A novel way to massively improve the SQ of computer audio streaming

[kennyb123]

7 minutes ago, Frojo said:

Thanks for your answer, do I assume that a 1metre single mode cable would not be suitable/ recommended? 
 

I wish I could tell you, but I think your ears would tell you right away as the treble would be too hot if there was over-saturation.  
 

Amazon made this really easy for me to try different attenuators as returns were super easy.  

[ASRMichael]

1 hour ago, kennyb123 said:

I wish I could tell you, but I think your ears would tell you right away as the treble would be too hot if there was over-saturation.  
 

Amazon made this really easy for me to try different attenuators as returns were super easy.  

Hi, I thought I was finished today with my network & then I  seen your post “attenuators” thought what is this? I’m new to fiber (today)
 

My setup, do I need attenuators?

 

Edge Router sfp——-- MGB-TLX Planet Mini GBIC LX Module 20km (-40 to 75 C), (both ends)——-1m OM3 Aqua Fibre Optic LC LC Duplex MM 50 125 Patch LSZH Cable——-EtherRegen sfp

 

Any advise would be appreciated?

[Frojo]

Duplex MM - multimode?

Given my extremely limited understanding, you wouldn’t need to ‘attenuate’.

How is your system sounding with the new fibre connection in place?

I am interested as it would be very similar to the set up I am trying to implement.

[ASRMichael]

3 minutes ago, Frojo said:

Duplex MM - multimode?

Given my extremely limited understanding, you wouldn’t need to ‘attenuate’.

How is your system sounding with the new fibre connection in place?

I am interested as it would be very similar to the set up I am trying to implement.

To be honest I made far too many network changes today, from VLANS, to WAP’s, Fiber & JCAT filters. I was just wanting to use fiber from router to EtherRegen. Like you I have no idea. 

[Frojo]

I am completely confused... is your fibre set up in place and operational?

[ASRMichael]

Yes up & running, difficult to know where sound benefit has come from with so many changes. Will test v ethernet in coming days. 
 

I do prefer to listen for few days then revert back to old setup then judge. 

[kennyb123]

42 minutes ago, ASRMichael said:

Hi, I thought I was finished today with my network & then I  seen your post “attenuators” thought what is this? I’m new to fiber (today)
 

My setup, do I need attenuators?

 

Edge Router sfp——-- MGB-TLX Planet Mini GBIC LX Module 20km (-40 to 75 C), (both ends)——-1m OM3 Aqua Fibre Optic LC LC Duplex MM 50 125 Patch LSZH Cable——-EtherRegen sfp

 

Any advise would be appreciated?

I posted quite a bit about attenuators in the thread that follows.  Search this for my posts and you can see my progression.  I don’t presently use attenuators with the Planet Tech LX SFPs.  With an opticalModule upstream and an ER downstream the sound is fantastic without them.  It can depend on the FMC though.  The Startech FMC has a rough edge to  it compared with the opticalModule.  A 3dB attenuator helped there.

 

 

[Ultrarunner]

On 3/13/2020 at 7:36 AM, guiltyboxswapper said:

@Johnseye they sound better, more dynamic, and the planet variants less mechanical.  Tried multi mode TPs that came with Sonore equipment with multi mode cable... back in the box they went.

I ordered single mode SFP modules and OS2 cable. The SFP modules showed up yesterday. I swapped them for the ones that came with the EtherRegen and opticalRendu. I agree with you that, among other things, dynamics have improved significantly. A nice improvement to add to what the EtherRegen has already. done to my system.

 

I’m still using the old multi mode fiber (the OS2 should arrive next week). I’m surprised it even works. Presumably the single mode cable will improve things a little more? Or is it even necessary?

[Crustacean]

11 hours ago, Frojo said:

Thanks for your answer, do I assume that a 1metre single mode cable would not be suitable/ recommended? 
 

I was specifically told by Sonore to use a minimum of 3 meters of fiber and that 1 meter was too short and not a good idea (even though they had it as an option on their web store). Longer lengths coil easily and don’t take up much space.

[guiltyboxswapper]

10 hours ago, Ultrarunner said:

I’m still using the old multi mode fiber (the OS2 should arrive next week). I’m surprised it even works. Presumably the single mode cable will improve things a little more? Or is it even necessary?

