Static noise connecting DAC via toslink

Not suprising.Toslink is notorious for noise.If you are using plastic,change to glass.Keep the cable well away from AC power sources and cables.Better yet,if possible, use coaxial connection.Why did you change from the USB cable,that should be the best connection?In my bedroom system I have to use toslink because that's the only digital out my cdp has,bummer.The glass cable cleaned the noise up a lot.Good luck.

It seems like there is something wrong that simply changing from plastic to glass cable is not going to fix. I have had the same issue intermittent. I could never figure out exactly what was causing it but mine was very loud not just faintly a part of the music. I was thinking it was some kind of interference from another cable or source but I don't know exactly. I'd say to try and move you cables around and see if it helps before buying any new cables.

Ejlif - I agree. Something else is wrong. Toslink is notorious for jitter and while jitter is noise (in time domain) it shows only when signal is present. With no signal it should be quiet.

Ajackson1 - Jitter creates sidebands not harmonically related to root frequency and therefore audible even at low levels. With a lot of frequencies (music) it becomes noise on the top of the signal. It usually shows as a lack of clarity but if you can hear pink noise then it has to be something else. Double check setup on your MAC Mini