Analog sound through digital output?!?

[akg_man701]

I mistakenly plugged my coaxial output from my computer into the input of my Micro Amp. It was very noisy and crackly, but underneath that I could hear faintly what was clearly the music I was playing! If it's truly digital, how in the world could I hear it? Does this mean I have a DAC in my head???

 

[003]

No, it is probably the analog signal bleeding into the digital (crappy sound card?). You don't notice it with digital because digital has to be either +5v or -5v, exactly. I am not positive though.

 

[akg_man701]

That may be. The digital signal sounds great though...just as good as optical. I wonder how that could happen?

 

[003]

Don't assume optical is better than coax, its the other way around (if its properly configured).

I cant explain it but here is a thread with a good ammount of information:
http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=210320

 

[MiChael.]

003, how can you know what's akg_man701's personal preference ?

 

[JahJahBinks]

i agree, could be crosstalk.

 

[003]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MiChael. /img/forum/go_quote.gif 003, how can you know what's akg_man701's personal preference ?

?? Digital is not something where different cables have different sound signatures or anything like that, it is simply a matter of better or worse. (at least this is I understand it, please inform me if I am wrong)

 

[akg_man701]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 003 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Don't assume optical is better than coax, its the other way around (if its properly configured). I cant explain it but here is a thread with a good ammount of information: http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=210320

I wasn't saying that optical was better than coaxial (though I do doubt that many, including myself, would be able to tell a difference) but I meant to simply state that it doesn't sound noticably different than optical from the same source. Whatever is causing this doesn't seem to affect the digital signal audibly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 003 /img/forum/go_quote.gif ?? Digital is not something where different cables have different sound signatures or anything like that, it is simply a matter of better or worse. (at least this is I understand it, please inform me if I am wrong)

Out of all the threads I've read on this subject, generally the "it's all 1s and 0s; either the signal is there or it's not" gets shot down. I think the impedance of the cable being exactly 75 ohms and some other things are proven at least in measurements to affect jitter. I'm not sure if jitter is as audible as some claim it to be. As for different sound signatures...to me, better or worse would have to imply some kind of sound signature but I have never heard A/B'd different digital cables myself.

 

[003]

Better or worse was the wrong thing to say. Think of it as more or less jitter (which I cant hear either), or more or less voltage/optical reflection.

 

[akg_man701]

If a person can't hear jitter, then s/he probably can't hear any difference among digital cables. Most of the differences I've seen discussed centered around jitter.

 

[MiChael.]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 003 /img/forum/go_quote.gif ?? Digital is not something where different cables have different sound signatures or anything like that, it is simply a matter of better or worse. (at least this is I understand it, please inform me if I am wrong)

Nah, ignore it. I was just fooling around cause it sounds always a bit weird and amusing to me to talk about differences between digital cables.

Optical though have the advantage of not having ground loops and it's galvanically isolated and electronically safer.
In most cases I could consider differences being exaggerated and nowadays there is always supporting statement of jitter.
If there is even 1 ps difference of jitter at any frequency there must be an huge difference. I could be a bit sceptical, but I'd rather say I'm critical.

 

[Dept_of_Alchemy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by akg_man701 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Does this mean I have a DAC in my head???

Yes.

 

[akg_man701]

AWESOME!

That means I can forget about hardware...I have unlimited free placebo upgrades!