Optical Cables

A

AlexW

New member
Are there large variations in the quality of optical cables on the market? My sense is probably no, but then I really don't know. I'm talking about the ones with Toslink connectors for ADAT and S/PDIF use. The biggest differences I've seen are in the jacket diameter and end connector design. But then, the heavier cables with the bulky, gold end connectors actually seem to perform worse/not fit in the the device connectors as well.
 
They are all the same as far as performance, at least for shorter runs. If I had to run long ones I'd go for the premiums (less signal degradation due to better transparency, I understand) but I have a mix of Radio Shack and Hosa and never a problem. The longest one is probably 3m. I have, let's see...Toslink from a preamp to a Hosa patch bay, between the patch bay and a Tascam IF-TAD converter (TDIF to ADAT), and from the patch bay to the sound card. Perfectly reliable over 4+ years. They don't get repatched very often, mostly when I tote my rig off to record somewhere else.
 
sorry to veer away from the subject, come to think of it it might not be... but im thinking of getting a v-amp pro soon which has spdif outs. my soundcard has spdif ins. what sort of cable/connectors would i use for this connection? it appears like its a normal phono connection but i am probably wrong. anyone? cheers

Steve
 
Thanks. I've checked around some and the price point doesn't seem to vary much so it didn't make a lot of sense. I picked up a Chinese manufactured one at Fry's yesterday and then a second one at Guitar Center by Hosa. Unpackaged they look like the identical cable.
 
Steve, do you mean RCA connection? Those are coax cables with RCA ends. They can be a little difficult to find. I've been using a regular RG-6 coax cable with F-connectors fitted with RCA adapters. Seems to work fine. I ordered some from a specialty A/V site the other day and turns out they're made by Hosa.
 
"Real" S/PDIF coax cables use 75 ohm wire...but me, and everybody else, uses the RCA patch cords that come with CD players without problems. As with Toslink, longer ones might be something different.
 
lpdeluxe said:
"Real" S/PDIF coax cables use 75 ohm wire...but me, and everybody else, uses the RCA patch cords that come with CD players without problems.
Click to expand...

Well, not "everybody else" is using audio cables for digital data transfers.

Doing that, you may be having problems that aren't obvious. There can be slight issues that don't show up as pops and clicks, but exist in more subtle ways. A slight narrowing of the stereo field, flatness, slight lack of "life" to the sound. Hard to describe some of the symptoms in words. You really should try A/B-ing you RCA audio cables with true SPDIF cables and see if you can hear a difference.

I think the dumbest thing they did was make SPDIF and AES connectors the same as RCA and XLR, respectively. Would have been so much better to come up with a new connector for each.

As for the original poster's question:

I've used premium TOSlink cable, and the cheaper HOSA stuff. I found the standard HOSA stuff to actually work better and last longer. I've used runs of over 10 feet no problem with this cable.
 
I use Hosa for optical. Radio Shack is OK in a real pinch, while Monster is seriously overpriced. I've heard rumors that Monster makes Radio Shack's cables, so my point might be moot anyways. :rolleyes:

As for SPDIF, yeah, they look like standard RCA, but the cabling itself is of a much higher quality; at least that's what they say. At the very least, most shielded cable used for RCA stuff is crap anyways, so go with a cable specifically designated for SPDIF. And while I'm glad to hear that a previous poster uses just standard RCA cable for his SPDIF, in my case, I tried to use standard RCA cable with my sound card's SPDIF and my Roland 2480, and I had a number of issues with clocking and sound quality. Swapping to an actual SPDIF cable fixed everything.

Getting back to the original point... all in all, I've never had any complaints using Hosa cables.

By the way, Sonic Albert is right... using RCA for the SPDIF standard is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen.

But that's just my opinion. :rolleyes:
 
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Doing that, you may be having problems that aren't obvious.

Well, they are not in the signal chain, but only for house playback, and nobody has complained.
 
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