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AES/EBU vs RCA s/pdif into dac, RCA analog out

Hi, this seems like it may be a dumb question, but here goes. If you feed the digital signal into the dac via AES/EBU and then use the dac's analog RCA outputs to your preamp (preamp only has RCA input), would this result in a better sound than using the dac's RCA s/pdif digital inputs? Or would the results be exactly the same? I hope I'm making this clear: AES/EBU vs RCA s/pdif coax input in while  using analog RCA out.  I don't currently have an AES/EBU digital cable, or I would just try this out.  I am considering purchasing one just to see if there's any difference. Thanks for any advice.

heymikey

Showing 1 response by mike_in_nc

mike_in_nc
1,125 posts
 

There is no general answer, as in theory, the two inputs (coax SPDIF and AES3) should sound the same. In older or less well engineered DACs, one could sometimes hear a small difference between the inputs, but I have not noticed differences with recent DACs I've tried.

Try to get the cable on a money-back basis, is my advice.

(P.S. AES3 is the current designation for what is sometimes called AES-EBU.)

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