New SFPs in 'da house!

[Famester V1]

Stephen, Christian & cj
Thanks for the advice.
I know how to make the connections, but I don't have experience in the details as why they work.
Do you have a direct link on where and which to purchase another set of SFP and optical cable to try out?
My Cisco switch is primary where it directs the incoming signal from my router to the wired ethernet throughout the house.
Then it goes to the EtherRegen and then to the Aurender N-200.
The optical connection between the Cisco and the EtherRegen is where I cannot get a signal to operate.
Also, if I do get the Lumin, The EtherRegen SFP port is on the "incoming" A side and not the "outgoing" B side or does that not apply?
How would the connection work going optically between the Cisco to the EtherRegen to the Lumin?
Thanks again!

And- I was looking into a different switch- like the Sotm
sNH-10G High-End Audio Switch Hub - with a clock, which?
Thoughts there?

Lumin X1 is on order...
and going to audition a Zyxel unmanaged switch to see what happens there, if my connection issue is due to my managed Cisco switch or not.

Fred

[Famester V1]

Originally Posted by clpetersen

Hello Fred - it looks like you have high quality hardware. In that case, many of the concerns with copper connections (noise issues, etc.) should be eliminated. For runs less that 100 meters (most homes ) copper ethernet is fine. Optical has advantages in longer runs and where you might need complete electrical isolation (but this is rare in properly implemented ethernet hardware).
Remember, you have to convert those photons to electrons and back again, plus reformat the various protocols, so brings along its own headaches. No free lunch.

So basically, sticking with a standard ethernet connection versus optical in my case of a 25 foot run is not going to make much difference in SQ holy grail?
I do know that when I swapped out my Cisco switch and tried a TrendNet in its place, made a huge negative difference in SQ, where I immediately reinstalled my old Cisco.
I thought Photons only factored in when playing with Star Trek guns

[Antonmb]

Originally Posted by Famester V1

I thought Photons only factored in when playing with Star Trek guns

I think you're confusing phasers with photon torpedoes, where the photons make an even bigger difference.[emoji41]

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by Famester V1

Stephen, Christian & cj
Thanks for the advice.
I know how to make the connections, but I don't have experience in the details as why they work.
Do you have a direct link on where and which to purchase another set of SFP and optical cable to try out?
My Cisco switch is primary where it directs the incoming signal from my router to the wired ethernet throughout the house.
Then it goes to the EtherRegen and then to the Aurender N-200.
The optical connection between the Cisco and the EtherRegen is where I cannot get a signal to operate.
Also, if I do get the Lumin, The EtherRegen SFP port is on the "incoming" A side and not the "outgoing" B side or does that not apply?
How would the connection work going optically between the Cisco to the EtherRegen to the Lumin?
Thanks again!

And- I was looking into a different switch- like the Sotm
sNH-10G High-End Audio Switch Hub - with a clock, which?
Thoughts there?

Lumin X1 is on order...
and going to audition a Zyxel unmanaged switch to see what happens there, if my connection issue is due to my managed Cisco switch or not.

Fred

Okay, a lot to cover here...

Fred, if I were to hazard a guess, based on my own experience, the reason you're having connectivity failure modes (a failure mode is anything that can go wrong) is due to the SFP optical transceiver (henceforth abbreviated simply as "SFP") you're using in your EtherREGEN. I had quite a few issues with the TP-Link SFPs I was originally using with my ER. Basically, if I just "breathed on it", it could disconnect. It became so problematical that I wrote to Alex at Uptone and he very kindly sent me a 10GTek SFP free of charge that worked fine. I used that until I got the Finisars I referenced above, which not only connect consistently, but sound better than the 10GTek SFP. So....it could be the StarTech SFP module you're using doesn't play nice with the SFP cage in ER.

My guess the reasons for this is that the dimensional tolerances of the SFP cage used by John in ER is "touchy" with respect to the exact SFP optical transceiver being used. It's also possible that the same connectivity failure mode could be due to the SFP optical transceiver/SFP cage interaction on your Cisco switch. I kinda doubt it, given that I also consistently had the same type of connectivity issues with the TP-Link SFPs on my ER, but it's still a possibility.

So, Fred, my recommendation, if you still want to run optical (and given that you're getting a Lumin X1, I think you should), I would get the (Planet Tech) MGB-TLX SFPs I referenced in my first post on this thread:
https://www.audioaficionado.org/newr...eply&p=1072844

Now, if you do that, you could try a couple of set-ups:

1) Run optical straight from your Cisco's SFP cage to back the of the X1
2) Move your ER into the location where your "server room and Cisco switch" ls located" and connect a quality Ethernet cable from the Cisco switch to B-side of ER. Then run the 9/125 fiber out of ER's A-side into the SFP cage on the X1.

