Recommendation for an HDMI cable under $200 for audio only

@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.

As far as the I2S HDMI  Audiolund cables being built like a tank the are still very fragile. They are heavy cable and Danny (Audiolund) recommends putting a wood block under the connection so as not to damage the pinout connections. The cable sounds awesome. I have the Ultimate Silver i2s and the XLR makes a huge difference.

I always find it interesting when people who are skeptical of a product will tell someone they never met, what they could or couldn’t hear.

My Audioquest Cinnomon is magnificent between my Holo Audio Red and Gustard R26. I’d like to try the Audioquest vodka and the Van Den Huul HDMI next