Ethernet to Optical Converter?

I few I know are using this for the Lumin X1 : TP‑Link MC210CS

Thank you for the tip cpp. That is what I was originally asking about, I may try it since it is not expensive and see what it sounds like compared to ethernet.

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Very happy ending. I spent the weekend setting up a new, faster router (Netgear Nighthawk C7800) which nearly tripled the speed of wifi and has 1000 kbps through ethernet. Not only are all glitches now gone while streaming with wifi, my fist impressions are that the ethernet connection sound the absolute best so far. The wifi seems more stable all around and the ethernet sounds more punchy in the bass than USB or wifi. This is only tested through speakers so far, my new ZMF headphones arrive today so I will do some more critical testing with those later.

Moral of my story I guess is that I did not have a stable enough wifi signal with an antiquated router and it seems to be solved.

Thanks everyone for so much help.

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I’m glad it worked out.

Much better than where we started - “blame it on Tidal”.

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I think that box converts from ethernet copper to ethernet fiber.

Your streaming box optical input is most likely for audio (similar to usb).

If this is correct then the box wouldn’t help you.

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Correct. This is not a toslink converter. The plugs don’t even look like toslink connections.

The MC210CS is a media converter designed to convert 1000BASE-LX fiber to 1000Base-T copper media or vice versa.

The lumin x1 is a bit of an oddball in that does support fibre networking as well as copper ethernet.

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Yeah, not the same kind of optical I think.

I cannot imagine optical being an improvement over streaming over ethernet at this point. This sounds so good to me now, I think (and hope) I can just relax and listen now without concern that one of the source types might be a tiny bit better. This sounds really good to me. We’ll see how the Element X sounds as a headphone amp with the ZMF VCs arriving today (finally, after a 4 month wait). I know a lot folks seem to like ZMF with tube amps but hoping the purity of the Matrix will sound good too. I’ll report back on the ZMF thread later.

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You can relax. Wired ethernet is the best and most reliable.

Enjoy the VC’s!

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That’s pretty radical, haven’t heard of audio gear with fiber connection. Thanks for the info!

And it sounds pretty darn good. I wish I could afford it.

Unexpectedly I might be heading in the opposite direction.

I picked up a Qudelix 5K for some upcoming travel and the first time I listened I was totally engaged and I forgot I was supposed to be “auditioning” it.

I was completely immersed in the music connected via bluetooth no less.

It got me to ask myself why do I really need to make things more complicated. Here’s this little device I can carry around and it can store eq profiles for my easy to drive headphones.

And I get freedom from wires as a bonus.

Obviously there is more sophisticated gear out there.

But it’s an enjoyment vs gear thing and the enjoyment is surprisingly high.

Oh I agree, I own a middle of the road Lumin and it just works but its home only. Bu that option you have is a pretty neat device for portability at a low price. .

I guess this is veering off-topic a bit, but it has me wondering about the state of digital audio these days.

In the old days the silicon densities, computational abilities and power efficiency didn’t exist. Units were big and had lots of components.

Now you can have a dac and amp in a single chip

There’s the highly regarded RME ADI dac which is quite small.

Maybe things have reached a critical mass where digital processing just doesn’t need the gear it used to.

I admit I have no experience with high end dacs but it does make me wonder if “things are different now”.

Yes, this is the standard history of technology. Car engines produce far more horsepower in a smaller package than 100 years ago. PCs are much smaller with greater power than those of the 1970s.

Big, bulky older gear is impressive but not necessarily as good as fresh tiny stuff. Bulky new gear helps justify its price through look, feel, and chassis build quality.

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