Overall Isolation - network, USB, and power

[Tecnik1]

Digits OM4 fiber optic " has anyone compared SQ between the different fiber optic brands ?

 

 

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[Cornan]

Digits OM4 fiber optic " has anyone compared SQ between the different fiber optic brands ?

 

 

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I wish I could help you out with a comparence...but I have just started with FMCs and choosed the Digitus OM4 fiber cable only because their other fiber cables are in general good and OM4 is the highest category among multi-mode optical fiber cables https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-mode_optical_fiber

[Tecnik1]

Interesting on the different categories, I have my FMC,s set up just a few days ago with the FMC isolated on the W4S PS 1 and am very impressed with the SQ . I didn't realize optical cable was categorized.

Thanks for the info I will have to check into this further.

 

 

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[austinpop]

What are people using for vibration isolation? I want to consider low-priced options.

 

I'm contemplating getting Herbie's Tenderfoot for my P5 and amp, and Baby Booties for my Aries Mini and Codex. See Isolation Products. For all the LPSes, FMCs, switches, etc - I have 7 and counting! - I'm currently thinking Herbie's Extra thick Grungebuster Dots. I emailed and asked them about this application, and they agreed it was a good solution.

 

Oh also - what about for supporting hard adapters, like between Intona and RUR, or LPS-1 and mRendu? I've improvised with coasters (!), but could see using Dots here too.

 

Before I pull the trigger, any other suggestions?

 

I just heard about ERS paper - groan! And of course Stillpoints gets a lot of praise, but a bit pricey.

 

My inclination at this point is to cheap with Herbie and then selectively iterate. But open to ideas.

[Cornan]

I am using 4 of these hemisphere sorbothane feets http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152082561226 under my Aries Mini which is standing on a grey floor tile supported by another 4 of these feets. Very valuable & works great for fairly light weight gears.

 

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[Solstice380]

Herbie's stuff works. I have a variety of the dots under gear, the pieces that are his material sandwiched with brass under racks, and I love his grungebuster turntable mat on my VPI Scoutmaster.

 

 

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[Tecnik1]

I use Alto Extreamo under everything, dac, amp, between my speaker stand and speaker .

 

 

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[YashN]

I am using 4 of these hemisphere sorbothane feets 8 x Sorbothane 30mm hifi audio isolation hemispheres for Speakers etc | eBay under my Aries Mini which is standing on a grey floor tile supported by another 4 of these feets. Very valuable & works great for fairly light weight gears.

 

You should take some time and read the big Vibration Isolation thread for much better solutions.

[austinpop]

You should take some time and read the big Vibration Isolation thread for much better solutions.

 

Which one? There seem to be several. Or better yet, can you give us a few bullet points of conclusions?

[austinpop]

I am using 4 of these hemisphere sorbothane feets 8 x Sorbothane 30mm hifi audio isolation hemispheres for Speakers etc | eBay under my Aries Mini which is standing on a grey floor tile supported by another 4 of these feets. Very valuable & works great for fairly light weight gears.

 

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That picture looks like squash balls cut in half. Double yellow dot?

[sgr]

I've installed one pair of TP-Link MC200cM between my Ethernet switch and microRendu and LPS-1 via BlueJeans Cat6a. All are powered by HD Plex linear power supplies. It did make quite a difference.

 

And should I use all TP-Link MC200cms or some other version in different places.

Now I'm wondering if I'd benefit in replacing other portions of my Ethernet set up with more MC200cms. These are the areas I'm contemplating.

 

1. 50 foot Ethernet run between the PC NAS and the Ethernet switch above.

2. 3 foot Ethernet run between the cable modem and router. This would provide galvanic isolation between cable modem and the router and in case of electrical spike or lightening strike should keep the bad stuff out of the network.

3. 12 foot Ethernet run between the Ethernet switch above and my Audio PC running HQPlayer.

 

I will purchase several 1 foot sections of BlueJeans CAT6a to connect the TP-Links to the switch, router, cable modem, etc. I'd also purchase several Jameco linear power supplies to power the TP-Links.

 

I know there are fiber switchs I could use instead of the TP-Links, but they seem pretty pricey and does the all fiber network really enter than using TP-Links and BJ Cat 6a?

 

Or is the extra isolation not needed and I could upgrade all Ethernet cables to Blue Jeans CAT 6a?

Thanks,

Steve

[ted_b]

I've installed one pair of TP-Link MC200cM between my Ethernet switch and microRendu and LPS-1 via BlueJeans Cat6a. All are powered by HD Plex linear power supplies. It did make quite a difference.

 

And should I use all TP-Link MC200cms or some other version in different places.

