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Do I need an expensive digital cable?

I have been using a fairly inexpensive optical cable to connect my CD transport to my Moon 280D streamer. I was told that an SPDIFcoax cable would sound better. For an experiment I purchased an inexpensive Pangea coax cable. It didn't sound at all because its terminator ends did not fit snugly in my equipment. I consulted chatgbt who often gives me audio advice. It advised that for the short run of 1 meter, an RCA interconnect would work. It did. And sounded much better than the optical. Chatgbt said that RCA interconnect was good enough.

Now, there is a twist to this story that might make those doubters think twice. A digital cable carries packets of information that are rechecked to assure that the streamer is recieving correct information. There is the timing concern, though. But my Moon 280D has an asynchronous DAC with a clock as part of the DAC. Any information sent by my transport, whether it is clocked by the transport or not, will go through the Moon's asynchronous DAC's clock. So ;there shouldn't be a timing problem. Should there?

Can anyone make a case that I should buy a "better" coax cable?

audio-b-dog
audphile1's avatar
audphile1
8,134 posts
 

@audio-b-dog no worries. 
By the way what make and model cd transport. 

audio-b-dog's avatar
audio-b-dog OP
883 posts
 

@audphile1 

A McCormack UDP-1 multi-disk player. A damn good CD player in its day, which was about 25 years ago.

audio-b-dog's avatar
audio-b-dog OP
883 posts
 

@audphile1 

Here's what chatgbt had to say about the chip:

 

1) The DAC “ID” (the actual DAC chip)

The 280D’s D/A conversion is built around the ESS Sabre ES9018K2M DAC chipset.

That chip is used in a fully asynchronous design, with support up to PCM 32-bit/384 kHz and up to DSD256 via USB/network (depending on input).

2) The “ID number” in the manual (FCC IDs for the wireless modules)

If by “I.D. number” you meant the regulatory ID printed in documentation, the 280D manual lists transmitter module FCC IDs:

  • SSSBC127-X

  • ZUCSEDMP3

Extra useful info about what’s “around” the DAC chip (often matters more than the chip)

The manual also notes MOON’s jitter-control DSP approach (M-AJiC32 / MOON Asynchronous Jitter Control) and describes the unit as a fully asynchronous DAC.

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
8,134 posts
 

Lets assume your moon dac is fully asynchronous. Which means even when it’s slaved to your cd transport via coax cable and the transport is the master clock, the moon will reclock the signal with the final result will be based on its internal clock.

Based on my experience with several DACs, some claiming to be immune to jitter, the quality of the signal fed to the DAC always matters and makes a difference in sound. Using USB allows for DAC clock priority and yet cables still matter and transports/streamers matter as well. 

A golden rule of GIGO (garbage in garbage out) applies in audio every time, analog or digital. There’s no magic bullet. 
 

And to your streaming sounding worse than CD - that’s most likely because your network set up can probably use an improvement. When you optimize streaming it will sound comparable if not better than CD. That could be a topic for the next thread you start. 
 

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audphile1
8,134 posts
 

McCormack :)

brings back good memories. Had several of their amps. Great sounding stuff. 

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