RCA vs optical cable?


Are there any diferences between a regular RCA interconect cable and an aoptical cable? Can I use a regular RCA interconect cable to hoop up a transport and a dac? I understand that both cables have a 75 ohms resistance, so I suppose there is no difference between these cables. I am completely wrong? Any comments. Thanks in advance for your help.
tiofelon

Showing 1 response by kr4

First, optical cables do not have a 75ohm impedance. That is a spec for electrical cables but standard RCA audio cables are not 75ohms. Only digital audio cables are or should be.

Second, you cannot connect these two types of cables to the same jacks. What input and output jacks do you have?

Third, assuming that you can use either, there is continual debate over which one is preferred, so I do not think you can go wrong either way.

Kal