I2S Recommendation

I've been demoing many different I2S cables for an upcoming system I'm working on. Already posted this in another thread so I'll just copy/past it here since it feels relevant:

I've been trying out a whole bunch of HDMI cables lately for a dedicated headphone setup I am assembling. Using a Denafrips Gaia I2S out to a Denafrips Terminator 2. So far my results have been very mixed.

Tried several more affordable options from Pangea, Kimber, Analysis Plus, didn't care for them. 

Tried what I call mid priced cables from Wireworld and Cardas, didn't like them either. 

Tried some more expensive models from Wireworld and Audioquest, not really great or even a big improvement over the others.

I was starting to question whether the Gaia was worth using, and thinking maybe I should just go USB from transport to DAC. Then I hit on the DH Labs HDMI which is excellent. Eventually I found that I also really like the Voodoo Cable Silverstream, and both the Vodka and Thunderbird from Audioquest. 

I'm still experimenting, so far my conclusion is that HDMI I2S cables really matter and some are much better than others, also that price isn't always the main factor.

Since that quote I've learned that Veritas Cables has an I2S model coming at some point, I'll wait for that and then decide. Right now my favorite is probably the DH Labs though. It isn't the best at any one thing but really good all around. The Voodoo is nice too, probably second place followed by the AQ Thunderbird in a close third place. 

I'll repeat that it really doesn't seem to matter how much you spend in this case, it matters that you find a good match for your system. Maybe the most wildly variable cable comparison I've ever done, completely disconnected from pricing. 

@audiostick I was similarly unable to find any info on the Voodoo Silverstream. Tried it on a blind buy since it was not very expensive, and was surprised at the sound quality being pretty great.

In my current headphone system (using Denafrips Gaia DDC, Denafrips Terminator 2 DAC, Holo Audio Bliss KTE headphone amp, and ZMF Caldera headphones, with some components being in flux as I figure out what I like) the Voodoo had the best detail of any other model I tried. Not overdone but could be a little bright at times, so you'd want to watch the system matching closely. With the right gear though it was pretty magical. 

The DH Labs was slightly behind in detail and resolution but made up ground by having a more fleshed out midrange/low end, which made for a better balance overall. I would not call the Voodoo "thin" in isolation though, just after direct comparison. It's possible or likely that in some situations the Voodoo is a better choice. 

@mitchagain Regarding your point number 2. My recent I2S HDMI adventures have shown me that almost all of them use the same HDMI standard (which is official, sort of like USB), and it is up to the DAC and transport or DDC designers to determine what pin configuration they use. But the cables themselves are almost universally standardized.

I did come across some custom builders who would special-make an HDMI I2S cable to enable going from say a Pink Faun streamer to a Denafrips DAC (they use slightly different pin configurations from one another) but this was pretty rare. That means mostly you can just shop for any HDMI cable and you only have to worry about the standards used by your DAC and transport. It also really helps that some brands let you choose multiple configurations either via hardware switch or in software.