2. digital
  3. 177790-7401

Ethernet - Analog/Digital Signal Clean Up

Curiosity got the better of me recently and I tried a pretty cheap tweak where I used two Fiber Optic converters between the eero access point and my Lumin U1 Mini streamer. Converted from copper Ethernet to fiber optic then back to copper and then into streamer using my Supra Cat8. 

I was pleasantly surprised with the improvements this change had brought into my system and now I am wondering if I can do better. One other aspect of the current configuration that I don’t like is the clutter - each unit comes with it’s own power supply and add to that a fiber optic cable. I already have a spider web of wires and am not looking to add to that. 

Objective is to have as much noise, RFI and EMI removed before it reaches the streamer. 

Seeking opinions on the following units from those who had tried them in their systems:

  1. English Electric Network Switch 8 (Silent Angel is pretty much the same thing)
  2. Uptone EtherREGEN (currently out of stock)
  3. Network Acoustics Eno (box or streaming system)

 

What is your experience with these units?

Anything else to add to the above list? 

 

Thanks in advance!

128x128audphile1
erik_squires
16,212 posts
 

I'd be curious to see you try an inexpensive Ethernet hospital isolator.  I'm about to get one for the sake of lightning protection.

 

ghdprentice
7,113 posts
 

I use an EtherRegen on the streamer side of a wall wart repeater. 

mitch2
4,033 posts
 

In addition to answers you receive here, you may want to run a search for your topics as you will find additional discussions in threads such as this one and this one.

Back to your questions, I use fiber optic cable as you described but my run is 45 feet from my router to my main system. I use LPS at both ends in place of the small wall warts that come with the converters.  After conversion, a short CAT 8 Ethernet cable run from the fiber converter to:

  • Bonn Silent Angel N8 switch (made by the same people who make the English Electric Network Switch 8), then short Ethernet cable to 
  •  GigaFOILv4-INLINE Ethernet Filter (with LPS), then Network Acoustics Streaming Cable to 
  • Network Acoustics ENO filter, then the captive streaming cable to
  • music server

The set-up works fine and sounds great but I would caution that to me, no one of these things made what I would consider a significant difference in sound quality, especially to the transitional levels sometimes posted about in these forums.  Whether that is my components, my overall system and room, or my hearing, I hear nothing more than subtle differences with these tweaks/digital cables.  

tuberist
951 posts
 

Aud,

I am about one week into the set up you are using. Soon  I will plug the ethernet cable from router to streamer for a sonic comparison. I did not hear a night and day difference with the ethernet converter boxes and fiber optic cable. However, it’s a very inexpensive experiment

antigrunge2
1,426 posts
 

I have the following setup:

cat8->DXE filter->Lhyaudio ocxo switch->etherregen on Antelope audio 10m clock->DXE filter->Emo EN70HD->InnuOs Zenith Mk3->USb->Holo Audio Titanis->Intona Isolator 2.0 Industrial->Antelope Audio Zodiac Platinum on 10m clock. The clock, USB connection and Dac are all powered by Sean Jacobs DC3/4 Lps, the Etherregen by Zerozone 2020 LPS.

Admittedly this is a ridiculous amount of boxes, yet: it took me 3 years to not only figure out the right components but also the sequence.

 

My principal lessons are as follows: avoid any noise from EMI/RFI/Ground level through galvanic isolation, use shielded cables on digital connections and get the best clock you can afford to control the DAC, ethernet and USB connections. Use digital filters on any clock or ethernet connections. I have not played with optical but worked hard in finding good ethernet and USB cables (0nto cat8 and Intona Reference USB)

 

 

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