Network Improvements and their Impact on Sound Quality

[StreamFidelity]

another example is gaming, where the gamers who are comparable to audiophiles need the smallest latency possible to enhance their likelihood of success in shooting whatever alien or enemy needs to be overcome.

I consider the lowest possible latency to be one of the key factors in audio playback. I am not concerned with the audio latencies, but with the OS / process latencies. Since I've been using the XILINX Solarflare Flareon Ultra SFN8522 card, the sound has increased significantly in terms of clarity, precision and soundstage.

The latency is reportedly in the very low range of less than 1?sec (0.001 ms). It requires a fast CPU with hyperthreading so that all RSS pipes can work in parallel. In the case of an Intel i9-9900K CPU, there are 16 RSS queues. Installed it looks like this (the card on the right). The air supply is important.

 

[RikkiPoo]

I tested 5 dB, 10 dB and 15 dB With 80 km Startech and 40 km Planet.
For few weeks I was thinking it is great as it softened the music significantly.
But if you exchenge all dirty Power supplys in network for good LPS es and add good
swiches with excellent clocks you will notice how BAD attenuators are.
Just check how the focus is not present anymore with attenuation.

without attenuators 80 km Startech SFP is amazing over 1m fiber.
it offers priceless authority and great focus.
With attenuators everything was always Much less precise.

I recently added a Mutec Ref10 to an Etherregen and SOtM switch. I have LPS's on the switches. I mostly liked the change with microdetails, clarity and low noise floor. However, the bass seemed to disappear- I checked that my subs were on. There is way more detail and clarity in the bass, I think the apparent lack of low end is due to cleaning it up. I re adjusted the subs and the low end is back with way more detail and texture and feeling.

The bad was edginess in the upper end on some tracks from my server and a lot from Tidal and Qobuz. I added attenuators to the Startech 80 km between the Etherregen and SOtM and found the edginess was greatly reduced. I bought 5, 8 and 12 dB attenuators. I like adding both the 8 and 12 together, with more benefit from form attenuation. I really like the relaxed detailed spaceous effect. I did not find a loss of focus, instruments are much more pinpoint, vocals sound much more realistic and focused. I listen to mellow and acoustic stuff. I don't appreciate a lack of attack or swell when chords are struck, there is lots of energy and feeling in the notes.

I wonder what I am missing. For me the effect of the attenuators is dreamlike.

 

[tony22]

I tested 5 dB, 10 dB and 15 dB With 80 km Startech and 40 km Planet.

Kris, by any chance, though, had you tried using short distance LX10 or LX transceivers without any attenuation to see what the difference might be?

 

[kennyb123]

The bad was edginess in the upper end on some tracks from my server and a lot from Tidal and Qobuz. I added attenuators to the Startech 80 km between the Etherregen and SOtM and found the edginess was greatly reduced. I bought 5, 8 and 12 dB attenuators. I like adding both the 8 and 12 together, with more benefit from form attenuation. I really like the relaxed detailed spaceous effect. I did not find a loss of focus, instruments are much more pinpoint, vocals sound much more realistic and focused. I listen to mellow and acoustic stuff. I don't appreciate a lack of attack or swell when chords are struck, there is lots of energy and feeling in the notes.

I wonder what I am missing. For me the effect of the attenuators is dreamlike.

I spent quite a bit of time evaluating attenuators with the Startech 1000BASE-ZX SFPs. Attenuators were an absolute must with those Startech SFPs, but the far better solution was to use different SFPs - particularly SFPs that don't require attenuators. If you try attenuators with SFPs that don't require them, the harm they do becomes evident.

The Finisar FTLF1324P2BTL or FTLF1318P3BTL fit this bill nicely, with my preference being for the former.

 

[RikkiPoo]

I understand, I went down the wrong rabbit hole..... again.

I have some Sonore SFP's and cable in a box at home that just came. I will give them a go, but then in all likely hood order the Finisar's.

Arrrgh!!

I appreciate your guidance.

 

[RikkiPoo]

I just swapped to the Sonore SFP and cable. I hope it needs to break in. Very warm, loss of detail and sluggish. Low end is very thick. But not harsh or edgy but not enjoyable. I will try to give it a week to get better.

 

[auricgoldfinger]

I just swapped to the Sonore SFP and cable. I hope it needs to break in. Very warm, loss of detail and sluggish. Low end is very thick. But not harsh or edgy but not enjoyable. I will try to give it a week to get better.

