Introduction
EAhibird combines two brands, ENIGMAcoustics and hibrid. The former is already established in the Audiophile world with its speakers and SBESL™ technology – electrostatic diaphragms that are ultra-light and self-biased, i.e. no high-voltage bias is required.
My first encounter with EAhibird was with the PureDC-B1, a DC power supply based on Tesla 2170 Li-ion batteries, which impressed me sufficiently to purchase a personal set.
Steven Cheah, principal of Audio Basic offered me a chance to experience the EAL 2000 in my home setup. I never say no to audio goodies!
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| The very expensive gold-plated Telegartner connectors |
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| The cables are quite flexible compared to some of the stiff rods I've tried |
According to EAhibird, the Integrated Cyber Filter allows one to "Experience the analog-like experience through innovative integrated technology."
Two models are available, the EAL 1000 (with copper conductors) and EAL 2000 (with silver-coated copper conductors).
The price of the Integrated Cyber Filter is as follows:-
EAL 1000
1.25M US$ 1,200
1.75M US$ 1,400
2.5M US$ 1,700
EAL 2000
1.25M US$ 1,950
1.75M US$ 2,250
2.5M US$ 2,650
Now, this is by no means cheap so let’s see whether these products can justify their cost?
Visually, the cables look the part, and if the metal housing looks familiar, you are right. Continuing with the Tesla theme, the electronics are housed in a Cybertruckesque enclosure.
Ethernet cables are made out of 4 conductor pairs and the circuit includes isolation transformers with ultra OCC coils (x4), common mode filters (x4) and a cap-coil noise filter circuit. EAhibrid also use a patent pending Advanced Waveform Restoration (AWR) circuit – a distortion reduction circuit that uses stable digital signal voltage technology modified from industrial servers and ICT equipment. The heavily shielded cables use immaculately made connectors, and the EAL2000 review sample uses gold-plated Telegartner connectors.
Turning to the cables, these consist of 22AWG conductors made out of silver-plated OCC copper cables. Each of the four pairs are aluminium foil shielded, followed by an additional double foil shielding and silver-plated OCC braided shield on the outer cable jacket. Yes, you read that right - even the braid uses silver-plated OCC copper!
Steven linked me up with Paul Huang, founder of EAhibrid who kindly answered my questions on the company and the Integrated Cyber Filter.
Q1. Could you explain more about the relationship between the ENIGMAcoustics and EAhibrid?
A1. (Paul supplied me with a write-up that explained his long acquaintance and consultancy work with ENIGMAcoustics from 2015. ENIGMA is primarily analog focused and EAhibrid was established in 2021 with ENIGMA’s support to target streaming and digital audio quality)
In short, we were good friends in the beginning. For years, I’ve been their consultant between Hi End Audio and Pro Audio. And then ENIGMA supported and sold the battery tech to me.
Q2. I would like more information about how the AWR circuit works and its benefits to audio.
A2. As per the information on our website, AWR is adapted from technology used in industrial servers created by others years ago with excellent performance on computers, but not for sound. The main thing AWR does is to channel out the digital noise by reducing ground noise. The result is better signal transmission accuracy and part of the overall grounding.
Q3. The isolation transformers are tiny! How hard are they to make and I assume that traditional network isolation transformers did not satisfy your standards.
A3. Those transformers need super-thin OCC copper and are handcrafted almost like MC cartridges. The master complains that he fails at making them because he always breaks the super-thin wire. But OCC transformers are good for sound in the old-fashioned way, so we still use them in our Cyber Filter.
Q4. I noticed that even the braided shield uses the same quality copper as the signal cables. Can you explain why this extra step was taken?
A4. The shielding material will affect the sound, which is very common on custom-made/hi-end cables. More importantly, we chose the correct directionality for all 8 cables; and the connectors, cables, and soldering, the Cyber Filter box is designed as one circuit. (especially on the ground issue). Additionally, audiophiles said “no ground on ethernet cable” might be better. That’s totally against our Star Ground System and chasing the hi-end sound of streaming.
Listening Tests
I tried the EAL2000 in two setups. In my main setup, I placed the EAL2000 directly between the Grimm MU1 streamer and my network switch. In my second setup, the Cyber Filter was interposed between a Wiim Ultra (used as a streamer only) and the room’s network switch. The brief details of the setups are as follows:-
Setup 1 (Secondary Setup)
Netgear switch – Cyber Filter – Wiim Ultra Streamer – Chord Hugo TT2 (used as DAC and preamp)
Schiit Aegir power amp
Tannoy Kensington GR speakers
Cisco switch – Cyber Filter – Grimm MU1 – Totaldac D1-Six DAC
Conrad Johnson GAT S2 preamp & Conrad Johnson ART27A power amp
Vivid Giya G4 speakers
In both systems, music was streamed from Tidal.
Although I’ve heard clear differences in experimenting with ethernet filters and aftermarket cables, nothing quite prepared me for the experience of the EAL2000.
In Setup 1, the transformation was akin to substituting my digital source and solid-state power amp for a fine turntable and tube amplification. A lot of the positive attributes of vinyl playback were observed including tonal density, much improved dynamics and a smooth flow that was fluid and free from grain. There was nothing sonically defective in using a generic LAN cable, but the sound was quite predictable - clear, precise and even. But there was no fooling yourself that you were listening to a digital source, with a more clinical approach and flatter soundstage presentation.
I was most impressed that a LAN cable swap (albeit with filtering) could make such a profound change to the system. This has to be the neatest party trick to make cable skeptics lose faith in their religion.
In Setup 2, the changes were also clearly observed, although it wasn’t quite the night and day difference heard on Setup 1. There was some chatter about the Grimm’s immunity to network gremlins, so the fact that there were clearly audible improvements surprised me.
The most noticeable change in the sound was an increase in tonal density, and bass impact. While I didn’t notice an increase in soundstage width, there was definitely a deeper and added dimensionality to the soundstage. While the increase in vocal warmth added a pleasing glow, it did smooth out some texture and articulation. The strengths of the EAL2000 is definitely in how it makes your music sound more “analog” with more dynamics, tonal density and smooth flow. Besides a fluid ease to music, the best way to describe the effect was an increased vigour in bass lines and turning up the “contrast knob” on your system. In short, I experienced an analog-like experience on my digital audio setup - claim substantiated.
Conclusions
The EAL2000 will likely not please users who prefer a sharp incisive sound, ruler-flat neutrality and start-stop on a dime agility. But for reluctant digital audio users who feel that their analog rigs sound superior, the EAL2000 may be the missing link to their everlasting digital audio happiness.
This review unit was kindly provided to me by Audio Basic, the local dealer for EAhibrid.
EAhibrid Integrated Cyber Filter - US$1,950 to US$ 2,650
Audio Basic
1 Coleman Street
#02-12, The Adelphi
Singapore 179803
http://audiobasic.blogspot.com
