mukesh soni
Member
coaxial cable
or
optical cable
please advice
which is best cable to DAC
for music
or
optical cable
please advice
which is best cable to DAC
for music
coaxial cable or optical cable for music to DAC
- Thread starter mukesh soni
- Start date
just4kix
Well-Known Member
Coaxial cable for sure. Many DACs do not even support optical input.
Thad E Ginathom
Well-Known Member
Depends who you ask. Some say that optical cable does not transmit electrical noise, others say that it is more prone to jitter. Some say that the coax is design is fatally flawed because the connector is not of the specified impedance even if the cable is --- which is the point in the conversation where I get lost!
On top of all that, there is the implementation and circuitry of the particular devices involved.
Practical answer:
1. If optical does not support the khz you need, then obviously you must use coax.
2. If your device has only one, then, even more obviously
you have to use it!3. If your device has both, try them both. If you can set up some sort of blind test, all the better, but, even with the problems of sighted testing, this is the only way to make sure that you know what's best for you.
heliumflight
Well-Known Member
I have 2 different Coaxial Cables lying unused. Try it out in your system, if it suits your taste you could buy it.
Brajendu
Active Member
I m agree with Thad E Ginathom. To theorize this problem: Coaxial and Optical are the same over short runs. Over very long runs, Optical is better at preserving the signal, since it has a lower amount of signal degradation. When correctly connected, Coax and Optical should be exactly the same. Bandwidth isn't and issue, error correction (when connected correctly) isn't and issue. Distance, say over 50 feet might lean toward optical but who does that? Optical cables can be miles long compared to copper's hundreds of feet for the same amount of signal loss. Optical cable can be fragile and cannot be taken around corners too tightly or pinched. For all intents and purposes though, it doesn't make a difference which one you use. There are a couple of situation under "defective equipment" where one MIGHT be better than the other. But that's a different issue.
CLEARCUT
Active Member
I prefer optical than co-axial. I have tried with Qed performance co axial and one more co axial from that company I cannot remember now. Also used Audioquest, AR co axial also. But when I connected my latest Purchase "forest" optical cable from Audio quest I found the sound was better dynamic than all coaxial. So MY sincere suggestion is to go for optical but the high end in it. Comparing With local and chinese brand optical cable the normal co axial cable itself is better. Try try
anuragn
Active Member
I dont understand one thing: How is it possible that optical cables support lesser bandwidth than coaxial? All telecom cos and ISPs have fibre backbone which supports gigabits and even terrabits of bandwidth. So an optical cable of a metre length can easily support a 100Mbps or so.
Thad E Ginathom
Well-Known Member
Not a technician, but, in those systems that transmit data over miles, or even at very high speeds over short distances, the transmitters and receivers have the power and the accuracy to do that, and the cables have the necessary qualities too. Data fibre is glass, whereas the toslink connectors we buy are plastic. I hate the idea of jumping to conclusions based on materials prejudices, but, in this case, I think there is a real physical basis for it.
Optical is immune to RF and over long distance it can be a good medium. For audio, timing of the 0s and 1s are important. There is internal light reflection inside the optical cable especially if it is not straight. These internal reflection is more in the toslink (toshiba link) optical cables that are used in audio because the medium is plastic instead of high quality quartz. Also when you use optical, you have to convert from electrical to light and back from light to electrical. This conversion also plays a role in introducing jitter.
There is no conversion involved in a coaxial cable and for short distances, a coaxial cable will offer much less jitter than an optical cable. For long distances, a coaxial cable will pickup electrical noise.
For long distances, optical cable can be used for data (not for audio) as timing issues do not matter for data transmission. Also there are enough error correcting mechanism in all data transmission protocols to ensure that data integrity is maintained.
In short "Optical connections have measurably and subjectively more degradation from jitter. The simple reason for this is not the transmission medium, but the additional processing to convert electrical signals to optical, and back."
This post pretty much explains the differences
http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=61637
Last edited:
Couple of months ago I compared coax and optical. Cable length was just 1 m, I immediately found coaxial as superior and felt more relax with it. Music found to be more resolved when using coaxial compared to optical. So I will strongly recommend coaxial for short distance.
Use what sounds best to you. Also how resolving is your setup?
In my bedroom setup I have an AppleTV connected to my receiver via optical cable.
Its obviously very "mid-fi" but I'm absolutely fine with the sound.
In my bedroom setup I have an AppleTV connected to my receiver via optical cable.
Its obviously very "mid-fi" but I'm absolutely fine with the sound.
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