CAD Ethernet Control network filter
I first learned of this product at the Bristol HiFi Show in February, where CAD shared a room with Trilogy and Wilson Benesch. I admit to chatting more with CAD’s Isabel Whitley about their latest products than listening to the system. As you can read in his report on the Bristol Show, Jason thought that this system, treated with CAD’s products, produced what was possibly the best sound he had heard in that room. Readers familiar with my ramblings may remember that we mentioned CAD’s GC 1.1 Ground Control units in last year’s ‘Product Of The Year’ awards. I now have two of these in my system, in addition to their USB-IIR cable and USB Control, which we reviewed in January of this year. Naturally, being the boss, Jason got his hands on the CAD Ethernet Control before me and has used it in his system for some weeks. As CAD’s Dave Denyer lives nearby, he brought one of these diminutive but exciting products over. My main system’s internet feed and connecting cables are SFP rather than ethernet cables. However, previous experience with CAD products told me that my system would probably still benefit from this device.
What is the CAD Ethernet Control?
Like the USB Ground Control, the Ethernet Control has been designed to reduce noise on the input board that it is plugged into, but being an in-line filter it removes network noise prior to it reaching the component that you plug it into. My system already has in-line ethernet noise filters, including the EE1 from The Chord Company and the ENO filter from Network Acoustics. However, to my knowledge, the Ethernet Control is the only device of its type that can reduce ground noise. Like the USB Control, the Ethernet Control has a small box attached to the plug containing the filtration goodies. Being an in-line filtering device, the Ethernet Control also has an input socket.
When Dave arrived, he was a bit concerned that my usual Moon kit had been replaced by the Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista DAC and 800.2 amplifier, which I had recently reviewed for The Ear, neither of which had an Ethernet input. My first thought was that I would insert the Ethernet Control into the unused output from my Melco N1 or prior to the ADOT SFP converter, which feeds my Melco S100 network switch. Dave suggested that whilst either solution may benefit, the Ethernet Control works best when used as a filter and ground unit. I first removed the Melco C1-N20 SFP cable, which was previously sitting between my Melco S100 switch and Melco N1 server, and instead used an unfiltered, high-quality Ethernet cable to connect these two products.
Listening began with a couple of tracks from Qobuz, so we had a baseline. For this, I chose one track, which I had played for the first time on a decent system that morning: Spectre from Emma-Jean Thackray’s album Yellow (24/44.1). I chose this as, although it’s a very dynamic recording, it sounded somewhat dry and shut-in when I played it earlier that morning, so I thought it was ripe for improvement. The other track was Kerala Dust’s cover of Fleetwood Mac’s The Chain (16/44.1), chosen because the system should reproduce this track’s expansive soundstage in a three-dimensional manner. This track has tremendously deep bass and dynamics, which the system should be able to deliver.
CAD does it again
With the Ethernet Control placed between the reference ethernet cable and the Melco N1, the results were not subtle. The Emma-Jean Thackray track opened up so that it was apparent that there was some soundstage depth to this recording. The music gained a sense of urgency, and timing clues within the keyboard lines were now appreciated. The vocals appeared much bigger, and the reverb effects were now clearly defined. There are some background noises or perhaps intended effects on this track to the left of the soundstage, that I did not notice during the first play, which were now obvious. As the track builds, Emma is joined by an orchestra, which now had more body, air and impact. Switching to the Kerala Dust track, the first thing we both noticed was how much fuller, deeper and weightier the bass intro was. The soundstage, although good before, was now larger in all dimensions. The double-tracked vocals were now better separated, and the music sounded more airy. As with the first track, the crescendo as the track progressed had more impact.
