Why does my DAC sound so much better after upgrading digital SPDIF cable?


I like my Mps5 playback designs sacd/CD player but also use it as a DAC so that I can use my OPPO as a transport to play 24-96 and other high res files I burn to dvd-audio discs.

I was using a nordost silver shadow digital spdif cable between the transport and my dac as I felt it was more transparent and better treble than a higher priced audioquest digital cable a dealer had me audition.

I recently received the Synergistic Research Galileo new SX UEF digital cable.  Immediately I recognized that i was hearing far better bass, soundstage, and instrument separation than I had ever heard with high res files (non sacd),

While I am obviously impressed with this high end digital cable and strongly encourage others to audition it, I am puzzled how the cable transporting digital information to my DAC from my transport makes such a big difference.

The DAC take the digital information and shapes the sound so why should the cable providing it the info be so important. I would think any competently built digital cable would be adequate....I get the cable from the DAC to the preamp and preamp to amp matter but would think the cable to the DAC would be much less important.

I will now experiment to see if using the external transport to send red book CD files to my playback mps5 sounds better than using the transport inside the mps5 itself.

The MPS5 sounds pretty great for ca and awesome with SACD so doubt external transport will be improvement for redhook cds


128x128karmapolice
Just remember that everything about audio is not written in stone or was dictated by a burning bush and you'll be fine. Trust your ears.

All the best,
Nonoise
Read this. Same principles apply to all digital cables. The digital signal is actually generated from analog electric signals. In the case of optical, it comes down to how precise the optical transceivers are.

https://positive-feedback.com/audio-discourse/why-usb-cables-can-make-a-difference/
Recently, for the first time, I actually heard a difference between two optical cables w/ my ADI-2 DAC. One was: https://www.ebay.com/itm/12-12ft-GLASS-Digital-Audio-Toslink-Cable-Premium-Perfect-for-Sound-Bars/39... The other was a Lifatec glass optical cable "TOSLINK / TOSLINK Premium Silflex Glass Cables with Optisilk™ Jacketing " Both were 10 ft in length. The former had brittle, harsh sounding highs, and the latter smoother, cleaner highs. The difference was not subtle. Perhaps the Lifatec had better connectors, or the cheaper cable was in general poorly constructed? Thus the Lifatec stays in. This was the first time I’ve ever noticed differences between digital cables.
It’s really simple, there’s documented studies showing that digital signals can sound totally different when using S/PDIF cables that are over $30...it’s called placebo.