Digital Audio Cables: Wire or Optical


I am trying to connect my CD/DVD player to my processor. My basic question is: Should I use the RCA digital wire interconnect or an optical cable for the audio? What is truly the difference? What is everyone experiences and/or suggestions?

Thanks
teckersley

Showing 3 responses by genesis168

To add to Sean's explaination, toslink is an excellent connection in THEORY. Problem exist on the receiving end of the DAC whre the optical receiver cannot cope with the bandwith and speed of the optical transmitter on the transport end causing a time delay in converting the optical signal to electrical.

This time delay or rather time error is what causes jitter. ST glass is another story much better than the Toslink.
Firstly, bandwith of TOSLINK is only 6 MHz. ST glass optical is between 50-150 MHz and electrical coax is 500 MHz.

I am not saying that the transmitter is sending the signal too fast. Rather when receiving the signal and CONVERTING it to electrical signal has a back log in doing so (takes time to do so). Transmitting will be at light speed. Receiving too at light speed but the conversion to electrical is where the problem is. Jitter is the timing error for this..we're talking micro secs to miliseconds

AT&T ST optical has far wider bandwidth therefore will better handle the signal at the receiving/conversion side.

I have read this somewhere but at this moment cannot remember where. Specs. on bandwidth is taken from "Guide to High End Audio.

Hope this helps.
Sean is right. Output from transport is electrical digital and stays that way until it reaches the DAC chip then converted to analog inside the chip.

If you use toslink, optical signal when input into the receiver on the DAC has to be converted to electric digital before it goes into the DAC chip hence the extra step.

On the transport side, the laser pickup DOES NOT output the optical signal. Signal from laser pickup is converted to electrical then sent to the optical LED to light up the TOSLINK cable.

Yes, coax has it's own problems with the RFI and grounding which the TOSLINK does not have.

Ultimately, it is up to you the listener to use whatever cable you think sounds better to your ears.