#2 is what I would think would be the best set-up because 1) ER has better and quieter RJ45 jacks than a consumer-grade Cisco switch would have and 2) ER has a much better internal clock than the Cisco switch.

Personally, I'm going to cordially disagree respect to copper Ethernet being "good enough", only because that's not been my experience. The reason for this is that 1) copper Ethernet can still pass high-source leakage impedance current from the Cisco switch to your X1 if you connect from the Cisco switch directly to your X1 via copper Ethernet. If however, you decide to run copper Ethernet from your server to the X1, I would recommend putting ER near the server and connect your ER to the Cisco switch on A-side (you could even connect via optical if you wanted, but with the SFPs I recommended), and run via copper Ethernet from ER's B-side from that to the Ethernet port on the X1. That way, the "moat" in ER will prevent the leakage current from passing from the generic Cisco switch getting to your X1.

I hope that makes sense, Fred. If not, feel free to give me a call and we can discuss.

Cheers.

[Famester V1]

Stephen,
I went and ordered the SFP's you mentioned and optical cables.
I also ordered another Zyxel switch that has dual SFP connectivity to test it out in place of my Cisco.
The Lumin X1 is on the way, will arrive early next week.
Lets see what I can produce and if no go, I will call you.
I cannot thank you all enough!
Fred

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by Famester V1

Stephen,
I went and ordered the SFP's you mentioned and optical cables.
I also ordered another Zyxel switch that has dual SFP connectivity to test it out in place of my Cisco.
The Lumin X1 is on the way, will arrive early next week.
Lets see what I can produce and if no go, I will call you.
I cannot thank you all enough!
Fred

Fred,
Congrats on your Lumin X1! I think you're going to find it's really quite special, indeed.

I'm actually listening to my P1, right now.

[Famester V1]

Originally Posted by clpetersen

Hey Fred - you need to be careful about single-mode and multimode SFP's and optical cables. They do not mix. This most likely explains Stephen's finicky or lack of connections.

In general, I recommend multimode. It is a far more reliable connection and works at gigabit ethernet speeds (1000base T) for hundreds of meters. Use glass fibers, not plastic. Multimode is readily available in glass (Corning and others) and can be purchased from many sources. This is another world of specs, connector standards and so forth.

https://www.fiberinstrumentsales.com...patchcord.html


https://www.fiber-optic-transceiver-...ansceiver.html

I ordered several cables and SFP's via Amazon to see which one may work.
That link you sent me displays over 100 cables.
I don't know which is compatible with the SFP's that Stephen suggested, but I hope one of the ones I ordered from Amazon works and will return what doesn't work, thanks to Amazon free returns.
I would appreciate a specific link to a specific cable and SFP's that I can order, if these from Amazon do not work.
But I will let you know when I receive the Amazon order if I get it to work or not.
Many thanks!
Fred

[Famester V1]

OK!
For all of you which have been losing sleep and taking extra Prozac in anticipation of the final answer to the commotion I created regarding my optical connection...
The envelope, please...


It was the Cisco switch.
I originally had purchased this switch to run my security cameras and I am sure that Cisco support must have eliminated the SFP connection.
Now that I tried the Zyxel switch with the optical cable and SFP's, it works quite well.
The highs are clearer and brighter, the bass is less pronounced, but still quite powerful.
I assume I can adjust the REL crossovers and volume to compensate.
I have other SFP's that I will audition to see how they sound.
Now here is my current set up.
Cisco switch to ethernet cable to Zyxel switch to SFP to optical cable to SFP to EtherRegen to ethernet cable to Aurender.

Which way should I connect the Lumin X1 (via SFP?) when it arrives?
And I will ultimately be considering a SoTM sNH-10G switch in place of the EtherRegen

[Puma Cat]

My recommendation would be to move ER in to the location of your Zyxel switch, connect to the Zyxel with the Shunyata Sigma Ethernet to ER's B-side and run optical out of A-side directly into the back of the SFP cage of the X1. Alternatively, you can connect the Shunyata Sigma Ether to ER's A-side from the Zyxel switch, and run optical out of the SFP cage on A-side directly into the back of the X1's SFP cage. Emile at Taiko found that connecting via Ether to A-side of ER and running optical out sounded better than going in via B-side, but YMMV, so try it both ways and go with what sounds best.

[1KW]

Originally Posted by crwilli

I read the title of this thread and went Uggh. Playing around with SFP cages and cables may be one of the last areas of my digital nervosa left and I had thought I had fought it off. ��