 

Apparently not supposed to mix/match; let us know if you hear any improvements.   But yes quite an improvement for what is quite little spend, especially those planet SFPs.

[ASRMichael]

Are people using single or multi mode cables? If so why? 
 

I bought a multi mode cable without knowing there was different version. 
 

I’m using 1m multi mode cable with planet sfp’s to EtherRegen

[guiltyboxswapper]

5 hours ago, Crustacean said:

I was specifically told by Sonore to use a minimum of 3 meters of fiber and that 1 meter was too short and not a good idea (even though they had it as an option on their web store). Longer lengths coil easily and don’t take up much space.

 

There was an interesting post on WBF at some point where someone had a 30m fiber in coils using long distance (80km in this case) SFPs.  They then tidy'd things up (nice straight lines).  And with it, found the sound deteriorated.  Those coils were adding attenuation to the path which resulted in better sound quality!

 

Nice easy one to test...

[Ultrarunner]

Oh well. I bought 5m of OS2 cable. Just enough to allow nice straight lines, with no coils. Guess I’ll have to order attenuators.

 

I jumped the gun and ordered the same modules as Rajiv (StarTech SFP1000ZXST) before seeing the posts on those not being the best. However, they still sound significantly better than the multimode SFPs that came with the EtherRegen and opticalModule. 

[Dutch]

5 hours ago, ASRMichael said:

Are people using single or multi mode cables? If so why? 
 

I bought a multi mode cable without knowing there was different version. 
 

I’m using 1m multi mode cable with planet sfp’s to EtherRegen

You’re using single mode SFP’s so should use single mode fiber.

[guiltyboxswapper]

1 hour ago, Ultrarunner said:

Oh well. I bought 5m of OS2 cable. Just enough to allow nice straight lines, with no coils. Guess I’ll have to order attenuators.

 

I jumped the gun and ordered the same modules as Rajiv (StarTech SFP1000ZXST) before seeing the posts on those not being the best. However, they still sound significantly better than the multimode SFPs that came with the EtherRegen and opticalModule. 

 

Not best for ER, certainly much improved on oM+oR but found the planet variants sounded less mechanical with the oM+oR too.

[Superdad]

2 hours ago, Ultrarunner said:

However, they still sound significantly better than the multimode SFPs that came with the EtherRegen and opticalModule.

 

Small correction: The EtherREGEN does not ship with any SFP transceiver, nor does UpTone sell any SFP modules. Everyone is free to roll their own. 

[Nenon]

22 hours ago, ASRMichael said:

Hi, I thought I was finished today with my network & then I  seen your post “attenuators” thought what is this? I’m new to fiber (today)
 

My setup, do I need attenuators?

 

Edge Router sfp——-- MGB-TLX Planet Mini GBIC LX Module 20km (-40 to 75 C), (both ends)——-1m OM3 Aqua Fibre Optic LC LC Duplex MM 50 125 Patch LSZH Cable——-EtherRegen sfp

 

Any advise would be appreciated?

 

There are so many combinations one can try. If you have the time to experiment, by all means do it ... and please report back your findings. If not, here is what works really good with my etherREGEN:

- PlanetTech MGB-TLX transceivers.

- No attenuators.

- Single mode fiber cable, 10 meters or more. I use 10m even if I only need 1m.

 

That works pretty good for me, and although I have about 50 transceivers I can try, I am resisting that at the moment in favor of other more important tests. 

 

Honestly, the ethernet cable makes a much bigger difference in my system. 

[Superdad]

2 minutes ago, Nenon said:

That works pretty good for me, and although I have about 50 transceivers I can try...

I said everyone is free to “roll their own,” not “hoard their own.”  

 

2 minutes ago, Nenon said:

Honestly, the ethernet cable makes a much bigger difference in my system. 

Can you remind me what cable you have settled upon?

[Nenon]

1 minute ago, Superdad said:

I said everyone is free to “roll their own,” not “hoard their own.”  

 

Can you remind me what cable you have settled upon?

 

Lol, I did not buy most of the transceivers - they are leftovers from old projects - mostly from networks upgraded to 100 Gbps these days. 

