In my latest review, I delve deeper into Nordost’s QNET Network Switch and QSOURCE Linear Power Supply combo.
As highlighted throughout the review, these devices can positively contribute even to refined high-end audio system, playing a significant role in establishing an all-around notable balance.
QSOURCE
The QSOURCE is a fanless linear power supply designed specifically for hi-fi audio applications. By delivering a stable, clean DC output at select voltages while maintaining extremely low noise levels, the QSOURCE is engineered to elevate a sound system’s audio imagery, enhancing sonic articulation, heightening dynamics, and expanding the soundstage.
At its core, the QSOURCE utilizes a top-of-the-line transformer paired with a unique circuit design to convert AC to DC power. An internal QRT module eliminates electrical anomalies and noise artifacts from the line, smoothing the DC output to ensure audio components operate on the highest-quality power possible.
From a sonic perspective, this pristine power delivery makes a significant difference, offering excellent regulation, minimal ripple, and exceptional transient response. These qualities enable high-end audio components to perform at their peak, unlocking their full potential.
While the QSOURCE was designed to power and enhance up to four of Nordost’s QPOINT Resonance Synchronizers—devices that manipulate electromechanical resonances to improve coherency and timing—it was also built with versatility in mind.
In addition to the four dedicated 5V outputs for QPOINTs, the QSOURCE features two adjustable outlets: one supplying 9V, 12V, or 19V, and the other offering 12V, 19V, or 24V, allowing users to match the requirements of various electronics.
To complete the signal chain, Nordost has developed purpose-built QSOURCE DC Cables, ensuring optimal compatibility with QPOINTs and other DC-powered components.
QNET
The QNET is a layer-2, five-port Ethernet switch specifically designed with audio performance as its primary focus.
Unlike other audiophile network switches on the market—which often rely on standard designs with minor upgrades to power supplies or oscillators—the QNET has been completely re-engineered from the ground up.
Every aspect of this product, from component selection to placement, has been optimized to ensure flawless transmission and reception of high-speed audio signals while maintaining extremely low noise levels.
Internally, the QNET features a high-speed, multi-layered, impedance-controlled layout that optimizes signal routing, minimizing reflections, interference, and crosstalk. It also incorporates an ultra-low-noise, high-stability oscillator for the device’s main clock, significantly reducing jitter and phase noise. Additionally, the QNET is equipped with six dedicated power supplies, delivering clean, uninterrupted current to all components while minimizing noise cross-contamination and ensuring interference-free operation.
Externally, the QNET is housed in a robust aluminum chassis. This design not only acts as a heat sink and electromagnetic shield but also provides physical separation for the five independent ports, each fitted with an 8P8C (RJ45) connector. This physical separation is a critical and unique design feature, ensuring minimal crosstalk and interference within the device.
Each port on the QNET is optimized for specific applications. Three of the five ports are auto-negotiated 1000BASE-T (1 Gbps) capable, ideal for connecting routers and other generic network devices. The remaining two ports are fixed at 100BASE-TX (100 Mbps), a speed that allows for internal noise reduction, making these ports best suited for primary audio servers/players or external media sources.
While the QNET comes with its own DC power supply, optimal performance is achieved when paired with Nordost’s QSOURCE Linear Power Supply and connected using Nordost’s award-winning Ethernet cables.
The Music
The Nordost QNET and QSOURCE combo doesn’t micromanage the music or introduce a plasticky character or sound restrictions, as some similar products can. Instead, it performs head and shoulders above expectations.
As always, here are a few reference tracks and albums highlighting its qualities.
Ann Peebles – Straight From The Heart
Ann Peebles cemented the very core of the Memphis soul sound of the 1960s and 1970s, rising to prominence under Hi Records and hitting stardom with the legendary and timeless “I Can’t Stand the Rain,” which has been and continues to be a source of inspiration for countless musicians, regardless of genre.
With Nordost QNET and QSOURCE, Peebles’ distinctive vocal and raw emotional impact come to the forefront effortlessly, without relying on the push-forward momentum that some networking devices impart. Instead, her subtlety and barely-there vibrato shine through, allowing for the instant recognition of slight oscillations in pitch that make her singing so distinct. QNET and QSOURCE’s unique potency wielded the necessary intensity but with newly found immediacy.
It was riveting to observe how QNET/QSOURCE never overpowered her vocal or scaled down the emotional poundage. Even with the backing vocals and instruments in play, her voice remained the focal point, further enhanced naturally, with newfound control and unpretentiously extended transparency.
Operating within the delicate realms of musical order is always challenging, yet the Nordost combo managed to keep the instruments fully presentable while ensuring her vocal remained palpable. QNET/QSOURCE also preserved the density of delicate reverberation, essential for shaping her unique vocal sound.
The Nordost QNET network switch and QSOURCE linear power supply have demonstrated how deep and unexplored the informational reservoir of digital streaming is.
