Poll and chat: Fibre Media Converters (FMCs)

Some chatter about the use of FMCs in different threads lately. Plus I’m surprised at the number of folks here that seem to be using them now, so thought I would consolidate here plus add a poll to see who on SBAF uses them.

 

for the curious:

2 Pack Gigabit Fiber to Ethernet Media Converter Multi-Mode Dual SC up to 550 m | eBay

+

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09YGXT57X?th=1

Edit, fixed amazon link to the correct variation: SC-SC om4

 

I added the fiber converter to my chain and it made a noticable improvement. I didn't anticipate that it would as I use an Apple airport express (I don't have an ethernet jack in this room) to my Pi2AES. Adding in the fiber connection greatly reduced the noise floor on the Yggdrasil OG. It is now approaching the blackness of the LIM. I also added a couple of Jameco power supplies and the ones provided with the FMCs look pretty cheap.

Jameco Power Supply (x2)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B88EP1I/

DC Connector converter needed with the above power supplies
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YWPGGCG/

 

I believe these are the same but on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08Z7BZG5K/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

Those converters use a different optical connection, SFP. It will work you'll just need to source a different optical connector. This should be the same one as yotacowboy posted above:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08B8BC75C/

 

I’m running these now. They were audible - cleaner, but not a huge difference. Some of my ‘not a huge difference’ might have to do with my already having some Ethernet nervosa in my chain - a Buffalo switch I got for 50 bucks on eBay fed by a cheap LPS, a JCAT input card I got for 150 used also fed by a cheap LPS, etc. I’ve also tried both two cheap 10GTek’s vs. a 250 dollar TeraDak modded one with an OCXO and a built-in LPS with one 10Gtek and think you should save your money and just do the two 10Gtek’s. FWIW I’m running a SFP one, but you will need to buy transceivers for those, which there’s all sorts of additional nervosa about on AudiophileStyle/elsewhere re: which transceivers to get . Would be easier to just get the non-SFP ones that yota linked, even though the audiophiles think SFP sounds “better.” Also, keep in mind folks have used these for NAS and thought they helped there in e.g. a Pi-based streamer, so you can try it even if you don’t stream in that kind of scenario.

Anyway, just laying all that out there to hopefully have my experiments in nervosa help someone else not go too far down the rabbit hole.

 

Before I retired I worked primarily with Cisco (read: $$$) equipment, but we had started buying SFPs from Finisar - https://fs.com as a cost saving measure and found them to be every bit as reliable at literally 1/10 the price. Since retirement I've also purchased a couple of their managed switches for my own use and have been happy with them so far as well. The have all the same networking features at a much nicer price point, and if you are familiar with the Cisco IOS command line, the FSOS commands are very similar and intuitive. I have no affiliation but am quite comfortable recommending them to people looking for budget friendly networking equipment.

 

Oh geeze, I got the SFP converter

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08Z7BZG5K/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

And this cable

https://www.fibertronics.com/cisco-sfp-10g-aoc1m-compatible-10g-sfp-active-optical-cable-aoc

Should I return them and get these instead?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08B8BC75C?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09JP3QNFQ/?th=1

 

@rhythmdevils the active cable has SFPs built in, so that part is fine. Where you probably have an issue is the active cable is SFP+ (10gig) and the convertors are regular SFP (1gig). So you could return the media convertors and get ones that support SFP+, or you could return the active cable and buy a couple of regular SFPs and an appropriate LC-LC patch cable. The latter will only get you gigabit speed, but I'm rather skeptical that 10G will sound better as audio does not use anywhere near that much bandwidth.

 

Do the converters and cable in the second 2 links I posted have any issues? And they avoid SFP which apparently some people have issues with, and I might as well avoid if I''m buying them.

If that is a good choice, what does the "m" figure in the product options refer to? 20km, 2km, 550m.

It would be good to have a set of converters and cable that anyone with no knowledge could buy to try this out.

Cheers!

 

Fooking hell, no, no, no

but one man‘s nightmare might be another man‘s dream

 

The m figure does refer to supported distance. As a networking professional we would never use 20km (or 40km or 80km) optics for a link of only a few meters, but some ostensible audiophiles think the more power the better. I'm not going to comment on that.

If you use those two convertors note you will need an SC-SC patch cable (whereas SFPs use LC connectors), and will also have to note whether the transceivers are single-mode or multi-mode and choose the appropriate cable type. The shorter range ones will be MM and the long range ones will be SM.

Here are a couple primers to understand the different fiber types and connector types.

https://community.fs.com/article/single-mode-cabling-cost-vs-multimode-cabling-cost.html

https://fibercablesdirect.com/content/23-fiber-optic-connector-types-explained

 

you mean to link the SC/SC version for those following along.

 

@rhythmdevils I also made the mistake of buying SFP+ for the 10GTek’s (which are supposed to be SFP without the + only), but when I tried them it works fine. I know if you Google it that that is not supposed to be the case officially, but there’s a number of reports that some supposedly SFP-only devices work with SFP+ transceivers/direct attach cables like the one you got. Just an option if you want to try before you give up on the cable. But yeah, simplest route is the one @yotacowboy mentioned - those just need a cable, no transceivers or cables with transceivers attached required, and no SFP+ vs SFP to worry about.

Unfortunately, as you can tell, there’s a lot of options for these things and it can quickly get confusing.

 

I'm tempted to just return both and get the ones @yotacowboy recommended. that avoids these issues and SFP altogether. I'll check out your links for more info when I can. thank you!

 

That’s the FMCs I use with the Cisco 10gig SFP cable without issue.

Actually, the link I posted for the SFP fiber isn’t a genuine Cisco, but I don’t think it matters that much. I just like that it’s all-in-one, so the fiber type is “optimized” for the SFP and there’s no uncertainty with insertion and whatnot.

If you want genuine Cisco fiber, you might want to look on eBay. That’s where I found my 3M and 2M fibers.

I’m using the PSU supplied with the FMC kit (on the receiver side. The transmitter is powered by my router directly via USB to DC barrel cable). I think I tired using an UpTone LPS-1.2 for the receiver and didn’t notice any difference, so I stuck with the supplied PSU.

 

OK, that is a useful data point. Thanks. I've used many SFPs in SFP+ slots with no issue, but never the other way around. A quick Google suggested it will not work.

Do you know if you are actually operating at 10G? I suspect if it works it is still at 1G. Without a managed FMC you probably have no way of knowing but that it works at all is a good thing. Backward compatibility is common, forward compatibility not so much. Also, since the ethernet ports are only 1G anyway, having 10G over the fiber would serve no purpose regardless.

 

For anyone who wants actual 10G throughput, you would want something like this;

https://www.amazon.com/bitEngine-Converter-Unmanaged-10GBase-T-10GBase-X/dp/B0CF5JHM9Q

SFP+ port for a transceiver, and a 10G capable copper ethernet port. Obviously you would want 10G ethernet ports on whatever you connect to it as well, which is not yet a common thing.

 

Sorry! I'll see if I can get the link to take with the correct SC-SC OM4 version selected.

 

I bought the OM3 version, do you recommend OM4?