Question:
...where is a good place to get a decent but preferably cheap coaxial lead
have got a wharfdale 750 which is connected to my sherwood amp with an optical lead but want to get a pioneer dv-350k, this only has a coaxial output so will be in need of a quality lead,any ideas??
is there actually a difference in sound quality between opt and coax
cheers
Originally posted by wif100
is there actually a difference in sound quality between opt and coax
cheers
In a word No. Because both are just carrying the same digital data there is no difference at all.
Originally posted by JaHaD
In a word No. Because both are just carrying the same digital data there is no difference at all.
...though I'd tend to agree with this, there are other's who would disagree long and hard...
....the Hi-fi Choice forums had a thread that ran to around 20 pages discussing this very subject..lots of technical data was thrown around from both camps with the discussion getting very heated at times...I myself use just an ordinary Ixos interconnect to connect my DVD to my amp, but I have in the past spent around £70.00 for a digital interconnect for use with a DAC and a CD player:D
I have both coax and optical hook ups (coax on Malata and Optical on Panny). Both are medium quality cables (£30 price range) and I can't tell the difference between them on my setup (Pioneer 811S 6.1 Amp and a full setup of MS Pearl Edition speakers)
I think as long as you have reasonably quality cables (nothing too fancy) then you wont notice the difference.
After extensive testing, I can whole heartedly say it dosen't matter jack. Use bog-standard phono cable. You won't be able to tell any difference between that and some £200 pro-audio interconnect jobbie.
I tried a blind test with an Ixos co-ax interconnect and one of the free phono cables I got years ago and could spot absolutely no difference whatsoever.
There are lots of theoretical reasons why one may be better than the other, but in most cases absolutely no practical reasons why one may sound better. I like coax, so given the choice I would use it. However my player of choice at the moment is a Panasonic XV10 that is optical only. My amp however is a Sony and deals with optical inputs very well so I don't exactly lie awake at nights plotting a return to coax.
It is interesting to note that given a choice, most manufacturers tend towards coax. The ONLY reason so far as I know is because it is more robust than optical. However connecting by coax increases opportunities for earth loop noise problems. From this you can see that there may be practical reasons for choosing one above the other, but they tend to be to do with the circumstances of use rather than sound quality, so the best bet is to look at your system and decide based on factors other than audio fidelity.
i remember a while ago (although I can't remember the source so feel free to ignore me) reading an article describing an experiment where the author made a coaxial digital interconnect out of two coat-hangers and two rca jacks. He connected his DVD player to one of those cinema DD decoders that report the bit-rate and error rate and found the signal to be perfect with no loss rate at all.
i'm inclined to believe this. If you consider that the bit rate of PCM, which is the highest bit-rate is not that big, what is it? 1200 kbit/s? my office LAN connection is 100 Mbit/s and that's on a really crappy bit of wire that's several metres long and has a loss rate of zero.
I just use a piece of composite video lead that came free in the box of my VCR. It's got the right impedence, which is my only concession.
The ONLY reason so far as I know is because it is more robust than optical.
Thats the only reason I went to coax cause my optical bust. Coax is less fiddly as well, no dust caps to fart about with.
Is there a noticeable difference in quality with different optical interconnects?
The one I'm using at the moment came with my old Yamaha TSS package, so I guess it's a pretty basic type. But would upgrading to a more expensive one make any difference?
there shouldn't be no...as the digital signal either gets to the other end or doesn't, the lead can't improve/degrade this in anyway.
The more expensive leads might be more robust but thats about it
have got a wharfdale 750 which is connected to my sherwood amp with an optical lead but want to get a pioneer dv-350k, this only has a coaxial output so will be in need of a quality lead,any ideas??
is there actually a difference in sound quality between opt and coax
cheers
Answers:
Originally posted by wif100
is there actually a difference in sound quality between opt and coax
cheers
In a word No. Because both are just carrying the same digital data there is no difference at all.
Answers:
Originally posted by JaHaD
In a word No. Because both are just carrying the same digital data there is no difference at all.
...though I'd tend to agree with this, there are other's who would disagree long and hard...
....the Hi-fi Choice forums had a thread that ran to around 20 pages discussing this very subject..lots of technical data was thrown around from both camps with the discussion getting very heated at times...I myself use just an ordinary Ixos interconnect to connect my DVD to my amp, but I have in the past spent around £70.00 for a digital interconnect for use with a DAC and a CD player:D
Answers:
I have both coax and optical hook ups (coax on Malata and Optical on Panny). Both are medium quality cables (£30 price range) and I can't tell the difference between them on my setup (Pioneer 811S 6.1 Amp and a full setup of MS Pearl Edition speakers)
I think as long as you have reasonably quality cables (nothing too fancy) then you wont notice the difference.
Answers:
After extensive testing, I can whole heartedly say it dosen't matter jack. Use bog-standard phono cable. You won't be able to tell any difference between that and some £200 pro-audio interconnect jobbie.
I tried a blind test with an Ixos co-ax interconnect and one of the free phono cables I got years ago and could spot absolutely no difference whatsoever.
Answers:
There are lots of theoretical reasons why one may be better than the other, but in most cases absolutely no practical reasons why one may sound better. I like coax, so given the choice I would use it. However my player of choice at the moment is a Panasonic XV10 that is optical only. My amp however is a Sony and deals with optical inputs very well so I don't exactly lie awake at nights plotting a return to coax.
It is interesting to note that given a choice, most manufacturers tend towards coax. The ONLY reason so far as I know is because it is more robust than optical. However connecting by coax increases opportunities for earth loop noise problems. From this you can see that there may be practical reasons for choosing one above the other, but they tend to be to do with the circumstances of use rather than sound quality, so the best bet is to look at your system and decide based on factors other than audio fidelity.
Answers:
i remember a while ago (although I can't remember the source so feel free to ignore me) reading an article describing an experiment where the author made a coaxial digital interconnect out of two coat-hangers and two rca jacks. He connected his DVD player to one of those cinema DD decoders that report the bit-rate and error rate and found the signal to be perfect with no loss rate at all.
i'm inclined to believe this. If you consider that the bit rate of PCM, which is the highest bit-rate is not that big, what is it? 1200 kbit/s? my office LAN connection is 100 Mbit/s and that's on a really crappy bit of wire that's several metres long and has a loss rate of zero.
I just use a piece of composite video lead that came free in the box of my VCR. It's got the right impedence, which is my only concession.
Answers:
The ONLY reason so far as I know is because it is more robust than optical.
Thats the only reason I went to coax cause my optical bust. Coax is less fiddly as well, no dust caps to fart about with.
Answers:
Is there a noticeable difference in quality with different optical interconnects?
The one I'm using at the moment came with my old Yamaha TSS package, so I guess it's a pretty basic type. But would upgrading to a more expensive one make any difference?
Answers:
there shouldn't be no...as the digital signal either gets to the other end or doesn't, the lead can't improve/degrade this in anyway.
The more expensive leads might be more robust but thats about it
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