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
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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. |
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. |
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. |
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. |