Fiber Optic isolation causing listening fatigue


Just curious if others have experienced the issue I'm having. I have a decently resolving system: Aurender N150>Weiss DAC 204>Wyred4Sound Pre>First Watt J2>Omega RS8 monitors. Not being able to leave well enough alone, in a quest for more detail, I decided to isolate my streamer from the router by dropping in two TP Link fiber media converters separated by a fiber optic cable. Well, initially I got the effect I was hoping for: I heard a great deal more detail in my music. I could hear the singer take a breath where I typically couldn't. I heard nuances of music that typically escaped me. In fact the effect wasn't really subtle. There was much more clear instrumentation separation, etc. However, after about an hour of listening, I started noticing a feel of irrititability, just a general annoyance. I told myself "you're just over-caffinated." But I think the added level of clarity was simply causing listener fatigue.

Anyone else experience this with a fiber optic upgrade? Of course the fiber optic cable will not require break in (it is simply passing light through a channel), but maybe the fiber media converters would need time to settle in? I was trying this upgrade as a "proof of concept" thinking that I would upgrade to a Sonore Optical Module Deluxe if I liked the effect. Now I'm not so sure I'll take the risk in spending more money on this.

I guess I'm just curious if anyone has had this experience. Or might have some thoughts?

Thanks,

Tal

surlydale

If you are happy with your system, it might be best to leave it alone. Unintended consequences can be a be-och.

Wise words ... And thanks all for the feedback and suggestions. I'm going to regroup and decide if I want to pursue this further right now. My head is spinning after skimming through the 40 pages of thread suggested by foggyUS91. 

 

Although optical moats often reduces a noticeable amount of noise, numerous have reported it somehow robs some “life” out of the music.  

@surlydale I just flew in from Denver a few hours ago.

Colorado Winter Head-Fi Meet -- January 10, 2026 | Page 16 | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org

I loved hearing gear such as the following:

  • Playback Designs Dream (MPD-8) DAC
  • Allnic D-15000 Signature OTL/OCL DAC
  • Imersiv D-1 DAC (I bought this one) and the designer John La Grou was at the Denver meet
  • Allnic ASRA headphone amp
  • Bricasti M3 DAC and m19 SACD transport
  • Meitner MA3i DAC
  • Meze headphones
  • Stax headphone
  • ZMF headphones
  • RAAL 1995 Magna (best at show) and Immanis phones

What a meet. The best gear and great folks. I did the fibre optic streaming for the Allnic and Meitner DACs. There was a photographer from The Absolute Sound taking pictures.

Reports of life being robbed of life by fibre. Interesting, like I said I only do fibre.