Melco is working with ADOT (Audiophile Digital Optical Technology) a new company specialising in optical fibre upgrade kits for streaming music over networks. The company’s plug ‘n’ play optical fibre upgrade kits introduce high-quality fibre in place of the “noisy copper found in Ethernet connections, effectively isolating hi-fi systems from interference”. The kits are placed between residential routers and hi-fi systems, and allow the technology to isolate audio networks from residential networks.
The kits are based around ADOT’s MC01 media convertor, which converts the (copper) RJ45 Ethernet cable from the router, to a high-quality SFP fibre connection. Streaming devices already equipped with an SFP input, such as the Melco Audio S100 data switch, can readily accept the fibre connection, however, other devices can also benefit, simply by adding a second MC01 media convertor linked via optical fibre cable.
The ADOT project is led by Melco Audio’s UK and European distributor, ADMM, to optimise the functionality of audio over fibre. ADMM, along with a team of Melco users and technology partners worked to establish the best performance from the technology, knowing that the total isolation of copper-based networks using optical fibre brings immediate sound quality benefits. ADOT technology is fundamentally straightforward: the Ethernet cable from the router, which normally connects to data switches feeding hi-fi systems, is ‘broken’ by the insertion of a media converter which converts copper to fibre, which gives the isolation, before the data is converted back to copper, but without any noise or interference.
Three ADOT kit options are available: MC01 Kit 1, 2 and 3. Each comprises a MC01 media convertor, a 1.5 m Duplex fibre cable, plus a matched pair of Duplex SFP fibre adapters. The MC02 kit adds a linear power supply and the MC03 kit adds a custom-built PLiXiR low-noise power supply with three-stage noise reduction. Prices: MC01 Kit 1 £349; MC01 Kit 2 £399; MC01 Kit 3 £750; additional MCO1 convertor (to allow use of a device that does not have SFP port) £179.