Network Acoustics muon pro Ethernet Filter

There are three schools of thought about ‘the network’ side of networked audio. The first is the most dismissive; it’s just another network connection, don’t sweat it. The second is the most extreme; buy a high-end, made-for-audio network switch and cabling at great expense. Network Acoustics takes the more pragmatic third path; take what you have and improve it. We looked at the Network Acoustics eno filter and the muon before this, but the company can’t sit still. The new muon pro takes on Gigabit Ethernet… and wins!

This might sound like a trivial upgrade, as the world beyond audio went to 1GB/s fast Ethernet years ago. However, to paraphrase Spider-Man’s Uncle Ben, “with great speed comes great noise”, and those in the know about networked audio do their level best to avoid Gigabit Ethernet where possible as it potentially pre-ruins the sound. This is perhaps unsurprising; Ethernet routers and switches are often built to the lowest common denominator and seem a little, er, broken, to feed something like a £16,000 Innuos Statement from a router and switch that cost pennies to make.

Making a switch that runs 10× faster than a 100MB/s device for the same money… well, something has to give. And that something is usually radio frequency interference (RFI). This doesn’t register as a concern for computer users, but when used with high-end network streaming devices, anything you can do to reduce or eliminate RFI helps improve the sound.

Internal architecture

Of course, you can get an audiophile switch, but let’s be honest; the internal architecture of some high-end audiophile-grade routers and switches isn’t much better than the generic devices. Yes, they have better boxes that improve screening and shielding and vastly improved power supplies, which take out a lot of RFI, but at their core, many are still just a cheap chipset in an expensive box. Which is where Network Acoustics comes in. The filtration – first seen in eno and taken to the max in the muon pro – coupled with Network Acoustics’ own Ethernet cable, carves through that RFI and other forms of noise introduced from the Ethernet sources and creates a barrier between them and the sensitive internal organs of your expensive streamer.

Back to paraphrasing famous lines; “What happens in muon pro, stays in muon pro!” Twice over. First, Richard Trussell of Network Acoustics stays as silent as the muon pro itself about the nature of the filtration inside the box. And the ‘twice over’ part refers to what it does well. More on that later.

What’s in the box?

In the box, there is a filter with a captive Ethernet cable at one end and a high-quality Ethernet connector at the other. You connect the Network Acoustics Ethernet cable here. The recommended direction is plugging the muon pro’s captive connector into your switch and the longer cable between muon pro and your streamer. However, it’s bidirectional and some prefer it in the other direction. 

I used both a cheap Netgear switch and a high-performance Ansuz Powerswitch at the network end, and an Innuos Statement Next Gen, the Moon 791 streaming preamplifier and a Primare I35 Prisma networked integrated amp at the business end. I also still have the original eno.

Instant demonstration

This is the quickest demonstration I can think of. In each case, call up a track from Tidal or Qobuz. Play it. Insert muon pro. Replay track. Job done. At no time did the muon pro fail to improve the sound (whatever permutation of switch and source used) and the improvement was internally consistent. That means it didn’t just impose its own performance on the sound but made ‘the business end’ more correct sounding. It brought out more space and silence with the Moon, a tighter focussed sound to the Primare and more realism to the Innuos.

The degree of improvement was attenuated when using the audiophile switch, but was still noticeable, and the improvement brought about by putting muon pro between the Netgear switch and its significant other in music was substantial. In all cases, I preferred the muon pro in its stock layout (with the filter closer to the switch), although when it came to the Innuos fed by the Ansuz, the differences in direction were marginal. 

The Biggest Change

Interestingly, the difference between muon pro and eno was often the biggest change. The eno does many of the same things the muon pro does, but unless you can use it with a 100Mp/s switch, much of what it does well is negated by the speed of the switch. Once again, it makes more sense of the intrinsic sound of the streamer; it’s just that the muon pro makes a lot more sense for more of the time. 

The most important feather in its cap was in after-work listening. Having played a long musical session with some friends, I decided – in a quasi-drunken haze – to take the muon pro out of the network chain and replace it with just good Ethernet cables. “What happened?” came the equally quasi-drunken response, and the game of musical ping-pong ended soon after, as people stopped liking the sound. These weren’t hardcore audiophiles… they were civilians, or grockles, or muggles or whatever is the current politically incorrect term for non‑enthusiasts.

The question left unanswered

The only unanswered question raised by the muon pro is whether to go with an audiophile network switch. In most cases, it makes the performance jump brought about by such switches seem, at best, ‘nuanced’. The Ansuz is one of the better switches though, and there was a benefit in going for the switch and the switch+muon pro. Ultimately, having both improves the performance of your streamer (the Ansuz lowers the noise, the muon pro makes your streamer sound like it is living its best life). Still, if you haven’t already made the jump, I would go with the Network Acoustics filter first, and then add the audiophile switch. That’s how far the Network Acoustics filter pushes the performance envelope.

Easy to hear but hard to categorise, the Network Acoustics muon pro is a significant force for good. Those who know how much can be extracted from your networked audio… buy one. But, if you are still debating whether network-side audio devices can make a difference, give muon pro a listen. Iit makes a very convincing argument! 

Technical specifications

muon pro Ethernet Filter

• Type: Silver wired 1GB/s ethernet filter
• Input: 50cm UP-OCC continuous cast pure silver ethernet cable
• Output: Neutrik RJ45 ethernet
• Termination: Telegärtner RJ45 CAT8 connector
• Size (H×W×D): 50 × 190 × 78mm
• Warranty 2 years

muon pro Streaming Cable

• Type: 8-core 1GB/s ethernet network cable
• Conductor: UPO-OCC continuous cast silver
• Length: 1.5m
• Terminations: Telegärtner Cat8.1 wide bandwidth gold plated connectors
• Price Muon Pro filter £1,595
• Muon Pro Streaming System £2,295 (with 1.5m cable) – £3,594 (with 5m cable)

Manufacturer

Network Acoustics

www.networkacoustics.com

 +44 (0)2380 615 627

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