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

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! wink

 

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." ;-)

op

by the listing of your components there shouldn’t be harshness... the weiss 204 is detailed but not at all harsh (i have the 502 4-ch) in a proper setup

i would suggest a few things

-- are you using a linear power supply to power your clean side tp-link switch/optical module?  you 100% need one there on the clean side

-- you should use a better quality module on the clean side (ie a sonore optical module as you mentioned, or one by lhy or gustard/matrix)

-- try finisar sfp modules

good luck