in your test, did you use the Muon2 and new cable before the Tempus? What cable do you use from the Tempus to your streamer?
Best audiophile switch
- Thread starter Frankie67
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Interesting. Hadn't thought of using the passive after the active. If I demo a Muon2, I will try it before and after my switch. Your review certainly has me curious about their new version.
I wonder how much of the improvement you experienced is from the new Muon itself vs. the cable. Do you know if the cable is included or whether that is a separate purchase?
One last question: Due to ENO2 + filter cable length (0.75 & 1.5 m?), the modem/router has to be in the audio room, so you don’t need a long fiber or Cat6 across the house—are you still using a FritzBox (with modified settings) and an iFi iPower Elite? (Not visible on the left in the chain below.)
- From eno2 User Guide (diagram slightly modified for above setup)
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Good call, it is indeed important that you audition in your own system.
A good few folk I know who bought an (active) switch already owned a (passive) filter. As you'd expect, they first tried the switch before the filter, but ultimately all decided they preferred straight switch > streamer to switch > filter > streamer because it felt like the filter was actually adding noise back in rather than taking it out!
Ditto, if the switch is right up there performance-wise, installing the filter before it may or may not make an audible difference.
Experiences will depend on the quality of the switch and the quality of the filter of course, but it would make sense that the better the switch the less a filter can bring to the party, so definitely one to try at home.
Ya I think it’s exciting trying it out at different spots in your hifi setup and see how the impact differs.
In my view the cable has been a big surprise and should be up with the very best (better than Shunyata Omega and a test is ahead for Stealth top of the line).
The cable alone already does an amazing job (that’s the way I started) and would make many users very happy. Though I was also astonished to see how much of an improvement the Muon2 filter brought in addition. The cable and filter are two separate elements like the Muon Pro streaming system right now.
Yes the ISP modem (which is a Fritzbox 6660) is in the same room. I had once a different setup where the modem was in a different room and using a FMC Sonore OMD V2 to connect with the switch (back then a EtherRegen).
The Fritzbox was powered by iFi iPower Elite (which is a very good price/performance and I compared quite a few) but in the meantime is powered by the Network Acoustics Origin which is a complete different level. If you can get your hands on one to test with your modem, switch or streamer give it a try.
just looked at the current Muon Pro and the price includes a 0.75 meter cable. Just FYI. This cable is not a captive cable as it was in v1 of the Muon Pro, which is the one I have.
If there is something like consensus in the world of streaming audiophiles, it seems that many folks agree that the cable that feeds the streamer is the most important one. I have certainly found that in my own setup. I'm using Kubala-Sosna since I use that brand throughout. One advantage to this approach is the KS upgrade/trade-in policy which makes moving up the ladder less costly than selling and buying new.
There is a fixed cable with the Muon2 filter. You can either use this going into your streamer or having: fixed cable > filter > streaming cable (muon2 or Kubala-Sodna) > streamer
So you can decide / test which way or streaming cable sounds best in your setup.
Hi all,
I am looking for a new switch to replace my etherregen feeding into a Xact S1. The logical step would probably be to get the N1 but I am also factoring in the cost.
So far after reading this thread the switches of interest are the Network acoustics Tempus, the N1 and the Taiko extreme switch. All switches have their cons, the tempus two boxes, the N1’s price. So would you consider the extreme switch?
I am looking for a new switch to replace my etherregen feeding into a Xact S1. The logical step would probably be to get the N1 but I am also factoring in the cost.
So far after reading this thread the switches of interest are the Network acoustics Tempus, the N1 and the Taiko extreme switch. All switches have their cons, the tempus two boxes, the N1’s price. So would you consider the extreme switch?
I do not see Muon2 Streaming System nor as a streaming cable on Network Acoustics web site. I see an eno2 streaming cable and eno2 Streaming System and muon2 USB cable and muon pro streaming cable and Streaming System. Is the Muon2 being discussed here a new product not yet shown on their website or is it the muon pro cable and/or system?
Or wait for the EtherRegen v2, which is expected to be a significant improvement over the original.
Do you have any idea when the v2 is expected to arrive? Hopefully v2 will not run as hot as v1 did that would be an automatic no no. Is there a thread where it’s talked about?
Thanks
The UpTone site says the ER v2 will be ready in January, but to be fair previously forecasted dates have not been met. In the meantime you could add this heat sink if you want to lower the temperature. I have one, it works and fits the ER and oMD casings perfectly.
Adding a thermal pad couples the heat sink for better conductivity:
John Swenson and Alex Crespi, @Superdad, discuss temps of the original EtherRegen here:
@Superdad would be best to answer your question about temperature of v2 vs. the original.
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Some S1 users even prefer streaming over local playback, so be sure to audition — there shouldn’t be any real trade-off here. Good luck.
Note that the XACT S1 expects a standard RJ-45 Ethernet input. But the Taiko Extreme Switch is built around SFP+ slots (two only), so you’d need to convert to/from RJ-45 (via SFP+ modules) to feed the S1. And the Extreme Switch really excels when used with a DAC cable (at least for some users).
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So with the extreme switch you always need a SFP module that is clear. I am already doing that towards the etherregen with a FTLF1318p3btl and a single mode cable fed by an all linear regulated, in-ext Buffalo GS2016 switch. The question is would these sfp module work in the extreme switch as good as the sfp+ module it was designed for?
I cannot answer that definitively. I only had assumed you would connect via an Ethernet cable to the S1, without knowing what you have upstream. So you keep the Buffalo GS2016 switch connected to a second switch — now the eR sfp input to Ethernet out (b side?) — to the S1 ?
I believe Taiko Audio advises against using SFP+ to RJ‑45 adapters for connecting the Extreme Switch to a streamer or DAC. Instead, they recommend using a DAC cable for the connection between the Extreme Switch and (the Extreme Network Card).
For the XACT, the preferred transceiver for the N1 switch is the FTLXX1475XX, if that can be generalized. But I think you are already following that thread? For both Extreme and Tempus you will find useful experience based information here.
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Indeed! Honestly, RJ45 SFP modules ought to be avoided at all costs with audio network applications:
They are NOT desirable for a variety of reasons:
a) They contain limited magnetics (usually just 4 cores);
b) They have their own PHY chip handling the copper MAC processing to fiber-mode (differential pairs) which is the signal format that then goes to the switch chip (it's essentially SGMII). And since that PHY chip likely runs from 1.1V or 1.8V--but only 3.3V is presented to the SFP cage--they also have some tiny cheap voltage regulator;
c) The PHY needs a 25MHz clock, so these RJ45 SFP modules have some tiny cheap XO or crystal.
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