GigaFOIL Ethernet Filter Has Launched

See here: Twittering Machines Announcement and here: Lavorngna’s Review of the Prototype

Thanks for posting. Looks interesting. If ps wasn’t coming out with a server I’d probably buy this. I’ve heard some of the same results reported in the review with a medical ethernet isolator I recently put in.

This is 5 X more money than using Two TP Link Media Converters and an SC/SC Multimode fibre optic cable to get the same result.

I don’t have either so I have no dog in this fight, but according to the Audiostream review by Lavorgna (see link above), the TP Link network was inferior to the GigaFoil in SQ.

I haven’t read the review yet. I’ll look at it it today. There are also opinions in which TP Link devices to use. Ted Smith uses the 10/100 version (to quote Ted , speed = noise). I couldn’t source these and ended up using the 1000 bit version. The effect was modest but there.

I typically do not like adding boxes because more boxes mean more power supplies. I do wonder if the TP Link power supplies (two of them) are offsetting any of the fiber conversion gains.

Just looking at each externally, the two benefits I can see with the GigaFoil is it only requires one power supply AND that power supply is likely better designed and less offensive to SQ than those contained in the TP Link boxes. At least I would hope that to be the case since the GF is purpose-built for audio and carries a much higher price tag.

As I understand it, if you use a 1000Mbps optical solution with the Bridge II, you also have to use a switch before the bridge -another potential source of noise. The 10/100 can go in directly.

I am pretty stoked to compare the GigaFoil with the TP Link -the later with a battery PS. You have to wonder if there would be any improvement running one into the other!

Play vinyl, then you don’t have to worry about all of this digital rigmarole. :grin:

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fdreed:

My current situation, exactly – but I added an iFi power supply to the mix, replacing the switch’s power supply.

Cheers.

Yes I had to use an extra switch. My power supplies are on separate power circuits and not in proximity to other devices . Fortunately I have one dedicated and two shared circuits but with nothing else on them but the power supplies. The sound is bettered with this configuration. It’s modest, as is the price.

I looked up rigmarole in the dictionary and there was a picture of my Oracle turntable :smirk:

And that’s just the set up -every time you spin you gotta do the dance… and, yes, it is often worth it!

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My curiosity got the best of me. I ended up ordering the GigaFOIL v4 and it arrived today. I got it installed this evening.

I am running a dedicated, modified Mac Mini (remote controlled via software) connected to my AQVOX SE audiophile switch using a 6" AQVOX Lan Cable with Telegartner connectors. The Mac Mini is only running Audirvana+.

I installed the GigaFOIL between my AQVOX SE switch and my Oppo UDP-205 which is acting as my Audirvana end point. From there, the Oppo connects to my DS DAC via SPDIF.

The AQVOX SE has built-in noise elimination, but it does not use the fiber optic gap, so my curiosity is centered around what affect the GigaFOIL and its fiber optics will have as the last stage of ethernet cleanup before the Audirvana streamed music reaches my Oppo end point.

Now, time to observe…

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Nice, please keep us informed :grinning:

I ordered one also. It has not arrived yet.

All this effort and all this money we spend trying to make digital sound like vinyl :neutral_face:

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I hope this is not anyone’s goal.

The goal is trying to make digital sound better than vinyl :roll_eyes:

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As always, whichever playback method you put more effort into, and purchase products and music specifically for, will potentially/eventually pull ahead of the other.

My analog and digital have been fairly well matched for a while. It helps with the Nervosa ; ) I consider myself fully in Both Camps. Effing love them both. I recently upgraded my cart, and switching to Qobuz was then…ewww. When I read all of the rigamarole dedicated digital/CA folks go through (have done a fair amount myself, but it’s nothing compared with what I read nowadays) I find it funny when “they” criticise Vinyl People. If you enjoy the process, it’s not work.

Looked at my old Mini server and all I’ve done to it, and added up the cost…I ordered an AURALiC Aries G1. (I know, Aurender fans, never mind). Should be interesting, especially if it can allow me to drop my Roon subscription. Can still use it, if the AURALiC cleans up the mini as a source, but would rather get rid of stuff. Wish the Mini was worth something…

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Both vinyl and digital can take a lot of effort to sound their best, certainly. As it is a hobby it makes no sense to criticize one camp or the other for the fussing they do over their respective systems. Additionally, neither side has a corner on musical truth. The superior attitudes each side can adopt is tiresome at best.

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