Anyone tried fiber into EtherRegen SFP?


Putting a 2nd-hand EtherRegen before my Innuos Zenith Mk3 has probably been the single best upgrade I've made.  Like most others' experiences, the shift away from a digital sound has been palpable.

I'm feeding the ER directly from my Netgear Orbi mesh satellite through a Wireworld Starlight ethernet cable.  I was wondering, however, if anyone has experienced significant gains from feeding the ER with fiber into its SFP port? 

I did assume initially that as the ER is a regenerator the quality of the input shouldn't matter that much.  But as I saw another jump when upgrading the ER's input cable it's set me to wondering about optical.

 

128x128lollipopguild

@sns I have looked at AfterDark, but for such an audition the overhead of import taxes and possible return are discouraging.  My ADOT kit should arrive in a day or two.

Well, I now have a fibre kit feeding my EtherRegen, and even in the few hours I've had it up and running I can clearly state that the level of detail, texture and musicality have gone up a notch, without impacting the overall warm tone which I have grown to cherish.

After previously adding such things as top-notch ethernet and USB cabling (SOTM and FTA), Innuos Phoenix USB and the EtherRegen, it still amazes me how much more quality I can squeeze out of the DAC's input stream.  Those out there who stick to the "1s and 0s" ideology are just wrong.

I consider the ER the best upgrade I've made to my system.  And despite the fact it's galvanic and a moat (etc etc) I'm still struck that the quality of its input matters greatly.  I'd already seen improvements after previously swapping the input Supra ethernet cable for a Wireworld platinum.  Swapping the Wireworld for a decent fiber bridge just added more.  Saying that however, the FMC is now fed by the same Wireworld. Go figure.

For completeness, I should add that I did try feeding ethernet into the ER's B-port and then feeding fiber from the ER's SFP to the FMC, and then to the streamer by the FMC's ethernet.  Basically:  router => ER => FMC => streamer.  But this didn't work.  The music was brittle and hard; the same reason I'd rejected a pure fiber ethernet stage months ago.

So, my ethernet feed is now:

Netgear Orbi satellite => Wireworld Starlight ethernet => ADOT FMC => Fiber => EtherRegen SFP A-port => EtherRegen B-port => SOtm DCBL-CAT7u => Innuos Zenith Mk3

Hopefully that is now me done.  I have a credit card bill to clear.  And I'll be avoiding reviews of the 2nd gen EtherRegen....

Thanks to all who contributed to this thread.

 

@lollipopguild 

two further suggestions, if I may: use the Etherregen’s grounding post to run a separate ground wire to a good ground. And use a 10m clock on the Etherregen, even if it is only a cheap one. Both have major additional benefits