Recommendation for an HDMI cable under $200 for audio only


Need help choosing a decent HDMI cable under $200 to connect my Rivo+ digital transport to my Laiv Harmony DAC via I2S connectors. Thank you.

senna27

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