Looking for an HDMI cable


I am looking for an HDMI cable to go between my Jay’s Audio CDT2 MK3 and my Audio Mirror Tubadour 3 DAC. A 1M cable with price up to $300. Thanks.

mesch

The Mapleshade Vivlink 3+ cable, I think its price is $220. Endgame HDMI cable, so far above other HDMI cables its not funny. 2m length only because that’s what sounds best.

Designed by the father of the F16 Falcon and A10 Warthog aircraft, Pierre Sprey, RIP.

The Mapleshade Vivlink 3+ cable, I think its price is $220. Endgame HDMI cable, so far above other HDMI cables it’s not funny. 2m length only because that’s what sounds best.

@agisthos That’s a bold statement.  What other HDMI cables have you compared the Vivlink to?  Also, a 2m cable would be suboptimal for an i2S connection as shorter is absolutely better so not sure where you got your info from.  

@soix I have had over 10 high end HDMI cables. The better ones were probably Wireworld Platinum Starlight and Nordost Heimdall 2 HDMI. The Vivlink 3+ was better than them all.

Regarding length, don’t be so sure. For HDMI and USB cables, which are data transmission cables, its found the reflections and resonance points have an effect, e,g many are finding a 1.5m USB cable to sound better than a 0.5m

I guess it depends on the cable geometry itself. But a hard and fast rule that shorter is absolutely better is incorrect.

I guess it depends on the cable geometry itself. But a hard and fast rule that shorter is absolutely better is incorrect.

@agisthos While that may be true for some or maybe most digital cables it is not the case for i2S that was designed originally for very short lengths to be used to make connections internally within a component. It was not designed to travel distance and the signal degrades rapidly with length and any cursory reading on the topic makes this limitation very clear — i2S is a different animal from the more typical SPDIF or AES/EBU connection. The experts I’ve read on the topic actually recommend a length of a foot or less for an i2S cable if possible.

@soix Oh I guess yes I am taking about another standard and i2S is indeed for internal transfer. Probably the receiver is a different standard and not subject to the cable reflections like others are.

Putting all that aside, I would still highly suggest trying the Vivlink, as its so cheap compared to other high end HDMI cables, and it beat the others comprehensively in my system.

I have had all 3 versions of the Vivlink, so experienced its evolution and improvement over time. INterestingly they all used completely different geometry construction, so it seems Pierre was really experimenting with HDMI, and the 3rd version is by far the best, and also the most compact in width, which is handy.