Optical Network Configurations

[mikey8811]

4 hours ago, d_elm said:

The FMC has a single outlet.  I would put the Roku and the upstream FMC on the switch and have the downstream FMC feed the Aries.  FMCs are not expensive but good power, ie LPS-1, is more money.  You could experiment with a 5V battery, or a 5V iFi, on the downstream FMC.  If there is a difference then you could think about an LPS-1.  I know all these options make a difference with the microRendu but I do not know if they do with the Aries.  Perhaps others on CA have experimented and can advise.

 

Understood. My router has multiple outputs. Can I just put the upstream FMC and the Roku on the router and have the downstream FMC feed the Aries? This way, I can omit a switch altogether safe for the one built into the router.

 

Hopefully others with experience with the Aries can chime in. I run it via AC wireless and it sound sbetter than wired although I currently use old CAT4 cables. I'll try replacing them with Blue Jeans Cable CAT6 to see if that makes a difference.

 

Thanks

[d_elm]

27 minutes ago, mikey8811 said:

 

Understood. My router has multiple outputs. Can I just put the upstream FMC and the Roku on the router and have the downstream FMC feed the Aries? This way, I can omit a switch altogether safe for the one built into the router.

That should be fine. I only do CAT7 from the downstream FMC to the microRendu, shield connected at FMC end only (metal jacket plastic connector for shield attachment and plastic only connector for no shield attachment).  The rest of my cable, about 70 feet, is CAT5.

[mikey8811]

On 20/05/2017 at 0:12 PM, d_elm said:

That should be fine. I only do CAT7 from the downstream FMC to the microRendu, shield connected at FMC end only (metal jacket plastic connector for shield attachment and plastic only connector for no shield attachment).  The rest of my cable, about 70 feet, is CAT5.

 

Hi

 

I am about to order the Fast Ethernet Media Converter MC100CM from Amazon. I am in a 240V country. Do you know if the switching power supply provided works for 240V? I will try the supplied PS first. I do have a spare 12V iFi iPower but I don;t suppose that will work.

[pl_svn]

yes: stock power supply is 110-240v

can't see why the 12v iPower wouldn't work (I'm powering mine from the 12v out of an HD-Plex LPS)

[mikey8811]

2 hours ago, pl_svn said:

yes: stock power supply is 110-240v

can't see why the 12v iPower wouldn't work (I'm powering mine from the 12v out of an HD-Plex LPS)

The product website says 5-9 v.

 

Can anyone else confirm that a 12v power supply works & won't blow it up?

[pl_svn]

6 minutes ago, mikey8811 said:

The product website says 5-9 v.

 

oops, right, sorry: 12v it's the Netgear switch

powering my TP-Link MC at 9v (also from the HD-Plex)

[d_elm]

5 hours ago, mikey8811 said:

 

Hi

 

I am about to order the Fast Ethernet Media Converter MC100CM from Amazon. I am in a 240V country. Do you know if the switching power supply provided works for 240V? I will try the supplied PS first. I do have a spare 12V iFi iPower but I don;t suppose that will work.

5V is best as more noise is generated with higher voltages.  The stock SMPS may generate more noise than the FMC removes so be careful with power for the downstream FMC.

[tboooe]

45 minutes ago, d_elm said:

5V is best as more noise is generated with higher voltages.

This is a very interesting comment.  In the SoTM thread, people are saying higher voltage is better because it draws less amperage (assuming power consumption is same at different voltages).  I wonder if there is a good rule of thumb or component design dependent?

[d_elm]

I tried 5V and 7V from an LPS-1 and SQ with a MC100CM was best at 5V.  My guess is less work for the switching regulators in the FMC as they convert to working voltages.

[mikey8811]

1 hour ago, d_elm said:

5V is best as more noise is generated with higher voltages.  The stock SMPS may generate more noise than the FMC removes so be careful with power for the downstream FMC.

OK I am presuming my existing router has a switching power supply too.

 

So given that all else is equal, would you expect that I get some benefits going through this exercise if I use the stock switching power supplies with the FMC's for the moment? The difference between doing this and my current setup is that i will have put the FMC pair between the router and the Aries and have the cabling being BJC CAT6 instead of the generic CAT4 I currently have.

[mikey8811]

1 hour ago, tboooe said:

This is a very interesting comment.  In the SoTM thread, people are saying higher voltage is better because it draws less amperage (assuming power consumption is same at different voltages).  I wonder if there is a good rule of thumb or component design dependent?

