Etalon ethernet isolator.

[K4680]

Is anyone clear regarding how these things work?  I am assuming that they do serve a purpose because otherwise industrial and medical versions would not exist.  However, taking the earlier thought of using the device with AIR, here packet data is sent to the Devialet which then buffers the data to internal memory, with the buffered data then leaving the buffer to do whatever Devialet AIR does to provide music.  So I am assuming that any noise in the Ethernet feed cannot be stored in the buffer to influence the actual data that is stored, then emerges out of the buffer.  So is it a case of simply keeping any electrical interference or noise away from the Devialet Ethernet port?  

That said, personally I do prefer the idea of something like the Etalon rather than stuff like the Intona, if only because the Intona introduces the need for additional LPSU's or similar.  That said I also note Antoine's earlier comments regarding it being a good idea to avoid passive filtering in the digital domain.  

Fascinating stuff, but somewhat confusing!  I know a lot of people have reported good results with network isolation, so I think there has to be some benefits, maybe it's one of those things that work for reasons 'not yet fully understood' in the world of digital audio.

Anyway, I will certainly be interested to read Guillaume's observations of this one.

Hi Confused, there are built-in high-frequency transformer (isolating transformer)! Grounding and voltage separation (ripple loops, etc.)