RCA VS XLR VS ACSS

I have no idea what this ACSS is, but hopefully you made the right choice.

Since you are such in a hurry and can not wait for our US members to sleep the night

I remember reading in an Audio-GD balanced DAC post (can't remember which type) that ACSS was preferred to XLR, which in turn was preferred to RCA.

Also, in the online documentation the S/N ratings are the highest for ACSS.

I do not have an ACSS-amp, but with my gear (see sign) going from RCA to XLR brought a noticable improvement.

You have the gear, why didn't/don't you just compare the different cables/connections? No point asking others for their opinion if you have the gear yourself and you can make a decsion with your own ears. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by dura 

I remember reading in an Audio-GD balanced DAC post (can't remember which type) that ACSS was preferred to XLR, which in turn was preferred to RCA.

Also, in the online documentation the S/N ratings are the highest for ACSS.

I do not have an ACSS-amp, but with my gear (see sign) going from RCA to XLR brought a noticable improvement.

2x this. I don't know from experience, but I read the same thing. There is a reference 5 coming soon thread (or something like that). If you advance search for posts within the thread using search words acss or roc, then it should light up.

What are ACSS cables and do you need anything special to use them

Wow lol. I am amazed at how many people do not know what ACSS is. It is a special connection made by Kingwa for some of his Audio-GD products. You need an Audio-GD DAC (well, any Audio-GD source) with ACSS outputs and an Audio-GD amplifier with ACSS inputs. If you do not know who Audio-GD are, you must be living under a rock  They make some amazing equipment that have outstanding bang for buck prices.

ACSS is a tiny bit better than XLR.  RCA is supermassive fail.

But if I happen to have a DAC from Audio-gd that only have ACSS as balance outputs, how do I convert them if I want to use it with an XLR amplifier?

Oh this is going to be fun, comparing audio topologies in terms of cables used... 

Quote:

Originally Posted by g00ey 

But if I happen to have a DAC from Audio-gd that only have ACSS as balance outputs, how do I convert them if I want to use it with an XLR amplifier?

ACSS is basically a ripoff of Krell's CAST system. They use current source outputs instead of voltage source outputs. 

A voltage source outputs the signal as a voltage and the current is dependent on the load impedance that it's driving.

A current source outputs the signal as a current, which ideally drives the zero impedance input of a current-to-voltage converter.

Within reason you can just use a simple resistor to do current-to-voltage conversion and these can be built into the XLR's in an adapter cable that uses the CAST connector at one end and the XLR at the other.

se