I read that elsewhere too. I think it was the microRendu thread where they said a higher voltage led to less heat on the micro Rendu.

 

Is there also a rule of thumb as to whether 100M is better than 1G for the FMC's? I think there is a story on the front of CA about networking and it says yes because there are less dropped packets with 100M as 1G may be too "fast" for older gear or ARM based processors like you find in these streamers.

 

On another note, since I am picking up the BJC ethernet cables, will the video streamer, Roku also benefit from a BJC HDMI cable as opposed to the Amazon one I am currently using? I read that with HDMI probably not as if it works already then a better cable may be better for longer lengths but for the same short length will be the same as packets going through are packets going through. Any comments?

[d_elm]

11 minutes ago, mikey8811 said:

OK I am presuming my existing router has a switching power supply too.

 

So given that all else is equal, would you expect that I get some benefits going through this exercise if I use the stock switching power supplies with the FMC's for the moment? The difference between doing this and my current setup is that i will have put the FMC pair between the router and the Aries and have the cabling being BJC CAT6 instead of the generic CAT4 I currently have.

The FMCs do not cost much for an experiment. Difference or not the next low cost step would be a 5V battery to power the downstream FMC.  If there is an improvement in SQ worth some money then get an LPS-1.

[d_elm]

8 minutes ago, mikey8811 said:

I read that elsewhere too. I think it was the microRendu thread where they said a higher voltage led to less heat on the micro Rendu.

 

Is there also a rule of thumb as to whether 100M is better than 1G for the FMC's? I think there is a story on the front of CA about networking and it says yes because there are less dropped packets with 100M as 1G may be too "fast" for older gear or ARM based processors like you find in these streamers.

 

On another note, since I am picking up the BJC ethernet cables, will the video streamer, Roku also benefit from a BJC HDMI cable as opposed to the Amazon one I am currently using? I read that with HDMI probably not as if it works already then a better cable may be better for longer lengths but for the same short length will be the same as packets going through are packets going through. Any comments?

I have MC100CM and MC200CM pairs and decided by listening the MC100CM into a microRendu delivered slightly better sound.  The Aries might be different.  I have read the ethernet receivers generate noise and the noise varies with the data rate. I did not have data delivery issues with either 1Gbps or 100mbps with up to DXD data.

[mikey8811]

On 22/05/2017 at 10:51 PM, d_elm said:

I have MC100CM and MC200CM pairs and decided by listening the MC100CM into a microRendu delivered slightly better sound.  The Aries might be different.  I have read the ethernet receivers generate noise and the noise varies with the data rate. I did not have data delivery issues with either 1Gbps or 100mbps with up to DXD data.

 

Ordered all the gear. Will try out with supplied power supplies first.

 

I scoured the threads and saw that there were comments that the Aries sounded better with 100M too.

 

I just recalled the Roku also runs on wireless. Is it better if I connected wirelessly and took it off the router?

[mikey8811]

On 22/05/2017 at 10:51 PM, d_elm said:

I have MC100CM and MC200CM pairs and decided by listening the MC100CM into a microRendu delivered slightly better sound.  The Aries might be different.  I have read the ethernet receivers generate noise and the noise varies with the data rate. I did not have data delivery issues with either 1Gbps or 100mbps with up to DXD data.

Hi

 

The Amazon order arrived but they screwed up and sent only one of the MC100CM instead of two so it's back to waiting for the other.

 

Just unpacking it and looking at the array of switches behind, I presume I just leave them as is and connect when the other one arrives correct? There is no setting as far as they are concerned?

 

Thanks

[d_elm]

2 hours ago, mikey8811 said:

Hi

 

The Amazon order arrived but they screwed up and sent only one of the MC100CM instead of two so it's back to waiting for the other.

 

Just unpacking it and looking at the array of switches behind, I presume I just leave them as is and connect when the other one arrives correct? There is no setting as far as they are concerned?

 

Thanks

I have all the switches up.

[marce]

On 30/05/2015 at 2:36 AM, jabbr said:

I have successfully used a gigabit ethernet connection between a Netgear Switch (1000base-T) to a TP-Link MC220L fiber media converter (FMC) over LC-LC Duplex OM3 fiber to MC220L to DN2800MT motherboard (NAA).

