One thing I thought about that might make a difference as to whether or not you hear a difference by directly connecting the Mac Mini to the DAC is the quality of the ethernet cable. I didn’t notice much of a difference between direct and switched connection with my Blue Jeans Cat5 cable but I did notice a little bump on SQ on upgrading to Tera Cat7 cable and even more with a Wireworld Starlight Cat8 ethernet cable. I should try to put that back in the switch to find out if it sounds better with direct connection.
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Well - FWIW, i tried something similar (using USB instead of ethernet tho)
I went from a Netgear Orbi Satellite -> Macbook Pro running Audirvana -> USB -> Direcstream. Admittedly i used a basic usb cable.
I preferred the sound of BridgeII over the usb-mbp setting.
I suppose i could tweak - get a dedicated power supply and a better usb, but doubt il go through the hassle. If anything at some stage in the future il audition the innuos zenith and be done with it.
Till then, Im gonna put my feet up and just enjoy the music.
I also prefer the Bridge II over other inputs -at least without expensive tweaks. But, for less than $100, you can put a fiberoptic segment of Ethernet just before the Bridge II and improve the SQ noticeably.
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Thanks fdreed. What adapter are using for the fiberoptic to ethernet?
The ethernet cable that is plugged into the Bridge II goes into a TP-Link CM110CS. A fiberoptic cable (of essentially any length you need) goes to another TP-Link CM110CS. A reasonably short, good quality ethernet cable then goes into the Bridge II. This will get you better sound. It would be ideal if the power supply for the upstream Media Converter was on a different circuit than your sound system.
The power supply of the downstream Media Converter is important. An inexpensive 9v battery adapter will give you another step up in SQ, though a single 9v battery doesn’t last long. The downstream Media Converter and power supply are the first things to spend extra money on for further improvements. There are battery power supplies (with lots of batteries that last a while) and linear power supplies. There is also something coming out called an EtherRegen that is built for very low noise and would take the place of the downstream Media Converter.
Have Fun!
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Oh… and here is an inexpensive ethernet cable that I and others recommend.
I put little faith in any comparisons of DS Dac inputs you will read on this forum that have not done at least this basic level of galvanic isolation on the ethernet line.
Thanks for the info. So, both of the TP-link Converters require a 9 V power supply?
Thanks heaps @fdreed.
The issue im gonna have is to drill holes in the base board or run it up via the attic.
Would you say the SQ is noticeably better ?
The ethernet cable recommendation is something im defo doing.
Yes!
Yes, but they come with a wall wart.
Have you found any better quality (i.e glass)fiberoptic cables than the Lynn Electronics item you list above? I have recently tried this set up for galvanic isolation, and it does improve the sound of the Bridge II quite a bit. Thanks very much for the worthwhile tip.
@fdreed, would these work as well as the TPLink ones you referred to? I ask as the IT guys I know said they’ve had issues with TPLink in the past:
I’m not really a bits is bits kind of guy… I think I’m some cases the quality of a digital cable can make a difference. That said, in the case of a fiber optic cable, since it inherently blocks noise, as long as you can verify bit perfect transfer (which you can with the DSD), there shouldn’t really be a “better cable” except for longevity -so check from time to time for bit perfect results.
With that bias in mind, I really haven’t tried a different cable. I would be interested in your results if you do however!
Thanks for that. I had just heard or read that the glass toslink was superior to the plastic? -Not at all convinced that this is true.
Specification wise, these should work -you just have to make sure the bridge side is able to do 100Mbps (what the bridge requires), and these do. Then again, you never know for sure with these types of connections until you hook them up.
I also have some concern that the circuitry needed to negotiate the downstream copper connection speed (which is theoretically more sophisticated than that in the 100Mbps max TP-Link) could also be noisier. But really, the only way to tell would be to listen. I am pretty sure they will work well. The next upgrade would be a better final converter… like an EtherRegen.
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Dont know if you have acomplished your task by making the Bridge connected with the MacMini.
This link have solved my problem with that. It works flawlessly.
From: WiFi to Ethernet. I use a USB adapter WiFi from TPLink it’s more powerfull than the original antena. Make shure to install the drivers.
Be happy