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I2S HDMI cables

JTC

PFM Villager...
I know I’ll regret asking this, but is there anything at all to be gained from buying an upmarket HDMI cable for use as an I2S link between cd transport and DAC?
 
I2S was never designed to 'travel' more than a few inches or leave the printed circuit board it was created on, hopping from one IC to another, so my answer would be "a very short cable."
 
I2S was never designed to 'travel' more than a few inches or leave the printed circuit board it was created on, hopping from one IC to another, so my answer would be "a very short cable."
The link in question isn't really I2S since it uses LVDS at the electrical layer. Such signals have no trouble travelling a moderate distance, and even basic HDMI cables are designed to handle much higher data rates. Whether these I2S/LVDS links have any advantage over USB or S/PDIF is another debate.
 
Hi @mansr, fair enough, I agree with your comment, "Whether these I2S/LVDS links have any advantage over USB or S/PDIF is another debate." I did contemplate using I2S to link to my own TDA1541 DAC some years ago, with a view of avoiding the extra conversion stages, but lost interest. Perhaps when I have more time I will try to motivate myself to complete my project, unfortunately, several other, more interesting/worthwhile projects have attracted my attention.
 
Hi @mansr, fair enough, I agree with your comment, "Whether these I2S/LVDS links have any advantage over USB or S/PDIF is another debate." I did contemplate using I2S to link to my own TDA1541 DAC some years ago, with a view of avoiding the extra conversion stages, but lost interest. Perhaps when I have more time I will try to motivate myself to complete my project, unfortunately, several other, more interesting/worthwhile projects have attracted my attention.

What are you expecting to gain/improve by using I2S?
 
What are you expecting to gain/improve by using I2S?

All I could see was the ability to avoid conversion to SPDIF and back to interface my DIY TDA 1541 based I2S DAC.
Really, I wasn't expecting it to sound any better, much of my DIY stuff is just to have a play.
 
All I could see was the ability to avoid conversion to SPDIF and back to interface my DIY TDA 1541 based I2S DAC.
Really, I wasn't expecting it to sound any better, much of my DIY stuff is just to have a play.
You still have to convert to/from LVDS. It's a single chip at each end either way.
 


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