digital cable length

FWIW, I just swapped from a 1.4 meter to 0.4 meter 75ohm interconnect between CDP and DAC, and there is a considerable improvement to my ears, and others i must add. If you can possibly keep them as short as Al has already suggested, I'd wholeheartedly agree.

Hi Almarg, sorry for late response and thank you. Currently using a 1.8 meter length from cdp to the up sampler but am in the process of learning how to cut and re-terminate it to a shortened cable length as suggested by you and recommended by Monarchy. I set the up sampler into the system last night but I need to reset the dip switch to 96kh and just enjoy the music for a few evenings to determine the level of benefit the up sampler has added. Again thanks, Dave

The more important of the two cables will be the one between the Upsampler and the DAC, since the signal is reclocked in the Upsampler. There's no way to be certain what the optimal length would be, because among other things it is dependent on the risetime and falltime of the output signal provided by the Upsampler (essentially, the amount of time it takes for the signal to make a transition between its two voltage states). Unfortunately, it seems that risetimes and falltimes for the output signals of digital audio components are almost never specified.

But the odds are that it would be best to use either 1.5 meters between the upsampler and the DAC, or a very short length (less than say 8 inches or so), if that is possible.

Same goes for the cable between the transport and Upsampler, although that length is much less critical.

Also, FWIW, if you haven't already seen it this statement appears in the information about the Upsampler that is provided at the Monarchy website:

We recommend using a short co-axial cable to link your transport to the Upsampler. By virtue of the much stronger output, the Upsampler will drive 75 Ohm cables up to 100 ft, although for best signal integrity we recommend that the cable be no longer than a few feet.

Regards,
-- Al