What the #!#% is digital coax??

[BrettMckinney]

Wanted to know this for a looong time. With my hometheatre i've always used optical. Now..i have a Audiophile 2496 with 'digital' out and was thinking i could hook that up to my dolby reciever. But what exactly is a 'digital coax cable'? Just an RCA cable thats better quality?

 

[Track Rat]

Not by a long shot my friend. That's a S/PDIF (Sony/Phillips Digital Interface) which is a digital connection. Unless the gear you want to connect to has the same type input, you can't use it. If you do, you can't use an RCA patch cable like the ones that go from a tape deck to a tuner. It has to be a 75 ohm video grade cable with the RCAs on the ends.

 

[BrettMckinney]

Ahh ok..so the same ends but different type of cable. Isnt 75 ohm cable what you would use to hook up a dvd player to a tv with?

 

[Stealthtech]

Sort of, but the transmission medium is different. Digital coax is designed specifically for SPDIF

 

[Jeyan]

You can use a regular RCA cable, but many cables creates problem and data loss. So why gamble? Better go for a 75ohm cable. By the way if you want to convert Coaxial to Optical or Optical to Coaxial, use a converter, like the midiman CO2
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Co2/

 

[BrettMckinney]

Cheers..thanks man

 

[Jagular]

midiman CO2
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Co2/

Got one...use it...love it

 

[Jeyan]

Regular RCA cables work most of the time, but we never know when the signals will be lost. Use a 75 ohm cable , no worries.