[spencexxx]

I've never made a cable in my life...

I just bought some Cardas star quad and the guy who sold it had some Cardas 21 guage coax too. I had no idea what to do with it, but now I've got a meter run on the way. I though I could make a couple rca cables out of them (?) or are they only for digital....I wanted interconnects...

Anyway< While browsing for RCA plugs, I thought I saw some RCA plugs that said "for coax" ... is that just marketing, or do I need a special one?

I can imagine how the star quad will work, but the coax remains a mystery.
Any help/tips appreciated!

 

[macrog]

Good rca plugs clearly make a difference to sound as well. I have always liked WBT plugs but Neutric (? spelling) also make nice sounding plugs that are very reasonably priced.

Regards

Andrew

 

[Ynis Avalach]

Well if it's a mono coax which is should be, then there's a single inner wire, for your signal and there will be a copper mesh concentrically wrapped around the insulated inner signal wire.
This acts a the return pole. You just unwrap the last bit of the mesh and twist it together to form a wire, there you go. You can now solder it to the outer contact of the RCA plug.
Ava

 

[AudioCats]

the "coax" model doesn't require soldering, you just strip the cable and fit into the plug, and secure the cable to the plug with a crimp band.

A lot of BNC plugs are that way too.

 

[cyberspyder]

For video purposes, has to be a true 75-ohm connector.

 

[spencexxx]

Ok,, so I can just use any old RCA plug then... nothing special. It sounded like what Ynis described. I'm thinking of placing an order for some Cardas GRMO's ... they seem pretty nice. If I understand right, I can do both the coax and the quads with those.

Should be nice!

Its not for video....but its good to know that ONLY video needs the 75ohm. Crimping ones would be nice, and if Moon and the other place have some, maybe I'll get them, but to tell the truth, I could use the solder practice!

 

[linuxworks]

don't worry about impedance. its NOT going to affect your sound if your dac is at all competant.

try to find 75ohm cable but even that isn't critical (anymore).

almost anything works for spdif.

 

[Jocko Homo]

Yeah, it works.

Sounds good..........totally separate question.

If you want it to really sound good, everything has to be 75 ohms. Cable, connectors, circuitry. Odds of your gear being correct decreases for each item mentioned in the order shown.

Jocko

 

[FallenAngel]

RCA isn't 75-ohm, but some come close, such as Canare crimp-on connectors.

 

[Jocko Homo]

Yeah, I have heard that before. Still don't believe it. Most RCAs are 25-30 ohms. The ones with the funny cut-outs are supposed to have less capacitance, but in practice it doesn't really work out that way. Just makes for more discontinuities.

XLRs are actually 110 ohms, but totally unsuitable for AES-EBU. Similar problem.

Jocko

 

[FallenAngel]

AES/EBU is supposed to be 110 Ohms, but XLRs are nowhere near that so it's a mess. RCA can get close to 75-ohms, but most aren't; Canare tried to make theirs as close as possible but obviously the best solution is BNC, why not just use it.

I wired a BNC input on all of my DACs and always build my DACs with BNC, it's simple.