Confused about adapter for RCA to BNC

Source will be CD transport. 

@jeffbij

Jay’s CDT2MK III to Mojo Mystique XSE DAC

https://www.mojo-audio.com/b-stock-mystique-x-se-dac/

https://www.jays-audio.com/cdt2-mk3

Looks like I found one:

https://www.thecableco.com/bnc-to-rcaadapter.html?srsltid=AfmBOop9Z_-DsOBcENbzXsYLJAlzVcrZjtWu4wWYZQjmh0FyDYCN-XIY

Wow-- sorry for my inattention. I had no idea so many had responded.

I hope you’ll forgive me not responding to every response, individually. I received pneumonia and shingles shots yesterday and am not "feeling up to par" (my hair’s no longer long, so cutting it is a moot point)...

@carlsbad2

Yes -- I inadvertently damaged it. The transport is really heavy and I’d prefer to not ship it from N. CA to Texas for repair. The fact that the DAC doesn’t have a bnc input is more the issue, in this case.

@mitch2

Good to know! I actually just bought the DAC (largely on the basis of your "6 DACs" thread, BTW). Hawthorne said they’d ship me an adapter for no charge. Don’t know what brand. I didn’t ask. I haven’t received the dac, yet.

@audphile1 , @steakster , @jeffbij

Well, for my budget, my $1700 Synergistic research bnc cable does qualify as "fancy". It might not for others, here. Thanks for the warning about the 75 ohm rating, @audphile1 . I could get it reterminated I guess. I’ll contact Synergistic. I bet it won’t be cheap! I’d rather not sell it and take a loss. It’s the most expensive cable I’ve bought, so far.

@marco1 , @rja

Had fully intended to buy Black Cat but The Cable Co. no longer carries them and the Black Cat website lists a price of $165!

@marco1 , @mitch2

Thanks for the compliments. It’s not actually "the real deal" - we couldn’t afford to slather the walls with vertical grain Doug fir or have any fancy wood joinery. But it’s close enough for us. Dog was a Malamute/Husky/Wolf hybrid -- one of two sisters we adopted. Yes; those dogs are very appealing, as long as they are contained. They love to go under/over fences and roam! Our last two have been Pyr crosses. Also lovely dogs.

Thanks to all for your comments!

Both the DAC and the Cardas adapter arrived today.

I was excited to hook up everything, only to quickly realize the Cardas adapter is way too big for the RCA input on back of the DAC.  

Given the cost of audio gear and what a pain it can be to assemble good-sounding systems, you'd think the least manufacturers could do would be to standardize these connections.  Apparently that's asking too much.  

@audphile1

... or getting the cable reterminated. I reached out to Synergistic but they haven’t responded yet.

Regarding the poor fit, the interior dimension of the barrel of the male rca end of the adapter is too big compared to the exterior of the barrel of the female rca socket in the dac. In other words, it’s too loose of a fit. By a lot. It simply fails to make the connection. The last time I demo’d ICs from The Cable Co. I ran into the opposite problem with one cable pair.

I found an adapter listed on the Transparent site for $10. Given their reputation for expensive wire, I was very surprised!

Today I also discovered that due to the stiffness of the Synergistic cable (twisted geometry) , the only way the Mojo will fit into its bay is parallel to the back wall. I could live with this, but it looks a bit weird.

I’m feeling better, today, thanks.

@audphile1 , @mitch2 

Because I've run into a situation where the barrels on an rca IC pair didn't fit the Jacks on my Hegel H390 (several other cables fit just fine), I'm inclined to give the dac builder the benefit of the doubt but I can't definitively prove whether it's the dac or the adapter that's to blame in this case. 

I'll just have to see how the adapter that I'm expecting to arrive later in the week fits. Hopefully, it won't continue to be be an issue, going forward.

@audphile1

To be honest, it never occurred to me to try it on the analog outputs, as that wasn’t what I would be using.

Note that when @mitch2 looked at his Mojo Mystique XSE, he said "The digital S/PDIF rca jack looks different". I can’t see a discernible difference on mine but it’s entirely possible he’s detecting a difference I’m overlooking. After all, it happens all the time that I can’t find something and my wife points out that it’s right in front of me! ;o)

@audphile1 

Agreed --  it would be foolish to give up right away on the DAC due to this issue. 

BTW, Synergistic quoted me $150 for retermination. Still waiting to hear about turnaround time. 

I emailed Black Cat and they said they're no longer making the adapters The Cable Co. used to sell for about $30. Now they only make a different version in pairs for $150 - 160.  

@audphile1 

My guy at The Cable Co.suggested I try gently bending the "leaves" inside the male rca barrel inward and doing so, I was able to get the connection seated without slipping off. Ideally, I'd like it to be tighter and I may experiment further but for now, I'm going to concentrate on evaluating the DAC. It's certainly brought more resolution (without sibilance, so far) and improved the bass reach and presence in the mix. I don't know how long it's been powered off, so I'll continue to listen, give it more time

@immatthewj 

I've been told both: that an adapter is bad and that it makes no difference. I'm getting a different one in a few days. It will be interesting to hear if they sound different. I'm not fundamentally opposed to getting my cable reterminated, BTW, if I decide to keep the dac. 

@audphile1 

Thanks. We'll see. 

@mitch2 

You could be right. I've never done a comparison.

@immatthewj 

It seems to me there are are very few things in audio that are NOT susceptible to YMMV.

@immatthewj 

Speaking only for myself, It can be both freeing and crazy-making...  

.

@westcoastaudiophile 

OK. Thanks for your recommendation.