I would give them up to 2 weeks before drawing any final conclusions.

 

[RikkiPoo]

I know I should wait. I let it run for several hours but it wasn't listenable. I put the Startech back in. Now the Startech sounds thin but detailed and airy with localization and definition of instruments. Its lacking meat on the bones but is better than the thick muddy sound of the Sonore. I will let the Sonore burn on overnight for a few weeks and swap back to the Startech for listening.
The two SFP's are night and day different. I suppose the fiber cable could also be a factor as well as the attenuators I have on the Startech's.
I am going on a search for Finasar and Planet SFP's.

 

[kennyb123]

I know I should wait. I let it run for several hours but it wasn't listenable. I put the Startech back in. Now the Startech sounds thin but detailed and airy with localization and definition of instruments. Its lacking meat on the bones but is better than the thick muddy sound of the Sonore. I will let the Sonore burn on overnight for a few weeks and swap back to the Startech for listening.
The two SFP's are night and day different. I suppose the fiber cable could also be a factor as well as the attenuators I have on the Startech's.
I am going on a search for Finasar and Planet SFP's.

There are a number of Finisar 1318 SFPs on eBay. Some are Dell branded but worth a try at $25 each. I have a feeling you won’t end up with the Sonore SFPs. These are multimode with the rest being singlemode. The latter use wavelengths that seem to be better for audio as long as you don’t have oversaturation. The 1000BASE-LX SFPs have best met that.

 

[auricgoldfinger]

I know I should wait. I let it run for several hours but it wasn't listenable. I put the Startech back in. Now the Startech sounds thin but detailed and airy with localization and definition of instruments. Its lacking meat on the bones but is better than the thick muddy sound of the Sonore. I will let the Sonore burn on overnight for a few weeks and swap back to the Startech for listening.
The two SFP's are night and day different. I suppose the fiber cable could also be a factor as well as the attenuators I have on the Startech's.
I am going on a search for Finasar and Planet SFP's.

I had a pair of Finisars that wasn't listenable until week 2. They were harsh and unpleasant initially, but they are in my system now.

 

[RikkiPoo]

OK I will keep an open mind and run these for 2 weeks. I did order a pair of Finisar 1318's from ebay, they should be her within a week.
The Sonore SFP's don't sound as bad now but they don't have any magic yet.

 

[justubes]

What linear supply are you powering the Sotm with.

The associated power cord will be just as critical to the voicing.

It may likely be that if you are using a good cord which exhibits strong grip or is leaner sounding over the bass region, you could try just with the stock zip cord to see if the bass fills out.

I have resisted over the years thinking a cheaper cord can be sufficient for these networking equipment, but have concluded by test that a exotic high end cords contribute just as largely to the overall sonic presentation.

I won't be surprised in time that member will be discussing the likes of say a Nordost Odin PC powering networking equipment.

Effects are even more critical than the choice of whatever streamer one has chosen, even the insanely expensive ones.

 

[Abyss Man]

What linear supply are you powering the Sotm with.

The associated power cord will be just as critical to the voicing.

It may likely be that if you are using a good cord which exhibits strong grip or is leaner sounding over the bass region, you could try just with the stock zip cord to see if the bass fills out.

I have resisted over the years thinking a cheaper cord can be sufficient for these networking equipment, but have concluded by test that a exotic high end cords contribute just as largely to the overall sonic presentation.

I won't be surprised in time that member will be discussing the likes of say a Nordost Odin PC powering networking equipment.

Effects are even more critical than the choice of whatever streamer one has chosen, even the insanely expensive ones.

Hi,
I'm using a combination of Tellurium Silver and Silver Diamonds to power my Farad 3s' which in turn power my digital front. I was running sps-500 before upgrading thanks to @kennyb123.

Ya, I know its a bit crazy with the cords which cost much more than the hardware itself but, tell u what, they make a huge difference to the sound quality.

@justubes I totally concur with your statement. Cables, they do matter.

 

[justubes]

Hi Abyss Man,

Glad you find the TQs working fabulously powering network. The cost can become astronomically high, but we'll worth it.

It will only be a matter of time when more catchup on the cable phenomena and tuning than just asking which is the best.

