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  3. 167535-2546

Digital Cables: Optical, Coax, BNC, or a simple RCA interconnect?

Until recently I've been using a WireWorld Optical cable (~$100) which I bought when I was using a Pioneer PD 65 CD player as a transport (until it died) and optical was the only out option. So, I've been using my Oppo 105 to play both SACDs direct via XLRs to my Audio Alchemy DDP-1 dac/pre and recently using the optical cable for redbook playback.

Last week I was reading up on Coax, and one thread suggested trying a regular RCA interconnect, although the connectors are not 75ohms. I had a pair of DHLabs BL-1 (older light blue jacket) laying around and decided to compare it to the optical. Easy Peasy as the DDP-1 has various input connections which can be accessed on the remote. Well, amazing doesn't come close to how much the music became alive/tactile/3D.
So, I looked on DHLabs site after reading that their D-750 was highly regarded. They will let me return it if Im not satisfied. That's the good news, but a 1.0m cable is $150, certainly not expensive, but Pangea makes one that seems extremely well thought out and it's on sale at Audio Advisor for $49.95 plus free shipping, so I ordered it. Depending on how much it blows me away I may go ahead and order the DHLabs too, just to compare
Anybody have anything to contribute?
tweak1

Showing 4 responses by nonoise

nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,581 posts
 
Well, I’m in the same area code as they are so If I ever find myself in need of one of their cables, it shouldn’t be too hard to simply call them up. 👍
I still have one that Tony Minasian made for me some years back (he's a recording engineer) so I'll have to see where I stashed that one.

All the best,
Nonoise
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,581 posts
 
That's too bad considering they seem to make a great cable.
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,581 posts
 
I read on some other site where an engineer who uses solely coax with his company found out that just one additional foot would throw all the measurements off, very badly, depending on the placement and use. They always measured everything they installed and didn't just trust that the cable was well made.

All the best,
Nonoise
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,581 posts
 
A while back, Audio Bacon did a review of a bunch of coax cables and rated them. When he got to the Requisite Audio cable, he thought it was somewhere in the $500 dollar range and it turned out to be about $55. That was the copper/silver cable and they have a pure silver cable for about $40 more.
http://requisiteaudio.com/studio-cables/

Requisite Audio makes cables and equipment for the recording industry and will sell to audiophiles as well.

Here’s the Audio Bacon review as well:

https://audiobacon.net/2018/08/11/the-audiophiles-short-list-the-best-digital-coaxial-cables/

It’s from a few years ago but is still relevant. There's a quick way to get to a particular cable review by going to the list he has and clicking on the one you want to read about without reading the whole thing as it's about 9 pages long.

All the best,
Nonoise
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