Digital XLR vs Digital RCA

I’m with @rego on this one - the type of connector i.e. whether you use IEC, BNC or XLR, is mostly immaterial when it comes to cable performance.

The cable’s geometry, the quality of the wire and the capacitance of the insulations used AND the quality/design of the actual connector can make more of a noticeable difference.

Granted, BNC is designed specifically for Digital connections, but even a quality BNC connector on a poorly designed cable will not sound as good as as well designed cable with either RCA or XLR connectors.

Trouble is - most cable manufacturers DO NOT publish their geometries, so it is very often difficult to assess how well a cable is made and hence how well it may perform.

You can spend a lifetime trying different cables and each time you’ll probably hear changes - but you are still basically "guessing" each time you make a choice.

There are two options...
- buy cables from companies like InAkustik, or Nordost.
- build your own, then you control all of the cable’s parameters

Companies like InAkustik and Nordost (and a few others), that reveal their geometry’s, allows the educated customer to make an informed decision.

I chose the DIY approach and have never looked back.

But then - my DIY cables are built from scratch
- I DO NOT just solder a fancy connector onto a piece of bulk cable
- I build the the actual cable from individually sourced wires & connectors

It really boils down to how picky YOU are :-)

Regards - Steve

@auxinput - re: your statement

I have done many tests on different RCA connectors, using RCA that are designed specifically for digital (i.e. DH Labs RCA-75) as well as several extremely expensive and high end analog RCA (such as WBT, Furutech, etc.). In all cases, a good low-cost BNC connector was superior to all RCA connectors.

I agree with your statement regarding the RCA’s you have mentioned - they are definitely NOT suited to the task and one really should use the impedance matched RCA’s specifically designed for digital use

A QUESTION: Have you had the opportunity to try the KLE Innovations Harmony line of RCA’s?

They are perhaps the only RCA that is capable of being used for either digital or analogue use.

I (and many others) have used these RCA’s with great success in constructing cables for use as digital interconnects.

I tried them a few years ago, even before KLE Innovations brought out their line of digital interconnects and could not believe how much better they performed than my impedance matched RCA’s that came on a digital cable from Van den Hul

Selecting a suitable geometry, wire quality and the insulation, becomes more applicable to improving cable performance once the Harmony RCA’s are used

Regards - Steve

@auxinput re:...

Well, it was the previous Eichmann Silver Bullet plugs (which are the same thing).

Actually - when you get down to the nitty-gritty, these are two "similar looking" RCA designs, that do have quite different levels of performance.

Granted
- both are originally developed but the same guy - Keith Louie Eichman.
- so there are similarities in "design concepts", i.e. the tiny neutral pin in the collar
- but the subtleties are in the pin design, metallurgy and casement materials
- the Harmony RCA’s are a more refined version of the Silver Bullet.
- and so the sound is more refined and more complete

I too started with the Eichman Silver bullet on my turntable - I then tried the Copper Harmony followed by the Silver harmony.... and finally the Absolute Harmony.

I found the Copper Harmony to have a more complete and more detailed sound compared to the original Silver Bullet on analogue cables and the Absolute Harmony to be the very best in the Harmony line.

Anyhow - the topic here is all about Digital performance
- So as an experiment I decided to replace my purpose built Van Den Hul SPDIF cable with one of my analogue interconnects with the Absolute Harmony RCA’s
- to my surprise it sound better - a lot better !
- less glare, more details, improved clarity, better imaging
- how could this be? the cable was not even designed for digital use

I contacted KLEI and asked them about this - They confirmed that the Harmony RCA’s are in fact a very good choice for SPDIF interconnects and that they do not suffer from the same issues that other brands of RCA’s experience, because of their design and materials used.

Shortly after our email exchange, KLEI released their SPDIF cables, which I was asked to review :-)
http://image99.net/blog/files/category-klei-gzero2d-spdif.html

Their are several postings about the Harmony RCA’s in this thread - from both analogue and digital perspectives
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/duelund-conversion-to-diy-helix-geometry-cabling

I cannot offer any explanation as to why these RCA’s work on SPDIF cables, but they do - and very successfully.

Combining them with the right geometry results in a cable offering exceptional performance - in either the analogue or digital realms.

Regards - Steve