What’s inside?

Eight audio grade 100/1000 Base-T gigabit Ethernet ports make it possible to connect even the most demanding streaming setups. Significant (ie. audible) improvements can be experienced in music playback via streaming services or music stored on a NAS.

The 8switch features low and high electrical noise isolation, reducing data issues that can often be apparent during the playback of high-resolution material.

Core technologies

Powered by a customised TCXO (Temperature Compensation Crystal Oscillator), accuracy is 0.1ppm – far higher than normal crystals and higher than a normal TCXO, allowing the 8Switch to generate higher accuracy network signals, which in turn helps provide more stable music data transmission.

The power supply and clock generation circuits each have two electrical noise isolation circuits which ensure stable network signals. An EMI (Electromagnetic Interference) absorber helps to further reduce the noise from the digital circuit.

Compare the increased performance and jitter measurement (90% less!) of the 8switch compared to that of a general network switch.

Price £500
(supplied with 0.75m Chord Ethernet cable)

Casing & Power Supply

The machined aluminium enclosure offers excellent protection from both acoustic and electrical noise.

The minimal LED display on the front panel includes power, alarm and the link status/speed for each of the 8 ports.

The medical-grade power adaptor has been designed to reduce electrical noise from AC power and prevent mains quality issues from affecting the network signals. It also boasts high power efficiency, a no-load power consumption < 0.075W and protection from short circuit, overload and over-voltage.

Switches require high speed power supplies so we could not opt for a linear power source due to their speed limitations. English Electric set about improving the power signal by using an extremely high-quality wall supply. This clean supply permits an optimum quality network signal, driven by high-accuracy TCXO clock technology.

Why 16Switch?

The 16Switch is a two-zone, dual power supply, 16-port Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) device which has been optimised for music and video streaming. The 16Switch brings the proven benefits of the 8Switch to larger networks and features 2x independent rows of eight high-quality Gigabit Ethernet ports, which can be used as two independent eight-way switches or connected and used as one 16-way device.

The 16Switch has been designed to offer high noise-isolation and low electrical noise. It uses two highly accurate customised TCXOs (Temperature Compensation Crystal Oscillators) with an accuracy of 0.1ppm (far higher than normal crystals and higher than a normal TCXO), allowing the 16Switch to generate higher-accuracy network signals, which in turn, help provide more stable data transmission.

The clock source is isolated for each network zone, allowing the TCXO modules to remove power-related noise from the switch circuit. Power is delivered by two independent isolated power supplies feeding each of the eight-port switch modules; the clean supply allows better network signal quality, ultimately driven by the highly accurate TCXO clock technology. When run as two independent power zones, it allows the performance-critical audio/video equipment to be run independently from the more noisy digital equipment also present on the network.

The combined technologies and attention to detail in the 16Switch result in more stable and accurate network signals and clock circuitry, delivering significantly improved data transmission with measurably reduced jitter errors.

Price £1,000
(supplied with 0.75m Chord Ethernet cable)

Casing

The 16Switch benefits from a high-quality 1U mild steel enclosure which offers protection from both acoustic and electrical noise. It is highly flexible and can be sited on any solid surface using the (optional) resonance-damping feet, to help decouple the device from unwanted mechanical vibration.

Flexible Installation

The 16Switch is also supplied with rack-mount brackets and bolts to allow mounting in a 19-inch rack (1U height). When rack-mounted, the case has both front and rear rack-mounting locations, allowing the sockets to be either forward- or rear-facing in the installation. 

Suitable for home networks

The discreet front-panel LED display includes power, alarm, link status and link speed for the 16 ports; the 100/1000 Base-T Gigabit Ethernet ports are suitable for all home network appliances.