Better: Coax, Optical or BNC?

[FallenAngel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cobaltmute /img/forum/go_quote.gif As you've said, you can abuse the daylights out of the signal. It makes sound. But have you ever tried to get it right? True 75 Ohm end to end? And then compared the difference in sound?

Sure have, still can't tell the difference, but I do like getting things right and following specs.

 

[linuxworks]

I have not done a/b tests on 'good' and 'intentionally bad' cabling. maybe one day I'll do that for curiosity sake.

what I can say is that it is a lot more than 'I hear sound'; the audio sounds fine and never shows any sign of 'problems' no matter what I do.

I realize this goes right in the face of those that claim to hear sonic diffs even using the same interconnect style (coax to coax, for example) but I've varied the cabling quite a lot over the years and never once did I say 'hmm, something isn't quite right'. never. not once in over 15 yrs of doing digital audio.

 

[linuxworks]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FallenAngel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sure have, still can't tell the difference, but I do like getting things right and following specs.

that's fine and I agree. if you CAN, its a good idea to stay as close to the specs as possible.

however, if you think back about how spdif (consumer) came about, it was designed to use 'cheap low quality video cabling' and they KNEW that rca's were not anything close to 75ohms. was this a brain-fart in the design? or did they allow enough 'slop' so that it would not matter in the real world? I think its the 2nd one, personally. I really don't consider the spdif spec at all 'bad'. it does the job pretty well, from my experience. people love to bash it but part of that is because its trendy to think that original designers were a bunch of morans. I don't think they were.

 

[cobaltmute]

Quote:

Originally Posted by linuxworks /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have not done a/b tests on 'good' and 'intentionally bad' cabling. maybe one day I'll do that for curiosity sake.

It is not just about the cable. What good is a true 75 Ohm cable if you screw up the impedance the minute it hits the PCB? You have to look at the whole system.

 

[linuxworks]

yes, you have a point, it supposedly matters end to end and that includes the pc traces, as well.

I seriously wonder how many dacs and reclockers (and even transports) are designed 'to that level'. gut feeling: almost none.

 

[cobaltmute]

I would say that they are in the minority.

 

[anetode]

Quote:

Originally Posted by linuxworks /img/forum/go_quote.gif as for the better interconnect, any properly done interconnect will sound the same. the issue is: on YOUR dac and transport, is there a better *implementation*?

Exactly. Relegate the choice of interconnect to whatever's convenient or available. The jitter immunity of a DAC is determined by its implementation; mainly by the presence of an effective PLL (or equivalent).

 

[luvdunhill]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FallenAngel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sure have, still can't tell the difference, but I do like getting things right and following specs.

measuring with what, a multimeter? seriously...