Digital Connections

wcd3

I have read some conflicting information on the Internet about digital component interconnects. Some audiophiles believe that COAX is better. On the dobly web site, they state that Optical and COAX are equivalent, and they state to go with COAX because it is cheaper. That is their only reason. Does anyone have any credible information showing the pros/cons of using either COAX or a TOSLINK connection?

Thanks,

wangotango68

alot of people BELIEVE thay can here a difference in the to cables
but i think they all full of ****! use witch ever one is more convient for you. do a blind test of the two cables andim willing to bet you won't here any difference at all.as allways my 2 cents

scott:cool:

jcaut

It seems to me that if you use good quality cables, there should be no difference. I believe a lot of people probably make coaxial digital connections using plain old RCA patch cables that will work, but aren't designed for that purpose. Still I'm not sure I could hear any difference.

Optical connections would be immune to picking up noise, for what that's worth. I figure if you're going to use cheap cables, then you're better off with optical.

Also, most of the low- to mid-priced receivers are more generous with optical jacks than they are with the coaxial.

wcd3

Have you looked at the latest Denon. It only has 3 COAX and a ton of TOSLINK connections...

juice21

i use coaxial, i prefer this over optical over a digital connection because the coaxial holds up better than the optical cable (i've had friends go though 2-3 opticals in the time i've owned my coaxial), and it 'feels' like a better connection when i plug it into the back of my reciever. nothing technical, just my .02

wangotango68

The thing that bothers me most about interconnect discussions, and what drives me crazy about people and companies who champion expensive speaker and interconnect cable - is the total lack of any testable evidence supporting opinions or products. The most compelling proof given is "I heard it".
Although I dont have a problem with the opinion that a well constructed $10 - $20 cable might be a bit better than a $2.50 radioshack special.
The biggest laugh (next to "burn-in" - not even going to touch that one) is people who claim wonderful increases in audio quality .. in areas such as "sound stage" "warmth" etc. when upgrading their digital audio interconnects. The only thing travelling through there is a digital datastream. the ONLY possible improvement I could see would be if you were experiencing skips in your audio due to a cable SO poor that you were dropping data along the way. I once read about a guy who sent his ac-3 signal through a coathanger to a hugely expensive dolby digital decoder that had an error counter on it .. that counted a whopping 0 errors over several hours.


When turning to the internet for answers, it seems the only sites or studies that offer any actual scientific or otherwise verifiable comparisons all come to the same conclusion .. interconnects are the biggest hoax / scam going.


scott:cool:

jcaut

I think you're right. With digital information passing through the cables, it looks like it either gets from point A to point B in readable condition, or it doesn't. I can't see how the quality of sound would be degraded, unless enough of the digital information is missing to trip up the decoder.

Micah Cohen

Some people here at Polk swear by TOSLINK, and some people here swear by digital COAX. There is no way to win, and no real way to test the benefits except in your own rig.

Some people here insist on branded cable, others are fine with Home Depot 12 gauge speaker wire.

For anyone to make a concrete recommendation without scientific testing and demonstrable results is just silly. That's the Internet for ya.

MC

PETERNG

For any distance of 3ft or less, coax digital cable seems to be the good choice, for longer distance than 3ft, optical cable is a better choice. I used one 12ft optical cable in one of my set up and it works fine. Here are the costs of what I paid for the AR premium cables
Coax 3ft – 6ft : $3.00 - $3.99
Optical 3ft – 6ft $6.50 $ 8.50
Optical 12 ft $10

juice21

where did you get the cables for those prices? that is cheaper than some generic interconnect cables.

Aaron

Is it me, or does the word "Toslink" just sound nasty?

Aaron

TroyD

You are just hung up on a massage from justpolkme.


Troy

Aaron

If I put "Toslink" and "salad" in the same sentence, does that make it nastily (new word) clear enough for you? Yuck!

Aaron

P.S. I'm not hung up on justpolkme.....yet.