 

I really like the JCAT Signature LAN Cable GOLD in my system. I can't listen to Qobuz anymore without having one of these cables between the eR and my streamer. The downside is that cable is more expensive than the eR. Also, as a disclaimer, I haven't tried many of the expensive ethernet cables. I have some of the top AudioQuest ethernet cables as well, and the JCAT is much better in my system. 

 

BTW, I ordered two, and may not need one of them soon. If anyone needs one of these JCAT LAN cables, feel free to send me a PM.

 

 

[ted_b]

Nenon, 

Have you tried any of the cheap finds that folks like Larry (lmitche) speak of, say,  the Monoprice Cat8?

[Nenon]

2 minutes ago, ted_b said:

Nenon, 

Have you tried any of the cheap finds that folks like Larry (lmitche) speak of, say,  the Monoprice Cat8?

 

Yes, I have. 

Replacing the Cable Matters SFTP Cat8 cable Larry recommended (which is really good for the price) with one of these JCAT ethernet cables makes a huge difference in my system. Oddly enough, replacing the last ethernet cable (from the eR to the JCAT NIC on my server) makes almost as big of a difference as replacing my regular switch with the etherREGEN. 

 

[lmitche]

9 minutes ago, ted_b said:

Nenon, 

Have you tried any of the cheap finds that folks like Larry (lmitche) speak of, say,  the Monoprice Cat8?

@Jud gets the credit for finding the Monoprice Cat 8.

 

[lmitche]

6 minutes ago, Nenon said:

 

Yes, I have. 

Replacing the Cable Matters SFTP Cat8 cable Larry recommended (which is really good for the price) with one of these JCAT ethernet cables makes a huge difference in my system. Oddly enough, replacing the last ethernet cable (from the eR to the JCAT NIC on my server) makes almost as big of a difference as replacing my regular switch with the etherREGEN. 

 

Nenon,

 

Have you tried the Monoprice Slimrun Fiber USB 3 extension cable found by Roy?

 

Larry

[ASRMichael]

57 minutes ago, Nenon said:

 

There are so many combinations one can try. If you have the time to experiment, by all means do it ... and please report back your findings. If not, here is what works really good with my etherREGEN:

- PlanetTech MGB-TLX transceivers.

- No attenuators.

- Single mode fiber cable, 10 meters or more. I use 10m even if I only need 1m.

 

That works pretty good for me, and although I have about 50 transceivers I can try, I am resisting that at the moment in favor of other more important tests. 

 

Honestly, the ethernet cable makes a much bigger difference in my system. 

Thanks as always Nenon

 

I’ve now ordered 10m Single mode fiber cable. 

 

I’ve recently upgraded my Ethernet cables to Sablon, well on;

 

NAS - Sablon 1m ethernet- ER-a side

B side ER - Sablon - 0.5 - Server

 

Fiber is used from Edge Router - ER SFP (VLAN).

 

I’ve spent all day switching between Fiber & Ethernet. What I hear so far is less noise, no good at explaining sq. Fiber is staying. 
 

Point to note, I was not using Sablon for the test, as I don’t have 3, but used £100 cable & JCAT isolator. Not sure if using a Sablon would bring sq closer to fiber. 
 

I now use the JCAT for my local LAN & Ubiquity WAP’s. 

 

Currently planning on changing local LAN to fiber, either with Ubiquity Edge switch (2sfp ports) or SOTM (2 sfp ports). 

 

 

[Dev]

31 minutes ago, Nenon said:

 

Yes, I have. 

Replacing the Cable Matters SFTP Cat8 cable Larry recommended (which is really good for the price) with one of these JCAT ethernet cables makes a huge difference in my system. Oddly enough, replacing the last ethernet cable (from the eR to the JCAT NIC on my server) makes almost as big of a difference as replacing my regular switch with the etherREGEN. 

 

 

Nenon, are you using the A or B side of the eR ? I am perplexed when you say it makes a big difference. I can understand that it can make a difference if both ends (upstream and downstream) are connected to the A side of eR but if one is connected to A and other is connected to B, wouldn't eR isolation/moat reduce the effect of the ethernet cables in general ?