Recommendation for an HDMI cable under $200 for audio only

Thank you all for your recommendations. I have been using a Voodoo Reference coaxial cable and have been reading a lot about the enhanced sound capable using an HDMI cable. Last night I connected an off-the-shelf HDMI I had laying around and did notice a difference. I didn't do a back to back but I think I'm going to at least try a better quality HDMI cable and see if it really makes a difference over my coax cable.

I have considered the AQ Cinnamon, Chord, and Kimber all around the same price point, but might look into DH Labs as well.

Thanks again, everybody.

I' easily discern differences between usb and I2S cables in my setup. Specifically, tried a less than $200 OFC I2S vs. Concentus Ximius, an all silver cable, well worth the extra cash, this with Denafrips Gaia to Musetec 006 and Laiv Harmony. A lesser quality cable may work well enough for demonstration/short term purposes but if you have very revealing setup you want cable that will allow full potential of that equipment to be heard.

DH Labs for the win.

@senna27

I’ve recently been through the same search for an I2S connector and decided on buying from Ricable who are an Italian cable company.

I highly recommend their SUPREME HDMI MKII Digital Video Cable HDMI 2.0 Bandwidth 29 Gbps and Audio I²S interconnect that costs 74 Euro for a 1/2 metre (c. 20 inches) plus add 25 Euro for shipping, see Ricable HDMI I2S Interconnect where I ordered online.

I use it to connect a PS Audio Perfectwave CD/SACD transport and Denafrips Venus 15th DAC and it has performed excellently with me now being close to 500 hours burn-in on the Venus 15th DAC and HDMI cable. I bought mine February 16th and it arrived quickly via Fedex by February 20th.

Ricable offer a 60-day trial period for those who buy directly from Ricable with a a refund or replacement of the purchased Hi-Fi product (unfortunately for the USA there is a return fee). Ricable also provide a lifetime warranty.

There are a lot of interconnects and DIY cable options to see on their website and prices are competitive, hope this helps in your <$200 search.

DH Labs would also be my recommendation. I bought one for my Rockna server/dac combo.  I later tried a RAL cable.  Both units have 2 i2s connections, so it was pretty easy to go back and forth between the two cables.  At first I thought I heard an improvement with the RAL cable, however I did another comparison after I had them both for a while and really couldn't tell the difference.  I chalked that one up to confirmation bias.