In theory, the coax should be better due to higher bandwidth and less jitter. In my case, the optical sounded better/smoother. An unfair contest, however, as I was using Lifatec glass optical and cheap BJC coax. If better coax comes my way, I may repeat the comparison but I'm in no rush.
Is there a difference in sound between a coax cable and an optical one?
I've had 2 separate DACS within the past 20 years, both using a coax cable. I've had trouble with both with the connections. They either come loose or disconnect or whatever. I've always had to go and wiggle the cable to get the sound to come out again. The older one was an Audioquest cable (long gone) and the one I'm using now is an MIT (probably 12-15 years old). My plans are to get a new pre-amp with a built-in DAC and if there is no substantial difference in sound, I plan on using an optical cable this time around. Any thoughts?