Digital And Analogue Cables

@blisshifi indeed.

@blisshifi 

Digital cables transmit a digital, binary signal (0’s and 1’s) before a digital to analog converter (DAC) converts the signal into an analog signal.

Its actually an analog waveform which represents a voltage for a one and a different voltage for a zero...I realize I'm splitting hairs but unfortunately too many people (not you, your posts demonstrate an expertise) believe the digital signal is infallable..."its just sending ones and zeros"..."if that were the case then financial transactions would be fraught with errors and they arent"...when I read that stuff from some on Audiogon I just roll my eyes...its usually from an IT/networking "expert".

@blisshifi

I was trying, rather poorly I might add, to communicate that the analog representation of the digital waveform is a pretty fragile thing. Subject to noise, induced jitter, reflection, etc. Too many in our hobby believe its transmitting EITHER a one or a zero. It is transmitting a representation of but it isn’t like say a ribbon cable between a hard drive and a mother board. The cable quality and specifications matter and can positively/negatively affect sound quality...in short, all cables aren’t equal.

Again, your exemplary reputation precedes you and I know you counsel your clients accordingly, I was just trying to make certain that a budding audiophile wouldn’t make incorrect assumptions. Regards.

@pegolea @blisshifi

@pegolea it isn’t that simple. Google the AES3 (AES/EBU = Audio Engineering Society/European Broadcast Union) standard. As they say, timing is everything. The consumer standard is called Spdif. Virtually identical although most anyone with ears will tell you that even though the data fed through AES/EBU, BNC, RCA SPDIF and Toslink Spdif are identical at the source, they ABSOLUTELY will NOT sound the same. Not close. Toslink carries lower noise but is more susceptible to jitter induced problems. AES/EBU via 110 ohms (xlr) in many cases presents the best opportunity for the fewest compromises. BNC is best for longer distances.

There are no absolutes because it depends on the individual dac’s optimation of how it accepts the data and of course, USB and Ethernet is different because packets, error correction and clocking happens differently, usually at the receiver whereas AES/EBU-SPDIF most often happens at the source.

In summary though, most dacs are quite good. Some however, really lock in and exploit their strengths. Some engineers are quite a bit more advanced in their thinking. Read up but more than anything, trust your ears by optimizing your streaming chain. Matching the strengths of a particular streamer with the strengths of a particular dac maximizes your oppotunities for success.