Digital Interconnects

Hi,
have finally got round to upgrading my cables and would appreciate advice on "does the Digital Interconnect make a difference"?
My kit is Teac Vrds 10 transport,MF Xdac V3 & Psu,MF A308 Int amp & Nautilus 805's.
I have just obtained Chord Company Odyssey 4 Biwire speaker cable and a pair of Chord Company Anthem Interconnects.
The Digital Interconnect I have at the moment was given to me by the dealer when I bought the dac it is a Shielded Video Brilliance cable by Belden.
My question is there any merit in upgrading the digital cable as well....this current cable seems ok and afterall it only carries Digital Signals anyway!.
I would appreciate someone telling me if an upgrade of the Digital cable will make a difference and would appreciate advice on which one..my budget would be about 50-70 quid (used)
thanks
Paul

 

paul,
a contentious question and one (like everything hi-fi) that really depends on your kit. i've come to the conclusiuon that yes digital i/c's can and do make a difference (in my system anyway) but the best i've heard so far was one i diy'd myself using some maplins / shark co-ax and some eichmann bullet plugs. zanash has had a lot of success with some strange hair thin silver coax but it didnt; really suit my kit (although it did have it's strengths).
like eveything you really need to get some cables together and give them a listen.

 

The short answer is "no". Suggestable people like to fantasize about hearing differences in cables after reading baseless crap in "what-stereofool-plus wank fantasy monthly".

Spend the 70 quid on CD's instead... [Normally, I would have said put it in the piggy back for a speaker upgrade, but your 805's are IMHO bloody good anyway..]

 

What he says is Belden's is among the best it will get so don't get suck into the audiophile cables marketing hype.

 

It all depends on your system I think, but my experience shows that digital interconnects do make an audible difference both in dynamics and tonal balance. The no-brainer to go for IMHO is Stereovox D(?)XV (sorry, I do not remember the full name) - it's unusually cheap for Stereovox (£70), designed by the author of the great Illuminati cable and has versatile BNC/RCA, true 75 Ohm connectors. It's the only digital cable Stereovox produces at the moment, they ditched their much more expensive version as it made no sense anymore. It works well in my system, MUCH better than my previous cable which cost the same. And (amazingly, so do not ask me why - it does need about a week of breaking in - I hate to say and believe it, but that WAS in fact the case). You can buy it online from highendcable, the guy is Dave if I remember it right. Hope it helps.

 

I kinda agree with the previous posters, what counts with digital ICs is impedance matching. The Belden as such should be okay. What plugs does it have on it?

 

Markus
the plugs on the Belden are standard gold phono....
Paul

 

So probably not 75 Ohm plugs.

Well, if you want to spend money on it, fit a couple of the WBT Nextgen plugs, true 75 Ohm RCA plugs. May or may not make an improvment. Or fit BNC plugs to the cable and sockets to your Transport and dac. Or do as Oedipus says and buy a few CDs.

 

Digital interconnects do have a profound influence on the sound. But the most expensive interconnect is definitely not always the best choice. I have had good results with Apogee WydeEye/Canare Digiflex Gold. But my Audio Note AN-Vx is better then both easily.

 

There are much better as well

 

I know WM... I am still waiting for a batch of your cable to test them out and become a major distributor of your cables in The Netherlands... :MILD:

 

somebody say 75ohm rca plugs?.......

bnc 's will be the closest you can get and then use an adaptor.

As for....the quote

"The short answer is "no". Suggestable people like to fantasize about hearing differences in cables after reading baseless crap in "what-stereofool-plus wank fantasy monthly"."

the author has never bothered to do any of his own cable research and testing......alternatively his gear is so unresolving as to defy the tag..hifi.

the unfortunate facts are, cables do sound different.

As julian says ....I've a few intresting cable, but would think that to better the good belden, you would need to shell out loads of dosh.

You could reterminate with bullets.............but its a difficult call

 

This topic has been addressed in these papers (ie proper peer-reviewed papers published by a recognized professional body..)

"Jitter specification and assessment in digital audio equipment", J. Dunn, 93rd AES convention 1992.

"Theoretical and Audible effects of Jitter on Digital Audio Quality", Benjamin and Gannon, 105th AES Convention 1998.

On the other hand, your "cable research" is on a par with that other popular form of "self-experimentation"

 

That's exactly what Stereovox does - BNC and their own 75 Ohm (as they claim) adaptor.

 

oedipus,
that's why i said it's system dependant - also it's dependant on your own preferences simply saying it makes no difference without the qualifying 'with jitter resistant dac's' is what makes this subject so contentious.
unfortunatley though it all falls apart when personal preference takes the stage as evidenced by the respect for nos dacs by most who hear them - probably not the most jitter resistant type of dac ever built but certainly some of the best sounding.
here's an experiment to try - find a 'jitter resistant' dac (a tag or benchmark would fit the bill i guess) and then see if all transports sound the same through them. i'd be very interested to have a listen to that one - but i doubt i could stand the uninteresting sound of those particular dacs for long enough
cheers


julian

 

I mentioned jitter simply because that is the "logical" direction that anyone beleives in cables will head in. The logic has nothing to do with Science by the way, it's more about obfuscation as jitter is an advanced signals and systems topic in EE - a subject which most people are ill equiped to understand - and why it's a "trump card" to play in a forum such as this.

What's going on with NOS dacs has little to do with jitter - that is the least of its problems.

If you want to make your sound "interesting" buy a parametric equalizer, and perhaps a guitar effects peddle

 

oedipus,
in my experience digital interconnects DO make a difference with the majority of dacs, not huge ones but definately audiable. why? to be honest i couldn;t give a toss. after mucking about with some i've found one i'm happy with in my system and i'm sticking with it. if pidge wants to play with them then good for him but i think it best if he draws his own conclusions. if listening to a scientifically correct system pushes your buttons then good for you but don;t assume it works for all of us. and if parametric equalisation and guitar pedals are good enough for those making the music we listen to then they're good enough for me.
cheers


julian.

 

The answer to your question "Why?" is because you have a vivid imagination.

Why should he "play" - firstly it's unnecessary; secondly it costs money - in some cases serious money - which is why this kind of "play" is not harmless fun.

 

Don't judge before listening. It's stupid. :JOEL:

 

Maybe I better come over and demostrate some then, why not mail your details to the coherent systems website