The indisputable benefit of fiber for music


I've read a lot about fiber's audible superiority to Ethernet, and most of it I have taken with a grain of salt.  1GigE is plenty fast for just about anything, and it is balanced and galvanically isolated. The one area where fiber is clearly a better choice for music systems is lightning protection.

It is not uncommon for lightning to enter a home via the cable TV's coaxial cable. This can easily jump the millimeters from coax to Ethernet to Ethernet. So if you are like me, and rely on Ethernet cabling to stream to avoid any Wifi issues you are also creating a possible lightning path from the external Internet provider's connection all the way to your fancy audio gear.

In this one situation I have to say, the use of a 1m or longer fiber cable is the superior solution. I'm considering using this at the junction between the cable TV modem and my router, therefore isolating all of my streaming devices at once.

Best,

Erik
erik_squires

Showing 5 responses by fuzztone

Whole house yesterday.  
Toslink today.  
Overkill.  
I've never heard any glass that sounded as good as ViaBlue.
Indubately.
Only two ways to get fiber I know of is Fios and expensive conversion. If you think it's worth it, good for you. Not for purposes of electrical isolation. The OP states that he's never heard it. 
If you are sooo worried about it invest $19:
https://store.ui.com/collections/operator-accessories/products/instant-802-3af-adapter

If you want better sound get an ENO and a pink Faun isolator.
I just got a HOM250SPSD for $60.
Debating whether to plug it in hot or cold.
ozzy 
Thanks. Learn something here everyday.
I see that the primary purpose of fiber is to extend data transmidsion. Hard to believe that double conversion could improve 1/2 meter.
This one looks interesting also:

https://www.l-com.com/ethernet-converters-l-com-ethernet-media-converter-10-100tx-to-100fx-sm-sc-25k...