Digital Coax or Optical Fiber (1 Viewer)

[JoshGivens]

Which of these would you recommend? Are they close enough in sound that it's not worth the difference in cost?

I'm certain that either would be better than the RCA cable that I'm running currently.

 

[John S]

Both work well.

Optical would probably be better in areas of the worst of the worst of interference. But true digital coax is clean highly shielded cable.

 

[JoshGivens]

I'm planning on going to best buy to purchase a new cable tonight and I just wanted some input before I went. Thanks for the info.

 

[Neil Joseph]

Take a read through his thread... Digital Audio: Optical Connection vs. Coax connection

 

[ChrisWiggles]

shouldn't matter. coax is cheaper. read what neil linked.

 

[Charlie C]

"I'm certain that either would be better than the RCA cable that I'm running currently. "

is this RCA hooked to the analog connects?
just use one RCA from the digi RCA out to Digi RCA in

 

[JoshGivens]

I'm connected to the analog connects. Is a special cable not required for the digital coax?

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Sort of. The digital coax specs require a 75 Ohm coax cable with RCA connectors, which is just fancy speak for a standard video (not audio) cable. Audio cables are not necessarily 75 Ohms, so you should use a video cable to be sure. You might ask why the cable companies charge $20-30 more for a "digital" coax cable, but I think the answer "because people will buy it" says it all.

 

[Charlie C]

"Is a special cable not required for the digital coax? "

marketing hype. like buying a 'SUBWOOFER CABLE' JUST for your sub. I use the cheapest dinkyest RCA cable for my digital connections. as stated below, you should use a 'video' or 'digital' cable that is rated at 75 ohms, but its no different than what connects your receiver to your tv. Radio Shaq should have good cheap ones. and I havent read a thing that says digi is better than opti.

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Component video and digital coax audio cables are identical. Either will work for either application. By definition a component video or digital coax audio cable is a 75 Ohm cable. Composite video cables are all 75 Ohm as well and will work as digital audio or component video cables too.

Strand count, type of jacketing, shielding, etc are 'quality' factors and I would not worry too much about it. As long as they are reasonably well constructed and not flimsy they will be fine. Good connectors are important though.

Component video/composite video or digital coax audio cables will also work for analog audio. Analog audio cables are often 50 Ohm, but not always.

Analog audio cables that ARE 50 Ohm will likely still work just fine as component/composite video or digital coax audio cables, but they will not technically be the 'right' cable the spec calls for and so you really should not use them for video or digital audio.

I do think its good to buy cables that are specifically marked component video, digital audio, etc but only for the fact that they are color coded according to the thx spec; ie, red/green/blue for component, yellow for composite, orange for digital audio, purple for sub, etc. While the color obviously has no affect on the sound, it does make it easier to tell which is which while you are behind the rack (in the same way that green is for your keyboard and purple for your mouse on your computer).

Just buy decent quality 75 Ohm cables and all will be well.

from:
http://www.audioholics.com/forums/sh...9248#post19248

 

[ChrisWiggles]

charlie: it's not complete marketing hype, you do need to make sure, as noted, that you are using a quality 75ohm cable for any video application, and for digital coax connections. As noted, analog audio need not be anything in particular, so you can use any 75ohm cable for analog audio, but not the converse. You absolutely should use 75ohm especially for video, or you will suffer ghosting and other image problems, and to minimize connections in the chain by going directly, with the highest quality cable and connection possible. The best cables can be found very cheaply online by canare/belden, with full specs. bluejeans is one such online store, there are many, and for the price of monster and such, you can have pro-grade cabling that you know will perform as good as possible.

 

[JoshGivens]

Okay, maybe I'm confused now. I'm talking about getting the audio from the DVD player to the receiver in the most efficient manner. Isn't digital coax for the audio signal or did I just read too much into those last posts?

I'm using monster component cables for the video. I paid as much for them as I did the DVD player, LOL.

 

[ChrisWiggles]

Josh: maybe you did. Basically the point is that video applications, along with digital coax (which is audio only as noted) both require 75ohm cables. Oftentimes, "digital coax" cables are marked up in price, when any quality 75ohm cable will do. So if you buy a video cable, it's the same thing. Be sure to buy quality cables, but monster is usually overpriced. Radio shack, AR all make decent cables for a decent price, and if you want the best you should purchase custom canare/belden pro-grade cabling, which will cost you about monster prices or less, but will be far superior, and provide very thorough specs, something monster does not.

 

[Neil Joseph]

It should be noted that some very cheap cables that are used as digital coaxial interconnects can be the cause of audio dropouts. I have seen this issue arise personally. Just a heads up.

 

[JoshGivens]

I found a good quality video cable that I had extra and ran it last night. After I got it hooked up and put in a THX DVD, the front of my Yamaha htr-5790 lit up like a christmas tree, LOL. The sound was much better eventhough I'm still running crappy surrounds until I find upgrades. Thanks for the help.

BTW, when you say audio dropouts, do you just mean that the audio will come in and out during playback?

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Yes, that's an audio dropout. It is caused by a disruption in the digital stream due to errors or a break in transmission. It is quite noticable and not to be confused with "lack of warmth", "diminished brightness" or other esoterica found with with analog audio.

 

[JoshGivens]

I didn't notice any of that last night and I watched through a couple dvd's. I'll pay close attention to that though and if it happens, I'll just go get a better cable.