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Best Ethernet Setup for Streaming Audio

I am streaming from an external drive on my Mac computer to an Auralic Aries, fed to an LKS DAC. I have a wired Ethernet connection from my wall outlet to an AT&T provided modem. The modem is connected to a Netgear router, which connects to a Netgear switch that is optimized for music streaming. Another Ethernet cable runs from my Mac directly to the Netgear switch. I am aiming for the best sound quality with this system. Here are my questions:

1. is it best to have my computer's Ethernet cable plugged into the switch, or should it be plugged into the router instead. It will function either way. But what would be the best option?

2. To provide optical isolation for the Ethernet cable, I installed two TP-Link FMC’s between the switch and the Aries streamer. Is that the best position for the isolation? I have it as close to the DAC as possible. Or should I place the FMC's somewhere else in the chain?

3. Would I obtain a boost in sound quality if I added a second pair of FMC's to the system? There are 4 other options: a. Between the wall outlet and the modem. b. Between the computer and the switch. c. Between the modem and the router. d. Between the router and the switch. In case it matters, the longest stretch of copper Ethernet cable is between the computer and the switch (50 feet).

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
boakey39
mitch2
4,338 posts
 
The FMC the OP is talking about was recommended by reviewer Steve Plaskin (currently with Twittering Machines) a couple of years ago when he was with AudioStream. The idea is to disrupt EMI that may have been picked up by the Ethernet cable. If you look at Plaskin's system page over on TM, he is still using that set-up although he now uses the Sonore Signature Rendu SE Optical.
I started using the optical isolation discussed in the original article about a year ago with two TP Link converters and a short fiber optic cable between them. Very recently I decided to replace my long Ethernet cable from my router to my server with a 15M fiber optic cable using two TP Link converters, one near the router and the other just before the server. Both TP Link converters are connected to their respective Ethernet connections with very short CAT 8 cables.
boakey39 OP
10 posts
 
Thanks, Mitch2. So, do you now have 2 sets of FMC's in your system?
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,477 posts
 
Kijinki, can you explain the above? How does fiber get interfered by electrical noise?
When transition edges are perfectly square (low transition time) electrical noise added to source or destination makes no difference - level change is recognized at exact moment of transition, but when transitions are slow noise added at the source (varying light intensity) or at the DAC side (varying threshold point) will change moment of level recognition - amplitude variation converts to time variation. Time variation - jitter, converts to added noise.  High end transports have transition times as low as 5ns, typical transports about 25ns and optical many times that.
dfairc777a
60 posts
 
Thanks Kijinki. Way over my head, but I appreciate the attempt.

Relatve to FMCs adding electric noise, I found a small USB powered FMC thinking this would be less likely to add noise as it it doesn't need a wall wort. Any thoughts on this?
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,477 posts
 
Where this USB power comes from?  Computer sourced power is not better than wall wort - both likely use crude switching power supplies.  There are very high quality SMPS with lower noise than typical linear supply, but you won't find them in USB supply.  Next best would be linear power supply for USB, but I don't know much about them.  I'm sure they exist and perhaps somebody can suggest a good one?
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