optical network

[ronorn]

Some LUMIN models include an optical network port intended to provide complete isolation from network digital noise.

Is it justified to upgrade from ethernet cable ?
15 Meters long.

Thanks.

LUMIN Connecting Network Music Servers

www.luminmusic.com

 

[NTK]

Welcome to ASR!

Questions:
What is network digital noise and what harm does it do?
What can optical do (for audio) that wifi can't?

 

[ronorn]

Welcome to ASR!

Questions:
What is network digital noise and what harm does it do?
What can optical do (for audio) that wifi can't?

Thanks.
My streamer doesn’t have WiFi.
Only Ethernet connection.

Some LUMIN models include an optical network port intended to provide complete isolation from network digital noise.

 

[audio_tony]

Thanks.
My streamer doesn’t have WiFi.
Only Ethernet connection.

Some LUMIN models include an optical network port intended to provide complete isolation from network digital noise.

All Ethernet switches have isolation transformers on every port.

The network card in your streamer should also have an isolation transformer.

This means that the devices are already electrically isolated from each other, so there is simply no need for optical connections.

 

[-Matt-]

Some LUMIN models include an optical network port intended to provide complete isolation from network digital noise.

The optical port is digital and so it will be perfectly possible for it to receive digital noise. (This is just a false marketing gimmick).

I guess it could potentially isolate the streamer from floating analogue voltages.
Edit: But as @audio_tony says, there is already protection against this.

Is it justified to upgrade from ethernet cable ?
15 Meters long.

No, not at all. Stick with ethernet.

 

[JustJones]

Do you have fiber optic running to your house and in the walls?

 

[ZolaIII]

Welcome to ASR!

Questions:
What is network digital noise and what harm does it do?
What can optical do (for audio) that wifi can't?

Cut the latency.

 

[ronorn]

Do you have fiber optic running to your house and in the walls?

I have fiber cable from the supplier to my home switch

 

[-Matt-]

Cut the latency.

Another myth?

https://www.arista.com/assets/data/pdf/Copper-Faster-Than-Fiber-Brief.pdf

 

[ZolaIII]

Another myth?

https://www.arista.com/assets/data/pdf/Copper-Faster-Than-Fiber-Brief.pdf

LOL with ultra low latency switch with audiophile price, surely consumer grade rooter adds a lot more latency trough CAT cables. My reference whose to fiber optical Toslink direct to WiFi trough rooter. Still this is only important to latency sensitive tasks.

 

[ahofer]

Some LUMIN models include an optical network port intended to provide complete isolation from network digital noise.

Is it justified to upgrade from ethernet cable ?
15 Meters long.

Thanks.

LUMIN Connecting Network Music Servers

www.luminmusic.com

No.

 

[antcollinet]

LOL with ultra low latency switch with audiophile price, surely consumer grade rooter adds a lot more latency trough CAT cables. My reference whose to fiber optical Toslink direct to WiFi trough rooter. Still this is only important to latency sensitive tasks.

Latency will come from buffers within the devices (Switches, routers, streamers etc). Not from the connections between them.

 

[ahofer]

Some LUMIN models include an optical network port intended to provide complete isolation from network digital noise.

This is either unnecessary upselling or an acknowledgement that their equipment is poorly designed, since extracting noiseless digital information is pretty trivial.

The good news here is that there should be no level-matching problem when switching digital ports with the same feed and these sorts of things can be blind-tested easily.

 

[antcollinet]

Some LUMIN models include an optical network port intended to provide complete isolation from network digital noise.

Is it justified to upgrade from ethernet cable ?
15 Meters long.

Thanks.

LUMIN Connecting Network Music Servers

www.luminmusic.com

Answer is no. As has already been stated, ethernet already includes galvanic isolation - which, probably most importantly, eliminates any potential ground loop problems.

There may be some tiny capacitive coupling across the transformers for common mode noise, but simple devices in the circuits can filter that, and in any case it is insignificant compared with noise generated INSIDE the receiving device created by it's own digital circuits (which is also successfully eliminated by the careful design of any decent DAC - as we can easily see from the measurements performed on the output of DACs

 

[ronorn]

Thank you All.

 

[JustJones]

I have fiber cable from the supplier to my home switch

If you want to run fiber to your Lumin should be fine. Doubtful you would notice any difference. Fiber makes sense for infustrcure with bandwidth up in the terabytes, lighter weight, less prone to interference but for home audio copper is more than sufficient. As long as you have everything fiber from the provider through the modem/ router in your house if you want to use fiber go for it.

Edit: the chance there is fiber from the streaming services through the entire network it takes to get to wherever your provider has laid fiber is pretty much zero. There's still copper somewhere along the line that signal is passing through.

 

[-Matt-]

LOL with ultra low latency switch with audiophile price, surely consumer grade rooter adds a lot more latency trough CAT cables. My reference whose to fiber optical Toslink direct to WiFi trough rooter. Still this is only important to latency sensitive tasks.

Neither Toslink nor WiFi have anything to do with what the OP is asking.

Here is one of the Lumin devices with an optical network port (left of the ethernet):

Here is what they say in the spec:

• Optical Network:​

  • Industry-standard Gigabit SFP
  • 1000Base-T Gigabit Ethernet
  • Adapter may be needed for your particular switch/cables
  • Use simultaneously with RJ45 (e.g. connect one to router and one to LUMIN L1 or NAS)

Cut the latency.

...and I can't see how latency can possibly have any impact on your music listening experience. (We are not talking about a difference of seconds for playback to start, but only a difference of nanoseconds, milliseconds at the very most).

 

[Hayabusa]

Cut the latency.

and more reliable packet transfer

 

[ronorn]

Neither Toslink nor WiFi have anything to do with what the OP is asking.

Here is one of the Lumin devices with an optical network port (left of the ethernet):

View attachment 349951

Here is what they say in the spec:

• Optical Network:​

  • Industry-standard Gigabit SFP
  • 1000Base-T Gigabit Ethernet
  • Adapter may be needed for your particular switch/cables
  • Use simultaneously with RJ45 (e.g. connect one to router and one to LUMIN L1 or NAS)

I have the Lumin U2.

Neither Toslink nor WiFi have anything to do with what the OP is asking.

Here is one of the Lumin devices with an optical network port (left of the ethernet):

View attachment 349951

Here is what they say in the spec:

• Optical Network:​

  • Industry-standard Gigabit SFP
  • 1000Base-T Gigabit Ethernet
  • Adapter may be needed for your particular switch/cables
  • Use simultaneously with RJ45 (e.g. connect one to router and one to LUMIN L1 or NAS)

...and I can't see how latency can possibly have any impact on your music listening experience. (We are not talking about a difference of seconds for playback to start, but only a difference of nanoseconds, milliseconds at the very most).

Fiber maybe less noise?

 

[-Matt-]

and more reliable packet transfer

If you have any packet loss with a 1m ethernet cable between your NAS and streamer, or even with a 15m CAT5 cable to your router then you need a new cable!