Recommendation for an HDMI cable under $200 for audio only

If it follows the standard HDMI pinout, the DH Labs .5 meter is nice and not crazy money. Are you in the US? That will make a difference, at least in shipping. I found running the I2S, combined with a DDC, using comparatively inexpensive Chinese digital gear, resulted in a substantial improvement in SQ. I’m basically a vinyl guy, FWIW and my TT-arm-cartridge-phono stage is exponentially more costly and has been tuned over the years to yield some very lifelike sounds on a decent non-audiophile record. I only offer that to state my bias-- I’m pretty impressed with the results of what amounts to a modest digital front end. The LAIV looks like a lovely piece.

I’d second the DH Labs HDMI 2.1, but this one from Wyred 4 Sound also looks interesting and worth a look.  The key is to keep it as short as possible because i2S degrades quickly with distance.

https://wyred4sound.com/products/hdmi-pcocc-premium

If you want a cheap cable for comparison purposes I use this one from Monoprice with great results, and a 1 foot length is only 8 bucks.  Best of luck.

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=24187

DHLabs

Anything will work due to the data being 1's and 0's which will transfer the same regardless of the cable or what the people who erroneously believe they can hear a difference will tell you. 

I will be a bit of a contrarian here; my recent experience with DH Labs' SilverSonic HDMI 2.1 (and their power cables as well) has been comparatively underwhelming.  I've been running blind preference tests between it and a few other HDMI cables, and every listener who has opined on it has ranked it either last or second to last in their preference. Their critiques mention squashed soundstage, harsh & flat treble, and notably recessed mids on my KEF Reference/Parasound Halo stack. My listeners' most consistent picks in your price point have been the AudioQuest Cinnamon.

Audio quest  has very good HDMi cables at different price points.

in my set up with PSaudio transport and Dac I have found Dragon HDMI is the best cable to my liking.

Unfortunately, in a revealing system, I honestly never found satisfaction in a I2s cable under $200. Even over that price, many fall short. My current favorite, Audiolund xtrem cu I2s. Under $400 , custom built to your equipment specs and built like a tank. It will likely never brake which is a major I2s issue, my over $700 Tubulus Concentus did, and let's not even talk about RAL. The Audiolund has exquisite detail without any fatiguing at all. Hard feat in a digital system.

I use the Wyred 4 Sound cable that @soix mentioned. I haven't tried any expensive I2s cables to compare, but it works well for me. 

I've been pleased with affordable HDMI cables from WireWorld, while I've had problems with AQ Cinnamon.

Like others, DH Labs Silversonic. This cable specifies I2S compatibility. I have really been smitten with DH Labs across the board. Best part is buying through The Cable Co that is a Frequent Flyer cable and is eligible for discount..

Thank you all for your recommendations. I have been using a Voodoo Reference coaxial cable and have been reading a lot about the enhanced sound capable using an HDMI cable. Last night I connected an off-the-shelf HDMI I had laying around and did notice a difference. I didn't do a back to back but I think I'm going to at least try a better quality HDMI cable and see if it really makes a difference over my coax cable.

I have considered the AQ Cinnamon, Chord, and Kimber all around the same price point, but might look into DH Labs as well.

Thanks again, everybody.

I' easily discern differences between usb and I2S cables in my setup. Specifically, tried a less than $200 OFC I2S vs. Concentus Ximius, an all silver cable, well worth the extra cash, this with Denafrips Gaia to Musetec 006 and Laiv Harmony. A lesser quality cable may work well enough for demonstration/short term purposes but if you have very revealing setup you want cable that will allow full potential of that equipment to be heard.

DH Labs for the win.

@senna27

I’ve recently been through the same search for an I2S connector and decided on buying from Ricable who are an Italian cable company.

I highly recommend their SUPREME HDMI MKII Digital Video Cable HDMI 2.0 Bandwidth 29 Gbps and Audio I²S interconnect that costs 74 Euro for a 1/2 metre (c. 20 inches) plus add 25 Euro for shipping, see Ricable HDMI I2S Interconnect where I ordered online.

I use it to connect a PS Audio Perfectwave CD/SACD transport and Denafrips Venus 15th DAC and it has performed excellently with me now being close to 500 hours burn-in on the Venus 15th DAC and HDMI cable. I bought mine February 16th and it arrived quickly via Fedex by February 20th.

Ricable offer a 60-day trial period for those who buy directly from Ricable with a a refund or replacement of the purchased Hi-Fi product (unfortunately for the USA there is a return fee). Ricable also provide a lifetime warranty.

There are a lot of interconnects and DIY cable options to see on their website and prices are competitive, hope this helps in your <$200 search.

DH Labs would also be my recommendation. I bought one for my Rockna server/dac combo.  I later tried a RAL cable.  Both units have 2 i2s connections, so it was pretty easy to go back and forth between the two cables.  At first I thought I heard an improvement with the RAL cable, however I did another comparison after I had them both for a while and really couldn't tell the difference.  I chalked that one up to confirmation bias.