[The-One]

I'm looking for a 1/4" to RCA adaptors, but apprently it's said that adding adaptors will degrade the sound.

if that is so, then I should spend less on the RCA cables as the adptors would be the weakpoint/bottleneck.

or buy 1/4 to rca cables, but that would leave me very little flexibility in the future when comes to cables (or buy more adaptors, which defeats the purpose of buying special cable in 1st place)

So is it true that adaptors will degrade the sound as an extra contact in the chain is introduced?? or are there better and worse adaptors?

thx

 

[deltaydeltax]

I think if you can hear a difference, the US Navy will give you a job monitoring sonar transmissions.

I can see Y-adapters causing some issues. But not just a straight through connector.

Others sill argue and WOW! what a storm this question can start. Just search for this topic, you'll see it comes ever now and then.

 

[Lil' Knight]

It's supposed to degrade but you'll never notice that.

 

[Taikero]

The only time I notice a difference with an adapter/cable is if I change material the adapter connects with (e.g. nickel vs. gold or silver vs. copper). As long as the adapter/cable is of reasonable build quality/purity, the difference is quite small in my experience.

It's probably a good idea to keep the number of adapters in your chain down, but flexibility can be a good thing as well.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Just use the adaptor you want and don't worry about it being "audiophile grade" or made from CNC machined silver and inset with precious gems. You won't hear a difference.

 

[nick_charles]

I plan to test the effect of connectors in terms of actual signal loss. I have just bought a 6' length of AR AP031 and a set of female-female connectors , I have several 3' lengths of AR AP031 so I will compare a 3' length , a 6' length and 2 x 3' lengths connected - watch this space...

 

[Sherwood]

Excellent, Nick. I'd love to see some real figures on this.

 

[Lil' Knight]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nick_charles /img/forum/go_quote.gif I plan to test the effect of connectors in terms of actual signal loss. I have just bought a 6' length of AR AP031 and a set of female-female connectors , I have several 3' lengths of AR AP031 so I will compare a 3' length , a 6' length and 2 x 3' lengths connected - watch this space...

Sounds interesting. Keep us posted about your test.

 

[moogoob]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just use the adaptor you want and don't worry about it being "audiophile grade" or made from CNC machined silver and inset with precious gems. You won't hear a difference.

But emeralds really open up the midrange!!!!11

 

[mulveling]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just use the adaptor you want and don't worry about it being "audiophile grade" or made from CNC machined silver and inset with precious gems. You won't hear a difference.

Absolutely agree. I admit sometimes it doesn't "feel right" especially when it doesn't look good (I can get picky about looks and will spend a few bucks just for that every now & again), but I there is no way I can hear a difference as long as all the connections are solid. Sure there is some difference in a scientific sense, maybe even measurable in some way, but not the kind of differences the human ear can discern IMO. If I need an adapter bad enough I use it, even if it's from Radioshack. No problem yet that these normal ears can discern on the Tannoy Dimensions, HD650, L3000, or Qualia.

 

[nick_charles]

I just tested the following combinations.

AR 3' cable no 1 (AR-3-1)
AR 3' cable no 2 (AR-3-2)
AR-3-1 plus female/female adaptor plus AR-3-2
AR-3-1 plus switchbox plus AR-3-2
AR 6' cable (AR-6)

Lowest average attenuation AR-6
Biggest average attenuation AR-3-1
Biggest difference at any frequency = 0.028db
Average difference for best/worst = 0.020db

Average difference between (switch box and 2 cables) and 6' cable = 0.012db

Average difference between (Adaptor and 2 cables) and 6' cable = 0.005db

Average difference between AR-3-2 and AR-3-1 = 0.013db

Rank order
1: Six foot cable (-9.363db)
2: Connector and cables ( - 9.368db)
3: AR-3-2 (-9.370db)
4: Switch Box and cables ( -9.375)
5: AR-3-1 (-9.383db)

and *yes* I did double check these results.

Relative Cable roll-off was measured by testing attenuation at different points viz between

1K and 20K,
2K and 20K,
3K and 20K,
4K and 20K,
5K and 20K,
6K and 20K,
7K and 20K,
8K and 20K,

Difference between best and worst at each range (db)
1K and 20K 0.011
2K and 20K 0.008
3K and 20K 0.008
4K and 20K 0.007
5K and 20K 0.007
6K and 20K 0.009
7K and 20K 0.007
8K and 20K 0.005

fyi : the least drop across frequencies was with two lengths of cable and a simple $1.99 connector.

EDIT: I just redid some of the tests changing the sampling rate to 48K and then 96K. The same pattern holds for each but the differences are smaller between combinations. now 0.014 between 6' and 3' cables. The 96K test is however not reliable as it changes the average level from -9db to-6db (bizarre) the 48K sampling leaves the level at the same er level.

 

[CompressionalFlagellation]

Pretty much the same question I have.

 

[Rick]

Audibility Of Distortion

Some people can hear more than others.

Just because you may not be able to hear degraded audio from an adapter, doesnt mean someone else won't.

 

[daglesj]

Yes plugging adaptors into the chain does seems wrong but I've done it to increase convenience and I cant tell the difference.

I feel so free!

 

[nick_charles]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fsma /img/forum/go_quote.gif Audibility Of Distortion Some people can hear more than others. Just because you may not be able to hear degraded audio from an adapter, doesnt mean someone else won't.

1.Please resize or crop those images, they are far too big

2. Distortion at -45db may sound like not much but compare this to distrortion that you may actually find in audio kit and it is fantastically huge, even LP does not have distortion levels that high. Distortion in CD players is in the -100 to -110db range. THD and IMD in amps are down in the - 80 to - 90db levels. Distortion at -45db is 256 times more pronounced than distortion at - 93db. A distortion level of -45db means you have 1 part distortion to 178 parts signal i.e ~ 0.56% distortion.

3. With adaptors what you really get is signal loss, which is measurably tiny. For instance the signal in my tests decreased (two cables and adaptor vs 6ft cable) by 0.005db, 0.001V or a signal loss of 0.1% which even if you actually noticed it (unlikely) would just cause you to turn the amp up a tiny bit. The signal spectra was fundamentally unaltered. In fact the wires and connector arrangement had slightly less roll off than any other combination, not significant though. To the best of my knowledge nobody has ever found measurable distortion in cables or connectors at audio frequencies.