Please allow me to start with a small addendum on the use of the Sortz plug in the unused S/PDIF input (RCA) of my PS Audio DirectStream DAC. Some readers may have wondered at this point whether I normally do not have the open S/PDIF input terminated. No, I don't, and the reason is due to the bad experiences I have had with it on this DAC. Immediately after plugging in a customary terminating plug, I can notice a sonic improvement, but after a while the DAC sounds increasingly shiftless, less responsive and dynamic. This creeping degradation really becomes apparent when I unplug the connector after a few days. With the Sortz plug, on the other hand, the described sound improvement always remains unchanged and stable, even during the long-term test. At least on the PS Audio DirectStream DAC, I therefore clearly prefer the use of a Sortz plug to any other termination option.

But let's switch now to the Sortz in its LAN version. For listening to music, I have set up my own audio network in my rooms, which is completely separated from the rest of the network in the house via an ER-X edge router. Intensive network use by family members with heavy data traffic, such as streaming movies or holding online meetings, therefore has no influence on the musical enjoyment at all. Data distribution within the audio network is handled by the SOtM switch sNH-10G in combination with the external 10 megahertz clock sCLK-OCX10 for clocking purposes. Only my server, a Diretta Lucia Piccolo Bridge and a Mac Book Pro operating as control point are connected to the switch via an Ethernet cable. In addition, I have of course established a connection to the router. I start my listening test by plugging a Sortz in its basic version into one of the free LAN ports.

Let's start by listening to Benjamin Britten's "Simple Symphony" (The Nordic Sound - 2L audiophile reference recordings, 24/352) to get in the mood and for the purpose of comparison, as we did the last time: The sonic image now fascinates once again with its great calmness and balance. The fine details of the recording are carved out even more precisely and can be heard more clearly, while at the same time, the spatial depth increases considerably, which I didn't notice in this form when using the Sortz on the preamplifier and DAC. With "The Man Who Sold The World" in Claire Martin's interpretation incorporating interesting jazz and tango elements (Linn Records FLAC Studio Master), the singer and accompanying instruments appear clearly staggered and distinctive in the room, whereby the performance is now particularly impressive due to its great coherence.