Best digital connection between a computer and an external DAC?
Joined: 09/06/2009 .:. Offline .:. Comments: 1
Mon, 09/07/2009 - 00:33 — nhoodCould someone tell me what is going to be the best digital audio cable for high fidelity sound when connecting from my Mac Pro to an external DAC?
I've read a little bit about coaxial and optical cables online. This is what i got out of it: Optical is immune to electrical interference since its light, but coaxial isn't because its electric. Signals through optical hold up better than coaxial over long distances. There can be degradation in audio quality through an optical cable because it has to convert the signal to light and back. Optical cannot carry a signal well around a tight curve, where as coaxial can.
Can anyone clear up any fallacies in this information, if any.
It seems unlikely to me that a human would even be able to notice an audible difference between coaxial and optical, especially in a short run... which is the distance from my mac to the DAC. However, i may be incorrect in saying that when i have not listened to audio playback through either one.
My computer has toslink in/out and USB, but no coaxial. How would you connect your mac to an external DAC using coaxial? Is there a USB to coaxial cable?
I see most setups using USB to connect from their computer to their DAC. Exactly what is the difference between a USB cable and a coaxial cable?
Lastly, why is USB chosen over firewire in DAC's?
p.s. Sorry for the 20 questions :)
Joined: 10/17/2008 .:. Offline .:. Comments: 336
Belated answers
Many people hear a difference between toslink and coaxial. I couldn't explain it, but it appears to be valid.
Mac to Dac via coaxial requires a soundcard with a coaxial output. Check out the m-audio or creative stuff to see what inexpensive solutions look like.
USB is a general computer cable which carries the audio data without timing until it reaches the receiver. A coaxial cable/ s/pdif signal carries data and timing from its emitter which is then interpreted by the receiver.
USB is chosen over firewire mainly because of its wider availability.
Joined: 03/10/2009 .:. Offline .:. Comments: 134
We're using MADI coax and
We're using MADI coax and optical here. Can't beat it!
Our Playback Designs and EMM Labs converters use ST-optical as well as the Sonoma DSD system.
Regards,
Bruce A. Brown
Puget Sound Studios
Seattle, Washington