I recall that chatter about similar but considerably less expensive alternatives. Couldn't remember which came first. My guess is Melco out muscled the others with their marketing, making it appear like they were 1st to the party. A/B comparisons were easy to perform with the Optical Modules. To my ears there was a touch more believability using the Melco C1 vs fiber.Actually the more affordable options to the MELCO were around first.