Now I'm wondering if I'd benefit in replacing other portions of my Ethernet set up with more MC200cms. These are the areas I'm contemplating.

 

1. 50 foot Ethernet run between the PC NAS and the Ethernet switch above.

2. 3 foot Ethernet run between the cable modem and router. This would provide galvanic isolation between cable modem and the router and in case of electrical spike or lightening strike should keep the bad stuff out of the network.

3. 12 foot Ethernet run between the Ethernet switch above and my Audio PC running HQPlayer.

 

I will purchase several 1 foot sections of BlueJeans CAT6a to connect the TP-Links to the switch, router, cable modem, etc. I'd also purchase several Jameco linear power supplies to power the TP-Links.

 

I know there are fiber switchs I could use instead of the TP-Links, but they seem pretty pricey and does the all fiber network really enter than using TP-Links and BJ Cat 6a?

 

Or is the extra isolation not needed and I could upgrade all Ethernet cables to Blue Jeans CAT 6a?

Thanks,

Steve

 

I'm confused. Where are the fiber runs? You mention ethernet runs, but not fiber runs.

[austinpop]

I'm confused. Where are the fiber runs? You mention ethernet runs, but not fiber runs.

 

Hi Ted,

 

I think he's referring to retaining existing ethernet runs, just adding a fiber gap at the end. So for example, replace this:

50 ft Ethernet cable

with

50 ft Ethernet cable > FMC > short fiber cable > FMC > short Ethernet cable

 

As opposed to getting a fiber switch, and replacing 50 ft Ethernet cable with 50 ft fiber.

 

Or did I misunderstand your question?

[sgr]

Didn't mean to confuse.

Right now the system is all wired with Ethernet cable. Except between the microRendu and the Ethernet switch in my listening room.

 

So I'm basically asking if replacing the Ethernet runs used through out the system with TP-Links and fiber instead will impact the sound quality? Or is the critical piece of fiber between the microRendu and the Ethernet switch that I have already the only place I need fiber optics?

[austinpop]

I've installed one pair of TP-Link MC200cM between my Ethernet switch and microRendu and LPS-1 via BlueJeans Cat6a. All are powered by HD Plex linear power supplies. It did make quite a difference.

 

And should I use all TP-Link MC200cms or some other version in different places.

Now I'm wondering if I'd benefit in replacing other portions of my Ethernet set up with more MC200cms. These are the areas I'm contemplating.

 

1. 50 foot Ethernet run between the PC NAS and the Ethernet switch above.

2. 3 foot Ethernet run between the cable modem and router. This would provide galvanic isolation between cable modem and the router and in case of electrical spike or lightening strike should keep the bad stuff out of the network.

3. 12 foot Ethernet run between the Ethernet switch above and my Audio PC running HQPlayer.

 

I will purchase several 1 foot sections of BlueJeans CAT6a to connect the TP-Links to the switch, router, cable modem, etc. I'd also purchase several Jameco linear power supplies to power the TP-Links.

 

I know there are fiber switchs I could use instead of the TP-Links, but they seem pretty pricey and does the all fiber network really enter than using TP-Links and BJ Cat 6a?

 

Or is the extra isolation not needed and I could upgrade all Ethernet cables to Blue Jeans CAT 6a?

Thanks,

Steve

 

Steve, thats' a good question. I have so far taken the approach of creating isolation just upstream of the audio chain, and have not looked into additional isolation like you describe.

 

For your #2 - instead of FMCs, I put a Baaske isolator in place for that same purpose. The SQ improvement was very small, for me.

 

One thing I always caution when people mention HDPlex LPSes is to make sure you're not powering FMCs on both ends of the fiber with the same HDPlex, because then you're just breaking the isolation your created by fiber with the common ground on your HDPlex. You mentioned multiple HDPlex'es, so hopefully you have that covered.

 

Also, have you tried powering the FMC feeding your mRendu with the same LPS-1 powering the mR? Many have reported a big SQ bump from that, and apparently the LPS-1 can handle the current demands of both.

 

If you do try adding additional FMC pairs, do report back on your results.

[sgr]

Yes. Sorry for confusion.

 

So the net work now is cable modem to router: Ethernet Cat 6

 

Router to switch in music room: Ethernet Cat 6

 

Switch to microRendu: short cat 6 to tplink and fiber then Ethernet cat 6 to microRendu into the DAC.

 

Would I benefit to switching to an all fiber system?

 

If all fiber is best,

 

Which is better fiber and fiber switches through out? (Which do cost considerably more I think. )

Or

The combo of TP-link with fiber and short (1 foot pieces) Cat 6 to connect to standard Ethernet switches, etc. ?

