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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
soix
11,230 posts
 

It might need a little bit to settle into your system even if it’s already broken in, and if it’s directional make sure you’ve got it installed the right way.  I installed mine backwards once and it was not good until I figured out my mistake.  Look forward to your thoughts. 

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

Okay, right off the bat, the digital cable is tighter. The RCA interconnect has a "smeared" sound which I found pleasant before I heard the digital cable. It's like writing in sharpie versus writing in pen. The Purist Genesis Luminist is tighter. I've just been listening to one cut, so I'll play it for hours on end, but I don't think the comparison will change. It wasn't a small difference. I heard it immediately when I plugged the "expensive" ($249 new) cable in. Now, is that just 75 ohm versus 50 ohm cables. My $14 75 ohm digital cable will be coming Wednesday. And yes, the cable is directional and I put it in the right way, even though chatgbt told me that directional is just a "marketing" thing.

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
7,834 posts
 

No it is not just the cable impedance. Purist is most likely made with OFC and has premium connectors compared to the cheap $14 cable you will get that’s probably garbage quality copper, connectors and everything else. So the purist will have both the proper impedance and better conductivity. 

Now your problem is, you just widened the gap between cd playback and streaming. So what are you gonna do about that?
 

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

The RCA 50 ohm analogue interconnect smears the bass, which sounds soft and pleasant at first. With the 75 ohm digital interconnect the bass is tighter, but the big difference is in the treble. Listening to Bebel Gilberto's first album, there is a lot of breathyness to her voice. Much of that is lost and becomes metallic sounding with the RCA interconnect. Also the bells are not nearly as sharp with the RCA interconnect versus the digital cable.

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

The $14 digital cable arrived. First reaction: it is not as smeared as the analogue 50 ohm RCA cable, but it is smeared in the bass. Immediate reaction the $249 cable is far better. But I will keep testing. One thing that throws me, though, I associate smearing sound with jitter, and since the Moon 280D reclocks the signal, should there be jitter? Could electrical interference sound like jitter?

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