Can someone explain what I need to connect the fibre port on the RS130 to the copper ethernet cable coming from my wall port?
Thanks in advance
Alan
Youāll need a compatible SFP, or āSmall Form Factor Pluggableā., Theyāre generally under $50 or even $30, BUT you need to select one that is compatible with the electronics in the Rose deviceā¦that you probably need to know from Rose or from someone who has succeeded in selecting a compatible SFP.
Info here: What are SFP ports on a Gigabit switch and what are they used for? | TechTarget.
And examples hereā¦note the selection of differing brand compatibilities!! Thatās why youād like Rose or someone else who has confirmed a working choice:
BTW, donāt get one that is limited to 10Gb/s, you want on that supports Gigabit ethernet at 1,000 Mb/s depending on what is upstream through your wall port.
Thanks. I may not have explained myself very well. If Iām reading it correctly that allows you to connect a copper ethernet cable directly into the RS130. Hopefully thereās one of those in the box. What I was hoping to do was convert from copper to fibre and then into the RS130.
There are fiber SFPs out there. Many of them. You can even find them on Amazon.
So presumably I need a fibre sfp, a short length of fibre cable and a copper to fibre converter/switchā¦ Are there any of those to prefer or avoid?
Thatās a path to a real rabbit hole, Alan. Typically the high end audiophile crowd tends to (IME) migrate to either Cisco or Finisar SFPs. But getting into fiber has some complexities. There are two fiber types - single mode and multimode. SM is typically used for extreme long haul (think telecoms) use, although some audiophiles feel they like it better than MM. Then thereās making sure you get an SFP (weāll call them transceivers for now) that output at a power level suitable for both the fiber and the receiver. If youāre familiar with Whatsbestforum.com, you can get a lot of insight from audiophiles whoāve spent a whole lot of time on this.
Or, a well regarded SFP and cable is a Finisar FTLX1475D3BTL and CommScope FFWLCLC42-JXF010. Itās a single mode approach that some folks have liked. Youāll need to find out first if this transceiver will work in the Rose (although typically the SFP port is designed to accept any SFP that meets the standard), and youāll need to find an Ethernet converter with an SFP port for the other end. Then buy two of the Finisars, this other converter, the cable, and you should be good to go.
Iām lost nowā¦I understood:
You have copper (twisted pair) ethernet coming our of your āwall portā; you donāt say if thatās an RJ-45 Jack presented at the wall plate, or if itās a twisted pair cable with an RJ-45 male on the end
You want to connect that copper/twisted pair ethernet cable to the āfiber portā on your RS-130
I would call it an SFP port really, NOT a fiber port per seā¦If you plug in a copper SFP module, itās a copper ethernet port; if you plug in a Multimode Fiber MMF SFP module itās a fiber port
WHY go to fiber at all? Just plug in the 10/100/1000 Mb/s COPPER SFP module and either plug in the RJ-45 from your wall plate, or use a TP patch cable to plug into the wall jack and then into the Copper SFP and be done??
You donāt mention any real NEED for fiber. Now if you said I need to connect to a switch thatās 200 meters awayā¦OK I can see going to fiber to get there, but all I see here is you want to plug a copper ethernet cable into the SFP portā¦so get a copper SFP and be down the road with it.
Thanks to both Tony22 and pwscott.
Mt RS130 arrives this week. I was all set to buy the RS150 but then I heard how wonderful it sounded with my Audio Note DAC and decided it would be more sensible to get a better transport and not a built in DAC that I wouldnāt use. I can always connect my current CD transport via the spdif in on the RS130.
Having read about the option to connect via fibre I was just trying to understand what Iād need to exploit it. Thereās a lot of internet chatter suggesting that itās beneficial to sound quality.
As Tony22 suggests itās starting to look like a bit of a rabbit hole so I suspect Iāll stick with the copper connection for the foreseeable future.
Thanks again.
Alan
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Glad to try and help. I think that broadly, on the matter of āfiberā as you refer to it generally, youāre now conflating the IEEE 802.3 Ethernet network communications type of fiber optic connection that usually uses TCP/IP Protocols, with the totally separate and distinct use of fiber optic cable to carry AUDIO data to connect for example a DVD Player or DAP Digital Audio Player to an integrated Amp or A/V Receiver e.g. using S/PDIF protocol for AUDIO over fiber, usually to a TOSlink cable. These are available on PS5 and Xbox gaming consoles as well, and are an excellent way to connect high quality sources.
Two different use cases, two different protocols and very different cable terminations.
Refer to the back of the RS-130ā¦The āOptical Outputā is a TOSlink connection, at the lower far right is the SFP Port for ethernet 802.3.
From Google Gen AI: " Fiber optic audio cables often use the S/PDIF digital audio format with TOSLINK connectors. TOSLINK is a standardized connection that uses fiber optics to transmit digital audio signals between devices. For example, you can use TOSLINK to connect a CD/DVD player to an AV receiverā¦"
Thanks Phillip, but I really do understand the difference. I used to be a networking tech. Ethernet these days is a catch all term for a stack of protocols that can run over different physical layers, from coax cable through twisted or untwisted pairs to fibre optic cable which is typically used in high noise environments or for long distance transmission. No relation to spdif over optical cable - toslink.
The description of the RS130 on the HiFi Rose site describes the LAN port as Ethernet Copper or Fibre.
I was interested because various things Iāve read suggested there might be a benefit in having a fibre link in the LAN chain close to the endpoint as this would block electrical noise carried over the copper cable. I was trying to identify what Iād need to test this for myself.
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Under normal conditions and assuming somewhat competently designed equipment (Rose is) moving to fiber will have no more audible benefit than replacing the fuse with an āaudiophileā one or putting a magic crystal on top of the speaker. Wonāt hurt anything eitherā¦
Thanks BorisM. Youāre almost certainly right.
Yeah, as soon as it hits the port on the Rose, it is converted back into electrical noise anyway.
If you need to run the network to your listening barn that is 300m from your castle, then fiber makes sense. But in a normal home its totally overkill.
Iām sorry, but allas donāt agree. Once youāve heard the differences, thereās no going back. Itās that obvious!
Yes, psychology is a very powerful thing.
Unfortunately, physics does not care how much you paid for a streamer and keep sound waves identical.
Well, having now connected my RS130 through fibre itās clear that physics doesnāt care about what we think should happen because it genuinely does make a difference.
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I bought these to connect my RS130 to the internet over fiber. The combination works without any issues. I think itās never bad to buy the different pieces from the same company for compatibility issues. About the sound, Iām not sure. I connected my RS130 only a few days through the normal ethernet to the internet and I couldnāt notice a significant improvement.
A Converter from 10GTek:
https://www.amazon.es/dp/B07B64PN7Z/ref=pe_27091411_487056151_TE_item
A 10Gtek 1G SFP SX LC Modulo Multimode - 1000Base-SX Mini-Gbic Transceiver to plug into the RS130:
https://www.amazon.es/dp/B01DD0Z7D8/ref=pe_27091411_487056151_TE_item
A compatible fiber:
https://www.amazon.es/dp/B01DCYHTRM/ref=pe_27091411_487056151_TE_item
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I believe youāre on the right path. However, give the Rose time to break in and also consider that this is not the most elaborated media converter and it is powered by a cheap switching power supply. Improving the latter with a linear power supply will immediately prove sonic benefits.
You are right, the power supply is nothing special and not really designed for music playback. I have a linear PSU for my dac with a second not used DC output. Iāll try to find some time to adjust the output voltage and make a cable that fits into the converter. But Iām really short of time, maybe during holidays after Christmas.
Once itās done, Iāll come back to this. Iām curious.
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