SPDIF Coax cable recommendation?


Hello, 

I'm looking for a recommendation for a coax spdif digital cable.

It will be feeding a Border Patrol SE-i DAC ...either directly from an Ifi Zen Stream (for now) ...or from a Denefrips Iris DDC.

The rest of the system is warm.

Ifi Zen Stream > Denefrips Iris > Border Patrol Dac OR Denefrips Ares ii Dac  > Van Alstine RB10 tube preamp > Van Alstine SET 120 power amp OR Oliver Says 2a3 SET power amp > Fritz Carbon 7 SE mkII loudspeakers

Specifically looking for a rather short cable if possible .  The stream is very close to the DAC...so a somewhat flexible cable would be good.

Also, in keeping with the high value components of the system, I'm not looking for a very expensive or exotic cable.

Thank you

JS

j_andrews

Let us know your findings with the Triode Wire Labs cable. I upgraded from a Monoprice SPDIF cable to a Wireworld Starlight cable and was impressed with the results, certainly a bigger improvement than upgrading my interconnects.

Thanks for all the suggestions

I ended up purchasing a pre-owned Triode Wire Labs Spirt 75 dig cable since I’m interested in his interconnnects and maybe speaker cables in the future 

 

I ran a Better Cables Silver Serpent as my first attempt and it added to much brightness to my system. I’ve since removed any cables with silver and recently tried some Seimens silver plate 12AU7’s in my Rogue pre ( too bright ). Not wanting BRIGHTNESS but wanting detail , I run NOS Tekefunkens and Morrow level 4 as my power , speaker , and IC’s, plus a Digi 4 from my transport. I run a Cardas Clear from my streamer to my DAC. The Morrows are great , but will not ad any brightness. The B C Silver Serpent was good, but too bright for my taste. I hope this helps , you have a nice rig. Regards , Mike B. 

I had alot of improvement with mogami cables,and not the gold line. Jmo

 

 

 

Over the last 10 years, I've tried SPDIF coax digital cables from: Audio Envy, Audioquest, Acoustic Zen, DH Labs & NBS. Of those, I liked the DH Labs D - 750 the best. It is by no means the most expensive cable in that bunch; but, I think my search has ended. Of course, Your Mileage May Vary. Good luck and I hope it doesn't take 10 years for you to find your end game cable!

+1 for Triode Wire Labs. I’ve heard the TWL and Border Patrol DAC combination before and it sounded great to me. My next upgrade will be to both of those. “Triode Pete” is an amazingly nice guy and will custom build you a cable if necessary. They are also very flexible. 
No disrespect to any of the other products mentioned. I just found that Triode/ Border Patrol combination very hard to ignore.

 

 

 

 

I recently purchased a 1 meter Pangea Premiere SE demo from Audio Advisor. I can't remember the price, but it was under $100. Well made, flexible and a major improvement over an okay Monoprice coax that preceded it.

@lrlacosse 

thank you

Ive been considering TWL for 2 pairs of analog rca interconnects but there’s very little out there about their s/pidif cable.

 

I have 2 AQs for sp/dif into different DACs...one is silver coated copper and the other is solid silver (got it cheap used).They are identical in performance and work perfectly.

I use an AQ silver coated copper sp/dif cable on one DAC, and for my other DAC a solid silver AQ that was expensive but I got it used so it was maybe 60 bucks. Both perform identically and sound great.

Sorry I double checked the cables, they’re Arcadia analog RCAs. I’ve not heard Blue Jeans cable, so have no direct comparison 

Look at Triode Wire Labs.  I recently purchased a RCA set for DAC out to my amp..  I could not be happier.  He has a COAX length less than 1 meter and they are very flexible.  About your price max..  

I went through the Morrow Audio thing.  Spent ALOT of $$$ upgrading and such and eventually gave up.  

My 2 cents.  Good Luck.

Lawrence From UPMI

Does Zavfino still produce digital cable? I can’t seem to find it on their site.

Also, is the consensus that the Supra & Morrow coax cables will be a marked improvement over the Blue Jeans I’m currently using ?

