10-May-2018, 13:54
There is no connection between transmitting data and amplifying audio...
When I turn on the lights in my kitchen, I hear a click in the radio I have there. When I turn on my soldering Iron, sometimes my Apogee sound card on the same power strip reboots. As an engineer, when I bring a product to market, the device must respect class-B conducted noise regulations (noise injected back into the outlet). Anyone who's worked in pro audio knows about ground loops (noise directly related to the power outlet). Anyone who's worked in or built a recording studio knows (or should know) that usually you cable in three-phase; one for the audio gear, one for the air conditioning, and one for the rest. I recently killed a LED work light with the back EMF from a jigsaw plugged into the same outlet. I could probably find a half dozen more examples...
Amplification is taking that power from the outlet, and converting it into something the speaker can deal with. Do I think you can hear the difference between two Ethernet cables when streaming? Not at all. You'd also have an extremely hard time convincing me that you can hear the difference between two S/PDIF cables. However, I can prove through measurements using everyday electronics dev tools (any half-decent oscilloscope), that the cleanliness of the mains supply has an effect on the cleanliness of the internal rails, irrespective of whether a linear or switching power supply is used. And as a side note, network equipment is notoriously noise by nature, due to the constant and high frequency switching currents involved.
All that said, and decent amplifier will have a high PSRR (look it up if needed), and the final quantity of noise that makes its way out of a router, through the mains wiring, into the amplifier PSU, through the amps and into the drivers involves so may variables that the only way to say so is to measure.
My 2¢
When I turn on the lights in my kitchen, I hear a click in the radio I have there. When I turn on my soldering Iron, sometimes my Apogee sound card on the same power strip reboots. As an engineer, when I bring a product to market, the device must respect class-B conducted noise regulations (noise injected back into the outlet). Anyone who's worked in pro audio knows about ground loops (noise directly related to the power outlet). Anyone who's worked in or built a recording studio knows (or should know) that usually you cable in three-phase; one for the audio gear, one for the air conditioning, and one for the rest. I recently killed a LED work light with the back EMF from a jigsaw plugged into the same outlet. I could probably find a half dozen more examples...
Amplification is taking that power from the outlet, and converting it into something the speaker can deal with. Do I think you can hear the difference between two Ethernet cables when streaming? Not at all. You'd also have an extremely hard time convincing me that you can hear the difference between two S/PDIF cables. However, I can prove through measurements using everyday electronics dev tools (any half-decent oscilloscope), that the cleanliness of the mains supply has an effect on the cleanliness of the internal rails, irrespective of whether a linear or switching power supply is used. And as a side note, network equipment is notoriously noise by nature, due to the constant and high frequency switching currents involved.
All that said, and decent amplifier will have a high PSRR (look it up if needed), and the final quantity of noise that makes its way out of a router, through the mains wiring, into the amplifier PSU, through the amps and into the drivers involves so may variables that the only way to say so is to measure.
My 2¢
