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
Dougey, the jitter is taken care of at a later point in the chain, after the optical rig has cleaned the signal of "noise."
@dougeyjones Different optical we're talking here. The topic is on ethernet over fiber optic, not TOSLINK over fiber optic.
I have used fibre extensively in my system, it does clean up the sound and fibre cables/SFP modules are cheap compared to hi end copper.  

Having said this, the biggest uptick for me  was thru reclocking - someone mentioned this earlier in this chain.....absolutely right.  Using the uptone Regen switch is a cheap and very effective way do do this, with a lot of added benefits.  Adding another switch in series gives nearly as big an improvement.  I use the top of the line SOTM in series with a Regen.  

Totally agree that you can get big upgrades in SQ without equipment upgrades.  Critical Mass Systems footers and some Synergistic Research products have to be the biggest single example of this line of  thinking.  Some of the items are expensive, but mostly cheaper that hi end components for same improvement in SQ. 
Thanks sonic79.  It would have taken me a paragraph to explain it worse than you did in a sentence.
Post removed