They make no difference. None. Zilch. Nada. Spend your money elsewhere in your system.
You are streaming 1’s and 0’s. If you hear music, they are getting there. Period.
The 1’s and 0’s are turned into ANALOG by your D/A converter, and THAT matters, but the quality of the cable that delivers the 1’s and 0’s only needs to be sufficient to get them there without loss.
Any cat 5e or 6 cable is sufficient for audio use transmitting a digital signal. Cat 6 is what I use and what I wired my entire house with since it supports 1GBPS speed. I have a 1GB capable QNAP NAS which serves up DLNA/Twonkymedia to my whole house feeding Oppo players/computers/receivers/TV’s etc.
You can test any ethernet cable with a simple cable tester. I terminate my own. I use Southwire brand Cat6 riser cable (home depot) in my walls and I use cheap Monoprice or CableMatters (Amazon) for wall jack to component connections.
Anyone who tells you that ethernet cables make an audible difference in the digital domain does not understand digital data transmission and /or they are trying to profit from your ignorance. The same is true of digital Coax and Toslink (optical); the signal either gets there or it doesn’t.
I’ve been building computers and setting up networks since 1996 and I used to own a Company selling audio cables; I know quite a bit in this area.
You are streaming 1’s and 0’s. If you hear music, they are getting there. Period.
The 1’s and 0’s are turned into ANALOG by your D/A converter, and THAT matters, but the quality of the cable that delivers the 1’s and 0’s only needs to be sufficient to get them there without loss.
Any cat 5e or 6 cable is sufficient for audio use transmitting a digital signal. Cat 6 is what I use and what I wired my entire house with since it supports 1GBPS speed. I have a 1GB capable QNAP NAS which serves up DLNA/Twonkymedia to my whole house feeding Oppo players/computers/receivers/TV’s etc.
You can test any ethernet cable with a simple cable tester. I terminate my own. I use Southwire brand Cat6 riser cable (home depot) in my walls and I use cheap Monoprice or CableMatters (Amazon) for wall jack to component connections.
Anyone who tells you that ethernet cables make an audible difference in the digital domain does not understand digital data transmission and /or they are trying to profit from your ignorance. The same is true of digital Coax and Toslink (optical); the signal either gets there or it doesn’t.
I’ve been building computers and setting up networks since 1996 and I used to own a Company selling audio cables; I know quite a bit in this area.