Digital coax rca/cable vs optical & anything special to coax cable/rca's?

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Hey all,

B1 arriving next week and I'm deciding between optical and coaxial digital to run the signal from my media player to it. One one hand, coaxial is always said to be of higher quality in home audio, but on the other hand, in car audio electrical interference is a much more important factor than most home environments.

So, anyone with experience in this area? I have no noise whatsoever with my home made RCA runs in the car, so it doesn't seem like coax should give me grief. Also, is there anything special to look for when building or buying a RCA run for a digital/coax signal? I've heard that constant impedence may be important - and that certain companies offer cables that reportedly stay at a steady 75ohms - but is it truly an important factor, or simply another marketing ploy.

Thanks in advance!
Jim/Less

[Infinity]

Digital coax is the way to go in an automotive environment. The information delivery is identical, but the cables are far more resilient to harsh environments, and especially being bent at funky angles, which will break the fiber-optics in an optical cable.

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I guess what I am really asking is if coaxial digital has the ability to reject electrical noise at a very high level - and maybe that is what you are saying here. I must say though, that optical cables haven't presented me with any real troubles that I can hear and I've been using them for some time. Its tough to tell without an a/b comparison though if bends in the cable are resulting in signal loss - compared to an electrical signal.

I'm going to end up either buying or making a decent digital coax cable so I can do a a/b comparison I suppose, but am still curious if a special cable type that what you'd use in a analog signal cable would be called for.

Thanks for the input.

Jim

[suitcase]

Honestly, even if you believe in cable magic, go for a cable with a build quality you're comfortable with and that's it.

You're going to get a far better bang for your buck spending your money in other places in the car.

[Nathan P]

I know more people use coax, but I think most people that say they can hear a difference between coax and optical in home audio are probably smoking something. Both are delivering exactly the same data.

[Ianaconi]

LOL. So you think different cables don't make an audible difference in home audio?

[Nathan P]

I'm saying, that the difference between Coaxial Digital and Optical Digital is insignificant. I'm not going to get into the debate between different cable brands and construction debate, but I'll say this. Any correctly constructed cable with properly sized conductors will in a double blind test be indistinguishable from another cable with the same characteristics.

I have no doubt that cheap improperly constructed cables will have inferior sound quality but copper is copper. Two properly built cables will sound the same.

[Ianaconi]

Okay then.

[autofile]

Less,

The one CRITICAL aspect of a digital coaxial cable is to maintain a TRUE 75 ohm impedance.
This is not a major consideration for an analog cable, so many analog cables, even many very fine ones, are not well suited for digital coaxial applications.
I tried many digital coaxial cables, from cheapo's to esoteric cables.
After many hours of auditioning, the cable I chose are by Canare. Not terribly pricey (I have a long run from the Wadia in my glove box back to my BitOne in the trunk, and I think the 18 footer cost me around $90), and not terribly pretty (not audio jewelry by any means) but they are not garden hoses, so installation is not a pain.
I know the company well from pro-audio and they have a well earned reputation for high quality.

[Nathan P]

I was assuming a properly chosen cable, digital for digital and analog for analog but yeah, as long as the impedance and resistance check out, I believe there will be no difference.

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I'd heard that impedance value meant more in carrying a digital signal although I can't say I understand the science behind it. I think its also pretty important to consider signal rejection or the ability to inhibit outside interference when looking at cables in the car environment. Thanks for confirming the impedence factor.

Normally, I like to build my own cables, but since I don't know much about the difference between transfering a digital signal vs. an analog signal - or how to assure I end up with a straight 75ohm, I've decided to go with a Belkin Pure A/V silver series 8 footer. It appears to be built well and uses quality copper as well as having quadruple shielding which one wouldn't think would hurt anything.

Overall, I think Belkins Pure AV line is a pretty decent line of products, but if I could have found a comparable priced Canare product, I'd have gone that way. I don't feel bad about investing $27 and saving the labor and hassle of ordering and assembling the parts - and I think the Belken Cable will match my system pretty well.

Now it is just a matter of waiting to get all the little things and I should be enjoying Bit Oneage this weekend =)

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[Infinity]

Just for future reference, RG-6 cable is 75 ohm, and the ends are really simple to install- but the cable is pretty stiff, cheap though. You can get it quad shielded, too. I made my own cables for my HT using extra from when my house was built and some connectors from Parts Express. Worked great.

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Thanks much! I suppose I could have done more google work to find that out - or waited until you posted this haha - but I don't feel too bad about the Belkin - given its price to quality ratio.

I may still make my own down the road - just because I am a dork and like doing things like that lol. Until then, I have some nice techflex like stuff made by ViaBlue and I'll just wrap the Belkin in that and hit it with some heat shrink for a home made look.

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