The DELA Sound
Contents
In the Netherlands, of course, the name DELA is particularly unfortunate. Especially in combination with music that has a rather emotional link with the industry where DELA is active. But anyway: we don’t do much about that; that’s a Dutch thing ánd it doesn’t detract from the quality of this product.
Because boy… what an impact this switch has had in our system! Now, the network at Alpha Audio is in pretty good shape. Everything could be better, but with the resources and finances we have available, it is just solidly in order: good switches, decent cables and nice power supplies in the final links. The AlphaAudioPC also features the very nice Jcat cards and a Dodo power supply. In short: not negligible … and yet!
We take a look in the notes:
Definitely feels more spacious, too: “Voices are more 3D. Space is much more beautifully detached. Pretty bizarre. Easily audible on Beautiful Day. Also low is tighter and a little better to follow.”
Actually, it comes down to everything just getting a little nicer again. So this switch is another significant step quieter, giving the digital chain more air and stability. And that is audible across the entire spectrum.
With an investment of 8999 Euros, this is a good thing, but let’s be honest: not everything that costs a lot of money is good. And not everything that requires a hefty investment also brings an audible improvement. This DELA S5 does in our system. With every song we put on. And we hear the same things change over and over again.
SFP?
Now we initially connected the DELA to Delock’s SFP converter. We often do that when we do A/B comparisons. It’s not entirely fair, but close enough AND we know both routes differ only in the last link.
However, if we put the fiber directly into the DELA S5, the whole thing takes another leap. Even more peace of mind and insight. We may conclude that DELA just really knows what it’s doing. This is no amateur taking apart off-the-shelf products and putting them in a nice little box. This is the real deal. Hats off.
To quote from the notes: “A lot of space and detail: every puff and breath is audible now. Impressive though! Untouchable 2 is downright immersive. Music is everywhere.”
10 and 100 Mbit?
The DELA S5 allows you to switch speeds at the touch of a button. Super convenient and very cool just like that. The color indicates the speed: gigabit is blue, 100 Mbit is green and 10 Mbit is amber.
Now our streamer worked fine on gigabit and 100 Mbit. But at 10 Mbit we got crazy behavior: tracks are skipped and half started. In short: not stable.
Is there an audible difference between gigabit and 100 Mbit? Yes: subtle, but audible. 100 Mbit seems to play a bit quieter and smoother. Gigabit a bit more pointed and energetic perhaps?
Do?
Can a switch make a big difference? Yes… potentially for sure. There is a “but,” though. Because it’s important to put things in perspective. First, it is crucial that the basics of the system are already right. A switch is not going to solve fundamental problems. Think too much bass, too sharp midrange or standing waves in the room.
Nor is a switch going to make an overly cool system sound warm. So if you don’t like the timbre of a system: look elsewhere.
What it can do is bring peace. And with that peace, more insight, more flow, et cetera. What a top-notch switch can do is bring more air and space into that. Is that important? Definitely! It can be the fat dot on the “i” in your system.
Jaap, I believe you also reviewed the Matrix SS-1 Pro. What comparison can you make with the Dela? Thank you.
Man… sucks to be poor… 🙁
Ojee, wat een recensie over de Dela s5.
Ik heb een Melco s100/2 met een externe voeding (Farad). Die brachten een enorme verbetering t.o.v. de standaard switch.
Na het lezen van dit artikel nu de vraag: biedt de Dela S5 nog meer dan mijn huidige combi en is dat het spaargeld waard.
Maar hartelijk dank voor de review.
Hermann Jaeger
Back in the dark ages I designed T1/T3 and remote bridges for a very large company. I was in the mix with 100M design and got asked in the 1M design which I opted out. Nibble (4 bit) half duplex seemed pretty stupid (1M Ethernet) to me coming from full Duplex 100M. Not surprised your hearing better results with 100M over 1M. But then again it also depends on files, location yada yada. As with anything audio, everything makes a difference. Sometimes good sometimes bad. Isolation though is a big deal for almost anything if done correctly.
This seems like an incredible amount of money to spend for a switch. Is there a less expensive product (products) that can produce similar improvements in sound?
From the first page:
“That a network has an audible impact does not immediately mean that you should spend 9000 Euros for a decent solution, but it does mean that it deserves attention.”
and: https://www.alpha-audio.net/review/a-very-deep-dive-into-network-switches-listening-and-measuring/
Very nice review. Thank you. I hope you all get to keep the switch.
Sure… We get to keep all the stuff we test… (I hope you get that was a joke).
Thank you for reviewing this sort of more expensive ethernet gear also!
Did you use the Jcat ethernet cable also the switch output side?
I ask since I have noticed that we can´t really hear the full effect when using really great switches/LAN isolators unit we use ethernet cables that is able to protect the low noise signal that they manage to output.
The lower the noise output we achieve, the better ethernet cables seems to be needed, to protect the even lower noise levels.
Is this something you agree on?
I have used my own double shielded lan-cable and other decent CAT6a cables. Nothing fancy. Yes: cables matter. So, use what suits you. I personally use high quality ‘stock’ CAT6a-cables.