WIFI vs LAN vs Sound Quality

[FraMoode]

Dear All,

Please, could you let me know if running moode player under wifi or under LAN is going to make some difference to the final result of the sound? Will the sound deteriorate using wifi, instead than LAN.

All my music is on the server.

Thank you so much!

[Miss Sissy Princess]

There should be no difference in the sound unless you have a WiFi connection so poor that you get dropouts.  If you have the option of using a hardwired Ethernet connection, that's obviously better as it will be immune to RF interference.  But, assuming that your WiFi is reasonably reliable, there should be no audible or measurable difference in the music regardless of whether you use Ethernet, WiFi, or even local storage.

[FraMoode]

There should be no difference in the sound unless you have a WiFi connection so poor that you get dropouts.  If you have the option of using a hardwired Ethernet connection, that's obviously better as it will be immune to RF interference.  But, assuming that your WiFi is reasonably reliable, there should be no audible or measurable difference in the music regardless of whether you use Ethernet, WiFi, or even local storage.

Thank you so much!!!

[MikeyFresh]

You can sometimes get a better result with WiFi simply because that eliminates one potential source for ground loop. This is especially true if using a shielded Ethernet cable, because the shield is connected to ground at both ends of the cable (typically).

So use of UTP Ethernet cable is preferred, and trying WiFi can sometimes sound better, as it affords galvanic isolation between the stereo and home network.

[Miss Sissy Princess]

You can sometimes get a better result with WiFi simply because that eliminates one potential source for ground loop.

I'd listen for evidence of AF ground loop artifacts before switching from Ethernet to WiFi if running on a Pi 4.  Given that the R-Pi boards float, I would think that ground loop issues would be relatively rare. Maybe it might happen on one connected to a monitor's ground reference through the HDMI shield.

On earlier models of Pi, Ethernet runs through USB, and I'm not a fan of that when I'm using a USB DAC.

[Gekel]

I think I did a lot to cause "problems for audiophiles" with my pi4 in the past days/weeks. I used various different USB- and network cables, connected the pi to a router, to a switch, used two types of wifi dongles, attached a SSD to the SBC to store data on it and I connected the network player to three different DACs - from a Topping DX30 pro over a FXaudio DAC X7 to a Cambridge Audio CXA61.

The sound always was perfect, which makes 100% sense because the data to the DAC is transferred in a digital way, and there is zero chance any passive element in the chain is able to decode the streamed data, modify it in any way and change the sound (e.g. enhance the bass). Anyone who thinks this is possible is hearing a placebo effect.

As long as you don't generate a ground loop which totally destroys the sound you can use any kind of hardware. WiFi and Ethernet both sound identical. A SSD attached to the SBC is absolutley fine. 

The only way to change the sound quality is to use a different transfer method, e.g. instead of an USB cable using a SPDIF hat on the raspberry, which forces the network player to encode the sound using a different method. Then you can hear a difference.

[Mark Dirac]

When I heard a difference between ethernet and wifi, it was because of interference from either the wifi dongle, or its short connecting cable into the pi, and my headphone cable. The interference depends more upon the orientation of the two, rather than their proximity. I discovered this on an occasion when the interference was sufficiently distinct that I heard it as a noise. On previous occasions the interference had been indistinct, sounding merely like a sheen in the music.

Since then I have been careful to keep the headphone cable's routing well away from the wifi dongle and its cable.

[TheOldPresbyope]

When I heard a difference between ethernet and wifi, it was because of interference from either the wifi dongle, or its short connecting cable into the pi, and my headphone cable. The interference depends more upon the orientation of the two, rather than their proximity. I discovered this on an occasion when the interference was sufficiently distinct that I heard it as a noise. On previous occasions the interference had been indistinct, sounding merely like a sheen in the music.

Since then I have been careful to keep the headphone cable's routing well away from the wifi dongle and its cable.

If it's RFI being induced in the cable then presumably using one or more ferrite beads would help suppress it. Google is your friend.

Regards,
Kent

[dad33]

Hi,
i tested a lot of very good LAN cables. But until today my 5GHZ WLAN sounds best, wider open stage etc.

Hardware:
Raspberry Pi4b with ALLO BOSS DAC2.

Problably the LAN Port on the raspberry ins´t shielded as good as on other mainboards and has a bigger load

on the controller cpu.

[dad33]

Hi,
i tested a lot of very good LAN cables. But until today my 5GHZ WLAN sounds best, wider open stage etc.

Hardware:
Raspberry Pi4b with ALLO BOSS DAC2.

Problably the LAN Port on the raspberry ins´t shielded as good as on other mainboards and has a bigger load

on the controller cpu.