Toslink optical cables: Audioquest Optilink 3 vs Glass?

I haven't compared the AQ to anything but have tried a couple touted here and found the DH Labs Glass Master Toslink to rule the roost.  At $235 for one meter It's comfortably under your maximum and the way I see it, you'll be rolling the dice and keep moving sideways when you can just get one of the best out there and be done with it. I got mine at a nice 20-25% discount during a holiday sale and they have occasional sales of different cables throughout the year. If you can wait and be patient, you can get a great cable at a great price. 

If you can't wait and want glass fiber instead of polished plastic, this one from Amazon was my go to until I got the itch for something better. 

All the best,
Nonoise

Thank you Nonoise!!

Why are we concerned? Toslink is the weakest of all digital connections, the most jitter ect...

Would it be better to upgrade our digital connection somehow?

I'd be working on that, Toslink is so limiting for proper digital sound.

Matt M

Toslink is the only connection I currently have available so trying to make the best of it.

470 strands glass fiber, 1 micron optical finish end tips for $129 plus $8.5 shipping.  Carry 24/192 w/o issue

http://www.lifatec.com/toslink2.html

vs DH Labs: 300 strands vs WW Supernova 338 strands vs AQ 217 strands

I use 3ft glass (280 strands) Toslink from uniqueproductsonline.com ($40)  with Benchmark DAC3 HGC.  Toslink transitions are slower than coax inducing jitter in presence of system noise, but it can be great by not injecting electrical noise and not making ground loops.  It is also free from jitter in coax produced by reflections.  As I understand it less transparent plastic Toslink slows down transitions (to threshold point) even further making it a little bit more prone to jitter.
I use Toslink as more practical, since Benchmark DAC has good jitter rejection.  Jitter shows as a loss of clarity so I would look for that, when comparing Toslinks.

Glass always.

Go with the Lifatec hands down! They are by far the best Toslink I have ever used. Magnificent build (medical grade) and as good as it gets imho…

Thank you! I will try Lifatec 

Ordered it....

Nice! You won’t be disappointed. And even if you were Toslink build quality doesn’t get any better, like @lanx0003 pointed put the 470 strands vs the next best 300 for DHLabs (whom I recommend for any other cables, especially their Cryo power cables). Lifatec has excellent customer service as well!

Don’t buy into the x number of strands thing. I found the QED Reference optical to be much better sounding than the Lifatec, despite only having half the amount of strands.

Hmmm interesting. Well it's sold through Amazon and has a 30 day return so I could do a comparison...

Thought I'd check back in and I agree with @agisthos on the strand count. I had the Lifatec before I got the DH Labs and to my ears, the DH Labs outperformed the Lifatec for my CDP use even with less glass thread count. 

During my research, I came across a site that broke down the number of strands and how much light/signal they can pass accurately and too many strands weren't any better than lesser count ones and sometimes performed worse. It was very technical but it convinced me.

For TV listening, I ended up using the Lifatec as the Uniqueperformance Toslink from Amazon had that "you're on the set" sound which sounded too sterile. On a home improvement show, it sounded like you were in an open, drywalled room with voices bouncing off the walls in a sterile manner. The Lifatec retained all the detail and air w/out the etch and sterility of the Amazon brand. It's very close to the DH Labs when it comes to TV use but not for CDs.

It all depends on what you're hooking what up to. 

All the best,
Nonoise

Well I will have the AQ Optilink, the Lifatec and the QED ref to compare. Of course, everything is system dependent so we will see what I like most in my system. 

The AQ vodka I use on my bluray ,excellent  the polished optical strands pay more less reflective light more accurate everything.

+1 DH Labs

You might want to check that other site. US something or other. I have WireWorld Super Nova 7 for sale 

You can borrow the wireworld glass cable from thecableco.com for a small fee. 
 

once you borrow it and try it your fee will be applied to the purchase like mine did. 
 

yes good optical glass cables sound better. You won’t notice unless you have an entry level of better high end audio system.