I have quite some time back advocated some craziness in networking equipment and have heard the best of network steamer as good as proclaim, fall flat without proper implementation of the networking equipment which affects improvements playback more so than any other component in the whole system.

The source first advocates in the days of streaming is really the networking setup.

Some of the power cords I have used and tested. But we're just crazily impractical as the power cables required a runway in order to allow the linear supplies sitting nice.

I can see the T.Qs to be manageable opposed to 2 or 3 inch pythons which limits the use in reality on smaller networking equipment, sadly I should say.

Am I correct you deploy a Tellurium Silver Diamond PC / Farad for your networking boxes?

 

[Abyss Man]

Hi Abyss Man,

Glad you find the TQs working fabulously powering network. The cost can become astronomically high, but we'll worth it.

It will only be a matter of time when more catchup on the cable phenomena and tuning than just asking which is the best.

I have quite some time back advocated some craziness in networking equipment and have heard the best of network steamer as good as proclaim, fall flat without proper implementation of the networking equipment which affects improvements playback more so than any other component in the whole system.

The source first advocates in the days of streaming is really the networking setup.

Some of the power cords I have used and tested. But we're just crazily impractical as the power cables required a runway in order to allow the linear supplies sitting nice.

I can see the T.Qs to be manageable opposed to 2 or 3 inch pythons which limits the use in reality on smaller networking equipment, sadly I should say.

Am I correct you deploy a Tellurium Silver Diamond PC / Farad for your networking boxes?

Hi @justubes,
I’m using Tellurium Silver on my farads, Silver Diamonds are powering my SPEC amp and another is on my TP. I’ll be upgrading one more Silver to the SD soon which is currently on my Gaia. I will stop after that probably, too much of a good thing can be bad. LOL

 

[RikkiPoo]

What linear supply are you powering the Sotm with.

The associated power cord will be just as critical to the voicing.

It may likely be that if you are using a good cord which exhibits strong grip or is leaner sounding over the bass region, you could try just with the stock zip cord to see if the bass fills out.

I have resisted over the years thinking a cheaper cord can be sufficient for these networking equipment, but have concluded by test that a exotic high end cords contribute just as largely to the overall sonic presentation.

I won't be surprised in time that member will be discussing the likes of say a Nordost Odin PC powering networking equipment.

Effects are even more critical than the choice of whatever streamer one has chosen, even the insanely expensive ones.

I have a Farad 3 with Silver OCC DC cord on my SOtM with a Wywires Juice II Digital power cord. I have a LPS1.2 powering my Etherregen with the stock DC cord. I can use an Uptone JS-2 over the Meanwell SMPS to power the LPS1.2 but I think it may defeat the ground plane isolation.

Currently I have both on a Shunyata Denali but I am thinking of moving them over to a PS Powerplant P10. The Shunyata and Powerplant are each on their own dedicated AC line.

I am also thinking of changing out the Clock cable on the Etherregen and moving the Mutec Ref10 further from other equipment and setting a piece of granite on it for vibration control

 

[justubes]

I have a Farad 3 with Silver OCC DC cord on my SOtM with a Wywires Juice II Digital power cord. I have a LPS1.2 powering my Etherregen with the stock DC cord. I can use an Uptone JS-2 over the Meanwell SMPS to power the LPS1.2 but I think it may defeat the ground plane isolation.

Currently I have both on a Shunyata Denali but I am thinking of moving them over to a PS Powerplant P10. The Shunyata and Powerplant are each on their own dedicated AC line.

I am also thinking of changing out the Clock cable on the Etherregen and moving the Mutec Ref10 further from other equipment and setting a piece of granite on it for vibration control

Ahh... . It was reported before here that a number of users preferred the sotm with copper dc lead over the silver occ dc cabling.

 

[RikkiPoo]

Ahh... . It was reported before here that a number of users preferred the sotm with copper dc lead over the silver occ dc cabling.

Thanks for the heads up, I will look into a copper dc.

 

[lake_eleven]

I have bought Finisar FTLF1321P1BTL based on recommendation from different forum. Its a week in the system. It still sounds somewhat metallic and harsh. Anyone has similar experience on 1321? Will 1324 or 1328 sound better?

 

[auricgoldfinger]

I have bought Finisar FTLF1321P1BTL based on recommendation from different forum. Its a week in the system. It still sounds somewhat metallic and harsh. Anyone has similar experience on 1321? Will 1324 or 1328 sound better?

Give it another week