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Interconnects for HR Micro Stack

post #1 of 6
11/18/09 at 11:24pm
Thread Starter 
I've decided to pick up the HR Micro DAC and Amp (separately, was gonna get the portable combined DAC/Amp until I realized that you can't use the wall wart as a power supply), and I'm trying to figure out what interconnects to get with it.

I need an Optical or Coaxial interconnect roughly 3ft in length to connect my sound card to the DAC, then a short mini to mini interconnect to connect the DAC to the amp. I'm hoping to order them from HeadRoom to avoid additional shipping/border fees.

As far as Optical/Coaxial cable goes, which is superior? I read that over short distances it really makes no difference, in which case I think I'd prefer Coaxial just because Optical requires an adaptor for my sound card (not a fan of having additional strain on the inputs of any equipment). Is that statement true?

These were the interconnects I was looking at. Will they do, or will I suffer some loss of SQ?

Coaxial Cable:

Acoustic Research Coaxial Cable 3ft. | HeadRoom Audio

Mini to Mini:

Cardas 6 inch Mini to Mini cable | HeadRoom Audio
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post #2 of 6
11/19/09 at 12:25am
The 6" mini is nice, but I'd get my cables elsewhere. HR charges a lot more than other stores. Parts-express has the same AR cable $10 cheaper. They have optical also.
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post #3 of 6
11/19/09 at 12:28am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ert View Post
The 6" mini is nice, but I'd get my cables elsewhere. HR charges a lot more than other stores. Parts-express has the same AR cable $10 cheaper. They have optical also.
The problem is the border fees I get charged as I'm in Canada, on top of additional shipping charges. When all is said and done, getting my cables elsewhere will probably wind up costing me a good $10-$20 more than at HR.

How is the coaxial cable? Will it do the job without distorting the sound since it's only a 3 foot cable?

I've placed the order for the Stack with those 2 cables, but I can still cancel if that coaxial is crap.
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post #4 of 6
11/19/09 at 3:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Necrolic View Post
The problem is the border fees I get charged as I'm in Canada, on top of additional shipping charges. When all is said and done, getting my cables elsewhere will probably wind up costing me a good $10-$20 more than at HR.

How is the coaxial cable? Will it do the job without distorting the sound since it's only a 3 foot cable?

I've placed the order for the Stack with those 2 cables, but I can still cancel if that coaxial is crap.
I have no experience with the AR cable but AR are generally well constructed so I don't see why it wouldn't be fine. I have a few Dayton coax cables from partsexpress that were about $10 and they get the job done. You'll also need a phono to 3.5mm adapter for that coax cable to plug into the micro dac. Personally I find optical much easier to deal with.
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post #5 of 6
11/19/09 at 6:01am
just get the cardas 6" min to mini from headroom...you can't get any better than this. for the digital, you can get the dayton optical or the coaxial acoustic research (both from hedroom).

I use the dayton optical and the cardas 6" in my ultra micro stack and it they both really great and sound fantastic.
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post #6 of 6
11/19/09 at 9:38am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ert View Post
I have no experience with the AR cable but AR are generally well constructed so I don't see why it wouldn't be fine. I have a few Dayton coax cables from partsexpress that were about $10 and they get the job done. You'll also need a phono to 3.5mm adapter for that coax cable to plug into the micro dac. Personally I find optical much easier to deal with.
The Micro DAC uses a standard coax jack, not a mini, so the adaptor isn't necessary. The only HR products that use that adaptor now are pre-2007 DACs, and the Portable Micro Amp/DAC all-in-one package (which sadly does not support a wall power supply, so I won't be getting that as batteries are bleh).

I cancelled the order for now as I'm wavering a little on whether or not to get the DAC as I just dropped $800 on the rest of my rig and am a little low on cash, I may just get the amp and attach it to the headphone line-out of my sound card.
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