They not only present Peebles’ distinctive tone and phrasing with clarity but also delve deeper into the core of the music, allowing the notes to float freely in the sonic sphere and unfolding harmonies with greater delicacy, fully cherishing the magic of one of the most compelling voices in Southern soul.
Standing Together – George Benson
As with George Benson’s work, Standing Together blends R&B fluidity with smooth jazz phrasing.
The Nordost QNET network switch and QSOURCE linear power supply have repeatedly demonstrated their ability to render intricate harmonic density at the highest level. Benson’s masterful command of timbre, tone, and color was exemplarily showcased with the Nordost double-decker setup.
One of the key aspects where networking devices either reveal their strengths or fail to deliver their often highly promising impact is timing.
When everything is in place, Benson’s instantly recognizable velvety guitar tone, punctuated by his signature timing in lyrical solos or rhythmic comping, comes alive.
Especially with George Benson’s syncopated notes, the music can lose its appeal and fail to maintain the groove that should normally draw the listener into an enticing auditory experience.
Quite the opposite, the QNET, and QSOURCE helped render the notes with a greater sense of drive, ensuring they were placed intentionally at the right time and, most importantly, leaving no lingering sonic artifacts. Benson’s tone—smooth yet contrasting—was portrayed with remarkable clarity.
On top of everything, the QNET and QSOURCE can bring the necessary juxtaposition of spontaneity and precision, effectively eliminating sonic clutter while delivering engaging melodic motifs and rich textural depth. They project the music with real-world mojo and exceptional emotional nuance without sacrificing clarity or the length of sustaining notes.
The QNET and QSOURCE reveal further layers of intricacy, preserving the necessary information density while maintaining the spatial depth of this exceptionally produced and recorded album.
The Nordost network switch and linear power supply also enabled far greater dynamic contrasts, avoiding the artificially hyper-focused, laser-sharp phenomenon where the leading edges of the notes are pushed too far. At the same time, they prevented the opposite extreme—where dynamics are cut off too soon, inducing unwanted tension in sustained notes.
The Nordost QNET and QSOURCE effortlessly render Benson’s electrifying playing, balancing silky tones with present yet controlled note-bending dissonance, allowing the proper formation of both tightly structured and more relaxed tonal expressions.
But perhaps most importantly, the Nordost combo allowed the guitar maestro’s nimble fretwork to expand into the aural space without obscuring the sonic atmosphere.
The impact of the Nordost QNET network switch and QSOURCE linear power supply is anything but subtle—it is intoxicatingly enticing. Their sheer ability to deliver startling immediacy, tactile presence, and meticulous attention to the playing is remarkable. They do so without over-polishing articulation, curbing emotive nuance, or stymieing the kinetic energy and dynamic bursts of the rhythm section, remaining ready to lock into the groove at any rhythmic shift.
Student of Mood – Single – Dimitris Soukos
As with most electronic music, especially techno, Soukos’ techno composition foundation also lies in the deep, chest-thumping kicks—a tectonic pulse that anchors the track’s rhythm, resonating with the visceral physicality of ever-evolving slight harmonic drifts. Underlying the minimalist momentum of Student of Mood, subtle synth stabs act like a hidden current.
The Nordost QNET network switch and QSOURCE linear power supply further enhanced the unfolding variety of sonic micro-events, creating a flickering web of kaleidoscopic sound that weaves through the sonic maze with crystalline translucency—open but never brittle.
QNET and QSOURCE firmly etched the hypnotic narrative with authority, avoiding the analytical dissection of sonic layers while maintaining harmonic density, and providing rewarding, involving, and repeatedly inviting non-fatiguing listening.
My listening remarks highlighted one of the most impressive abilities of the QNET/QSOURCE: a unique juxtaposition of negative and positive space in the sonic sphere.
The QNET/QSOURCE neither acts as a digital lens, artificially pulling out details but instead subtly amps up the music’s raw energy, adding weight to percussive hits, expand organic texture, increasing a dynamic bite—evoking a colloquial quality between rhythm and melody.
The track thrives on dynamic contrast: jagged, non-rounded edges of staccato synth stabs clash against smooth, sustained pads, while transient details—a glitchy hi-hat, a distorted and vocoder-altered fragment—snap seemingly into focus.
As with previous musical materials, Nordost QNET and QSOURCE don’t alter harmonic density nor overwhelm the music with even and odd harmonics. Instead, they bring balanced control, allowing each element to freely float within the music narrative, positively expanding the track’s architecture, and avoiding cutting off decay and reverb tails. This creates the grander spatial extension of panning rhythms, letting the electronic score’s mid/side illusions expand far beyond the speakers.
The Nordost QNET network switch and QSOURCE linear power supply notably contributed to the enticing hypnotic, cerebral groove and primal raw energy, allowing the hard-hitting groove and organic side of the track to collide equally well.
