DAC drops out when Furnace starts or stops. HELP

Jea48, Yes, I understand the flow of the conversation.

I was simply following up on Al's side comment about cable length. i.e. If someone has a choice between a 1.5m and 2m USB if possible one should try them, as opposed to thinking that the theorized ideal length cable would automatically be superior. I do, however, favor a shorter USB when I can obtain it.

I also have seen one or two instances in which a particular USB cable worked with some gear and not others. So, it is wise when experiencing a snafu with digital to consider that the USB cable may be incompatible with a particular component.

Doug, I should clarify my earlier comments about digital cable length by adding that they only pertain to electrical (non-optical) S/PDIF and AES/EBU cables. My comments don't apply to USB cables, in part because the risetimes and falltimes of USB signals are vastly different than those of S/PDIF and AES/EBU signals. As I had mentioned, and as further explained in the paper I linked to, signal risetimes and falltimes are key variables affecting what length will be optimal.

Also, I'll add that if a very short length is practicable, such as perhaps 8 inches or so, that can be expected to often be as good or better a choice for S/PDIF and AES/EBU than 1.5 or 2 meters. It is the intermediate lengths, such as 1 meter, which (depending on a complex and essentially unpredictable set of component-dependent variables), stand a somewhat lesser chance of being optimal than those other choices.

Regards,
-- Al

Amazing I had the same problem with my old dac and cd player I never found out what the problem was My new set up does not do it ??? Good Luck.

Follow up to this thread.

I later contacted the OP, through the Agon message system, with a question about the problem he had with drop outs. I asked him if he was still using the same 1.5M Grover Huffman digital cable. He responded no he had bought a new 1M Grover Huffman digital cable and was not experiencing any drop out problems with the 1M Grover Huffman cable.

Conclusion? Not all S/PDIF 75 ohm digital coaxial cables are created equal.
Was it the RCA connectors used? Do the ends used by Grover Huffman have a closer better 75 ohm characteristic than the ones used by Audio Envy?

Was it how the RCA connectors were connected to the coax cable?

Was it the 75 ohm coax cable Audio Envy used?

Or was it ???

Is it the length of the cable that could be the culprit or is it the design/construction differences?

Or was it ???

-The characteristic impedance of the cable. That is why length is immaterial.

If the characteristic impedance of the cable is incorrect, there will be reflections that cause errors. This can lead to an inability for the DAC to lock onto the signal. The right cable is all that's needed. Not all high end cable manufacturers understand this, so you see a lot of variance. One cable manufacturer that does get this right is Purist Audio.