same as bandwidth of digital output. Antipodes even states that:

High-bandwidth data networks can easily move digital data files quickly over long distances without any distortion of the information contained in them, provided the network is designed to keep the signal level above the noise level, and to simply re-send the occasional packet that arrives corrupted at the other end. This works very well for transmitting web pages, emails, spreadsheets, etc. It also works for transferring video and music files. But the situation is different when you are streaming video and music files, because timing becomes a factor.

So, surely ethernet bandwidth is not affected and does not matter (unless you have drop-outs because the data is not enough data is being delivered fast enough).

I suggest check if the Cat 6 has shield, and if so if the shield is connected to headshell/ground at the K50 end; or replace the Cat 6 with fibre.

That was an older post my set up has changed. Router>DH Labs Cat 8>EdisCreation Fiber Box>Cat 8>EdisCreation Silent Switch>DIY in wall Cat 6>Sablon Cat 8>EdisCreation Fiber Box Extreme>Cat 8>EdisCreation Silent Switch Extreme>Cat 8>Muon filter>K50. Sounds great on a par with the SSD now.

Wowā€¦thatā€™s quite a set up. Thanks for sharing details. I donā€™t suppose you experimented with the EE fibre box direct into the K50? Wanting to knowā€¦.if EE fibre box + switch = a 10/10 scoreā€¦.how each of the fibre box and switch individually would score feeding direct into K50 (ie one without the other). I suspect you would have had no need to have tried this as you have the best setupā€¦.but asking just in case. Cheers.

The only thing that matters is what you hear and that you like it. Could well be you have different listening preferences to othersā€¦eg more lit up/energetic/tenseā€¦etc vs calm/smooth etcā€¦ could be good write down all the qualities you like & donā€™t likeā€¦.and then cross reference these against what people are saying about the Muon. Itā€™s not improbable that the Muon might give you the same/more of what the PhoenixNet did. Hope that helps.

I initially had the standard version of the Silent Switch to my K50. I than added the Standard version of the FiberBox and would say there was a 20% improvement with both directly upstream to the K50, but my SSD was better sounding than my streamed music via Qobuz. I recently upgraded to the Extreme dc versions of both components powered by EdisCreation FireBox LPS with Audio Sensibility Statement SE (copper) dc cables with Oyaide gold termination plugs. The streamed music is on a par with my music on SSD. I use a Transparent Audio XL G5 power cord on the LPS. Both ac and dc cables make a noticeable difference in the sound.

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@F208Frank is the Muon placed in front of K50 or the PhoenixNET? Did you experiment with its positioning in the chain and if so any noteworthy sound differences?

If possible, Iā€™d suggest putting the muon immediately before the streaming device (if this is the K50, Iā€™d put it there; in my case the K50 feeds my Rossini DAC via ethernet, so Iā€™ve put it there).

PS As you may have guessed from my previous comment, I rate both the ENO and muon very highly, but IMO the muon is another leap forward

I had the ENO when it was launched. When I first installed it between the switch and the K50 I could not believe the improvement. I was able to listen to high end sound on streaming for the first time.
Currently I have the MOUN with MUON ethernet cable as well. MUON gives you everything from ENO, but everything gets more refined, elegant and cleaner.
I would say that using these filters, ENO is a 8 (from 1 to 10), MUON is a 10.

In the man time I also upgraded my ethernet switch to a Paul Pang QUAD. This is a must have!!!

Hi LGA, do you have the PP switch upstream from the Muon?

Paul Pang Quad switch ā†’ Muon ā†’ K50

Thanks ! I take it from your post that it performs better than the other switches you have tried with the Muon

Iā€™ve had the Muon along with DCS Bartok Apex for trial over the past 3 days to compare to my existing MSB Descrete with 2 PSUā€™s and K50.
Initially not sure on the Muon as I already have the excellent SOTM CAT 7 Ethernet cable, tried it the following day and thought wow however did a number of A-B tests and clearly not the case. I found certain tracks just sound so much better than others so you think itā€™s the Muon however to be honest itā€™s not.
As an ex MOD engineer it does beg the question what exactly is inside and what is it supposedly doing as the Muon box weighs virtually nothing.
Clearly I wonā€™t be keeping it instead waiting for the new Gryphon Diablo 333 amp which apparently is a huge upgrade from the 300 which is incredible.

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