As previously mentioned, the Ethernet Control works as both an in-line filter and a grounding device, so the next step was to remove the Ethernet Control and ethernet cables and return to using the SFP cable between the S100 switch and the N1, with the Ethernet Control remaining in the Melco’s Ethernet input socket. This confirmed what I already suspected; even with the CAD filter in place, an ethernet connection is inferior to optimised SFP, but the results were less clear-cut. Perhaps the bass was a little full via ethernet cables and the Ethernet Control, but the music was slightly cleaner and more open via the SFP cables. We now plugged in the Ethernet Control to the LAN input of the Melco N1, with no ethernet cable. Now things were really cooking, and the sound was better than ever; the soundstage, even from Dave’s seat to the left of the sweet spot, was wider, deeper and airier sounding than before. Additionally, a layer of grain appeared to have been removed.
I have a rip from a first-generation, Canadian-pressed CD of the Cowboy Junkies’ The Trinity Sessions. As I discovered last year, subsequent versions suffered from a low-frequency cut-off, which was done to filter out ambient noises from the recording. We listened to this CD rip with and without the Ethernet Control plugged into the Melco and the soundstage was bigger, and instruments within it were better defined with the Ethernet Control working its magic. The tracks we played from my SACD rip of Into The Labyrinth by Dead Can Dance also responded well when unhindered by network noise. Vocal detail and expression, ambience, timing and soundstage size were all beneficiaries of CAD’s latest device.
Jason had suggested that I try the USB Control with my TV box and computer, but unfortunately, it would not fit into the sockets of either due to the location of the former’s power lead and the latter’s casing. It worked well with my Chord 2Go/Hugo2, feeding Sendy Peacock headphones. I usually use this device as a portable, over wi-fi, but it has an ethernet input, which I connected directly to my router. My main system is fed over SFP to a Melco S100 switch, so it is pretty well isolated from noise. Connecting the Chord 2Go/Hugo2 directly to the router perhaps benefited even more from the CAD device, particularly the timing. Dave Brubeck’s Take 5 in DSD sounded tighter and more defined. Less noise often improves bass definition and texture, which was the case here.
Due to the proximity of other sockets, there was no room to insert the Ethernet Control into the back of the Moon 681 DAC/streamer. Interestingly, the Moon 641 analogue integrated amplifier has an ethernet socket for communication and update purposes, so I placed the Ethernet Control between the feeding cable and this input. This has a profound effect on the amplifier’s performance, the first track from Lucy Rose’s latest album, This Ain’t The Way You Go Out (Qobuz 16/44.1) benefiting from a punchier, more defined bass and piano, both instruments now placed in a more open soundstage, which was less tied to the speaker cabinets. One does have to question the wisdom of fitting a noise-inducing ethernet input to a high-end amplifier, but thankfully, CAD is on hand with a solution.
My conclusion
CAD loves music and hates the noise that often sings along with it in our systems. The Ethernet Control is another weapon in this innovative company’s quest to ensure that as little noise as possible detracts from our musical enjoyment. The only proviso here is that not all equipment has the space around its ethernet socket to accommodate the CAD Ethernet Control, but since this device works as a grounding device, it needs to be plugged directly into a device rather than via a flying lead. From my side, using the Ethernet Control proved to be an all-smiles affair in every application that I tried. I will be interested to read how Jason got on with his sample.
Jason’s findings
I tried the CAD Ethernet Control with a Lumin U2 Mini streamer by connecting it directly to an English Electric 8Switch, playing Ali Farka Toure and Ry Cooder’s Ai Du (Talking Timbuktu) from Qobuz and then adding the CAD device between streamer and cable. This brought about a both ease and enhanced timing, it suddenly sounded as though the band had all the time in the world yet they were playing perfectly in sync with one another. The Ethernet Control also brought out details both fine and coarse, the percussion on this track was much more obvious with the Control in place. But it was the languid playing that really hit the mark, it evoked the hot atmosphere of the studio and the effortless abilities of the musicians involved.
With a piece of music on my Melco N10 server, Herbie Hancock and Joni Mitchell’s The Man I Love, it was the leading edge definition that made their mark. The CAD has the ability to remove blur or denoise the signal so that leading and trailing edges are much clearer. Backgrounds seem quieter and bass lines more precisely defined, all of which increases the degree to which the music is involving. The CAD Ethernet Control does not look like great value in terms of material value but the results it delivers are highly beneficial which makes the price seem a lot more reasonable.