So smooth relaxed detailed with Optospans… wow it’s good. Thanks dchang05!
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Hello, can you please provide a link with the type of Optospan and cable you are using? Thanks!
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I must have the crappy SFP’s. They were $27 on amazon for 2.
So glad you like Optospan, I like them over Finisar too. I was watching Olympics all day so I have not visited the forum as often!
Yes - they have been a game changer for my system - thank you so much for the reccomendation!
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Thanks!!!
Hi there! Hope you have enjoying the Olympics. I’ve watched some too. It’s amazing. I just watched Simone Biles get the gold - so powerful. So if I understand correctly, you used to have a LUMIN and now you have the Grimm MU2? is there a big difference? Are you using Roon? Thanks…Drew
I used to have a Lumin U2 streamer, and now I use Grimm MU2 streamer. Both sounded great! However, my MU2 is still doing break in and it has a new AM M2 fuse in it too so the sound is still improving. I am using Roon now but in the past I was using Lumin App.
Lumin U2 was going through DS MK2 DAC and BHK preamp in the past, and now MU2 has its own internal DAC and Pre. Therefore, there is no way I can compare the two streamers directly. The overall SQ has improved for both streaming and CDs, but I do not know how much of each component of MU2 contributed to the better sound.
But since I am using PST/MK2 to play CD/SACDs through MU2’s preamp (instead of BHK preamp), I can comfortably say the pre in MU2 is superior to BHK.
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Nice! I am using a Lumin U2 mini with LPS from Ken Lau - just got and breaking in the new Roon Nucleus Titan and have LPS from Ken on the way for that - SW-6 on the way with 50 ohm cable to isolate with FO and Optospan (Thanks! To you). I have new power cables and Concerto from Clarus in route to Improve power on front end, all streaming devices, Preamp, Magnetar Disc player, and switches. Gonna be like Christmas over here in the next week and will have many things burning in! Going to be fun and looking forward to things settling in - what an adventure this is ha! I sure am glad I found this forum and I sure appreciate all the help from you. I would not have known much of this - that I learned from you - and has been so helpful. Thank you!
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Actually, you can stream to the Lumin (if desired and if you still have it) and listen to the Lumin through the rear inputs on the MU2. Unless the Lumin is limited to USB out in which case you would need a device similar to the Matrix to convert USB to AES or SPDIF. I am currently using a Matrix between my Bacch4Mac and the MU2.
To be specific, the MU2 can stream to an external Roon Endpoint and allow you to listen to that device while streaming. I do this daily with my BACCH setups.
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My Lumin U2 was sold so fast that by the time I was thinking doing a comparison, I don’t have it anymore🙄
Edit: I need to correct myself. Lumin U2’s best output is USB, and I used a Shunyata Omega to connect it to Mk2 (both Lumin and Omega were sold). This combo gave an incredible lifelike SQ. However, MU2 does not feature an USB input, and I don’t have another AES/Coaxial cable in the same caliber to connect the two. Hence I can only say with MU2 my system sounds better.
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It’s always an exciting time when bring in the new gears into the system, and you have a few. Enjoy😁
Hi There - received my SW-6 and 50 ohm cable today - connected via Optospan SFP’s and SM Fiber. Isolating Roon Titan Server and Lumin on SW-6. It’s so beautiful….profound difference…still trying to find the words. Thank you!
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Connected to SW-10 via SFP’s - forgot to mention. 
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Great news! That’s exactly how I did with mine! Enjoy the music!
I quoted a lot of my old post as lead in to an update. First, the SW-6 does benefit from a couple of hundred hours burn in. Second, the Cisco modules I was using and the GigaFoil were masking a bit of just what this switch can do.
Both the GigaFoil and the Cisco modules were the big contributors to the loss of clarity and a loss of articulation in the low end. Even without the GigaFoil (which I removed) the Cisco switch was not as good as the LHY, but once I optimized the SW-6 with the right modules and fiber (Finisar FTLX1475D3BTL and Corning SM fiber) it really showed how much better my digital system could sound. More spacious soundstaging, drop dead deep and articulate bass, a much improved sense of hearing everything that’s going on in the recording venue while keeping it all musically whole (no “dissection” of the music). I thought I already had all this 
, but even with the best modules I have for the Cisco switch, it was not as good. I have a pair of Optospans and their fiber coming in per Donald’s enthusiasm for them, so I’ll give that a try next. But I’m liking what I’m hearing.
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Interesting that removing the GigaFoil improved things.
I have one installed after my router and before my EERO Wi-Fi net base station.
Fiber Optic Media Converters take the signal from the EERO to a Paul Pang modified, garden variety passive switch connected to an EtherRegen. All of my sources, including an AirLens are plugged into the EtherRegen. Finally, the last piece of my “more is more” approach is that the Ethernet cable from the EtherRegen into AirLens is plugged into a Pink Faun LAN Isolator inserted into the AirLens.
I accumulated all of these bits and pieces along the way and kept them all in play as my system evolved.
Your report makes me wonder if I should pull the plugs (literally) of some of these devices.
Thoughts…?
I can only go by my own experience, but if it means anything I’d say start with the bare minimum and work your way back up, listening as you go. I should have mentioned that I too have a fiber optic break in between my cable modem and router. That stayed in as when I took it out things didn’t sound so good (should have mentioned that 
). But with the GigaFoil then after the router it apparently took a step in the wrong direction.
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One of the devices in the chain would be the weakest link, but I have not had your gears in mine so I cannot comment which one. However, I have tried FO converters before and found them to mask too much everything in SQ. The streaming chain is prone to noise even more so than discs/LPs, and you will be surprised how much more you will hear by eliminating the weakest link.
The only problem is then another link will become the weakest link, and here comes the rabbit hole😆
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