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Coaxial digital connections

D

DEK

pfm Member
Forgive the ignorance here but I want to connect the coaxial digital Out from a DVD player or CD transport to my amp.

Does the cable need to be a “dedicated” digital coaxial cable, or is anything suitable provided it fits?

It looks as though one of the digital coaxial inputs on the back of the amp is a regular RCA type fitting, so question is whether a regular RCA cable (that one would use for an analogue signal) would work fine?
 
Regular RCA cable will work just fine.

I would then soon replace it with basic dedicated digital audio cable. There is Amazon Basics one. Other brands are available, I would just place wanted ad here on pfm.
 
I’ve always used a dedicated coaxial cable to connect a digital source to a DAC, I’m sure that a normal rca cable isn’t the optimal solution.
 
The only things you need to know about digital coax is yes, everything that you can plug in will work, yes they sound different and no, buying a really expensive one does not transform the sound quality. In fact there seems to be little correlation between price and sound quality.

A few years ago I tried a bunch of different coax cables between my CD player and DAC. I tried all of the phono cables I had in the house and about four dedicated hifi ones including two Chord ones, the most expensive was £200. They sounded different but the one I think sounds the best is a cheapo video cable with molded yellow plugs, the kind of thing you get free with a DVD player, which is probably where I got it. Still using that today.

Try a few and keep what sounds the best. Ignore price.
 
When I bought my first DAC in the early '90s I could hear differences between an Audioquest and another 'fancy' coax (can't remember the brand).
I think that with modern DACs using modern S/PDIF interfaces that might not have happened.

I am not using coax anymore but I still keep this Cordial I bought from Thomann for peanuts:

https://www.thomann.de/gb/cordial_cpds1_cc_digitalkabel.htm
 
Thanks for all the helpful responses - much appreciated - and especially for your kind message, Salamander (I’ve sent my contact details separately)
Looking forward to reviving the CD collection!
 
Most cables will work perfectly well at anything other than the highest levels of perfection. If you want perfection you should make the cable out of certified RRG59 standard coaxial cable and proper 75Ohm connectors . There are loads of good cables out there made by Belden, Canare, Van Damme etc and they're often sold as video or antenna cable. Canare and Neutrik make the best connectors.
 
colasblue said:
Most cables will work perfectly well at anything other than the highest levels of perfection. If you want perfection you should make the cable out of certified RRG59 standard coaxial cable and proper 75Ohm connectors . There are loads of good cables out there made by Belden, Canare, Van Damme etc and they're often sold as video or antenna cable. Canare and Neutrik make the best connectors.
Click to expand...
I tried to make my own digital coax interconnect but found the bare cable a royal PITA to terminate properly.
 
Really?

BNC and phono clamp plugs are very straightforward. BNC crimp even easier if you have a crimp tool. Canare 75 Ohm phonos do need the proper crimp tool for the central conductor but with BNC you can solder it and most people do.

You do have to cut all the bits to the correct length which can be a bit fiddly.

I'm surprised at you James!!!

I don't even have that much trouble terminating screened twisted pairs into BNC clamp plugs for naim preamps with internal phono cards. Now that really is a match made in Hell!
 
I should have clarified; that was to terminate coax with RCA plugs, not BNC. I could not get the screen conductor to cooperate for soldering.
 
RG-179 is a good cable choice. Excellent braid coverage and more flexible than RG-59. The colour is attractive too
 
davidsrsb said:
For that, I recommend RG-11 with a 89 mm bend radius. You will need some cable lifters for it.
Click to expand...

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If the cable is only a few inches long I doubt they make any real difference for the most of the vast range of cheap co-ax's available. I've tended to use whatever is to hand and DIY a cable. Often from a short bit of decent UHF coax.
 
Jim Audiomisc said:
If the cable is only a few inches long I doubt they make any real difference...
Click to expand...

Interestingly, it can. Digital coax doesn't behave like an analogue cable. One of the issues they can suffer is signal reflections which can be more of a problem if the cable is too short.
 
Mr Pig said:
Interestingly, it can. Digital coax doesn't behave like an analogue cable. One of the issues they can suffer is signal reflections which can be more of a problem if the cable is too short.
Click to expand...
The cable would have to be >>10m long to usefully attenuate the reflection edges
 
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