[Cornan]

You should take some time and read the big Vibration Isolation thread for much better solutions.

I have read countless informations regarding this subject and tried many different isolation feets during the years. I just answered on a cheaper ready made option. Not on the best expensive option available nor the best DIY version since austinpop did'nt seem to ask that question.

 

For me personally these are quite enough for my headphone setup.

 

If austinpop want to try something really good he should check out Entreq Garbo 4 or the even better Entreq ES Pads which beats everything else that I have ever tried...but these do not come cheap.

If he can find the discontinued Entreq Catfoots second hand I would recommend to buy them instantly (I currently use three of them with a floor tile under my DAC/HPA/PRE).

 

 

 

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[Cornan]

Here is a picture of my isolation feet's in my current headphone setup since it say more than a big bunch of words ?

 

 

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[YashN]

Which one? There seem to be several. Or better yet, can you give us a few bullet points of conclusions?

Sure:

 

- Consider seismic isolation as the more fundamental (or more important) vibration isolation to be performed (there are other types as well)

 

- Avoid spiking everything without deeper thought (avoid rubber feet or similar things as well as they don't isolate extremely well)

 

- Implementations proposed, tested with reports of great results are with mostly the triple ball-and-cup arrangement, and sometimes combined with an air-cushion

 

Correlations between these low-level vibrations and SQ have been shown in presentations by Towshend.

 

The full thread (it's big) can be reached from my profile.

[Middy]

One thing I don't understand is outside isolation makes sense. Has anyone tried simple internal dampening on components PCB posts.

Simple bathroom silicone around free standing parts. ECT. 3 small dots at the base of an electrolyte cap in a triangle. 2 dots on resistors. Cables to the pcb or 2 dots on fitted connectors.

PCB posts a small rubber washer then screw back down.

The point being if you spend a fortune isolating the base why not do what matters...the electronics.

Silicone is heat proof . Easy to apply with a cocktail stick fairy good anti vibration.

Just a thought....

 

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[sgr]

Hi,

Can anyone send me a link for a cable that will allow me to power the TP-Link MC200cms and my MicroRendu with the same UpTone Ultracap LPS-1?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Steven

[austinpop]

Hi,

Can anyone send me a link for a cable that will allow me to power the TP-Link MC200cms and my MicroRendu with the same UpTone Ultracap LPS-1?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Steven

 

I use(d) this one:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007Q8IKRE

[austinpop]

Sure:

 

- Consider seismic isolation as the more fundamental (or more important) vibration isolation to be performed (there are other types as well)

 

- Avoid spiking everything without deeper thought (avoid rubber feet or similar things as well as they don't isolate extremely well)

 

- Implementations proposed, tested with reports of great results are with mostly the triple ball-and-cup arrangement, and sometimes combined with an air-cushion

 

Correlations between these low-level vibrations and SQ have been shown in presentations by Towshend.

 

The full thread (it's big) can be reached from my profile.

 

Thanks. I'll put it on my reading list.

 

Besides DIY solutions, any products that were particularly well-regarded?

[austinpop]

Hi,

Can anyone send me a link for a cable that will allow me to power the TP-Link MC200cms and my MicroRendu with the same UpTone Ultracap LPS-1?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Steven

 

I may be misreading or reading too much - but you said MC200CMs?

 

Is that plural? Be careful then. The recommendation is to power exactly one FMC and the mR with the LPS-1. And - that FMC is the one immediately before the mR.

 

Do NOT power both FMCs with the same power supply.

 

Like I said - I may just be misreading, and hopefully you know this already.

[Albrecht]

Didn't mean to confuse.

Right now the system is all wired with Ethernet cable. Except between the microRendu and the Ethernet switch in my listening room.

 

So I'm basically asking if replacing the Ethernet runs used through out the system with TP-Links and fiber instead will impact the sound quality? Or is the critical piece of fiber between the microRendu and the Ethernet switch that I have already the only place I need fiber optics?

I am doing the same thing that you are. My QNAP 251+ has two RJ45 Ethernet ports and I'm load balancing it into a switch in the room beside my listening room that has the NAS: it's two RJ45s have two CAT7 RJ45s going into the switch. The only fiber I have is with the 2 MC200cms going to the MicroRendu. I haven't yet set up the QNAP to do a "Virtual Switch" and plug the 200CM sender right into the QNAP. My downstairs neighbor and I share the network and we have just rewired our 1911 SF building with CAT6. So I'm not going to be upgrading any RJ45 sections to Fiber anytime soon. I can say that our network performance increased significantly when we pulled all CAT5e out.

 

I haven't experimented enough to say how much benefit you would garner by adding in more fiber.