Question about length of SPDIF COAX interface cable length

kijanki,
Thank you for the detailed response. I was surprised that there did seem to be a perceptible difference between the two cables, I settled on the 8 inch cable. I too was under the impression that the 1.5 meter cable was the correct length to avoid internal reflections, now i'm not sure if this is the case.

Thanks to all who chimed in!

grm, I'm glad 8" works for you.  It is safer not to get reflections to start with then trying to manage them, IMHO.

Hi,

Not sure why this is the case, but I spent quite some time switching between my 8" cable and 1.5M cable. For some reason, I am finding myself preferring the sound of the 1.5M cable, where the 8" cable seems to sound a bit too bright.

Yes, the 1.5M particularly for SPDIF/COAX, DACs, etc. As already noted, and several references around about reduced reflections, and how reflections can sometimes be somewhat attenuated by the longer cable's added capacitance depending on the cable design used.

I tried it with .5M, 1.0M, 1.5M cables on my own DAC and prefer the 1.5M as well, fwiw. You already figured it out...   

That's surprising.  Brightness would suggest a presence of the jitter (that translates to added noise).  What about clarity/transparency and imaging?  It is remotely possible that some electrical noise is injected from the source, possibly thru the shield, while longer cable, having more shield inductance, impedes electrical noise injection more, but I'm grasping at straws.  Did you keep both gear pieces in the same physical location for both tests?  Did you notice it at the same time of the day?  Often people experiment after work and dinner around 6-7PM, when radio stations power is suddenly reduced by FCC regulations (better signal propagation at night).