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Why is NuForce Icon HDP's optical input ROUND?

post #1 of 9
1/6/12 at 7:48pm
Thread Starter 

Ok so I fiiiiiiiiiiiinally was able to find a DAC+AMP combo which I think would suit me. It's a bit expensive... the Nuforce Icon HDP. But, I guess I got to do it, since I won't buy ASUS' soundcard (I'm a PC listener).

 

But the thing is... I got optical RECTANGULAR(ish) output from my mobo. However, this baby's optical input is ROUND.

 

So what do you guys think? Can I find an optical cable with rectangular input and round output?

 

I would also appreciate your thoughts about this choice of mine -> Is NuForce a good brand? And yes, I did search the Forum. The impressions seem positive so far.

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Gear mentioned in this thread:

NuForce Icon HDP (High-end Headphone Amp, USB DAC, Preamp)
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post #2 of 9
1/6/12 at 8:01pm

It's called a TOSLINK Mini connector.  It's very common actually.  You can buy a cable or a convertor from the square to round.  Monoprice has them for about 75 cents.

 

A tip though: Always, always, use a metal tipped TOSLINK mini.  The plastic ones can break off, and if they do, they are almost impossible to get out of the jack.  I learned this the hard way.

 

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post #3 of 9
1/6/12 at 8:57pm

the toslink to 3.5mm optical adapter will be included in the HDP if you buy a new one 

 

or you can just buy the adapter online, it's everywhere :P

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post #4 of 9
1/6/12 at 8:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Axonn View Post

Ok so I fiiiiiiiiiiiinally was able to find a DAC+AMP combo which I think would suit me. It's a bit expensive... the Nuforce Icon HDP. But, I guess I got to do it, since I won't buy ASUS' soundcard (I'm a PC listener).

 

But the thing is... I got optical RECTANGULAR(ish) output from my mobo. However, this baby's optical input is ROUND.

 

So what do you guys think? Can I find an optical cable with rectangular input and round output?

 

I would also appreciate your thoughts about this choice of mine -> Is NuForce a good brand? And yes, I did search the Forum. The impressions seem positive so far.



yeah, I'm a owner of the HDP, and I'm satisfied ksc75smile.gif

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post #5 of 9
1/6/12 at 9:04pm
Thread Starter 

barleyguy: LOL @ avatar. Very cute. As for the cable: don't worry, I want to buy a true glass fiber, not the plastic stuff. Unfortunately that's quite rare so I'll have to do a bit of digging. But I will keep your advice in mind too! Thanks.

 

Kepic: Wouldn't using a converter degrade the quality of the signal? (just a shot in the dark here, I'm not an expert!)

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post #6 of 9
1/7/12 at 8:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Axonn View Post

barleyguy: LOL @ avatar. Very cute. As for the cable: don't worry, I want to buy a true glass fiber, not the plastic stuff. Unfortunately that's quite rare so I'll have to do a bit of digging. But I will keep your advice in mind too! Thanks.

 

Kepic: Wouldn't using a converter degrade the quality of the signal? (just a shot in the dark here, I'm not an expert!)


It's a digital optical signal.  Either all the bits get there, or they don't.  There is not even any electrical properties to worry about.  And the bandwidth of Toslink is only 384 Kilo-samples per second maximum, whereas fiber can carry up to 10 Gigabits.  So it would be hard to even make a bandwidth argument.

 

The short version is, that no, a convertor will make absolutely no difference to the signal.

 

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post #7 of 9
1/7/12 at 9:42am
Thread Starter 

There is still the issue of jitter, which I read about here on this Forum. Coaxial seems to be better with that, but not so good with noise. In any case, *glass* fiber (as opposed to plastic-glass fiber) is presumably better with the jitter (although, it is more fragile than plastic fiber).

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post #8 of 9
1/7/12 at 10:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Axonn View Post

There is still the issue of jitter, which I read about here on this Forum. Coaxial seems to be better with that, but not so good with noise. In any case, *glass* fiber (as opposed to plastic-glass fiber) is presumably better with the jitter (although, it is more fragile than plastic fiber).


Jitter is caused by timing issues.  It's when the samples are not quite evenly spaced apart in time, and so the signal is not time coherent.  Jitter cannot be caused by an optical cable unless the light was to slow down or speed up, which would completely violate the laws of physics (the speed of light is a constant.)  Do you actually think light travels differently through a plastic fiber than a glass one?

 

Also, jitter can be repaired on the destination end by buffering the signal and respacing the samples properly, such as with a PLL circuit.

 

As you can tell, I'm skeptical that optical cables make any difference at all to the signal, past the point where the bits are all intact.

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post #9 of 9
1/8/12 at 12:20pm
Thread Starter 

barleyguy: Since I'm an amateur astronomer, I think you can imagine I know quite a bit of physics.

 

Anyway, there was a deeply technical post on this Forum which actually explained why optical cables can (and do) have jitter issues, including why glass-fibers are better. I'm sorry but I don't have the URL any more. The basic idea is that plastic fibers can get broken up or twisted more easily and that's when data corruption may occur.

 

Sorry if I'm so sketchy about all this ::- D.

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