Discerning a difference between streamers is difficult...only me or common for all?

@lalitk yes. 
couple of things for the benefit of clarifying the unit you’re referring to…

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!

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.
All this plus the cable spaghetti you get with it all isn’t worth the trouble. At least to me. In my opinion, until you have the best possible components I wouldn’t waste a dime on these tweaks. Just my $0.02

@audphile1

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 :-)

@lalitk 👍

Here’s a cheaper version…

https://www.musicdirect.com/equipment/accessories/ifi-lan-ipurifier-pro/