DH Labs, Zavfino, Morrow Audio, or Supra cables are all great “bang for the buck cables. I currently use Morrow for my RCA digital, but am also testing the other brands which I like very much…..IMO all will deliver great sound and not break your bank

Another vote for Nordost Silver Shadow, or the not too shabby Nordost Blue Heaven. 

Thanks for all the suggestions

Lots of folks suggesting used AZ MC2 as well as DH Labs.

I may make an offer on one of the AZ cables being offered.

A few people suggested Morrow...and there's a DIG3 from Morrow that just posted on USaudiomart for $60.

Also, my equipment is rca to rca.

My analog interconnects will be next (streamer to pre and pre to power).  Not sure how much I need to think about synergy between the analog rca's and digital spdif at this point 

Assuming BNC connectors the Belden 4794R 12G CDI has seen off quite a few digital audio cables when I still used SPDiff. Blue Jeans sell it for not very much but it’s quite stiff and be carful about the bend radius. Works well with a BNC to RCA adaptor at one end too but not both.

My default for relatively inexpensive cables is always DHLabs. I find them very cost effective… and reliably good sounding, unless your system is too bright.

I would advise to get the best you can under your perceived budget. $200(?)

First thoughts for under $200 would be something from Silnote, Audio Envy, Moon Audio, Zavfino, Morrow Audio.

Second thought if you wanted [much] cheaper (in agreement with AGD above) are the Blue Jeans cable, Supra, or maybe Mogami. If you could wait a few weeks for delivery (and didn’t have any other ’concerns’) - would be to try Chinese Nordost Valhalla or Odin knock-offs.

Good cable choices generally won’t usually turn a decent $5K system into a great $50K one, but lousy/wrong cables can turn a decent system into one that is just average - or worse, almost unlistenable. (Although admittedly a digital/SPDIF cable less so).

I used a generic Amazon cable and then upgraded to DH Labs and lastly Shunyata Sigma.  Each step was a marked improvement.  DH labs was the best value.  They have a money back trial period.

Nordost Silver Shadow, Supra, then Canare. You’ll have to spend a lot more to better these cables. Supra in The States you’ll find on eBay and Canare many online vendors but most seem to go through Blue Jeans.The Nordost you can find here often.

This is a little above your budget but will be worth it.  Read the reviews.  I was using a well-respected Apogee Wyde Eye but as soon as I put this in it was night and day better in every way.  Best of luck. 
https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649932466-acoustic-zen-mc2-digital-coax-cable-1m/

DH Labs d 750 is a great cable but a little stiff due to thick jacket and shielding.    Really nice quality for the money and they have it in .5m , 1 m , 1.5 lengths

OP, I have tried signal cable and found they are worth about what they cost, not really punching above their weight. BJC is also worth about what they cost which is fine for entry level stuff. The Pangea was an eye opener compared to my reference $1000 Virtual Dynamics Master coax. I could be happy with either one.

look for a used or NOS Nordost Silver Shadow - superb cable or try Audioquest Eagle Eye w DBS

@kota1

thanks, the Ifi Zen streamer has the ipurifier built in to the coax spdif output ...so it’s always on when going straight out of the streamer. But not when using the Denefrips Iris

I should say I’m currently using a BJC 1m cable and it’s fine. But I was looking for an upgrade and perhaps silver given the warmth of my system.

Also, not planning on completely cheaping out....just would prefer a high value cable. I guess my budget would be up to $250 but I’d rather spend less.

I was also curious about the Signal Cable Silver Digital 

1.25m to 1.5m is an ideal cable length for spdif, avoids potential for unwanted 'reflections'

canare is a good performing basic cable, made by blue jeans and others

cullen makes a better made and better sounding cable (to my ears)

audioquest older basic (less expensive) 75 ohm video cables (same as digital cable) work very well too, cost very little

I'm not looking for a very expensive or exotic cable.

You can check out Pangea and DH Labs for good quality with reasonable prices.

I would NOT completely cheap out with budget cables, they just don't get it done.

I like iFi's spdif iPurifier 2 but it isn't a cable.