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Digital Coaxial vs Optical Toslink
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dainthomas
Lifer
DTS sounds just fine to me coming from my A2 through a toslink cable. Maybe I'll spend a couple hundred bucks more for a player with coax out so I can tell the difference on a spectrum analyzer. :roll:
biggestmuff
Diamond Member
cmdrdredd, spidey07 has a history of posting in these threads. He has claimed there's an audible difference in past threads, but has since backed down from those statements. He has also admitted that he has never tested the two connections together, back-to-back under ideal circumstances.
spidey07, studios don't use toslink because it is not a professional level transport. Studios still use high quality, balanced, analog connectivity and AES/EBU for most digital connectivity between processing devices. For transporting files from the DAWs to the server farms, 100Base-T COTS LAN equipment is used with a move towards GIG-E. And with all of that high technology, almost every studio still uses MIDI in some way even though, by today's standards, its speed of 31.5 kBaud is relatively low.
montypythizzle
Diamond Member
:thumbsup:
TastesLikeChicken
Lifer
There are valid arguments for both sides of this issue. Theoretically, digital coax does have some advantages over TOS transmission since there's no digital to optical conversion. It also has some drawbacks, such as the potential for ground-loops.
However, the bandwdith of both is so large and so little is used in comparison during transmission it's like arguing whether a 3000 horsepower jet engine is better than a 2000 horsepower jet engine for doing a steady 40 mph.
As far as jitter, that doesn't come into play in digital transmission. Jitter is only an issue during a digital to analogue conversion process.
In regards to audible differences, no blind tests have ever been able to establish that people can hear a difference between the two, even when people who claim to be able to detect a difference are used. The only real difference is apparent when the people tested know what type of transmission mode is being used in advance, which would imply that any audible difference is psychological in nature and not truly perceptive.
However, the bandwdith of both is so large and so little is used in comparison during transmission it's like arguing whether a 3000 horsepower jet engine is better than a 2000 horsepower jet engine for doing a steady 40 mph.
As far as jitter, that doesn't come into play in digital transmission. Jitter is only an issue during a digital to analogue conversion process.
In regards to audible differences, no blind tests have ever been able to establish that people can hear a difference between the two, even when people who claim to be able to detect a difference are used. The only real difference is apparent when the people tested know what type of transmission mode is being used in advance, which would imply that any audible difference is psychological in nature and not truly perceptive.
nguyendot1
Senior member
For all intensive purposes, and for the audience this thread is pointed at, optical and coaxial are the same.
Remember a digital coaxial cable must maintain a 75 ohm impedance throughout its run. You can't bend it much either, much like an optical cable or it will go out of impedance.
As for only applying to digital/analog conversion, unless you have some newfangled pure digital speakers, your amp/receiver will convert the signal from digital to analog.
Either way, whichever you use will sound good. I use both, ,don't really care if there's a .01% difference, it just sounds good.
Remember a digital coaxial cable must maintain a 75 ohm impedance throughout its run. You can't bend it much either, much like an optical cable or it will go out of impedance.
As for only applying to digital/analog conversion, unless you have some newfangled pure digital speakers, your amp/receiver will convert the signal from digital to analog.
Either way, whichever you use will sound good. I use both, ,don't really care if there's a .01% difference, it just sounds good.
YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Moderator<br>A/V & Home Theater<br>Elite member
I stopped paying attention at "intensive purposes"
Every cable has a minimum bend radius. This can be due to the electrical characteristics or a simple requirement to guarantee it will not break. But to say "You can't bend it much either, much like an optical cable or it will go out of impedance. " is ridiculous.
Considering that digital coax works even if you use a 50ohm audio cable. I think variations in cable impedance really aren't that big of a deal. Maybe with measurement equipment...but not in practice.
Keep in mind that the rated impedance is Nominal. Even a cable which is not bent will vary in characteristic impedance throughout...especially at the connectors.
Yes, those reflections are fairly significant. However, quite a bit of the signal still reaches the destination. As long as this is enough to detect, it will work just fine.
I should also note that the reason that this doesn't matter so much for most HT applications is due to the relatively short length of wire often used in HT. The longer the wire...the more important this is.
And just to give a practical example. Lets assume that we have a 50 ohm cable with 75 ohm sources. The magnitude of reflection at each end is .2
by the time the wave gets to the load it is at .64 its magnitude. The reflection when it gets back to the load is .04 the original magnitude. That is a pretty steep difference. Provided that .64 of the magnitude is enough for the load to recognize as a "1" then it will still work.
Certainly this would be a worst case scenario. After all, my only point was that bending a coax cable will not cause enough reflections to cause improper operation.
Que? What do you mean by "than"? 3.5mm jack in Toslink (optical fiber) or RCA (electrical coaxial)?
Fiber optic is obviously immune to interference and likewise electrically isolates each device. However, proper shielding and interconnects preclude the possibility of most interference with coaxial. There is even less chance if properly routed -i.e. not in parallel, especially with power cables, &c. A ground loop can still occur but that isn't caused by the cable, per se.
than with...
I'm talking about the normal cables that you get with most speaker systems. Every time I place a call or get an incoming call I can hear it ahead of time on my speakers since the cable picks up the signal. That's mainly dependent on the length of the cable from what I understand. Are S/PDIF coax cables shielded in such a way that this doesn't occur?
I'm talking about the normal cables that you get with most speaker systems. Every time I place a call or get an incoming call I can hear it ahead of time on my speakers since the cable picks up the signal. That's mainly dependent on the length of the cable from what I understand. Are S/PDIF coax cables shielded in such a way that this doesn't occur?
S/PDIF is, as the name says, just an interface. The coaxial cables used are the same as for TV (RG-6 or RG-59). So yes, they are specifically shielded against interference. They could replace audio cables (or video) but not speaker wire in general useage due to the need for a larger conductor. Most speaker wire included with systems is very small though. If that is the case you could either try a larger gauge (lower number) or get more costly shielded wire -still, ideally the gauge should be matched for the length.
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