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If you stream music from the internet, I can't recommend this more highly

I had been using a Roon Nucleus to stream Qobuz, with my Chord Qutest directly connected to the Nucleus. I thought I was getting pretty decent sound quality. And then I got a marketing email from Small Green Computer touting some of their optical gear. The basic idea is that normal cables and connections used to stream from the internet pick up noise of one kind or another (radio frequencies and electromagnetic something or other). But fiber optic cables and their connections/interfaces do not. I don’t know anything about anything, but it made theoretical sense to me, it wasn’t a huge amount of money ($1,400), and with a 30 day return policy I figured I could always return it if I didn’t hear any improvement. Well, I didn’t just hear a slight improvement; it was like turning on the lights in a dark room. Much greater clarity and detail, much better micro and macro dynamics, better timbre to acoustic instruments -- overall just more lifelike. Two quick examples: I’ve listened to some of Steely Dan’s top songs 100s of times over the course of my life, and this is the first time I’d ever noticed a particular and very subtle sound characteristic of Fagen’s keyboard in Babylon Sister. It’s hard to describe, but it’s like there’s a slight sound of air being exhaled by it. The other example: the specific timbre of whatever percussive instrument is used at the beginning of Copeland’s "Fanfare for the Common Man" (a recording by the Minnesota Orchestra). There’s more of a metallic sound than a drum skin sound to it that I didn’t know was there before. The metallic sound starts in the center and then projects out and to the sides, like a wave washing over you. Anyway, I’m just thrilled about having stumbled upon the whole "optical" thing and felt obligated to let others know about it. If you stream music over the internet, I highly recommend giving it a try. (The product I got was the opticalRendu, with the linear power supply option, and the Fiber Ethernet Converter Bundle option.)
128x128hiphiphan
niodari's avatar
niodari
297 posts
 
Sure but the "cleaned" signal again enters to DAC, cannot it again poorly extract the sampling info? 
teknorob23
18 posts
 
...And even with an optical converter, you have to convert the signal back at to ethernet so you can plug it into your streamer, at least with 99% of streaming devices, so the signal is liable to pick up electronic interference at this point and it doesnt take much to have negative impact on the highly sensitive electronics of the streamer.
atmfrank01's avatar
atmfrank01
12 posts
 
At the risk being perceived at being rude again...electronic interference can only affect audio quality at the endpoint where Ethernet packets being converted (decoded) back to the original bit structure of where they entered the transport medium (encoded). Any electrical interference along the transport wires has be inaudible simply because Ethernet/optical packets cannot be listening to. At the interface level there complete galvanic isolation between Ethernet/optical and original bitstream. Jitter/EMI on Ethernet/optical wires is irrelevant and has 0% effect on sq.

Now, some manufactures designing "high-end" audio streamers for tons of $$$ really only have to worry about of interference from those interfaces, the converting technology, the size of packet buffers and clock signals. That’s what you pay for ($1,400) for Rendu devices.

The real question to me remains: What problems are we trying to solve? If you replace all Ethernet/optical wires from the system and replace them with wifi, that would be a worthwhile discussion. Please read the few available reviews (e.g. Auralic Aries G1), which offers both technologies and try to ascertain which medium has a bigger impact on sq. The result: zero audible difference.

As to main question, is $1,400 is lot of money to improve the sq of a system? I can only reply, my Allo Digione Signature/Raspberry cost about $300. This is a transport only, feeding an external DAC over SPDIF/coax. But it has complete galvanic isolation between the "noisy" wifi interface of the Berry and SPDIF transport, plus high-quality re-clocking of the bitstream before it enters into the SPDIF interface. Yes, there still is a small chance of the Wifi interface causing some residual EMI on the SPDIF circuitry. Is it measurable, will it make a difference? I don’t know.

Challenge for anyone out there to put a $300 network bridge to test against a mega$$$ network streamer/DAC/Rendu with mega$$$ cable and audiograde switches in-between.

I am a audiophile hobbyist just like most people here. All I am saying, please try and blend your listening experiences with the truth of technical explanations. Alternately, you are free to purchase things like the $10,000 Audioquest "directionally aligned" Ethernet cable and expect a "dramatic" improvement of the wired audio components. Snakeoil.
orosie's avatar
orosie
19 posts
 
This hobby cracks me up sometimes.  I have to agree with ATMFrank.  Please try to balance your subjective opinions with technology.  Anyone that thinks a 3 foot, $1,000 AQ Diamond ethernet cable improves the sound quality of your digital over a well designed and built 3 foot, $16.95  BJC ethernet cable (which ships with test results of said cable) is spending an unneeded ~$980.00.

But hey....whatever blows your hair back.
niodari's avatar
niodari
297 posts
 
To me as well, folks, the thoughts of ATMFRANK are logical and convincing, I would rather trust such reasoning. 
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