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If you stream music from the internet, I can't recommend this more highly

I had been using a Roon Nucleus to stream Qobuz, with my Chord Qutest directly connected to the Nucleus. I thought I was getting pretty decent sound quality. And then I got a marketing email from Small Green Computer touting some of their optical gear. The basic idea is that normal cables and connections used to stream from the internet pick up noise of one kind or another (radio frequencies and electromagnetic something or other). But fiber optic cables and their connections/interfaces do not. I don’t know anything about anything, but it made theoretical sense to me, it wasn’t a huge amount of money ($1,400), and with a 30 day return policy I figured I could always return it if I didn’t hear any improvement. Well, I didn’t just hear a slight improvement; it was like turning on the lights in a dark room. Much greater clarity and detail, much better micro and macro dynamics, better timbre to acoustic instruments -- overall just more lifelike. Two quick examples: I’ve listened to some of Steely Dan’s top songs 100s of times over the course of my life, and this is the first time I’d ever noticed a particular and very subtle sound characteristic of Fagen’s keyboard in Babylon Sister. It’s hard to describe, but it’s like there’s a slight sound of air being exhaled by it. The other example: the specific timbre of whatever percussive instrument is used at the beginning of Copeland’s "Fanfare for the Common Man" (a recording by the Minnesota Orchestra). There’s more of a metallic sound than a drum skin sound to it that I didn’t know was there before. The metallic sound starts in the center and then projects out and to the sides, like a wave washing over you. Anyway, I’m just thrilled about having stumbled upon the whole "optical" thing and felt obligated to let others know about it. If you stream music over the internet, I highly recommend giving it a try. (The product I got was the opticalRendu, with the linear power supply option, and the Fiber Ethernet Converter Bundle option.)
128x128hiphiphan
aeriya
8 posts
 
SO complicated! Eth to optical to USB? Optical magically "cleans" the signal? One USB cable sounds much better than another? Running the signal through more boxes increases the SQ?

Try a $50 Turtle Beach USB to optical convertor. Buy the cheapest optical cable. Laptop to optical. No analog until you get to the DAC.
rikkipuu's avatar
rikkipuu
278 posts
 
I have optical between an ER and SOtM switch.  Then Ethernet between the SOtM and EE8 Switch which feeds an Innuos Server and also from the SOtM to an Antipodes Core running Roon Core.  I use SOtM cables with filters and they have a very pleasing effect.  I also use a Network Acoustics ENO filter between the EE8 and Innuos Server and it definitely has a positive noise reducing effect. 
Lots and lots of parts but net effect is very worthwhile.
I am working on clocking the SOtM and ER in the near future with a Mutec Ref10.
gw_smith's avatar
gw_smith
10 posts
 
Thanks for that tip !   Only one thing, my all time favorite American composer ?  No 'E' in his last name (O:
hiphiphan's avatar
hiphiphan OP
72 posts
 
Dang. I always get that wrong. 
agillis
8 posts
 
When I added the optical gear, it dramatically improved the sound. The difference is not subtle. I can hear your rebuttal already: it's all in my head, it's confirmation bias, etc.

It's not in your head! Many of our customers have an experiences like this. Also many product reviewers.

DACs have filters that can filter out noise from the USB bus or Ethernet input but they can't filter ALL the noise. If you reduce the noise coming into them you get better sound.

Several people in this thread asked if you can just use cheap $50 fiber converters to "clean up" the sound on existing network players or a DAC with a built in network streamer. You can! And it does improve the sound. The problem is these have many noisy switching power regulators in them and it adds noise back into the ethernet cable on the "clean" end of the fiber.

If you used a cheap ethernet to fiber converter or switch with an SFP on the "dirty" end of the fiber (network side) and an opticalModule on the "clean" (network player side) end you get very good results.

Of coerce the best option is to do what the OP did and use a network streamer with a fiber Ethernet input (like the opticalRendu). That way you don't have to convert back to wired Ethernet before you go into the other player.


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