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Audio/Digital Cables

L

Linnovice

pfm Member
Hi all. I’ve recently acquired a Musical Fidelity V-Link192 usb to coax converter. I bought it from a fellow pfm member and I’m very very pleased with it. I use it on the usb out from an iMac to the coax in on my Teac UD-H01 DAC. I am now seeking advice on upgrading the relevant cables. I need a 3m usb a to b cable plus a .5m coax to coax digit cable.
My knowledge of digital audio is limited and as with analogue interconnects there is a lot to choose from. What are the recommendations that you would make please? I need to keep the cost within reasonable limits but am prepared to pay around £150 all in.
 
I have tried quite a few coax cables ranging in price from free to £200. They don't all sound the same.

I prefer the cheapest one I have and there is less variation than you get with analogue cables but the differences can be make or break. The top end on some of the cables I tried was a bit horrible.

One reason I think people can conclude all digital cables sound the same is that the overall tonal doesn't change much. Like CD players, they all have a similar frequency response and the differences are more subtle, but still important.

I put an old Philips CD player into the system I have in the shed thinking it will be fine for the low-level background music it would be used for. I wasn't looking for problems but I just couldn't listen to it. I wasn't getting into the music and kept just turning it off. Eventually I added an old Beresford DAC and I can listen to it quite happily now. If you blind tested the two I doubt if most people would hear much difference but there is one and it matters.

My answer would be to try a few different cables. Don't do quick A-B dems but use a cable for a week then swap it. Eventually you'll start to see a preference. If you're lucky you might be able to identify why.
 
TBH If they 'sound different' then I'd be worried about the kit they connect unless they are pretty weird cables, or usually long! I've tried all kinds of coax for 'digital audio'. Even using the wrong impedance, and adding in DIY switchboxes that make no attempt to impedance match. They all worked fine. The main qualifier in my case is that my (co-ax) connections are generally much shorter than a metre. If you want very long cables, this may mean you need to choose the correct impedance of coax. (That said, I doubt that all kit also meets this spec!)

Similarly, I just get USB cables out of a box. For higher speeds you may want a cable that is specced and made for it. So get USB3 cables for USB3 transfers, etc. With that I find items like hubs or ports more fussy as they don't always meet all the specs. But that's the devices, not the cables.
 
Try some and make your own mind up, lots of places offer loans or money back, HiFi dealer if you have a friendly one you buy from or online like FutureShop who offer 60 days money back.

You can’t go wrong with an Amazon Basics USB and Mark Grant CoAx and be well under budget but until you try stuff in your own system you’ll always wonder “what if”.
 
Amber Audio said:
Try some and make your own mind up, lots of places offer loans..
Click to expand...

Exactly. Just try it yourself.

I borrowed two cables from a dealer, one cost £100 and one cost £200. I also bought a Mark Grant cable, one off eBay and I had a few in the house. Some sounded identical but there clear differences between others. I was very surprised to find I preferred the cheapo cable I'd been using from the beginning! It was the most coherent of the lot.

When I first got a separate DAC years ago I tried running the signal through all sorts of crap, just to see if it worked. A steam iron, kitchen utensils anything metal lying around. It all worked and all sounded the same. For the few seconds we were listening.
 
Great stuff chaps, thanks very much for the opinions. I confess though, it’s much as I expected. There seems to be some very divided opinions. I need a single 3m usb first (the one I’m using is two cobbled together) and a .5m digital coax. To start it off I’ll try the Amazon Basics usb version to start with. That must be an improvement but evenif it’s not it’s worth £7.00 to find out. Then as suggested have a look at the online retailers to see if I can get some to try. Audioquest look to be reasonably priced and well made?
 
I know nothing about USB audio. I've never used it or looked into it.

I have looked into coax and there are known technical reasons why cables can sound different. There are reasons why longer cables should sound better than short ones but I couldn't hear that. I tried two cables which were of the same construction but one was three times longer than the other and I couldn't hear any difference.

It's important to note that these things are very equipment dependent. There are differences in transmitters and receivers in the boxes that will effect how they interact with the cables so a cable that's great in one system might make no difference in another. This is why you really just need to get hold of a few cables and try them.
 
Went shopping last week to Sainsburys, bought some Heinz baked beans and carried them home in an Aldi poly bag. They tasted ok but nowt special. Did another shop this week. More beans but this time I carried them home in a Waitrose bag. They tasted amazing.
 
mindlagoon said:
Went shopping last week to Sainsburys, bought some Heinz baked beans and carried them home in an Aldi poly bag. They tasted ok but nowt special. Did another shop this week. More beans but this time I carried them home in a Waitrose bag. They tasted amazing.
Click to expand...

Your amusing analogy doesn't work and is wrong because the bag is not an active component of the food.
 
This probably raises the contentious issue of “burn in” too.

Both of cable and connectors.

If you have a loan cable you don’t know it’s history, a new one may also prove so so.

If you don’t believe that cables sound different, you may not believe in burn in, or for that matter cable length at domestic levels.

You may not have the ability to hear any differences so any comments are just opinions and should be treated so.

I do think there’s hype around cost and SQ.

I guess what I’m agreeing with is you have to suck it and see for yourself.

Gary
 
Try Supra. They manufacture themselves and are pretty good value and no nonsense.

I have one of their coax cables and it was an improvement.
 
H20GNA said:
This probably raises the contentious issue of “burn in” too.

Both of cable and connectors.

If you have a loan cable you don’t know it’s history, a new one may also prove so so.

If you don’t believe that cables sound different, you may not believe in burn in, or for that matter cable length at domestic levels.

You may not have the ability to hear any differences so any comments are just opinions and should be treated so.

I do think there’s hype around cost and SQ.

I guess what I’m agreeing with is you have to suck it and see for yourself.

Gary
Click to expand...
Excellent and very funny too! I love a little humour in this world.
 
Personally I'd recommend one of these for the coax digital cable:

http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-5...0001&campid=5338728743&icep_item=180238990058

Decent 75ohm cable specified to 6GHz with Canare true 75ohm connectors. I'm using one between my Audiolab 6000CDT and Chord DAC64 in non-re-clocking mode where fast edge speed is critical to maintain jitter performance. Noticeably better than another random cheap RCA coax I had and also better than a fancy and expensive Chord Co. cable that I borrowed for dem.
The digital cable definitely makes a difference if your DAC does not re-clock the data but is relying on the source to provide the word clock info.
 
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I have one of those Belkin cables between my Karik and AV5103 and it gives very good results. I think the DAC in the amp is better than the Karik’s own. To my ears it definitely sound better.

I’ve decided to bite the bullet and buy a pair of cables from the mid range available. A Neo d+ ubs cable and a Chord C digital coax. They should arrive by Monday so I will report back then.
Thanks again for all the replies.
 
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