SPDIF vs. AES/EBU Sound Quality?


All else being equal (same cable, etc.), will the AES/EBU connection provide better sound quality than SPDIF? I just realized by Lumin U1 mini has AES/EBU output and one of my DACs (my favorite) has AES/EBU input. 

A forum search and even a google search pulled up nothing definitive and I figured I'd ask before buying an $$$ AES/EBU cable

greg7

Showing 1 response by mitch2

Here is some information on the topic.

I have liked the sound of AES/EBU over SPDIF when inputting to previous DACs I have owned but different DACs use different input boards, some better than others.  My current Mojo Audio DAC is optimized for best performance from the USB inputs and my former Metrum DACs were optimized for I2S, so I used the optimized connections with each of those DACs. 

One reason AES/EBU may sound better with some DACs is discussed as point #2 (below) in the linked article.  I wonder if this may make the quality of the AES/EBU cable less critical than with SPDIF cables?

2) AES/EBU uses uses ten times the signal level of SPDIF, meaning it can tolerate more loss in long cables and if a receiver circuit has been optimised for AES/EBU it will work better as SPDIF will be at the lower limits (too much noise)