Discerning a difference between streamers is difficult...only me or common for all?
I have struggled to appreciate the upgrade to the streamer in my system. A couple years ago I had an Audio Research DAC 8 being fed by a Bluesound Node 2i. I picked up an Aurender N10 and did not appreciate anything so sold the N10. I tried a couple all-in-one units. First was the Aurender A20 and I was happy but curious about dCS. I got a Bartok 2.0 and felt the music was more natural sounding from the Bartok and sold the A20. I have always wanted the Audio Research DAC 9 to match all my other AR gear so got one that showed up on eBay a couple weeks ago. Since I couldn’t use the Bartok to stream I ordered a new Bluesound Node Nano so I could utilize the DAC 9 immediately. The pair sounded wonderful but I did not compare it to the Bartok. I ended up getting a quick buyer and it was already gone. The following week I purchase an Aurender W20. I was prepared to have my mind blown....but no. Some albums I could not tell any difference in the sound and others I think the W20 sounded slightly better but again...nothing huge. For the money and the space the W20 took on my shelf, I sold it. Over the years I always appreciate upgrades for all other components. This makes me feel like I am losing my mind. Have any others experienced this regarding streamers? I want to try more. Auralic and Lumin are on my list.
Thanks,
Dana
“Copper->Fiber->Copper didn’t work for me” To my earlier post on your Aurender thread, if you eliminate the use of fiber optic cable between transceiver, you’re likely to hear much more organic presentation. It’s the darn conversion between the transceiver robbing the dynamics, IME. |
I had a Lumin U2 and experimented with fiber direct to its SFP port from a GIGE switch also with SFP fiber port; Researched the heck out of it and ordered all the parts from DigiKey. Let it settle for a week. To my ears it did not sound as good as copper CAT8 cable from the same GIGE switch. The magic was gone. I’m guessing that it’s system dependent as many users love fiber. 🤷♂️
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@lalitk yes. Telegartner Opt Bridge 1000M Is an optical isolator. Copper in, all optical conversion takes place inside the unit, then copper out…please correct me if I’m wrong. We can think of this as an optical Ethernet filter, similar in concept to Network Acoustics but uses active approach that leverages high quality copper to fiber optic to copper conversion. It is a high end audio purpose built unit. I’m intrigued I admit but at the same time $2,900 is kind of steep at least within the contexts of my system. I still have room to grow with DAC for example. I am keeping the Opt Bridge in a back pocket for further consideration. Thank you for bringing this up to my attention!
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To add…the cheap fiber optic converters that are used by some in their systems add noise to the AC line with their SMPS, they produce EMI that affects other components and cables and this results in loss of dynamics, smearing and thin, artificial sound. If you isolate them away from the system, use LPS and run a long Ethernet cable to streamer you mitigate the EMI but you still don mitigate the noise the converter itself poops back out into the outbound Ethernet cable. It kind of negates the issues at best. |
You’re correct in your understanding of the Telegärtner Opt Bridge 1000M. To clarify: The Telegärtner Opt Bridge 1000M is indeed an optical isolator that performs copper-to-optical-to-copper conversion. It allows for electrical isolation between components in an audio or network system by converting the electrical signal (copper) into an optical signal, which is then reconverted into copper again at the output. This isolation helps to reduce noise, electromagnetic interference (EMI), and ground loop issues, which can degrade audio performance, especially in high-end systems. As you noted, this can be thought of as a type of optical Ethernet filter. However, the Telegartner unit uses active conversion, which means it’s leveraging electronics to perform the copper-to-fiber and back process, rather than relying purely on passive elements. This active conversion allows the Telegärtner Opt Bridge 1000M to offer very high quality and precision in the signal transfer, ensuring minimal loss or degradation in the audio signal while providing the electrical isolation that helps with cleaner sound in high-end audio systems. It’s essentially a high-end, purpose-built solution for isolating and optimizing Ethernet signals for audio. I am hoping this would be my last upgrade as far optimizing streaming to nth degree with the addition of Hypsos Dual Output power supply :-) |
