Fundamental problem with optical is you can’t turn light pulses into music, atleast not yet. It to has at some point be converted back into an electronic/ Ethernet signal whether it be with converters outside the streamer or like lumin or other devices that accept a direct fibre, the conversion happens inside the streamer. Obviously if you leave until your inside the streamer, you have no opportunity to intervene to remove this noise. As with any powered device on the network the optical to electronic conversion is likely to create and emit high frequency noise, which left untreated will have a detrimental effect on the performance of the streamer and the onward da conversion. Powered devices like the gigafoil might well clean what’s going in but they will likely add noise in their conversion process to the signal they transmit, Passive filtering as it stands is the only effective solution as it stands.
Is optical mostly a waste of time versus Ethernet?
The only value I see with a fiber optical cable is if you have a long long run.
All the noise coming into an optical fiber is preserved and comes out the other side. I guess there is a value in not creating more noise while it is traveling through the optical cable. But if it's a short run of two Feet then is it really worth it. Seems a well shielded Ethernet cable would do just as fine without all the hassle of converting to optical which is a pain in the ass.
I always thought there was value with optical but it seems they're really may not be. Maybe I'm wrong. It seems a switch likely produces a lot of noise and inserting an audio grade switch is very prudent and going optical really doesn't solve switch noise problem. The benefit of re-clocking offered by a decent switch to clean up the signal is worthwhile.