 Although the combination of the SOtM-SMS-200 Ultra and the MiTech Brooklyn DAC sounds impressively good or perhaps because it sounds impressively good, I went all the way trying to put the dots on the eye, as we say in Holland. So why do I think further improvement is possible? Well, sibilance isn't on par with what I know from the studio. Whether it sounds really nasty depends on the recording. A notorious example is the original version of a famous blue raincoat by Jennifer Warnes, but also the, in the audiophile circles, well-known track Stimula by UMassakila suffers slightly from this phenomenon. I had already replaced the power supply of the nearest switch for a first-gen S-Booster power supply and that did improve the overall sound to some degree, but hardly the sibilance. I also use a current S-Booster power supply on the MiTech Brooklyn, although the improvement is not shocking. So after some research I decided to go for the improvement of the cabling. I've tried both CAT6 and CAT7 network cables and that gave small improvements over the standard CAT5e patch cable and no difference between the CAT6 and CAT7. I wonder what audiophile CAT cables would do and after some research and asking around I went for the top-of-the-line audioquest, the Diamond CAT7. That's a lot of money but I needed only the shortest length and I enjoy my audioquest castle rock speaker cables a lot. These use the same dielectric bias. It might be good to know that this project was not initiated as something I would report on in a video. So I didn't want to save a few bucks at the expense of time. The improvement was clear, more openness, more control, more detail but no improvement in sibilance. So the next step obviously is the USB cable. I already used an audioquest Cinnamon USB cable, which is very fine and important at €69 quite affordable. But I needed to know what the ultimate would offer. So again I went for the audioquest Diamond series USB. And again, it did improve the sound, a blacker background and above all relaxation. But it didn't eliminate the exaggerated sibilance on those tricks I mentioned and others that suffered from the same problem. I needed to do more research. Although the SOtM SMS-200 Ultra is the best that happened to me over the last five years, audio-wise, it doesn't have galvanic separation on the Ethernet input. If you want that, a set of transformers would have been needed. Now transformers have the advantage of providing galvanic separation, meaning that there is no electrical contact between one side of the transformer and the other. The signal is converted by the primary winding into an alternating magnetic field that is picked up by the second winding and converted back to current. This process only takes place in the frequency band the transformer is designed for. It has been and still is the favorite way to send a signal from one spot to the other without having to worry about ground potentials. Let me explain that too. There is no such thing as ground in the sense that all voltages can be referenced against. There always will be a difference in ground levels and even if it's only a few volts it will disturb signal distribution, be it analog or digital. This is solved by the transformer since ideally only the intended signal exists at the output of the second winding of the transformer. And there is another advantage of transformers, for apart from the DC voltage the ground plane can also carry electric pollution of all kinds. Again, this is solved by the transformer. So, is it the ultimate solution? Well it can be. As said, transformers contain two windings, coils if you like, and these have inductance, the property to resist changes in voltage. Therefore they will distort a waveform to some degree. Will deform transformers only lose a little. Bad ones or ones that are designed for other frequencies can be disastrous. So, what I needed was a set of four transformers, Ethernet users, four twisted pairs, suited for one megabit Ethernet. These are available by the masses. Literally. I couldn't find a supply that wanted to deliver me less than 1000 pieces. But the solution appeared to be very close by. Streaming specialist Pinkfong at only a 30 minute drive offers the LAN isolator. This ready-to-use adapter can simply be added in between your LAN cable and the LAN input of your streamer or other audio device using the network. Now, what does this do to the sound? Well, it does reduce the exaggerated sibilance clearly. It's always difficult to be more precise on these matters, but I'll try. I think the exaggerated sibilance has been reduced to no more than 10%. Keep in mind that I have no way of knowing how much of it is due to errors in the recording or the carrier. It's just gut feeling, the percentage that is. The audible result is clear, at least in my setup. The Pinkfong LAN isolator is the cheapest of the tweaks I have applied, only 149 euros including VAT, the European sales tax. So, what would happen when I would revert back the rest to the initial situation? Standard Cat 7 and Audio Quest Cinnamon USB. That would save out 759 euros on the Diamond Cat 7 and 599 euros on the Diamond USB. Well, it's a bit like climbing to a nice view. The first step doesn't bring you much, but if you go all the way to the top, you get the best view. Whether you want or need to spend this kind of money depends on how well you have chosen and set up your stereo, the quality level of your stereo and the money you are willing or able to spend. All the tests I did were primarily on my setup 1, but I also did try the same in my setup 2. There, I only found the LAN isolator being worth the money I would go for the Cinnamon USB plus the standard Cat 7 cable, leaving me 1,359 euros to do other, more efficient investments in that setup. Let me stress again that this didn't start off as a review, it's rather a report of my audio adventures. These might be of use to those that use the equal or similar front end and might not or not completely work out the same with other equipment. You can do the same as I and try it for yourself. The LAN separator is money well spent unless your network audio device already has a transformer set built in and it's very affordable. As far as cables are concerned, there are dealers that are willing to sell you the cables under the condition that you can return them undamaged and in the original packing if the result is disappointing. Always discuss this upfront with your supplier. And be fair, don't spoil it for others that are willing to spend the money. If you have experiences in this field, share them below this video. But keep it friendly and civilized. And if you want to see reactions of others, subscribe to this channel or follow me on Twitter, Facebook or Google+. See the show notes for the links. If you have a question, post it below this video but please don't ask me for buying advice. See my About Questions video to find out why. If you like this video, please consider supporting the channel through Patreon and see super exclusive videos too. Just one dollar a month will do. The link is in the show notes and don't forget to tell your friends on the web about this channel. Hans Beekhuyzen, thank you for watching and see you in the next show or on theHBproject.com And whatever you do, enjoy the music.