The Conclusion
When it comes to networking-related devices, there is ample room for diverse perspectives, usually tied to tangible sonic benefits.
In music reproduction, beauty is often hidden within the details, and Nordost repeatedly demonstrates with their products that technical precision and emotional depth can coexist.
Many factors can alter the sound and create misleading impressions, yet a trained ear will quickly detect if something is amiss at the core of the music or within the digital system. The same applies to streaming devices and associated paraphernalia.
Furthermore, the longer a device remains in the system, its positive or negative attributes become more pronounced rather than appearing as subtle or fragmented details.
I’m not a fan of drawing final conclusions based solely on quick A/B testing. While the impact may be immediately obvious, what is often overlooked is the level of fatigue that a particular product can impart on a high-end audio system. Often, the initial excitement fades over time, leading to a reality check.
Both the Nordost QNET and QSOURCE are highly target-oriented, revealing standout synergies and parallels. They let the high-end audio system to deliver music more rhythmically and melodically, allowing it to be channeled without being masked by unwanted anomalies or spatial spillover of instruments.
With networking devices it is easy to cross the unwanted sonic threshold rather than merely bridge the needed gap; however, the Nordost Network Switch sits right in between, subtly imposing order onto the music.
Some networking devices generate an unfocused sonic projection, whereas QNET and QSOURCE deliver a clear and focused impact.
Acting as a highly potent combination, QNET and QSOURCE do not induce any sonic saturation; instead, they help sculpt the harmonic balance within the high-end audio system, enabling it to track the music at a consistent level with raw energy and accurate timbre, tone, and colour.
The Nordost QNET network switch and QSOURCE linear power supply are undoubtedly the result of a series of nuanced design developments driven by musical insight, focusing on processes that truly work.
A leading indicator for this the sonic outcome, effectively alter the spatial perception of a signal, enhancing music presence in the listening space without distorting, adding excessive sharpness and or compression.
Many high-end audio devices and accessories are completely at odds with practical, positive results, but the Nordost team clearly understood the benefits of QNET and QSOURCE when they launched them.
If music is not an end in itself, does not inspire the listener, and essential operating concept is not , clear, the listener’s attention shifts from the music to the sonic details, and the result is always impacting the experience in non-organic way.
With the QNET network switch and QSOURCE linear power supply, Nordost has managed to create a congenial relationship between two stalwarts in their respective domains, leveraging the brand’s renowned core competencies.
QNET expands on the advantages of similar devices to a greater degree, elevating them to a far superior level while preserving audio integrity.
Over the years, Nordost has cemented itself as the de facto standard in many areas while constantly pushing the threshold further. The brand transcends many categories—even inventing some—and this rare achievement makes their products a reference point for the industry.
Both the QNET network switch and QSOURCE encapsulate the Nordost mission to bridge avant-garde exploration, solidifying its status as a forward-thinking brand and reinforcing its role in redefining the boundaries of high-end audio accessories.
All of this is achieved with a real-world, hands(ears)-on ability to unlock reproduction with unique potency, where music-oriented emphasis and technical craftsmanship converge.
These applications underscore the utility of achieving high-end audio reproduction that simply feels and sounds right, tunes with the music, and provides intoxicating interaction.
The Nordost QNET network switch and QSOURCE linear power supply represent a significant leap forward in many respects, and I wholeheartedly grant them a 2025 Highly Recommended Product Award. ❖
The Price
- QNET: $3799.
- QSOURCE: $2749
- The Premium Lemo to Lemo DC cable: $374.
Technical Specifications
QNET NETWORK SWITCH
- Type: Layer 2 unmanaged switch
- Number of ports: 5
- Ports capability: Ports 1, 2, and 3 are 1000BASE-T/100BASE-TX capable with auto-negotiation and auto-MDI/MDI-X support. Ports 4 and 5 are 100BASE-TX full duplex only.
- Connectors: 8P8C (RJ45)
- DC Power Input: 9V/1.2A
- Weight: 880g / 31oz
- Dimensions: 165mm D x 34.25mm H (6.5in D x 1.35in H)
QSOURCE
- AC Power Input: Switchable 110/220 VAC 50/60 Hz
- AC Fuse: 1.25A Time-Lag, Ceramic Body
- DC Power Output: For each variable output @ 19/24 VDC: 66 W | For each variable output @ 12 VDC: 20 W | For each variable output @ 9 VDC: 10 W | For all 5V outputs combined: 5 W
- PSRR: 75 dB
- Dimensions: 280 x 121 x 67mm (11in x 4.75in x 2.625in) w/ feet
- Weight: 2.7kg (6lb)
Contact
Nordost
93 Bartzak Dr Holliston
MA 01746
USA
Email: link
Web: www.nordost.com