Fiber Optic isolation causing listening fatigue

surlydale  You described your experience very clearly

"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".

Some users who have switched from a generic media converter (even with an LPS) to a Sonore Optical Module report a further improvement in sound quality. These improvements are generally described as: 

• Blacker Background: The reduction in the noise floor makes the silence between notes more pronounced, contributing to a sense of a "even blacker" background.
• Increased Clarity and Transparency: The sound becomes clearer and more transparent, allowing you to hear further into the soundstage and discern more microdetails.
• Improved Soundstage: Users mention a more cohesive and three-dimensional soundstage, with better image stability.
• More Natural Tonal Density: The overall presentation can sound more natural, with improved tonal richness and less high-frequency "grunge". 

So as far as I can understand, the only difference between the TP Link and say the Sonore Optical Module costing hundreds of dollars more, is squeezing the noise floor reduction just a little further. Maybe via optimized "Audiophile" PCB layout and lower noise regulators etc.  

The way I use my single coverter is CAT 7 from my router to the TP Link. (I power the TP Link via an IFI clean power wall wart) I take a Corning Single Mode Duplex Optical Fiber cable via a quality SFP module into the Lumin X1 via the matching SFP connector.

I wonder how many of the Sonore users are keeping the signal path in fiber all the way to the streamer?

So where my approach differs from yours is once the converter has done its job the signal stays in the fiber domain all the way to the Lumin X1. 

So for me, I considered the benefits of installing something like the Sonore Optical Module as marginal/incremental at best. I have already heard a very noticeable reduction in the noise floor, which actually shocked me, as the noise floor was already what I considered to be low. However, whilst my music listening experience chimes closely with yours, the exception is that I have not once experienced any of the fatigue you describe.

I can only offer my own observation and conclusion and a couple of suggestions:

Maybe the double conversion you need to make for the Aurender i.e. copper to fiber and back again is the root cause of introducing the fatiguing element into the sound. Yes  Fiber breaks the electrical noise path from router, but if you convert back to copper Ethernet before the streamer as there is no SFP in on your N150, you possibly reintroduce the possibility of noise & Jitter from that last segment of the signal path, from the second converter itself as it returns to copper via the last length of ethernet cable into you N150.

Alternatively, It would be a disappointing result, if what your are experiencing is extreme detail fatigue and the Sonore just adds a little more seasoning to the issue.

I would be interested to know how this will pan out with you but I would borrow a Sonore to try before shelling out more money as I suspect it may not provide the answer you deserve.

@surlydale - I agree that the quality of ethernet cable matters but for your direct question regarding fiber, SFP+ is hotter than SFP from my listening experiments.

I would try swapping to a 1310 SFP on both ends for a calmer but still transparent sound.  

Also fiber cables matter.  

I would like to point out that the op has a Weiss DAC, and he is looking for more detail! And yet some of you people think Weiss is too detailed and analytical! 

 

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.

Like a few others in here I have read some people claim fiber is the way to go, "it removes noise and will make your DAC sound better" so I gave it a shot, using lesser connectors than Finisars from my Cisco switch to my Etherregen, and like the op I found it was a little too "crisp" to borrow @wsrrsw ’s term. More edgy, less relaxed. Bottom line is I tried it and don’t use it now. 

Others claim fiber eliminates noise. Well, sure, but converters do introduce jitter into the system. Sonically, it may introduce more jitter into the music than the electrical noise it removes, from what I have read. This increase in "detail, air, resolution" or however one interprets this may be just increased distortion. I believe that is what is happening, at least from my experience, is part of that transient that was not resolved satisfactorily due to noise or jitter.

All I know is the more I upgraded over the years, the better the components I use, that includes cables, the less the sibilance on voices, the less the chuff of air being emitted from wind instruments, the cymbals had less splash but more of a metallic sheen, and the breathe of a singer just sounds less powerful, but more realistic. And yes, the longer I can listen without thinking "I need a break now". Yes, jitter is fatiguing to our brain. 

But, implementation is everything.

Lumin users claim it works with their streamers. I have never heard a Sonore, but have read good things; I am sure they do a better job of mitigating the jitter than a cheap device designed for networking, it was designed by John Swenson after all, who knows more about networking jitter than every poster on ASR combined. And Playback Designs uses a proprietary optic link in their components, they are world class digital engineers with reportedly some of the best digital on the planet, so if they are using optical there must be a good reason. (hint, cuz it sounds good) 

It was a good experiement, but I’m not ready to start throwing more money at this. 

My thoughts exactly. Save up for some Stack Audio or Network Acoustics stuff. Tempus is on my wishlist. 

Well, after more listening, there IS a difference.  The LHY has a slightly "darker" sound, a frequency balance that shifts the instruments further back in the sound stage.  I had to listen to some solo instruments like cello and harpsichord to hear it.  The TP-Link has more top end and upper-mids, so the instruments sound closer.  My wife noticed it as well.  The funny thing is, if I played both for an audiophile and said the TP-Link was $3K, he'd probably want to buy it. ;-)  So, yes, there is a difference, but is it better?  Maybe after a week I'll become addicted, but when I told my wife the price of the LHY she said, "Oh, no." ;-)

@dogearedaudio I would save for a better DAC and not spend on switches.