Keep it up boys. Thread comprehensively trashed. Mission accomplished.
i opted for the internal HDPLEX 400W Hi-Fi DC-ATX Power Supply which is fed by an external AC adapter. that way you can use can an inexpensive SMPS and evaluate ā switching to a LPS at a later time if desired.
one note: converting the portion of you network that supports you music chain to fiber optic ethernet will pretty much make the LPS unnecessary.
Assuming what youāre trying to do is electrically isolate your endpoint / DAC from your server, WiFi does the same thing, usually works just as well for our use case (well, unless thereās people simultaneously streaming 400 channels of DSD512, that is, in which case SFP+ would make sense), and is much cheaper. A stereo stream of DSD512 is 45Mbps-ish, and thatās something any modern, reasonably-priced, consumer router should be able to provide (yes, I know, big houses and reinforced concrete wallsā¦ but then, maybe thinking about spending the optical converter money on a contractor and a few hardwired access points might allow you to improve stuff that isnāt just audio-related).
Assuming that thereās electrical gunk being transmitted through the ethernet port, and that itās audible, you still have an electrical connection between your optical => ethernet bridge (no matter whether itās audiophile or not) and your DAC through your endpoint, so thatād be a place where, assuming thereās a difference to be had, you might want to power put a high quality PSU. Good news is itād probably be a 1A-2A 5-volter, so thereās plenty of options that arenāt horribly expensive. Bad news is a nice PSU for both an optical converter and an endpoint is more expensive than just powering an endpoint.
Where @Henry_McLeod and myself probably agree is that electrically isolating the audio chain from the server is generally good practice, though Iād add it isnāt always necessary.
Thank you all for the input and advise!
It was not my intention to stir up trouble, but I am aware now that this is a controversial subject
Just wanted to post a HDPLEX H1 V.3 case pic. Yes, expensive when you add it all up, but a fantastic high-end looking solution for a silent ROCK NUC. Of course, the NUC board install will look a little different. Think I posted one with an actual NUC board in a thread called āShowing off your ROCK setupā; the second (or bottom) photo. If you visit the HDPLEX site, youāll see a lot of other good visuals!