 

SFPs successfully used with MC220L:

Finisar FTLX8571D3BCL (supposed to be 10g but works ...)

GLX-SX-MM-TO (Cisco compatible labeled "iNet")

Cheers I will do some research.

[Monge]

I have the MC200CM's and are very satified with them. Now I wonder if I could use fiberoptic right from a router ISP to one FMJ and with Ethernet to streamer? But I can't find any router with a fiberoptic output/port?  I'm living In a 230V country.

I stream Tidal HI-FI.

Regards Monge

[tboooe]

4 hours ago, Monge said:

I have the MC200CM's and are very satified with them. Now I wonder if I could use fiberoptic right from a router ISP to one FMJ and with Ethernet to streamer? But I can't find any router with a fiberoptic output/port?  I'm living In a 230V country.

I stream Tidal HI-FI.

Regards Monge

I am not sure about 230v, but there are plenty of switches with fiber ports.  I myself have used D-Link and Cisco.  Do a search on Amazon.  There are also cheaper options on the various Chinese e-commerce sites.

[Monge]

12 hours ago, tboooe said:

I am not sure about 230v, but there are plenty of switches with fiber ports.  I myself have used D-Link and Cisco.  Do a search on Amazon.  There are also cheaper options on the various Chinese e-commerce sites.

Thanks for the information. I know there are switches with fiber slots like Cisco, but my plan was to buy a router with fiber slots, if it is possible. So route would be router-fiber-FMC-Lan cable-streamer. Maybe it's a crazy idea or not possible.

Regards Monge

 

[d_elm]

5 hours ago, Monge said:

Thanks for the information. I know there are switches with fiber slots like Cisco, but my plan was to buy a router with fiber slots, if it is possible. So route would be router-fiber-FMC-Lan cable-streamer. Maybe it's a crazy idea or not possible.

Regards Monge

 

I think it is a reasonable idea if you an find all the features needed in the router.  Your options would be better with router-FMC-fibre...

[bodiebill]

Best network isolation: unplug your ethernet cable. Less user-friendly (put music on usb drive) but cheapest and best.

[marce]

!

[JJarego]

I'm reviving this thread ...

I'm new on the CA and, by going through the thread, I'm convinced that this the way to to. Since I'm in the process of putting together a new server (to run Roon + HQ Player), this is the right time to complete the shopping list. 

 

I intend to use a single FMC and an optical PCIe card on the PC. I saw that there may be compatibility issued so I would like to make sure that I'm getting it right ... so, here it goes ...

 

Configuration:

ethernet -> FMC -> fiber -> PCIe

 

Which bundle of FMC+fiber+PCIe would you recommend? Would the Trendnet TFC-1000MGA, these transceivers/cable and PCIe card do the trick? Other options?

 

Other questions:

- are the Intel cards a better choice? I'm not willing to compromise SQ but ...

- would the replacement of the PSU on the FMC bring any advantage? The FMC will be galvanically isolated from the PC, so I'm guessing that it may not be quite relevant (?)

 

Thank you and happy 2018! 

[d_elm]

2 minutes ago, JJarego said:

I'm reviving this thread ...

I'm new on the CA and, by going through the thread, I'm convinced that this the way to to. Since I'm in the process of putting together a new server (to run Roon + HQ Player), this is the right time to complete the shopping list. 

 

I intend to use a single FMC and an optical PCIe card on the PC. I saw that there may be compatibility issued so I would like to make sure that I'm getting it right ... so, here it goes ...

 

Configuration:

ethernet -> FMC -> fiber -> PCIe

 

Which bundle of FMC+fiber+PCIe would you recommend? Would the Trendnet TFC-1000MGA, these transceivers/cable and PCIe card do the trick? Other options?

 

Other questions:

- are the Intel cards a better choice? I'm not willing to compromise SQ but ...

- would the replacement of the PSU on the FMC bring any advantage? The FMC will be galvanically isolated from the PC, so I'm guessing that it may not be quite relevant (?)

 

Thank you and happy 2018! 

I used to use D-LINK MC100CM or MC200CM, preferred 100mbps, and now use a single Netgear FS105 v2.  Fibre introduces jitter so use a short length of media.  I do not think it is clear any more that fibre is best.  The Netgear FS10x and GS10x have magnetics that provide good isolation and @JohnSwenson has found these switches to be special although he has not tested every switch.